The BluePost

The BluePost – an enhanced distribution box with Bluetooth functionality for car heating. The project was done in cooperation with Siemens.

Electrical car heating posts have been used for decades, but their functionality has remained the same. A mechanical clock, which controls the heating time, can be hard and tedious to adjust in dark and cold weather conditions. Likewise, the timer only offers simple on/off control for a daily 2-hour time period. The aim of the BluePost project was to improve the usability of traditional, mechanical heating posts and to bring energy savings. A more flexible user interface was created, along with the ability to control the timer settings remotely from a mobile phone or a www page on the Internet.

The BluePost itself is a distribution box equipped with a Bluetooth transceiver module and additional electronics. It has a simple user interface, which allows the user to set the timer and/or check the current timer settings. The system also uses a master server and a master Bluetooth transmitter, which are responsible for controlling all heating posts on the parking lot. The server creates the www user interfaces, and controls the timers on all heating posts according to the users’ settings. It uses a Bluetooth base station transmitter installed e.g. on a wall next to the parking lot to communicate with each heating post. Users can also use their personal mobile phones for communicating directly with the heating posts using proprietary software and the Bluetooth functionality of their mobile phone.

The timer on the posts can be set to heat the car for a specific time, or to turn on the heater for two hours starting immediately. The timer settings can easily be changed remotely, allowing more flexible control. This also helps in saving electricity, since car heating is not done so often in vain and the heating time can be altered according to the outside temperature instead of always heating for the maximum two hours.

Updated , Hokkanen Mirja