I'm all in for an API. However, they should be very careful here. The gateway in the cloud is a cost center not a revenue maker. It exists to expand the product line with features not drag through revenue. Once you start banging an API online, the requirements in the cloud really start to grow even at only 12,000 units. They should be looking at local API on the controller if they want it to be reliable and not cost an unmitigated fortune. The landscape of cloud solutions change rapidly as IoT platforms rise and fall. These days there are a whole lot more falling than rising. If you want a reason to not build a cloud based API take a moment to understand what happened to Samsung, Ezlo, Nest, and a whole myriad of other device-cloud-device services. I don't think success can be measured by an acquisition for Pentair.
They should look at their own product lines and witness what has gone on there. The automation on a pool lasts much longer than even smart vehicle systems. Most models earlier than 2016 can no longer connect to their respective manufacturer services and Pentair is not Ford, BMW, GM, Mercedes, or even Samsung. All of these brands have overflowed the IoT dustbin in less than 10 years. When you match that to the fact that Pentair is still selling EasyTouch systems for some unknown reason and even resurrecting the undercarriage of IntelliTouch for pared down products, you realize the effect of gravity on an anchor chain.
Perhaps, they have tooling agreements that they still need to satisfy or are having problems getting silicon. I can't imagine it is cheaper to manufacture the boards for IntelliTouch or EasyTouch vs IntelliCenter as they are both multi-layer boards. In fact when my motherboard for IntelliTouch went out the last time, it was a cheaper option to just upgrade vs repair IntelliTouch. That was pre-world shutting down. Then again they just announced new SKUs for IntelliCenter so what do I know. From the outside it just looks frenetic. I imagine it looks like a one-legged but kicking contest on the inside.
I know there are some folks that were shaken by the last firmware release but IntelliCenter really is a step ahead of everyone else including their own dated platforms. If you have an opinion on how good or bad IntelliCenter is, you probably haven't suffered all of them. IntelliCenter with the current firmware (1.064) is really solid and it offers a good UI on their wired and wireless control panels.
@scrumpto I would agree with a Matter bridge device but it isn't a have all be all. And for all the hype the jury is still out. Nobody is really shipping a device that connects reliably to it and all of the folks on the payroll are claiming what matter will do or should do not what it does. It amazes me that the claim was 190 products to be certified in 2022. You can count the number consumer products that shipped with 1 hand but only if you touch your forefinger to the tip of your thumb. Lots of hubs but no devices but that stands to reason given the cost to update firmware to make a hub matter is soooo much less expensive than designing and manufacturing a device. Even then the device can be rejected by a third party so if you don't have the R&D bucks to pay the testing facility and the time to work your way through the cert process your device can never be provisioned.
Even then you still need a local API speaking the protocol which most likely will need a device within the range of the equipment pad. Pools are often located just beyond the sane communication range of indoor equipment and are filled with noisy radio interference. Finally, the matter device category list is prescriptive at this point and there is no short method to get a new device category created. As you can imagine color light bulbs and media players are way up on the list. Pool pumps and chlorinators probably not so much.
@MyAZPool is correct there are solutions available right now that will take your EasyTouch to pretty much any HA platform you desire. We'll see where matter takes us and if it lives up to the hype, then maybe njsPC will get a transport layer on it. You can have it on your HomeKit today though.
github.com
