Being part of the smart home developer community means collaborating, learning how to work with different smart home ecosystems, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in our everyday environments. Almost overnight, we’ve seen our cities and workplaces disrupted (and begin to transform) to the point where many homes need multi-device capability and dynamic connectivity to ease collaboration, connection, and communication. The increasing need for the connected home puts developers in a position to accelerate innovation and the adoption of devices and gateways. While smart home development has been underway for some time, today’s disruptions amplify the need to strengthen relationships within the ecosystem and enhance, reimagine or rethink your go-to-market strategies. 

No matter which ecosystem your solutions are designed for, the Silicon Labs Works With event is your gateway to the most advanced technical smart home training. This Smart Home Developer Virtual Event provides 15 hours of free, deep technical training and interactive sessions especially designed for developers by developers. In addition, there two dynamic keynotes and a great panel discussion featuring Project CHIP that is certain to be informative. Today we want to share a glimpse into a few of our 40 sessions we’re excited to attend. 

First, Google Introduction and Certification, will be on Wednesday, September 9, at 10:00 a.m. CDT, led by engineer Mark Hallam as he introduces attendees to IoT product development for the Google Home Ecosystem. This technical track will give you an overview of the Google Home Ecosystem and how it will use the CHIP standard to connect devices. The course will also cover the process developers must follow in order to become a recognized and certified device operating in the Google Home Ecosystem. Mark will also present the technical track on Thread/CHIP Development, where he will demonstrate the development of a CHIP-based product for the Google Home Ecosystem. This talk is slated for Day 1 on Wednesday, September 9, from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. CDT. 

We’re also excited about the Amazon Introduction and Certification track on Wednesday, September 9, 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. CDT. This session will show engineers how to get started designing Alexa Connected Devices. Specifically, Silicon Labs’ Jake Wood and Jason Whitney, the founder and CEO of Darwin Tech, will present a holistic overview of how Zigbee and Bluetooth are used to provide connectivity and dive deep into the process required to become a recognized and certified Amazon Alexa Connected Device. 

Next is How to Build an Energy Harvesting Switch which will be held on Wednesday, September 9 from 2:00 p.m. CDT and repeat on Thursday, September 10 at 10:30 a.m. CDT. Co-led by Sunthoshi Kothapalli, Silicon Labs, and Amdom Giday, Arrow Electronics, Inc. this session will explore the need for green energy and low powered wireless control and sensing. After attending, you’ll be able to implement a robust, secure and reliable solution more easily. This session will utilize an example of a Zigbee® Green Power for energy harvesting light switch reference design and implementation.  

New security standards are leading to the development of security requirements tailored to each vertical device type and then measured reliably and repeatably. The Security Regulations session will be held on Wednesday, September 9 from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. CDT and repeats on Thursday, September 10, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Led by Mike Dow, Silicon Labs, and Brad Ree, CTO, ioXt Alliance will explore the security landscape, showcase Silicon Labs’ new Secure Vault technology, reveal how the ioXt Alliance is addressing the need for uniform evaluation and certification of the security level of your products to prove adherence to evolving regulations. In 2020, Silicon Labs joined the ioXt Alliance Board to support critical work towards creating the internet of secure things. 

Finally, How to Build a Light Switch will be held on Wednesday, September 9 at 12:00 p.m. CDT and repeat on Thursday, September 10 at 11:30 a.m. This session will teach you about the evolution of the light switch. Silicon Labs Senior Field Application Engineer David Seymour and Jasco Products Test Engineering Manager Mark Simpkins will provide a reference for designing and building a connected smart switch. They’ll also explore options for leveraging existing solutions and offer guidance on choosing the best approach depending on your specific system requirements. 

These are just a few of the programming highlights from Works With 2020, the premiere digital smart home experience filled with innovative technology, engineer-led sessions, and online networking with industry game-changers.  

Smart Home Development is Here. Register now for Works With.