Freescale Semiconductor and Indesit Company recently  demonstrated their ability to help their customers create “smart” products by  showcasing a Smart Washer that can regulate its own energy use, based on cost and availability, at the Freescale Technology Forum.  

The Indesit  Company's Smart  Washer, equipped with a Freescale ZigBee node, is able to adjust its  cycle starting time according to energy cost (in a variable costs environment)  and green power availability, getting this information from the local utility via a ZigBee enabled Internet connection to the Smart Grid.

The collaboration is further evidence of the Smart  Grid focus of both companies. Freescale's ZigBee technology helps designers to  reduce design complexity, lower bill of material costs and deliver high  performance solutions to help appliance customers build ZigBee connected smart  houses. “Working closely with Indesit – a leading producer of industrial  white goods – underscores Freescale's leadership in a broad array of wireless  communications targeting the smart grid and energy efficiency,” said Brett  Black, Wireless Connectivity manager at Freescale.

“We are pleased to team up with Freescale on our products using their  technology,” said Stefano Frattesi, Indesit Company’s Innovation for Design  manager. “The Smart Washer confirms our commitment to innovation for the benefit  of the environment and demonstrates our pioneering research in the field of  Smart Grid to help reduce energy consumption and provide our customers  increasingly innovative solutions.”

Indesit recently launched two projects focused on leveraging the  Smart Grid to make its products more energy efficient. The first is a global  program for domestic trials of intelligent refrigerators with Indesit’s Dynamic  Demand Control technology, which is capable of managing consumption on the basis  of grid availability. The second is Energy@home, a research project that will  experiment with a system of home appliance interconnections designed to optimise  energy consumption.

Freescale was one of the first companies to join the ZigBee Alliance  and provides platform solutions supporting ZigBee Smart Energy, RF4CE,  Healthcare and Home Automation. Freescale continues to invest in energy  efficient technology for the Smart Grid, allowing its customers to address the  increasing demand of energy smart control.