• In March 2019, Securiton AG installed the prototype hardware of a newly developed series of operating devices in the NEST unit "DFAB HOUSE".
• After the occupancy of the residential unit, the company identified hardware malfunctions through real-time analyses, which had not been detected in the previous laboratory tests.
• The validation in the real test environment of NEST allowed the product to be further developed and finally brought to the market.

At NEST, industry and research partners can test and further develop prototypes under real conditions. Securiton AG took advantage of this opportunity to install a code keypad in DFAB HOUSE which, although it had already achieved good results under laboratory conditions, needed to be validated in a real-world environment before entering the market.

Risk-free test environment

The four partly occupied bedrooms in DFAB HOUSE are equipped with electronic door locks, which Securiton has connected to a prototype keypad. This keypad should allow to close and open the doors easily. 

Shortly after the residents moved into their rooms, Securiton's real-time analysis revealed a high rate of incorrect entries or code entry aborts with new attempts. However, the longer people lived in the unit, the less frequently these errors occurred. After a brief questioning of the residents, it was found that the response time of the keypad was too slow for the users to operate. They therefore had to adapt their behavior and enter their personal code more slowly. Although this compensated for the keypad's misbehavior, the residents had to live with a reduction in comfort because they had to wait longer outside the door.

Detect what is not detected in the laboratory

Before its installation, the keypad was thoroughly tested in a laboratory environment by the company. It was only through the practical use at NEST that the necessary insights could be gained to further develop the product for the market. For Stephan Moser, Senior Product Manager Engineering, Intruder Alarm Systems at Securiton, "NEST is ideal for installing and validating prototypes in a real-world environment. In the process we can gain valuable knowledge about our own products with the help of real-time analyses, for example". The keypad was redesigned following tests at NEST and is scheduled for market launch in autumn 2020.