Leroy Merlin Enki and MicroEJ Scale Up Ecosystem Integration For a Smarter Home Experience

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Enki by Leroy Merlin is a brand of the ADEO Group, the third-largest DIY retailer in the world. Enki provides a smart home automation solution to control various smart home connected devices (such as smart thermostats, lighting, energy monitors, etc.) through a unified smartphone application, delivering a simplified smart home experience to end users.

challenge

Accelerating Ecosystem Integration for a Smarter Home Experience

Enki supports over 400 products from 25 brands, many of which run on different technical environments. Managing and maintaining device connectivity for such diverse products and technologies became a significant challenge. Teaching manufacturers how to connect their devices to Enki’s Cloud was time-consuming and not a viable long-term solution. Consequently, Enki began seeking a faster way to integrate new Wi-Fi devices into their ecosystem and empower manufacturers with ready-to-use software modules for accelerated integration. MicroEJ was chosen as Enki’s partner due to its virtualization technology, which enables application modules to run on different electronics without adaptations, fulfilling the promise of software module reuse on any hardware.

MicroEJ in Action

3 Months to Accelerate Device Integration in Enki's Ecosystem

Accelerated software development

Virtualization, combined with Object-Oriented Programming technologies (OOP), allows for the creation of portable software modules across different electronic chips and operating systems. As a result, developers can take advantage of ready-to-use software modules, significantly reducing device development time, testing efforts, and risks.

Security and confidentiality

In addition to supporting approved security standards such as secure boot, data encryption, and authentication with certificates, MicroEJ enhances software execution security using virtualization, sandboxing, and access rights management.

Simplified ecosystem management with Enki SDK

Enki has developed a specific Software Development Kit (SDK) that includes support for specific electronics, such as Wi-Fi processors and cloud protocol stacks (data communication, device onboarding, etc.). The Enki SDK allows Enki to address multiple partners simultaneously, creating new products with limited support resources. Partner development teams only need to customize the software platform to their electronics’ specifications with the help of reference design examples and ready-made software applications available in the SDK. Enki partners can create a Virtual Device (simulator) to prototype their connected device and test its connectivity to Enki’s cloud within hours. Since Virtual Devices act like real devices, the software can be confidently run on actual hardware.

We are particularly proud to collaborate with MicroEJ to accelerate Enki's ecosystem integration. The implementation of a universal Cloud protocol allows our partners to independently integrate their products with Enki's cloud and benefit from easy-to-use software tools for accelerated software development. This achievement has resulted in a significant increase in the number of connected devices compatible with the Enki solution and a better user experience for our customers.

Pierre-Yves Hadengue, Enki Leader at Leroy Merlin

Benefits

Product benefits from MicroEJ

Smart Home manufacturers can quickly integrate Enki’s wide ecosystem through tools provided via the “Works with Enki” portal, including the universal edge-to cloud connector made available by MicroEJ. Behind “Works with Enki”, manufacturers will find MicroEJ software development kit, which enables them to take advantage of the off-the-shelf edge-to-cloud connector without any modifications (no recompilation, no revalidation, no requalification) for easy integration.
A ready-made edge-to-cloud connector easily integrated into any electronic product avoids unnecessary product support, accelerates ecosystem integration, and ensures future-proof connectivity.
As a result, the end consumer enjoys an extensive range of “Enki friendly” Smart Home Wi-Fi devices that may now be controlled from one application.

product overview

Enki Home Automation Box

Radio keypad
Device for managing access by code or badge
Management of alarm control functions
Touch-scan area for information or menu playback
Speech synthesis and qualitative screen with OLED technology.