Is your smart home system smart enough to be powered from the top of Mount Everest? I’m actually not sure what the two have to do with each other, but DIY smart home device maker FIBARO is sending mountain climber Mariusz Malkowski up the world’s highest mountain, and they’re sending an iPad with him, with which he’s going to attempt to control FIBARO smart home devices some thousands of miles away “one the other side of the globe,” reads a press release.
The FIBARO DIY smart home devices use the wireless smart home protocol Z-Wave, one of the most popular wireless ways to connect devices in a DIY home automation system.
Malkowski, who is both a climber and a home automation enthusiast, has done similar Z-Wave-inspired adventures before, first in 2011 at Ama Dablam and then 2014 (coinciding with the 2014 CEDIA Expo) up the sides of Cho Oyu. Both of those were cake compared to the 29,020 feet of Mount Everest.
He’s expected to summit around April 15.
What will Malkowski do once he gets to the top? After breathing a sigh of relief, he’ll dig out his iPad (maybe wipe the snow off it), pray the battery is still charged, and then use the FIBARO smart home app to turn some lights on and off, maybe check the status of some sensors and other typical smart home things. The kicker is this time those devices will be continents away (and probably a lot warmer).
Of course, this test, assuming it works, while confirming that Z-Wave devices can be controlled remotely, will be more of a test of the internet connection that Malkowski is able to get way up on Mount Everest. You don’t have to climb to the top of a mountain to prove that Z-Wave things can the operated remotely—you just need to walk across the street. What’s important in either of those cases that the internet device you’re using (your iPhone, iPad, Android tablet…) can get online. After that, it’s all just a matter of tapping glass.
You can follow Malkowski’s progress on Facebook here or the Fibaro Everest Challenge web site here.
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