Over the last weeks, a total of three groups of students from the vocational and technical schools of the Carl Schäfer School in Ludwigsburg visited Elsner Elektronik in Ostelsheim. All of them participated in a two-day workshop on Building Automation using the popular KNX system.
Their agenda included refreshing the knowledge already obtained at school, independent practical project planning and commissioning of devices, and finally, a company tour. During the independently conducted training sessions assisted by Mr Großmann (company manager and sales manager at Elsner Elektronik), the theoretical knowledge obtained at school was reinforced, and the students’ questions were answered directly. Two devices by Elsner Elektronik, the Corlo Touch KNX and Cala KNX room controllers, were used to explain the functions and setup options of the KNX software ETS in a practice-oriented way. This software is the basis for setting up automation with KNX. The students could quickly find out on the screen of the device if they had entered all the settings correctly, if all the data were transmitted as desired, and if the partially connected shutters could be operated as needed.
Over the last two years, student groups from Ludwigsburg visited Elsner Elektronik in regular intervals. The students come from different professional focus areas, such as system planners or technicians. Such additional training is informative and important for all of them, as their school and their professors point out. The students themselves enjoy the workshops, because they offer new impressions and hands-on learning.
Company Building as Example for Practice
When taking a tour of the company building with Thomas Elsner (company manager), the participants of the workshop not only got to see the various units of the company, they also saw actual uses of KNX in the building. The offices, for example, are equipped with the Corlo Touch KNX room controllers: exactly the same kind of devices that were previously configured by the students.
The new company building was completed in 2015, becoming a shining example for user-oriented building automation. Its success in this was recognised in 2016 with the SmartHome Deutschland Award in the Best Completed Project category. The goal of involving the employees despite the high energy savings and security level was impressively accomplished. The automation was fully implemented using the KNX bus system, largely with products by Elsner.
