UAT Experience of X10 Installation
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Note on previous UAT with X10: I had a dismal UAT failure when trying to implement an X10 project. It involved X10 PIRs and X10 Bayonett light fittings. I had PIRs at the top and bottom of the stairs, they were set to operate at night only. The idea was, that when you entered the hall the PIR at the bottom of the stairs would detect movement and switch on the light in the hall. If you began to walk up the stairs, the PIR at the stop of the stairs would detect movement and turn on the lighting on the landing. The same principals would work for going down the stairs. What actually happened was less then favourable. The PIRs did not always detect movement. This was a major stumbling block. There were many reports of standing in front of the PIRs and jumping up and down while waving their hands, but no light appeared. FAIL Also, there was about a 2 second delay, as X10 got it's act together to actually switch on a light. If the user was in a hurry, they could make it up the stairs in less then 2 seconds. They could run up the stairs and enter a room before the light came on. FAIL In order to force the UAT of the X10, there were no alternative method of turning on the light. The normal light switches were taped up. FAIL Sometimes the light would come on after 10 seconds or more. FAIL The management (my wife and children) deemed the project a complete failure and requested a rollback to the previous configuration, good old manual switch. The X10 devices were resigned to a plastic storage box, and reserved to be only used for my personal projects. Conclusion: X10 was a great solution but the implementation used was acceptable to the target audiance.
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