Rehau fidding on a “smart garden“ in cooperation with viRaTec

© Rehau/viRaTec

The German plastics processor Rehau has acquired an equity stake in the Viennese startup viRaTec, which developed an intelligent solution for watering control system for gardens.

Together the two firms are working on a vision enabling the trends towards smart homes and the Internet of Things (IOT) to be also applied to gardens.

With its product viRaCube, viRaTec offers an intelligent solution for controlling irrigation systems. The system can be adjusted per app and communicates outside of the house by means of solar-driven sensors which measure soil moisture, temperature and brightness. It combines the measurement data with weather information and calculates whether watering the garden is actually necessary and the extent to which this should take places. Valves on the water taps are controlled by means of algorithms, and irrigate the green areas fully automatically by means of sprinklers or drip tubes.

Garden irrigation is an important cornerstone of the business of the German polymer processing company Rehau, which employs approx. 20,000 people at about 170 locations. Rehau produces hoses, hose trolley as well as valves and fitting. The stake acquired in viRaTec enables Rehau to enter the smart gardening market.