printer friendly version

Innovation in gate control technology

As the old English proverb goes, “necessity is the mother of invention”; and, as the needs of society change in the context of an increasingly digitised and connected world, so we are seeing those needs being served by more inventive and sophisticated means.

Technology is becoming more intelligent and more intuitive as the progenies of the great thinkers of our time come to reshape and redefine entire industries. The old, monolithic intellectual structures have made way for a technological landscape that is robust, dynamic and ever evolving.

“For us, it’s always been about compelling innovation, and developing products that make life easier for our clients, [which include] both installers and end-users”, says Mark O’Brien, marketing manager of leading access automation brand Centurion Systems.

Indeed, the spirit of compelling innovation has always been at the heart of Centurion’s product design philosophy and with the release of the D5 Smart, Centurion has delivered an intelligent access automation solution that boasts a number of compelling improvements over earlier products in the company’s stable, including wireless setup and commissioning via an intuitive mobile app.

“The concept was to create a fully intuitive gate automation solution that pushed the boundaries of speed, intelligence and technological sophistication and created a superior user experience at all interface levels,” explains O’Brien.

“Our aim was to design an innovative sliding gate operator that would globally transcend the boundaries and constraints of existing gate solutions and exploit the massive potential of wireless connectivity working in concert with advanced functionality and supported by smart hardware to deliver a product that was holistically intelligent and met the needs of installers and end users alike. Moreover, we wanted to leverage the potential of smartphones and app-based features to enhance the user’s experience of the product, bringing gate automation fully immersed into the Internet of Things”

From a mechanical design perspective, the D5 SMART has been optimised to make it as easy as possible to install, with easy access to mounting hardware, smart height adjustment and levelling, and improved cable routing.

According to Michael Blackman, one of the mechanical engineering managers in Centurion’s research and development department, during the design of the D5 Smart, the engineering team needed to innovate in order to solve numerous problems that would have a positive impact on various stakeholders in the value chain.

“In order to truly make life easier, [the installer] needs a product that is easy to install, commission and on which to run diagnostics. During the development of the D5 SMART, these were the areas of focus for the design engineers”.

If this groundbreaking solution is anything to go by, the future of innovation in South Africa – particularly in the security and access automation sectors – is not only incredibly bright, but also undeniably smart.

Share this article:

Further reading: