The “Voce” project by Guglielmi Rubinetterie introduced an innovative faucet capable of dispensing water either through the traditional mixer handles or via Amazon Alexa voice commands.
Like all consumer-facing products that prioritize simplicity and immediacy, “Voce” appears straightforward on the outside, but beneath the surface lies a highly complex system.
The solution integrates multiple heterogeneous and specialized modules: from the electronic board controlling water flow, to the WiFi connectivity module, the mobile app, Kalpa’s IoT platform (Riseberg), the cloud application, and the Alexa skill. These modules are diverse not only in functionality but also in terms of programming languages used and testing techniques required to ensure the robustness expected from an end-user product.
Kalpa’s contribution focused particularly on the WiFi connectivity board, the Riseberg IoT platform, the cloud application, and the Alexa skill.
The connectivity board is responsible for initial system commissioning, telemetry data collection, and the reception and execution of commands from the cloud. Special attention was dedicated to cybersecurity—an essential aspect for any connected product.
The connectivity board integrates with Kalpa’s Riseberg IoT platform. We are especially proud that, once again, leveraging a mature, production-ready platform allowed us to significantly reduce development time. Once we defined the data and commands to be exchanged between the WiFi module and Riseberg, the first prototype was exchanging data with the platform within hours. By the next day, we were already able to dispense water via the platform!
Riseberg acts as a decoupling layer between the physical world and cloud applications. This enabled the Cloud team to work in parallel with the Firmware team, thanks to mocks created on the platform.
The cloud application manages communication to and from the Alexa skill and handles users via standard OAuth2.0/OpenID Connect. In this case, it managed not only user registration and login, but also the more complex account linking required to connect with Amazon Alexa’s backend.
Another key aspect of this project was its full management under an Agile methodology.
Since Kalpa’s foundation, we have internally favored Agile for project management. After extensive preparation, from late 2021 we began offering clients the opportunity to adopt Agile not only in delivery but also at the commercial level.
The benefit is that projects are no longer bound by the traditional fixed-price contract, but by a more flexible agreement that allows clients to remove or add features during the development process. This approach is particularly well-suited to R&D projects, where organizational flexibility and adaptability are essential.