Nordic Semiconductor Bluetooth low energy-powered dual actuator provides wireless remote control and operation of electrically-adjustable beds

Nordic Semiconductor today announces that Danish electric linear actuator system manufacturer, LINAK, has selected Nordic’s multiple award-winning nRF51822 Bluetooth^® low energy (previously known as Bluetooth Smart) System-on-Chip (SoC) for its new TWINDRIVE® TD4 dual actuator, designed for use by manufacturers of electrically-adjustable comfort beds for private homes.

When fitted to either slatted or box spring beds, the TD4 dual actuator allows for automated positional adjustment of the bed’s leg and back rests, controlled remotely via Bluetooth low energy from either one of the company’s Bluetooth remote controls, or from its Bed Control Memory app on iOS- and Android-compatible Bluetooth 4.0 (or later) smartphones and tablets.

The TD4 dual actuator comes in a 723 by 105 by 76mm form factor, and exerts 200Nm and 280Nm of torque when maneuvering a bed’s leg and backrests respectively, up to a 45° angle for leg rests, and a 68° angle for back rests, at a speed of 3.5mm/sec. The mains-powered actuator only consumes 0.1W of electricity in standby mode, and features a built-in LED light to provide under-bed illumination that can be controlled wirelessly from the remote control handset or app. It also offers a mechanical, hex key-operated lowering system in the event of power failure.

The TD4 is compatible with the LINAK HC05, HC10, HB10, and HC20 Bluetooth wireless control handsets, or Bed Control Memory app. As well as providing for Bluetooth low energy wireless control of beds fitted with the TD4 dual actuator, the app also supports four memory positions for automatically adjusting the position of the bed’s leg and back rests to the user’s preferred settings, or can be used by bed manufacturers as the basis for their own customized apps.

Nordic’s nRF51822 is a powerful and flexible multiprotocol SoC ideally suited for Bluetooth low energy and 2.4GHz ultra low-power wireless applications. The nRF51822 is built around a 32-bit ARM® Cortex™ M0 CPU with 256kB/128kB flash and 32kB/16kB RAM. The embedded 2.4GHz transceiver is fully compliant with Bluetooth 4.2, the latest Bluetooth low energy specification. In the TD4 actuator, the nRF51822 SoC provides wireless connectivity between the TD4 and LINAK’s Bluetooth handsets, as well as to iOS- and Android compatible Bluetooth 4.0 (and later) devices such as smartphones and tablets.

“The all-in-one solution of the nRF51822 SoC made it a good shortcut for getting Bluetooth low energy into our products, something we have seen growing demand for in the market,” says Martin R Boesen, Hardware Development Engineer – DESKLINE, HOMELINE at LINAK. “The integrated solution with a 2.4GHz transceiver and ARM Cortex M0 CPU made it possible for us to add Bluetooth low energy as standard for all product variants, while still delivering more than enough CPU power for our motor control and other applications.

“The support from Nordic during development has been very good. We see a growing demand for Bluetooth low energy in our products, and Nordic parts are already working their way into new LINAK products.”