It’s undeniable: 2014 was the year when the electronics industry decidedly and collectively moved forward to push the Internet of Things (IoT). In year 2015 IoT markets will continue to grow. I think we’re going to see some critical mass on corralling the IoT in 2015. IoT is a young market – no one seems to be clearly leading. Communications are the key here. Over the last 10 years the world has done a remarkably good job of connecting the global wireless world. The last decade has radically changed the way we live. The smartphone and its cousin, the tablet, was the final link to ubiquitous wireless coverage, globally. The fantasy of the IoT is quite grand: everything on the planet can be smart and communicate. The idea is both powerful and impractical.
IoT is entering peak of inflated expectations: The Internet of Things is at that stage when the efforts of various companies involved in it, along with research, are proving to have a lot of promise. At this stage, the Internet of Things should not have too many difficulties attracting developers and researchers into the fold. As we turn to 2015 and beyond, however, wearables becomes an explosive hardware design opportunity. Tie the common threads of IoT and wearables together, and an unstoppable market movement emerges. There seems to be a lack of public appreciation of the extent to which the Internet of Things is going to fundamentally change how people interact with the world around them.
On the other hand, the Internet of Things is getting poised to enter the trough of disillusionment, which means that there is more room for failure now. There are issues of security, privacy, and sharing of information across vertical implementations that still need to be worked out. Until they are, the IoT will not be able to fulfill all its promises.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is beginning to grow significantly, as consumers, businesses, and governments recognize the benefit of connecting inert devices to the internet. The ‘Internet of Things’ Will Be The World’s Most Massive Device Market And Save Companies Billions Of Dollars in few years. BI Intelligence expects that the IoT will result in $1.7 trillion in value added to the global economy in 2019. This includes hardware, software, installation costs, management services, and economic value added from realized IoT efficiencies. The main benefit of growth in the IoT will be increased efficiency and lower costs: increased efficiency within the home, city, and workplace. The enterprise sector will lead the IoT, accounting for 46% of device shipments this year, but that share will decline as the government and home sectors gain momentum. I expect that home, government, and enterprise sectors use the IoT differently.
The IoT is only enabled because of two things: the ability of networks to reach countless nodes, and the availability of cost-effective embedded processors to attach to a multitude of devices. The prices for components and devices continues to decline while the skyrocketing global demand for 24/7 Internet access grows exponentially. The Internet of Things growth will benefit mostly from the autonomous machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity that will make up the bulk of the objects of the IoT. This is the main driver for double-digit growth across verticals in the electronics, and especially the semiconductor industry well into the next decade. The IoT will connect places, such as manufacturing platforms, energy grids, health-care facilities, transportation systems, retail outlets, sports and music venues, and countless other entities to the Internet.
Internet of Things can become Engineering for Everyone. The emergence of open-source development platforms, developed and maintained by dedicated volunteers, has effectively raised the level of abstraction to a point where nonexperts can now use these platforms. The availability of open-source software and, more recently, hardware targeting embedded applications means that access to high-quality engineering resources has never been greater. This has effectively raised the level of abstraction to a point where nonexperts can now use these platforms to turn their own abstract concepts into real products. With the potential to launch a successful commercial venture off the back of tinkering with some low-cost hardware in your spare time, it’s no wonder that open-source hardware is fuelling an entirely new movement. A new generation of manufacturer is embracing the open-source ethos and actually allowing customers to modify the product post-sale.
Exact size predictions for IoT market next few years vary greatly, but all of the firms making these predictions agree on one thing—it’s going to be very big.
In year 2014 very many chip vendors and sensor algorithm companies also jumped on the IoT bandwagon, in hopes of laying the groundwork for more useful and cost-effective IoT devices. Sensors, MCUs, and wireless connectivity are three obvious building blocks for IoT end-node devices. Wireless connectivity and software (algorithms) are the two most sought-after technologies. Brimming with excitement, and with Europe already ahead of the pack, a maturing semiconductor industry looks expectantly to the Internet of Things (IoT) for yet another facelift. The IC sales generated by the connectivity and sensor subsystems to enabled this IoT will amount $57.7 billion in 2015.
Chips for IoT market to grow 36% in 2015, says Gartner as automotive V2X, LED lighting and smart domestic objects are set to drive semiconductor market growth through the year 2020, according to market analysis firm Gartner. The move to create billions of smart, autonomously communicating objects known as the Internet of Things (IoT) is driving the need for low-power sensors, processors and communications chips. By 2018, the market value of IoT subsystems in equipment and Internet-connected things is projected to reach $103.6 billion worldwide, which represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.0 percent from $39.8 billion in 2013.
BI Intelligence expects that by 2019 IoT market will be more than double the size of the smartphone, PC, tablet, connected car, and the wearable market combined. A new report by Yole Developpement pegs the market size in the $70 billion range by 2018, with the next five years presenting a golden opportunity for device makers as the IoT enters the growth stage. Device shipments will reach 6.7 billion in 2019 for a five-year CAGR of 61%.
Number of connected devices is expected to to reach 36 billion units by 2020, cautions that “all of this new market opportunity is under threat.” Other estimate according to market research firm Radiant Insights of San Francisco is that the number of Internet connections will grow from 9 billion devices in 2014 to 100 billion by 2020 (twice as many as the estimate from Cisco Systems Inc). IC Insights forecasts that web-connected things will account for 85 percent of 29.5 billion Internet connections worldwide by 2020. Currently fragmented market, the number of cellular M2M connections could rise from 478 million today to 639 million in 2020.
By 2024, the report predicts that overall market value for components will exceed of $400 billion, of which more than 10% will come from hardware alone. Revenue from hardware sales will be only $50 billion or 8% of the total revenue from IoT-specific efforts, as software makers and infrastructure companies will earn the lion’s share. As the Internet of Things grows to a projected 212 billion items by 2020, the question of regulation looms increasingly large.
The growth of the IoT will present some very interesting issues in a variety of areas. You will see some very fast activity because unless it gets resolved there will be no IoT as it is envisioned.
General consensus is that the interconnect protocol of the IoT will be IP (Internet Protocol). As it stands today, the deployment of the billions of IoT objects can’t happen, simply because there just aren’t enough IP addresses with IPv4. While there is still some discussion about how to connect the IoT, most are in agreement that the IoT protocol will be IPv6. The first step will be to convert all proprietary networks to an IP-base. Then, the implementation of IPv6 can begin. Because direct interoperability between IPv4 and iPv6 protocols is not possible, this will add some some complications to the development, resulting in a bit of obfuscation to the transition for IPv6.
Is There Any Way to Avoid Standards Wars in the Emerging Internet of Things? I don’t see that possible. IoT will be in serious protocol war in 2015. There is a wide selection of protocols, but no clear set of winners at the moment. The real IoT standardization is just starting – There are currently few standards (or regulations) for what is needed to run an IoT device. There is no single standard for connecting devices on the Internet of Thing, instead are a handful of competing standards run by different coalitions of companies: The Thread Group (Qualcomm, The Linux Foundation, Microsoft, Panasonic), The Industrial Internet Consortium (Intel, Cisco, AT&T, IBM, Microsoft), Open Interconnect Consortium (Samsung, Intel, Dell), Physical Web (Google), AllSeen Alliance (Samsung, Intel, Dell) and huge number of smaller non-standardized protocols in use. Each of the standards vary how they do things.
Anyone who tries to build a physical layer and drive a software stack based on it all the way up to the application layer is a fool. But many companies try to do it this year. Today Zigbee is the most cost effective, but tomorrow WiFi will figure it out. On networking field in every few years there’s a new management protocol – what will happen in IoT, it will keep moving, and people will need open APIs.
Currently the IoT lacks a common set of standards and technologies that would allow for compatibility and ease-of-use. The IoT needs a set of open APIs and protocols that work with a variety of physical-layer networks. The IP and network layer should have nothing to do with the media. The fundamental issue here is that at the moment the Internet of Things will not have a standard set of open APIs for consumers. IoT, it will keep moving, and people will need open APIs. I suspect that at some point, after the first wave of the Internet of Things, open APIs and root access will become a selling point.
It is not just technical protocol details that are problem: One problem with IoT is that it is a vague definition. Do we simply mean ‘connected devices? Or something else? One of the main issues, which will only get worse as the IoT evolves, is how are we going to categorize all the different objects.
Early in 2015, the Industrial Internet Consortium plans to wrap up work on a broad reference architecture for the Internet of Things, ramp up three test beds, and start identifying gaps where new standards may be needed. The group, formed by AT&T, Cisco, GE, IBM, and Intel, now has about 115 members and aims to make it easier to build commercial IoT systems. The IIC hopes to finish a first draft of its reference architecture by the end of January and have it ratified by March. It will define functional areas and the technologies and standards for them, from sensors to data analytics and business applications. The framework includes versions for vertical markets including aerospace, healthcare, manufacturing, smart cities, and transportation. A breakout section on security also is in the works. Hopefully the reference architecture could be used to help people construct industrial IoT systems quickly and easily.
With the emergence of the Internet of Things, smart cars are beginning to garner more attention. Smart cars are different than connected cars, which are simply smartphones on wheels. Even though the technology has been on the evolutionary fast track, integration has been slow. For car manufacturers, it is a little tricky to accept driverless cars because it disrupts their fundamental business model: Private resources will evolve to shared resources, centrally controlled, since autonomous vehicles can be controlled remotely.
Over the next few years, we’ll see a torrent of new devices emerge that are connected to the Internet and each other through a wide range of different wireless networking protocols. As a result, there’s a race on, not just to get those devices connected, but also to provide the network infrastructure necessary to managing all of them at scale. WiFi, Bluetooth, and cellular networks are nowadays widely used, nut new alternatives are coming to solve applications were those technologies are not most suitable. There are different plans for wide area wireless networks that use licensed or unlicensed wireless bandwidth to transmit small amounts of data from various connected device – this could create its own connection to them in a cost effective manner without relying on existing cellular or WiFi networks.
Recently we have developed a pressing need, or desire to put our refrigerators, and everything we have access to while mobile, on the net, morphing the brave new world of the Internet of Things, into the Internet of Everything (IoE). And that will make that last 100 meters—that final frontier of interconnect—a reality. Today, only about 10% of the last 100 meter devices that will make up the IoT are connected. As the IoT evolves, other small cells such as businesses, city centers, malls, theaters, stadiums, event centers, and the like, will connect much of what they have on premise (soda or popcorn machines, vending machines, restaurants, parking garages, ticket kiosks, seat assignments, and a very long list of others). And, there are a very large number of devices that are short-range in all of these various cells. What was once the last mile for connectivity is now the last 100 meters.
Plenty of people and companies in the technology world tend to come at the Internet of Things by dwelling on the “Internet.” But what if, instead, we started with the “Things?” Knowing intimately what “things” are supposed to do and how they think and behave will be the key to solving one of the IoT’s most pressing issues: application layers. Over the past 18 months, the industry has launched numerous consortia, from Qualcomm’s AllSeen and Intel’s Open Interconnect Consortium to Apple’s HomeKit and Google’s Thread. Every entity says it’s targeting the “interoperability” of things at home, but each is obviously concentrating primarily on its own interests, and making their “layer” specifications slightly different from those pursued by others.
It seems that no industry consortium is particularly interested in defining — in gory detail — the specific functions of, say, what a door lock is supposed to do. The library of commands for each function already exists, but someone, or some group, has to translate those already determined commands into an IP-friendly format. One of the standards organizations will take up the challenge in 2015. This will be the first step to “knock barriers down for IoT” in 2015.
Missing today in the IoT are reliability and robustness. Consumers expect their light switched and other gadgets to be infinitely reliable. In many today’s products we seem to be far from reliable and robust operation. Today’s routers can relay traffic between networks, but they have no idea how to translate what functions each device attached to them wants to do, and how to communicate that to other devices. The network needs to be able to discover who else is on the network. Devices connected to network need to be able to discover what resources are available and what new devices are being added. The network needs to be extensible.
Despite the oft-mocked naming scheme, the Internet of Things (IoT) has an incredibly practical goal: connecting classically “dumb” objects—toasters, doorknobs, light switches—to the Internet, thereby unlocking a world of potential. Imagine what it means to interact with your home the same way you would a website, accessing it without geographic restriction. But there is one missing piece of the smart home revolution: smart home operating system. So what will be the system that capitalizes on the smart home in the same way, the enabler of all the applications and actions we want our homes to run and do? There are no ready answers for that yet. And there might not be a singular, cohesive operating system for your home, that this stuff isn’t one-size-fits-all. It might be that the real potential for home automation lies not in local software running on a home device but in the cloud. I think that the cloud is going to be more important over time, but there will always be also need for some local functionality in case the connection to cloud is lost. Right now the Internet of Things is rather disjointed compared to Internet and computers.
When everything will be connected, how about security? In the path to IoT, the issue of data and device security looms large. Security for the ‘Internet of Things’ will be talked about very much in 2015 for a good reason. As Internet of Thigs becomes more and more used, it will be more hacked. Thus security of Internet of Things will be more and more talked about. Virtually anything connected to the Internet has the potential of being hacked, no matter how unlikely. Internet of Things devices often lack systematic protections against viruses or spam. Nowadays most security breaches are software-based, when an application can be compromised. Counter-measures for such attacks range from basic antivirus scanning software, to embedded hypervisors to hardware-bound secure applications tying their execution to uniquely identifiable hardware. There is emerging customer demand for silicon authentication. But the threats extend way beyond software and some hackers will put a lot of effort into compromising a system’s security at silicon-level. Individual devices can get hacked, but all systems should have some way of self-checking and redundancy. Those IoT systems can be very complex at device and system level. The problem with complexity is that you create more attack points and make it easier for hackers to find flaws.
Experts recommend far more layers of cyberprotection than manufacturers have thought necessary. Because many of the devices will often be practically inaccessible, the “patch and pray” strategy used for many desktop software packages is unlikely to be an effective strategy for many forms of IoT devices. Right now, there are hundreds of companies churning out “Internet of Things” (IoT) devices as fast as they can, without thinking too much on the security issues they can cause in the future. The imperative is clear: Do your homework on the specific security features of any IoT device you might consider bringing into the home. What steps are IoT companies taking to keep us safe from others online, and what constitutes a truly “safe” smart appliance?
What we’re opening up is a whole new subject not just of security but of safety. That safety depends on devices to be constantly connected to the Internet the same way they’re connected to the power grid. That’s a whole new area that deserves its own consideration. Keep in mind that IoT is one field where cyber security flaws can kill in the worst case. Connecting unrelated devices in the IoT means many more pieces now affect reliability and security. More devices are now considered critical, such as a connected baby monitor or a smart smoke detector, because wrong information can injure or kill people. The Internet of Things is coming no matter what happens. The people in charge of keeping the public safe and the industry healthy need to be ready.
The European Police Office (Europol) said governments are ill-equipped to counter the menace of “injury and possible deaths” spurred by hacking attacks on critical safety equipment. There are many potential dangers are in transportation: many new cars are Internet connected and potentially vulnerable, SCADA Systems in Railways Vulnerable to Attack and Airline bosses ignore cyber security concerns at their peril. With industrial control systems becoming network-connected, security risks rise and will need a long-term solution. In light of the trend toward the Industrial Internet of Things, development teams must start thinking hard about network security and planning for its long-term viability.
You have to accept the fact that at each point in the IoT there are vulnerabilities to malicious attacks and interception of vital information. Soon, almost every network will soon have some IoT-hacking in it. IDC predicts that in two years from 90 per cent of the global IT networks have met IoT data theft. In a report, cybersecurity firm Fortinet expects greater threats from “denial of service attacks on assembly line, factory, industrial control systems, and healthcare and building management…resulting in revenue losses and reputation damages for organizations globally.” This opens new doors of risks in the areas of corporate extortion, altering of corporate business operations, and the extension of cyberattacks to include physical threats of harm to civilians.
There are lessons to be learned to keep the cyber security in control in the IoT era. There will be lessons to be learned for all the parties of the IoT ecosystem. The companies that figure out how to make security available on multi-stakeholder platforms will be the most successful ones. Figuring out a secure platform is important, but having different levels of security is still important. Different uses have different bars. Security is a self-regulating system to some extent because it is supply and demand. That is the Holy Grail for technology right now, which is how to build systems with enough security—not 100% protection right now—from a unified platform point of view for multiple applications.
The data generated by the Internet of Things has the potential to reveal far more about users than any technology in history: These devices can make our lives much easier … The Internet of Things however, can also reveal intimate details about the doings and goings of their owners through the sensors they contain. As the Internet of Things grows to a projected 212 billion items by 2020, the question of regulation looms increasingly large. There is a lot of effort is going today at the government level. They’re not thinking about whether the Internet goes down. They’re worried about what happens if the Internet gets compromised.
When we have devices on the field, there is question how to analyze the data coming from them. This is easily a “big data” problem because of the huge amount of data that comes from very large number of sensors. Being able to monitor and use the data that comes from the Internet of Things is a huge potential challenge with different providers using different architectures and approaches, and different chip and equipment vendors teaming up in a range of different ways. Many large and smaller companies are active on the field: Intel, IBM, Lantronix+Google, Microchip+Amazon, Freescale+Oracle, Xively, Jasper, Keen.io, Eurotech, and many other.
The huge increase of data is coming. Radiant predicts that wireless sensor networks will be used to monitor and control very many domestic, urban, and industrial systems. This promises to produce an explosion of data, much of which will be discarded as users are overwhelmed by the volume. As a result, analysis of the data within the wireless sensor network will become necessary so that alerts and meaningful information are generated at the leaf nodes. This year has seen the software at the very highest point in the Internet of Things stack — analytics — becoming tightly coupled with the embedded devices at the edge of the network, leading to many different approaches and providers.
Integrating data from one IoT cloud to another will have it’s challenges. Automation services make big steps by cutting corners. Sites like IFTTT, Zapier, bip.io, CloudWork, and elastic.io allow users to connect applications with links that go beyond a simple synch. Check what is happening with integration and related services like IFTTT, ItDuzzit, Amazon Lambda. For example IFTTT is quietly becoming a smart home powerhouse.
Most important sources of information for this article:
With $16M In Funding, Helium Wants To Provide The Connective Tissue For The Internet Of Things
IFTTT, other automation services make big steps by cutting corners
Internet of Things: Engineering for Everyone
IoT in Protocol War, Says Startup – Zigbee fortunes dim in building control
Analysts Predict CES Hotspots – Corralling the Internet of Things
What’s Holding Back The IoT – Device market opportunities will explode, but only after some fundamental changes
Apps Layer: ’800lb Gorilla’ in IoT Nobody Talks About
Analysts Predict CES Hotspots – IoT, robots, 4K to dominate CES
10 Reasons Why Analytics Are Vital to the Internet of Things
Tech More: Mobile Internet of Things BI Intelligence Consumer Electronics – Most Massive Device Market
Wearables make hardware the new software
Zigbee Opens Umbrella 3.0 Spec
IoT Will Give ‘Embedded’ a Shot in the Arm - Connected cities to be largest IoT market
Chips for IoT market to grow 36% in 2015, says Gartner
Apps Layer: ’800lb Gorilla’ in IoT Nobody Talks About
Short-Range, Low-Power Sensors – once the last mile for connectivity is now the last 100 meters
The one problem the Internet of Things hasn’t solved
Plan Long Term for Industrial Internet Security
To Foil Cyberattacks, Connected Cars Need Overlapping Shields
IoT cybersecurity: is EDA ready to deliver?
More Things Are Critical Systems
Silicon, Security, and the Internet of Things
The missing piece of the smart home revolution
Hackers will soon be targeting your refrigerator
10 Reasons Why Analytics Are Vital to the Internet of Things
1,316 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: A Portable Environmental Monitor
http://hackaday.com/2015/07/18/hackaday-prize-entry-a-portable-environmental-monitor/
There are a lot of environmental monitors in the running for this year’s Hackaday Prize. Whether they’re soil moisture sensors for gardens or ultraviolet sensors for the beach, the entrants for The Hackaday Prize seem to grasp the inevitable truth that you need information about the environment before doing anything about the environment.
This project is a continuation of [radu]’s entry for The Hackaday Prize last year, the Global Radiation Monitoring Network. This was more than just a Geiger tube connected to the Internet; [radu] has a global network of Geiger counters displaying counts per minute on a nifty live map.
Global radiation monitoring network
The uRADMonitor is a plug-and-play, low power, self contained radiation monitoring device, connected to a centralised server component.
https://hackaday.io/project/1662-global-radiation-monitoring-network
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Internet of Things: Architecture and Protocols
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co2MLqkJVXs
Microsoft IoT Platform: Architecture Overview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6lYuUJ1mO4
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intelligent light bulbs sold this year to 46 million units. The market is, however, leaving only growth, as in 2020 smart lamp are already sold 2.54 billion, predicts Gartner.
According to Gartner, last year smart lighting was installed 28-46000000 per square meter of retail space and shopping centers. This year, new smart light space will double that amount.
Research by älylampuilla can shrink the energy consumption for lighting by up to 90 per cent. However, the mere replacement of incandescent light bulbs and fluorescent tubes with LEDs is not enough.
In addition to the LED lamps need for a comprehensive sensor network, which is controlled lights and lighting to the need is sensed. This requires an intelligent network, in which sensor data is analyzed continuously.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3090:alyvalo-leikkaa-energiakustannuksia-90-prosenttia&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Aaron Tilley / Forbes:
Apple’s strict Bluetooth LE encryption requirements result in long lag times, slowing the rollout of some HomeKit devices
Apple’s HomeKit Is Proving To Be Too Demanding For Bluetooth Smart Home Devices
http://www.forbes.com/sites/aarontilley/2015/07/21/whats-the-hold-up-for-apples-homekit/
It’s been more than a year since Apple AAPL -4.26% announced HomeKit, its system for connecting smart home devices through iOS. And as with all things Apple, expectations are high. Maybe too high.
So far, only five companies have launched HomeKit-certified smart home devices. What’s the hold up? Apple has thrown a plethora of challenges at hardware makers, and some developers say one of the biggest is complying with Apple’s strict security requirements on Bluetooth low energy devices.
Apple allows for either WiFi or Bluetooth low energy (LE)-enabled devices to get certified as a HomeKit accessory. Apple is requiring device makers using both WiFi and Bluetooth LE to use complicated encryption with 3072-bit keys, as well as the super secure Curve25519, which is an elliptic curve used for digital signatures and exchanging encrypted keys.
“These security protocols are bleeding edge,” said Diogo Monica, a security lead at Docker and an IEEE security expert.
WiFi-enabled devices can handle these security requirements, but it seems devices running over Bluetooth LE are having some issues. The intensive processing demands for generating and sending these security keys is what’s likely causing these lag times, said Monica.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Another IoT Platform in the (Blue)Mix
http://hackaday.com/2015/07/23/another-iot-platform-in-the-bluemix/
Many major companies (Intel, Oracle, Atmel, and IBM, for example) are competing to be the standard interconnect fabric for the Internet of Things. As a developer, it is hard to cut through the marketing hype and decide which platform is the best for you and your application. Luckily, there’s a plethora of projects on the web that showcase these frameworks. These project sites are an easy way to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of IoT frameworks in practical applications without having to develop prototypes yourself.
[diyhacking], for example, posted a demo of using IBM’s Bluemix along with a Raspberry Pi, to do some simple home automation tasks. The project hardware is modest, using a PIR motion sensor and a relay to control an AC load. However, that’s good because it lets you focus on the Bluemix tools. The example client and server software is less than 200 lines of Python.
Bluemix looks like it has good integration with the Raspberry Pi and features a simulator so you can work without real hardware for development.
IoT based Raspberry Pi home automation using IBM Bluemix
http://diyhacking.com/raspberry-pi-home-automation-ibm-bluemix/
Tomi Engdahl says:
A guide to IBM Bluemix resiliency and security
http://archive.thoughtsoncloud.com/2015/02/guide-ibm-bluemix-resiliency-security/
IBM Bluemix is suitable for high performance, high input/output (I/O), high availability or latency-sensitive production applications, as well as development and test deployments. This is due to the IBM Bluemix configuration of Cloud Foundry within its data centers and the underlying strength of the IBM SoftLayer cloud infrastructure platform.
IBM Bluemix is able to exploit IBM SoftLayer’s triple network, which isolates public Internet, private application traffic and infrastructure management traffic.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samantha Murphy Kelly / Mashable:
Apple yanks Google’s Nest smart thermostat from website and retail stores — You can no longer purchase Google’s popular smart thermostat on Apple’s online store or at its retail locations. — Apple confirmed to Mashable it has pulled the web-connected product
Apple yanks Google’s Nest smart thermostat from website and retail stores
http://mashable.com/2015/07/23/apple-pulls-nest-thermostat-from-stores/
You can no longer purchase Google’s popular smart thermostat on Apple’s online store or at its retail locations.
Apple confirmed to Mashable it has pulled the web-connected product — considered the first mainstream smart home product — from its shelves and website. The move comes as the first batch of smart home products that work on Apple’s HomeKit platform become available for purchase.
Considering Google recently announced a competing platform called Brillo, it’s unlikely Nest will become HomeKit compatible anytime soon
Tomi Engdahl says:
ESPLux – Smarts for your downlights
https://hackaday.io/project/4731-esplux-smarts-for-your-downlights
A circuit you can place inline with your existing low voltage lights to allow for wireless control
Have you ever wished you could give some smarts to your existing low voltage lighting? I have, and I have yet to find a decent solution I can put in line with my existing light fixtures. This is where ESPLux comes in. Simply disconnect your existing low voltage light, plug the transformer into the ESPLux box, and plug the light into the ESPLux. The ESPLux will come up as a wifi access point where you can configure and control the light.
The Solution
Every man and his dog is playing around with these ESP8266 boards. I thought that I would get my hands on a couple to try as well. I figured that they would be the perfect platform to build my solution on.
Most low voltage lights work between 12v and 24v from what I have seen, with the exception of a few high end LED lights I have found
Initially I was looking at using a triac for switching, considering most downlight transformers are 12VAC. I then figured LEDs like DC much better than AC, so ideally I should rectify the AC input into a PWM’d DC out. This also means you can throw a DC input on with no issues. Also, I believe that using PWM to dim an LED is a better idea than chopping an AC signal with a triac.
Alone, one of these units is pretty useless. It really needs to be integrated within a larger system. At this point in time, I am looking at using OpenHAB. It looks neat, and integrates with a bunch of other stuff I have floating around the house. This will allow me to set up geofencing, or turning the lights on and off based on other triggers.
In the first instance, my plan is to limit the unit to about 30 watts. This copes with most LED’s that I have found, but rules out using most incandescent globes
Tomi Engdahl says:
Control Nest Devices with Amazon Echo
http://hackaday.com/2015/07/25/control-nest-devices-with-amazon-echo/
How to Make Amazon Echo Control Fake WeMo Devices
http://hackaday.com/2015/07/16/how-to-make-amazon-echo-control-fake-wemo-devices/
Tomi Engdahl says:
amazon-echo-ha-bridge
https://github.com/armzilla/amazon-echo-ha-bridge
emulates philips hue api to other home automation gateways. The Amazon echo now supports wemo and philip hue… great news if you own any of those devices!
After this Tell Alexa: “Alexa, discover my devices”
Then you can say “Alexa, Turn on the office light” or whatever name you have given your configured devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Alarm Notifies the Office When the Coffee is Ready
http://hackaday.com/2015/07/24/alarm-notifies-the-office-when-the-coffee-is-ready/
[Stian] thought it would be nice if his coworkers could be electronically notified when the latest batch of coffee is ready. He ended up building an inexpensive coffee alarm system to do exactly that. When the coffee is done, the brewer can press a giant button to notify the rest of the office that it’s time for a cuppa joe.
This momentary push button supplies power to a ESP8266 microcontroller using a soft latch power switch. When the momentary switch is pressed, it supplies power to the latch. The latch then powers up the main circuit and continues supplying power even when the push button is released. The reason for this power trickery is to conserve power from the 18650 li-on battery.
The core functionality of the alarm uses a combination of physical hardware and two cloud-based services. The ESP8266 was chosen because it includes a built-in WiFi chip and it only costs five dollars.
When the button is pressed, it sends an HTTP request to a custom clojure app running on a cloud service called Heroku. The clojure app then stores brewing information in a database and sends a notification to the Slack cloud service. Slack is a sort of project management app that allows multiple users to work on projects and communicate easier over the internet.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tom Maxwell / 9to5Google:
Chrome 44 for iOS brings beacon-powered Physical Web closer to reality, new gestures
http://9to5google.com/2015/07/22/chrome-44-ios-beacon-powered-physical-web/
The Physical Web is an open source web specification from Google released last year with the aim to make interacting with smart devices in the real world as easy as clicking a link, just as we do on the web. Now with the company having released its Eddystone beacon technology and APIs for making this communication between devices in the same proximity easier, it’s integrating Physical Web directly into Chrome for iOS.
The latest version of Chrome for iOS, version 44 available now in the App Store, brings Physical Web content to the “Today” view.
What this means for Physical Web is better visibility and increased potential for adoption. While beacons have yet to heavily saturate the world, they face a chicken and egg problem: without a way for end-users to actually receive information from devices they pass by in the physical world, developers and manufacturers don’t have the same kind of incentive to design, manufacturer, and sell, and invest in beacons, and vice-versa. Physical Web, though, takes advantage of Eddystone-URL, a language that Google’s Eddystone beacon technology can send information to end-user devices in. Now that the company has a full end-to-end beacon solution – the beacon software that device manufacturers can use in their beacon hardware, as well as deeper integration into end-user devices – it will be possible for web developers to get more native-like proximity functionality out of their apps.7
Google unveils The Physical Web project, ‘an open web spec to walk up and use anything’
http://9to5google.com/2014/10/02/google-wants-to-put-a-web-address-on-everything-in-the-physical-world/
The Physical Web is an approach to unleash the core super power of the web: interaction on demand. People should be able to walk up to any smart device: e.g. a vending machine, a poster, a toy, a bus stop, a rental car, and not have to download an app first in order to use it. The user experience of using smart devices should be much like we use links on web, just tap and use.
You might think the experience pictured above looks a lot like a native app experience, but the spec’s introduction notes that outside of that early prototype the feature would ideally be built right into the operating system. For now it’s experimenting with apps for both iOS and Android.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mariella Moon / Engadget:
Developer preview of Amazon’s Alexa Voice Service now available, allowing manufacturers and hobbyists to integrate Alexa tech into their own devices — Amazon lets anyone put Alexa voice control in their devices — Amazon released the Alexa Appkit last month
Amazon lets anyone put Alexa voice control in their devices
http://www.engadget.com/2015/08/02/amazon-alexa-developer-preview/
Amazon released the Alexa Appkit last month in hopes that developers will create cool new features for the voice technology that powers the Echo. This time, the e-commerce giant is offering the Alexa Voice Service (AVS) itself as a developer preview, which both hobbyists and legit hardware manufacturers can integrate into their own connected devices. The best part is the company’s allowing the use of its technology for free. “By adding Alexa to your device, your users can request and receive information in the same way they would from an Amazon Echo,” the company’s Getting Started Guide reads. That means devices loaded with Alexa will also be able to answer questions about the weather and look up stuff or the traffic conditions online.
We doubt an Alexa-powered internet-connected gadget other than the Echo will pop up for sale soon, since this is just a developer preview and all, but we’ll keep an eye out for you all.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon Echo Orders the Roku About
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/01/amazon-echo-orders-the-roku-about/
You can add the Roku media player to the list of devices that can be bossed about by the Amazon Echo and its built-in AI: Alexa. [Julian Hartline] has figured out how to use Amazon’s voice-controlled Echo device with a Roku media player. He did this by using the Alexa Skills Kit, the SDK that provides a programmer’s interface into the functions of the device. That allows you to add functions to the Alexa and the AWS Lambda cloud service that processes the voice commands (Amazon calls this an Alexa Skill).
Rather than have the cloud service talk directly to the Roku, though, he decided to have a local node.js server act as an intermediary. The Alexa sends the voice command to the AWS Lambda service, which processes it, sends the command to the node.js service, which finally sends the command to the Roku. It works, but it seems a little slow to respond: see the video after the break. In the example shown, Alexa actually causes the Roku to launch Netflix and input a search string for the requested show. Pretty slick!
Controlling your Roku with a voice interface (via Amazon Echo)
http://reflowster.com/blog/2015/07/21/rokuvoicecontrol.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: The Internet of Plants
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/02/hackaday-prize-entry-the-internet-of-plants/
Clouden, a system of irrigation that only waters yards and parks when the plants need it. This is apparently a novel concept for Southern California, and is most certainly something that matters.
The Clouden system has two parts. The first is a node with an array of soil water sensors and a Particle WiFi module. This node connects to the controller which alters watering schedules in response to actual conditions and predicted rainfall from the WeatherUnderground API.
There’s more to just listening to sensors – the Clouden controller also has the hardware to control 24VAC water valves and a web interface for scheduling irrigation times.
Clouden
https://hackaday.io/project/4698-clouden
Fully automated solution for monitoring and controlling irrigation and watering systems for optimized usage of water resources.
Currently, most automated irrigation systems operate in an open-loop fashion, controlling watering schedules based on timers that are manually ‘programmed’ to account for the different calendar seasons–a technology developed in the 60s. Because of the overwhelming amount of evidence showcasing the severeness of the drought in California, the state where more than a third of the US’ vegetables and two-thirds of its fruits and nuts are produced, there’s been a concerted effort to make these systems smarter.
Over the past few years, a new breed of automated irrigation systems have been developed to include internet connectivity. The access to the worldwide web allows the controllers to query online APIs (e.g,. http://www.wunderground.com/weather/api) to determine the probability of rain at its current location. It also allows users to set or override watering schedules remotely from any connected device. Although an improvement over the non-connected systems, this solution lacks physical measurements to corroborate the online data.
In this project, we describe the construction of a data-driven irrigation system comprised by two sub-systems. One, the Clouden Box, is a web-capable irrigation controller where the watering schedules are set and the valves are electronically opened or closed using custom electronic circuitry. The second, the Clouden Node, is a solar-powered, weatherproof array of sensors that measure weather and soil health conditions of the zones controlled by the Clouden Box. These sensor arrays communicate in real-time different environmental parameters to the controller wirelessly using Bluetooth Low Energy.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Open Hybrid Gives you the Knobs and Buttons to your Digital Kingdom
http://hackaday.com/2015/07/30/open-hybrid-gives-you-the-knobs-and-buttons-to-your-digital-kingdom/
With a sweeping wave of complexity that comes with using your new appliance tech, it’s easy to start grumbling over having to pull your phone out every time you want to turn the kitchen lights on. [Valentin] realized that our new interfaces aren’t making our lives much simpler, and both he and the folks at MIT Media Labs have developed a solution.
Open Hybrid takes the interface out of the phone app and superimposes it directly onto the items we want to operate in real life. The Open Hybrid Interface is viewed through the lense of a tablet or smart mobile device. With a real time video stream, an interactive set of knobs and buttons superimpose themselves on the objects they control. In one example, holding a tablet up to a light brings up a color palette for color control.
Open Hybrid is an Open Source Augmented Reality Platform
for Physical Computing and Internet of Things. It is based on Web and Arduino.
http://openhybrid.org/
Tomi Engdahl says:
LightBlue Bean+ adds Battery, Connectors, Price
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/05/lightblue-bean-adds-battery-connectors-price/
PunchThrough, creators of the LightBlue Bean, have just launch a Kickstarter for a new version called LightBlue Bean+. The tagline for the hardware is “A Bluetooth Arduino for the Mobile Age” which confirms that the hardware is targeted at a no-hassle, get it connected right now sort of application.
For those unfamiliar, the original LightBlue Bean is a single board offering meant to marry Bluetooth connectivity (think Cellphones with BTLE) to the capabilities of a microcontroller-based hardware interface. The Bean+ augments this hardware with a 300m+ range increase, an integrated LiPo (600mAh or more), and headers/connectors
On the software side of things the Bean+ has four firmware options that make it speak MIDI, ANCS, HID, or Peer-to-Peer, only not all at the same time.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1966384672/a-bluetooth-arduino-for-the-mobile-age-lightblue-b
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: 20,000 Weather Stations
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/04/hackaday-prize-entry-20000-weather-stations/
Team Tahmo has a plan to put a network of 20,000 weather stations across sub-Saharan Africa. That’s an impressive goal, and already they have pilot stations in Senegal, Chad, Nigeria, Uganda, and South Africa. For their Hackaday Prize entry, they thought it would make sense to add more advanced sensors to their weather stations, and came up with GPS, lightning, and large scale soil moisture sensors.
Team TAHMO
Develop robust and affordable advanced sensing capability for 20,000 weather stations in Africa (lightning, precip water, …)
https://hackaday.io/project/5842-team-tahmo
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon’s AI Escapes its Hardware Prison
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/04/amazons-ai-escapes-its-hardware-prison/
It’s the 21st century, and we’re still a long way from the voice-controlled computers we were all promised in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. The state of voice interaction has improved, though, and Amazon’s release of the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) is another sure step towards a future of computers that will pay attention to you. This allows any hardware to become Alexa, your personal voice assistant with the ability to do just about anything you command.
amazon_echoUp to this point, Alexa was locked away inside the Amazon Echo, the ‘smart’ cylinder that sits in your living room and does most of what you tell it to do. Since the Amazon Echo was released, we’ve seen the Echo and the Alexa SDK used for turning lights on and off, controlling a Nest thermostat, and other home automation tasks. It’s not Google Now, Microsoft’s Cortana, or Apple’s Siri that is behind all these builds; it’s Amazon’s Alexa that is bringing us into a world where Star Trek’s [Scotty] talking into an old Mac is seen as normal.
Right now, the Getting Started guide for the Alexa Skills Kit is focused more on web services than turning lights on and air conditioning off.
We hope this changes the home automation game in a couple of different ways. First, the ASK processes everything in the cloud so very low power devices are now ready for some seriously cool voice interaction. Second, Amazon’s move to open up what you can do with the software backend means a community developing for the hardware could eventually exert pressure on Amazon to do things like making the system more open and transparent.
Tomi Engdahl says:
$49 Arduino-compatible board features enhanced Cortex M7 MCU
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/electronic-product-reviews/other/4439834/-49-Arduino-compatible-board-features-enhanced-Cortex-M7-MCU–touch-screen-LCD–audio–and-more?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_review_20150710&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_review_20150710&elq=949a37222c604ad19afcbca6b670bbf9&elqCampaignId=23866&elqaid=26959&elqat=1&elqTrackId=ea406c01e08c44c391396af524794143
STMicro’s Arduino-compatible STM32F7 Discovery Kit is an exciting development for DIY-ers interested in Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications. Although intended primarily for “mainstream” embedded developers, the board and associated development tools make it easy and affordable for the Maker/DIY-er crowd to get their hands on the STM32F7*, STM’s the latest and highest-performing Cortex-M7 core. Developers involved with Connected Lighting and other Smart Home/Smart Building applications will also find this a great way to see if STM’s most IoT-capable MCU is a candidate for their next project.
The STM32F7 Discovery Kit comes with ST’s STM32Cube firmware library, as well as direct support from a wide ecosystem of software-development tool partners and the ARM® mbed™ online community. The development tools work seamlessly with the Discovery Board’s integrated ST-Link debugger/programmer (no need for a separate probe).
32F746GDISCOVERY
Discovery kit with STM32F746NG MCU
http://www.st.com/web/en/catalog/tools/FM116/SC959/SS1532/LN1848/PF261641?icmp=pf261641_pron_pr-massmarket_jun2015&sc=stm32f7discovery-pr
Tomi Engdahl says:
What’s next for wearables?
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/eye-on-iot-/4439993/What-s-next-for-wearables-?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150727&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150727&elq=3c24108b6de6468599638582143f1dcc&elqCampaignId=24100&elqaid=27223&elqat=1&elqTrackId=d10cd98fed1146debb0712f84d09a9ed
By 2016, it’s estimated that one in three people will own a smartphone. There is an ever-increasing demand for smaller, more power-efficient connected devices that is bringing about a revolution similar to one that so dramatically changed human understanding hundreds of years ago, when microscopes and telescopes were invented. They extended our limited natural senses and enabled pathways of discovery into our world and ourselves that are still being explored today with no signs of dwindling.
Just as these devices increased our vision and understanding, the accelerating development of wearables is extending the senses available to our smartphones, and in turn informing us, in unprecedented detail, about the world – and bodies – we live in. According to analyst IHS, in 2019 an estimated 230 million wearable units will be manufactured, creating a richness of data about our surroundings, our habits and our health that we can harvest for remarkable and empowering insights that have never before been available to us. This creates not just a ‘digital self’, but a whole new dimension of information at our fingertips.
The first generation of wearables carried just a few sensors – accelerometers and heart-rate monitors, primarily aimed at the fitness market – but the increasing miniaturization and sophistication of sensor technology will give the next generation of devices far more input: sensors for air humidity and pressure, spectrographs for blood oxygen and glucose levels, pH sensors for mineral and hydration levels, and microphones whose inputs can be used to place us in certain contexts – on an airplane, in traffic, in bed asleep. Coupled with GPS and other location-aware inputs, we can then derive even higher-level information, such as stress levels, calories burned on particular routes, and other health signifiers – all without having to enter any information by hand anywhere, or ask any explicit questions.
By choosing to share this information – securely, of course – with our medical service providers, and their own analytical machinery, we can enjoy another level of confidence that our health will be under our own control. So-called “stage zero medicine” will allow us to alter our behavior immediately, steering away from bad habits and helping to catch any worrying symptoms before they can escalate, hugely increasing the success of such timely treatment. And it’s not just our personal health and lifestyles that will benefit from this technology – the global population as a whole can share in it, whether they’re wearable owners or not.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microlocation in IoT can save time, money, and lives
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/eye-on-iot-/4440034/Microlocation-in-IoT-can-save-time–money–and-lives
It’s common to think of an Internet of Things (IoT) device as an intelligent something that monitors its environment or another system’s operation or serves as a control device that has remote access and reporting capability. But devices can be much simpler not even needing network connectivity, yet they can still be part of the IoT. Microlocation devices, reporting only their identity and position, can turn any object into an IoT “thing” that offers profound benefits to its owner.
Most everyone is now familiar with location technology based on the Global Positioning System (GPS), used in open spaces worldwide. Microlocation technology, on the other hand, operates in more confined environments, such as within buildings or specific plots of land, providing positioning accuracy on the order of centimeters rather than the meters of GPS. Microlocation is less about where you are in the world and more about where you are relative to other nearby things.
At the Embedded Systems Conference in Silicon Valley I encountered two different microlocation technologies using vastly different approaches. One, from Impinj (our ACE Award winner for IoT Product of the Year), is based on RFID technology. The other, from Decawave, is based on UWB radio. But both can support many potential applications as part of an IoT device.
The Impinj approach is a second-generation extension of the RFID technology most often associated with retail product scanning applications. The extensions, however, allow Impinj to scan for thousands of IDs in an area up to 1500 m2 per gateway unit, determining their location as well. These extensions allow the tagged objects to become self-powered IoT devices, continually reporting their identity and location in response to queries from the gateway. The gateways then can the use cloud services to track the movement of these objects for such diverse purposes as inventory management, production flow monitoring, and even the evaluation of retail product appeal by matching movement off the shelf to sales at the register.
The Decawave technology uses ultra wideband (UWB) radio and time-of-flight measurements to determine a device’s distance other devices and fixed-location beacons. With a sufficient number of active devices or beacons involved, these measurements allow a system to determine the absolute location of every device within range, which can reach 40m indoors with intervening walls and 250m line-of-sight in open space.
These microlocation technologies provide the ability to turn virtually any object into an IoT device that can be tracked in real-time and have its movements analyzed in the cloud, and at very low cost. The result is saved time in tracking down assets when needed, and saved costs by allowing movement efficiency studies and reduction in inventory “shrinkage.” But these technologies can enable much more – such as saving lives.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Home> Community > Blogs > Eye on IoT
IoT’s harbinger is an Echo
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/eye-on-iot-/4439893/IoT-s-harbinger-is-an-Echo?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150713&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150713&elq=3e38ed8cba3e4486af4287c6d9c90888&elqCampaignId=23888&elqaid=26981&elqat=1&elqTrackId=ea766499a8bc491a9b0a55fc2eb3a76c
I just bought an Amazon Echo ($179) and I must say this is the first time I have felt as though the Internet of Things (IoT) has begun to realize its promise in a way that the general public can understand. It’s not perfect, but it has all the earmarks of what the IoT will one day be. And it will grow.
Echo is a voice-activated IoT device that performs a variety of functions, including playing music, answering questions (using voice synthesis) based on Internet searches, and serving as a hub for the control of home automation IoT devices on your WLAN. You speak to it, using the attention word “Alexa” (or “Amazon,” your choice) and (relatively) natural language to begin your command or ask a question. The device itself simply performs speech-to-text conversion, sending the text to a cloud server for analysis and response determination. Its response comes in the form of synthesized speech. The recent user review below provides an excellent series of examples of what Echo can (and sometimes cannot) do.
Echo can control lights and such using Philips Hue bulbs, Wink home automation hubs, or Belkin WeMo switches and the like. I’ve been experimenting with a WeMo to handle an outdoor light I want to activate from my front door but for which the switch is in the garage. Works well, so far. I have also seen hacks on YouTube where folks are using Echo to control their Nest, computer, TV, and such as well.
While it uses keyword spotting when interpreting what you have to say, you do have to learn to talk to it in a way that maximizes its understanding of you.
I am finding Echo extremely handy as a control source and quick question answer generator. It also can serve as an alarm clock, countdown timer, To Do list maker, and such. It will also order stuff for you off of Amazon
What makes me excited enough about Echo to share it here, though, is that (IMHO) it is the first of the IoT home automation systems that has all the attributes I was hoping the IoT would develop. It is a single point of interface, works with other IoT devices and services of many types and from many manufacturers, and is easy for the user to operate (setup still requires some technical skill but not excessive). Most importantly, it is highly expandable.
Echo has already been improved since its initial introduction, and I have no doubt it will acquire new capabilities rapidly. Amazon has released its applications programming interface (API), which will allow developers to create new apps for the Echo as they did with Android. Some will be junk but some will be incredibly useful. And since all the application functionality of the Echo resides in the cloud, the hardware won’t go obsolete each time a new capability is introduced. Not for a while, anyway.
Echo also makes manifest some of the downside to the IoT. Echo is always listening, although it doesn’t start sending information over the network until it hears its attention word. Further, Amazon tracks every question and request you put to Echo.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart, low-cost daylight harvesting enabled by multi-sensor controller
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/electronic-product-reviews/other/4439930/Smart–low-cost-daylight-harvesting-enabled-by-multi-sensor-lighting-controller-?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20150720&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20150720&&elq=ecfb0beb9d5747db9aa166358df53b1a&elqCampaignId=24018&elqaid=27117&elqat=1&elqTrackId=877cdb2b26c34ea9a7cc90c8ba85d464
Deep Roof Lighting has come up with an inexpensive and highly-effective daylight harvesting system that’s easy to install in a variety of configurations. Priced at under $200, it can control mixed groups of 30 or more LED, incandescent, and fluorescent fixtures – even if they require different control interfaces.
Until now, providing this relatively simple function has usually required installing a full-blown Smart Lighting system but the folks at Deep Roof have gotten around this by creating a self-contained embedded system they call a Multi Sensor Dimming Control System (MSDCS).
The controller’s “Multi Signal Sequential System” control software emulates a state machine capable of monitoring up to 10 conditions coming from the units’ control panel, timer and sensor elements. This software concurrently monitors and reacts to four types of dynamic events:
- Constant variations in daylight levels from light sensors
- Stochastic inputs from motion/occupancy sensors
- Inputs from the user via the control panel
- Inputs from the system timer
The controller can provide dimming control for both LED and conventional incandescent lighting via its 0- 10 VDC and DALI dimming interfaces. It also includes a line voltage AC phase modulation circuit which provides direct dimming control for both for 12V low-voltage light and mains-powered lights.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sensor-Based IoT Architecture
http://www.edn.com/design/analog/4439913/Sensor-Based-IoT-Architecture-?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_weekly_20150716&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_weekly_20150716&&elq=3c3e003c887849af93a1728d93fd111f&elqCampaignId=23970&elqaid=27068&elqat=1&elqTrackId=23f5425430c547bcaabb7673d76575cb
Home> Analog Design Center > How To Article
Sensor-Based IoT Architecture
Gwyneth Saldanha, Engineering Operations Manager,Nuvation Engineering -July 13, 2015
inShare73
Save Follow
PRINT
PDF
EMAIL
1 The Birth of the Internet of Things
Before its recent rebranding as “IoT,” the Internet of Things concept began emerging with devices like the now famous Coke machine at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), which since the 1980s has been self-monitoring its internal stock of soft drinks. It monitors how long each bottle has been cooling in the machine and stores this information on a server for access via faculty and students’ computer terminals before they make the long trek to their beloved fueling station.1
Despite its decades-long heritage, the Carnegie Mellon University Coke machine still stands as an ideal example of the value that IoT technologies can bring to today’s businesses and consumers.
Those responsible for refilling the machine could if they wished, leverage this information to serve a “just in time” supply management process. The business owners could also collect aggregated usage data to better understand customer consumption patterns, forecast sales and predict stocking requirements in any given week, month, or fiscal quarter.
Home> Analog Design Center > How To Article
Sensor-Based IoT Architecture
Gwyneth Saldanha, Engineering Operations Manager,Nuvation Engineering -July 13, 2015
inShare73
Save Follow
PRINT
PDF
EMAIL
1 The Birth of the Internet of Things
Before its recent rebranding as “IoT,” the Internet of Things concept began emerging with devices like the now famous Coke machine at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), which since the 1980s has been self-monitoring its internal stock of soft drinks. It monitors how long each bottle has been cooling in the machine and stores this information on a server for access via faculty and students’ computer terminals before they make the long trek to their beloved fueling station.1
Despite its decades-long heritage, the Carnegie Mellon University Coke machine still stands as an ideal example of the value that IoT technologies can bring to today’s businesses and consumers. For CMU students and faculty, the decision to take a break from the books to embark on a quest for caffeine and sugar has been informed for nearly three decades by IoT-driven data regarding the current coldness and available supply of soft drinks in the vending machine.
Those responsible for refilling the machine could if they wished, leverage this information to serve a “just in time” supply management process. The business owners could also collect aggregated usage data to better understand customer consumption patterns, forecast sales and predict stocking requirements in any given week, month, or fiscal quarter.
Fast forward to today (that Coke machine at CMU has had a makeover or two since the eighties, but is still transmitting data, and now also reports on M&M’s), and we find modern society operating within an information technology infrastructure that is so ideally architected to support IoT that conspiracy theorists could argue an intelligent design has been driving us towards it. Such theorists would not be far off; for over a decade technology providers have been striving to create devices that operate on shared platforms and can “talk to each other.”
2 A Sensor-Based IoT Communication Architecture
IoT solutions can come in many flavors and any concrete explanation of how a particular business can leverage a collection of Internet-connected devices would require insight into that specific business context.
IoT architectures are usually comprised of a set of sensors that collect different types of data and transmit them to a “base station” that uploads the data to the cloud. From there it can be accessed by consumers and/or businesses as actionable intelligence.
A. BUSINESS IMPACTS
Sensor-based networked communications architectures enable businesses to deploy IoT platforms and monitor the status of their devices or other equipment in order to:
Reduce workforce costs associated with manual monitoring methods.
Improve customer satisfaction and retention by providing highly proactive customer service without increasing costs.
Reduce equipment maintenance costs through early detection of equipment failures and device maintenance issues.
Cost-efficiently extend product life cycles by remotely pushing out software/firmware updates to multiple devices across a wide geographic area.
B. SENSORS AS IOT ENABLERS
Sensor-based IoT platforms can automate the collection and reporting of business-critical information such as inventory and supply shortages, equipment malfunctions, or specific behaviors and actions.
C. THE IOT SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
A typical sensor-based IoT architecture consists of the following:
LOW-POWER SMART SENSORS (a.k.a. “EDGE DEVICES”) – The smart sensor, or “edge device” (so named because these data collectors sit on the outer edge of the network) collects the granular data required by businesses, individuals, and intelligent systems. Many of today’s sensors can operate on battery power to support wireless installation and communications, with battery life that can last months or even years. They generally achieve this through “smart” power management, i.e. going into ultra-low power states until they sense that a certain condition has occurred.
LOCAL SENSOR NETWORK – There are many options available to connect locally networked sensors to a base station, and low power consumption is usually a key requirement. RF (Radio Frequency) and BluetoothTM Smart are popular alternatives to the more power-hungry Bluetooth® 2.1 and Wi-Fi®. For example, Nuvation developed a low-power wireless connection for previously “dumb” but now made “smart” building infrastructure equipment using TI’s SimpliciTITM network protocol for Sub-1 GHz, 2.4 GHz and IEEE 802.15.4 RF ICs.
THE BASE STATION – The base station is the bridge between the sensor network and the cloud. This device is generally powered via an AC connection and supports more advanced data processing and transmission functions. The base station collects all the data transmitted by the sensors and can also push periodic firmware updates to them. It collects data from the local sensor network, “decides” what information is actionable business intelligence, and uploads that information to the cloud server via an Internet or cellular network connection. The base station can be populated with both Wi-Fi and cellular options as fallback methods of communication.
CLOUD SERVER – Cloud computing allows consumers and businesses to access massive amounts of computing power at extremely low costs by leveraging economies of scale. This eliminates the need to invest in and support expensive server hardware in-house.
The base station can send periodic “heartbeats” to the cloud server to let it know that the sensor network is alive and healthy. The server can also push down commands, configuration and software updates to the base station, and also support application-level system management and analytics software. As the business needs grow or shrink, a business can simply add or reduce their cloud computing resources without concern for equipment costs or hardware obsolescence.
One example of such a scalable data center solution is Amazon Web Services (AWS®).
REMOTE DASHBOARD & CONTROL STATION – This component has been called different things by various IoT proponents, and is essentially the computing platform where data is converted into actionable business intelligence.
CONCLUSION
It is clear that sensor-driven IoT architectures have been here long before the term “the Internet of Things” was a “thing.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Integrated Bluetooth ICs advance Internet of Things
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4439922/Integrated-Bluetooth-ICs-advance-Internet-of-Things?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150716&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150716&elq=bca1ea35da0c40da90d496971b437ce7&elqCampaignId=23965&elqaid=27063&elqat=1&elqTrackId=7a13f511855340f8944be9a320befa79
Two Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) chips from Cypress Semiconductor integrate a BLE radio, 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 core with ultra-low-power modes, programmable analog blocks, and a capacitive touch-sensing function to ease the design of low-power, sensor-based systems for the Internet of Things. The PSoc 4 BLE programmable system-on-chip can be used for home automation, healthcare equipment, sports and fitness monitors, and other wearable smart devices, while the PRoC BLE programmable radio-on-chip targets wireless human interface devices, remote controls, and applications requiring pure-play wireless connectivity.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT via Z-Wave: Bridging IP & Z-Wave for Low Power Mesh Network IoT
http://www.techonline.com/electrical-engineers/education-training/tech-papers/4438801/IoT-via-Z-Wave-Bridging-IP-Z-Wave-for-Low-Power-Mesh-Network-IoT?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_funfriday_20150710&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_funfriday_20150710&elq=3a84654237ba4255815d9c88affefe3b&elqCampaignId=23868&elqaid=26961&elqat=1&elqTrackId=3ebfc1a6caa94c6bb1311d93b0746d23
This paper discusses how low-power, ultra-reliable Z-Wave wireless communications protocol can be bridged with the Internet of Things (IoT) by assigning a unique IP address to each device within a Z-Wave network using the Z/IP Gateway. Z-Wave is already widely deployed in home security and automation systems with over 35M end nodes in devices from door locks to thermostats, lighting and sensors. With the Z/IP Gateway, every device in a Z-Wave network can be directly accessed over the Internet using IP communications. The Z/IP Gateway is a software/firmware technology that is incorporated into new Z-Wave controllers, transforming these home automation hubs into gateways for IP communication with Z-Wave devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
World’s smallest computer can fit on the edge of a nickel
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/tech-edge/4439854/World-s-smallest-computer-can-fit-on-the-edge-of-a-nickel?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_funfriday_20150710&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_funfriday_20150710&elq=3a84654237ba4255815d9c88affefe3b&elqCampaignId=23868&elqaid=26961&elqat=1&elqTrackId=628a0d45a944412aba8e8cb52befb4b1
As part of the quest to give computing devices smaller, more efficient designs, University of Michigan researchers have spent over a decade working to develop what they believe is the world’s smallest complete computer, built on a cubic millimeter scale. The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA, which currently houses an exhibit focused on the Micro Mote, estimates that close to 150 of the computers could fit inside a single thimble.
The main impediment to creating such small devices is not shrinking the functioning parts but creating a power source.
Solar cells in the Michigan Micro Mote power the battery with ambient light – including indoors where no natural sunlight is present – in theory allowing the computers to run forever.
Each unit, part of a category of technology referred to as smart dust, is assembled in layers and is capable of being customized to a particular function.
The operator is able to send information to the computer by strobing light at a high frequency. Once the Micro Mote processes the data, it uses conventional radio frequencies to send the information to a central computer.
Ready for production now, the M3 is expected to see use in the medical field for monitoring human body processes, as well as conducting EKGs and detecting and monitoring tumor growth.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hacking the Amazon Dash Button to Record Whatever You Want
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/10/hacking-the-amazon-dash-button-to-record-whatever-you-want/
We’re still not too sure if the Amazon Dash button is a brilliant marketing and advertising ploy, or is just downright stupid. But what we do know, is for $5, it’s a lot of hackable tech that could be used for more… useful purposes. The big A sells these dash buttons for one purpose — you push the button and whichever product is assigned to it shows up on your doorstep in a few days. [Ted Benson] wanted them to do more than that so he turned a few dash buttons into a way of tracking his baby’s health!
Apparently, data acquisition of your baby’s wake-up times and poops is useful to identify health patterns.
It’s actually really simple to do. Buy the dash button, do the setup with Amazon… but don’t do the final step: selecting the product you want to order. If you don’t select anything, you won’t order anything…
How I Hacked Amazon’s $5 WiFi Button to track Baby Data
https://medium.com/@edwardbenson/how-i-hacked-amazon-s-5-wifi-button-to-track-baby-data-794214b0bdd8
Tomi Engdahl says:
Portable tiny IoT device solving general problem
https://hackaday.io/project/4201-portable-tiny-iot-device-solving-general-problem
Twitter and Wi-Fi connection are just examples of tiny device. This tiny device would provide solutions of healthcare, education problems!
This device is still developing! Please see “project log” for recent progress
Twitter and Wi-Fi connection are just examples of this tiny device. Healthcare, education, climate problems would be treated by using extensive features of this tiny computer! Most of ATMega1284 features are still unused, and potential functions can be, medical sensor, climate sensor and more, and those can be connected with I2C, SPI and sensored values can be transmit through Wi-Fi. Total cost is less than $20 and affordable for most of the people in the world, also presenting a solution for digital divide problem by providing an opportunity for computer program. I would present the basement for it!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mark Hachman / PCWorld:
Microsoft publicly releases Windows 10 IoT Core for the Raspberry Pi 2 and the MinnowBoard Max
Want to unlock your door with your face? Windows 10 for IoT Core promises to do just that
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2962330/internet-of-things/want-to-unlock-your-door-with-your-face-windows-10-for-iot-core-promises-to-do-just-that.html
An air hockey robot? A door that unlocks itself by recognizing you? These are some of the projects a Windows-for-gizmos could enable.
Continuing its push to make Windows 10 the operating system that can power all things, Microsoft publicly released Windows 10 for IoT Core on Monday morning, with support for the Raspberry Pi 2 and the Minnowboard Max.
While Windows 10 is designed for phones, PCs, and tablets, Windows 10 for IoT Core addresses a different market: embedded products that may or may not have screens. For those that do, Microsoft has a mode that’s similar to the “kiosk mode” enabled in Windows 10 Professional, where a developer can write a specialized Windows 10 Universal app that serves as the “front door” to the embedded device.
Users can download the release from the Windows IoT Dev Center, pick the board, and then get to work. The releases requires the July 29 release version of Windows 10 build 10240 (or, eventually, higher) and Visual Studio 2015.
The Internet of your things
The Internet of Things (IoT) brings together devices, sensors, cloud, data and your imagination.
Build what matters most to you.
https://dev.windows.com/en-us/iot
Tomi Engdahl says:
Blinky Webserver
https://www.hackster.io/windowsiot/blinky-webserver-sample
We’ll create a simple Blinky app controlled by another app’s WebServer and connect an LED to your MinnowBoard Max (or MBM for short).
We’ll create a simple Blinky app controlled by another app’s WebServer and connect an LED to your Windows IoT Core device. Be aware that the GPIO APIs are only available on Windows IoT Core, so this sample cannot run on your desktop.
We are demonstrating two ideas with this sample: how to implement a WebServer and how to enable app-to-app communication. To demonstrate this, the sample contains:
WebServerApp – this project registers a BackgroundTask which provides a web server and hosts an app-to-app communication service.
BlinkyApp – this is a UAP app similar to the Blinky sample app except that the LED power state is controlled by the webserver.
To create a WebServer that can communicate with our Blinky app, we need to do two things: implement an actual server and enable app-to-app communication. At the core of our server implementation is a ‘StreamSocketListener’.
The client app is very similar to the Blinky sample.
Deploy and Run Sample
If you’re building for Minnowboard Max, select x86 in the architecture dropdown. If you’re building for Raspberry Pi 2, select ARM.
To get the Blinky WebServer running, first deploy the WebServer project. This will register the app-to-app communication mechanism. Then deploy and run the Blinky project. This will start our headed Blinky app and initialize and start the app to app communication (which will also start the web server). You can then test it all with the web client as detailed in the next step.
For our sample app, we have hosted a simple client in our WebServer on the Windows Windows IoT Core device.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: A Tiny Tool for Car Hacking
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/10/hackaday-prize-a-tiny-tool-for-car-hacking/
A car from 1940 would have been an almost completely mechanical device. These days though, a car without electricity wouldn’t run. It’s not the engine – it’s the computers; the design details of which automotive manufacturers would love to keep out of the hands of hardware hackers like us. [Mastro Gippo] wanted to build a small and powerful CAN bus reverse engineering tool, and the Crunchtrack hits it out of the park. It’s a CAN bus transceiver, GPS receiver, and GSM modem all wrapped up into a single tiny device that fits under your dash.
he’s packaging everything inside the shell of a standard ELM327 Bluetooth adapter.
The device is based on the STM32 F3 ARM microcontroller (with mbed support), a ublox 7 GPS module, and an SIM800 GSM module, but the story doesn’t stop with hardware. [Mastro] is also working on a website where reverse engineering data can be shared between car hackers.
Crunchtrack
The smallest open source GSM+GPS+CAN board ever
https://hackaday.io/project/7134-crunchtrack
Tomi Engdahl says:
Irrighino, an Arduino Yun Based Watering System
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/10/irrighino-an-arduino-yun-based-watering-system/
There are many different ways to keep your plants watered on a schedule. [Luca Dentella] just created a new one by building the irrighino watering system. He used standard off the shelf, hardware to keep it simple. Irrighino is a complete watering system based on the Arduino Yun, featuring a user friendly AJAX interface. This allows scheduling in a manner similar to creating appointments in Outlook. It’s also possible to manually control the various water solenoids. The code is fully customizable and open source, with code available from [Luca’s] github repository. The web interface is divided in to three tabs – “runtime” for manual control, “setup” to configure the scheduling, and “events” to view system logs.
irrighino
http://www.lucadentella.it/en/2015/08/04/irrighino/
Irrighino is a complete watering system, based on Arduino Yun.
The main features are:
a configurable number of solenoid valves
an AJAX web interface
a weekly schedule
manual activation / deactivation
https://github.com/lucadentella/irrighino
Tomi Engdahl says:
DEF CON vs IoT: On Hackability and Security
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/10/defcon-vs-iot-on-hackability-and-security/
Ahh DEF CON! One group of hackers shows off how they’ve broken into all sorts of cool devices and other hackers (ahem… “security professionals”) lament the fact that the first group were able to do so. For every joyous “we rooted the Nest thermostat, now we can have fun” there’s a doom-mongering “the security of network-connected IoT devices is totally broken!”.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Online this year 13.4 billion IoT devices
Internet of Things or IoT is now the hottest electronics catchword. Juniper Research predicts that the IoT devices are connected into the end of this year 13.4 billion.
In 2020, the number is already 38.5 billion. In five years, the number of connected devices will, therefore, was to grow 285 per cent.
The future of nearly 40 billion units will be the majority of the industry and the public finances in the region. In the retail trade, agriculture, intelligent building and smart grid applications, Juniper believes.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3175:esineiden-netissa-tana-vuonna-13-4-miljardia-laitetta&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Internet of Stuff: Chip rivals try to stop Cortex-M7 from flexing ARM’s muscle
Processors, microcontrollers start to collide
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/29/processors_and_mcus_start_to_collide_in_iot_as_arms_m7_shows/
Tomi Engdahl says:
VentController
An IoT-enabled system for automated environmental control.
https://hackaday.io/project/7144-ventcontroller
When we had a large conservatory added to our house some five years ago, automated roof vents was essential to ensure that the room remained usable throughout the summer months. To that end, the conservatory was installed with an automated temperature controlled vent controller.
Unfortunately, due to some hardware design issues, it really doesn’t work very well and breaks down as the temperature increases(!). This project is my replacement for that system. It’s actually my second attempt; the first used an Arduino but worked in a similar way to the original. It never made it off the breadboard. This time, we’re going IoT; a separate sensor module will send environmental data to a cloud service. In turn, the service will send commands to an actuator for the vents. A mobile App will provide the essential user experience.
Code and Eagle files are at https://github.com/smorgo/VentController
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT security is RUBBISH says IoT vendor collective
Online Trust Alliance calls on gadget vendors to stop acting like clowns
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/12/iot_security_is_rubbish_says_iot_vendor_collective/
A vendor group whose membership includes Microsoft, Symantec, Verisign, ADT and TRUSTe reckons the Internet of Things (IoT) market is being pushed with no regard to either security or consumer privacy.
In what will probably be ignored by the next startup hoping to get absorbed into Google’s Alphabet’s Nest business, the Online Trust Alliance (OTA) is seeking comment on a privacy and trust framework for the Internet of Things.
Stunt-hacks and bad implementations have demonstrated that IoT security is currently pretty hopeless. The OTA says that won’t change if manufacturers and services keep pumping out gewgaws and gadgets without caring about risks.
Announcing the framework, the OTA warns against letting the Internet of Things market repeat history and ignore the product lifecycle in their security considerations.
“Sustainability—the life-cycle supportability of a device and the protection of the data after the warranty ends—is critical to the security, privacy and personal safety of users and businesses worldwide”, the announcement of the framework states.
In other words, vendors can’t simply abandon users either at the end of the warranty, or at some arbitrary end-of-life date. If a security vulnerability emerges (and the vendor still exists), it should be patched.
After the Windows 10 launch’s procession of excessive permissions and by-default Wi-Fi password sharing, the cynical might laugh at the OTA’s call for transparency in IoT services, but that’s just what the group demands.
The framework also includes the following minimum requirements:
Don’t hide the privacy policy – demanding that someone wait until after buying a product before they see the privacy policy is a no-no, and consumers need to know the impact of opt-in or opt-out decisions on a product or service.
Make the privacy policy readable – the OTA notes that this includes the user interface design presenting the policy. Since a home sensor or a fitness tracker lacks the user interface, vendors should keep in mind that the policy will be read on another device.
Tell people what you’re collecting – or as the framework puts it, “Manufacturers must conspicuously disclose all personally identifiable data types and attributes collected.”
IoT vendors’ promiscuous attitude to data sharing is frowned on – data should only be shared with third parties who agree to keep it confidential, and only for limited purposes.
Tell consumers how long you’re keeping their data.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon Dash: Hack It to Run Your Own Code
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/12/amazon-dash-hack-it-to-run-your-own-code/
The Amazon Dash is a $5 push-to-buy-cat-litter button which has excellent potential for repurposing, but you need to know what is going on inside first. [Tony Dicola] has the details in this excellent bare metal guide to the Dash. In this, he covers how to get inside the Dash and reprogram it to do something more interesting than buying cat litter.
He first cracks the device open, connecting a programmer, then building a toolchain to compile programs to run on. This isn’t for the faint-hearted because you are programming directly for a device that wasn’t really built for it, but [Tony] has posted examples and there are few tools to hold your hand on the way.
https://learn.adafruit.com/dash-hacking-bare-metal-stm32-programming/connections
WARNING: Disassemble the Dash at your own risk! Remember the Dash is not designed to be opened by users and will require some force to open. Take the proper safety precautions to protect your eyes and body from harm when using tools to open the Dash. The instructions below are a suggestion and they might not work with current or future Dashes.
Do NOT try to remove the battery from its tabs with a soldering iron! The heat of the iron will potentially damage the battery or even cause it to explode.
Under normal use the Dash will spend most of its time in a low power sleep mode where it consumes extremely small amounts of power. When the button is pressed the Dash’s processor wakes up, connects to the WiFi network, and sends a signal to Amazon’s servers. This means the tiny battery of the Dash can last for a very long time, even years, because it is rarely ever awake.
To connect the Dash to the STLink V2 programmer
Tomi Engdahl says:
IC@ndy – IoT Climate Control
Online Interactive Climate Control system for urban farming. GSM, WIFI & Online UI.
https://hackaday.io/project/6995-icndy-iot-climate-control
The concept is a holistic concept and must be approached from several angles. The system is a green tool which can and will contribute to the green transition, but the concept is also part of an international development in technology, where open-source and Iot (internet of things) is becoming increasingly topical.
This project started out on the Arduino Mega with a GSM shield, but has now become a custom print, integrating the SAMD21 from the Arduino Zero environment, bringing it together with the ESP8266 and a GSM module. We have a working prototype using the Atmega 1284p, but since the SAMD21 ship has much more capacity, we are now pursuing that solution.
Tomi Engdahl says:
garagio
Cloud enabled garage door controller
https://hackaday.io/project/7175-garagio
Features:
- works with virtually any garage doors openers by simulating wall push button
- no complicated sensor wiring, no batteries – uses laser and reflective tag to determine state of the garage door
- no complicated network configuration – uses cloud service so it doesn’t need port forwarding, static IP or dynamic DNS
- low initial cost and no service fees
- extension port allows additional sensors (temperature, smoke, motion, etc)
- can be easily integrated with existing home automation systems (via REST API) to be part of complex smart home logic
- open software, open hardware – welcomes engagement from the community, allows customization and unorthodox uses, enables peer review for quality and security
- Cloud service is provided by the folks at particle.io and included with each garagio for life of the device.
https://www.particle.io/
Particle offers a suite of hardware and software tools to help you prototype, scale, and manage your Internet of Things products.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Cloud Platform Blog:
Announcing General Availability of Google Cloud Dataflow and Cloud Pub/Sub — By the time you are done reading this blog post, Google Cloud Platform customers will have processed hundreds of millions of messages and analyzed thousands of terabytes of data utilizing Cloud Dataflow, Cloud Pub/Sub, and BigQuery.
Announcing General Availability of Google Cloud Dataflow and Cloud Pub/Sub
http://googlecloudplatform.blogspot.fi/2015/08/Announcing-General-Availability-of-Google-Cloud-Dataflow-and-Cloud-Pub-Sub.html
By the time you are done reading this blog post, Google Cloud Platform customers will have processed hundreds of millions of messages and analyzed thousands of terabytes of data utilizing Cloud Dataflow, Cloud Pub/Sub, and BigQuery. These fully-managed services remove the operational burden found in traditional data processing systems. They enable you to build applications on a platform that can scale with the growth of your business and drive down data processing latency, all while processing your data efficiently and reliably.
Every day, customers use Google Cloud Platform to execute business-critical big data processing workloads, including: financial fraud detection, genomics analysis, inventory management, click-stream analysis, A/B user interaction testing and cloud-scale ETL.
Today we are removing our “beta” label and making Cloud Dataflow generally available. Cloud Dataflow is specifically designed to remove the complexity of developing separate systems for batch and streaming data sources by providing a unified programming model. Based on more than a decade of Google innovation, including MapReduce, FlumeJava, and Millwheel, Cloud Dataflow is built to free you from the operational overhead related to large scale cluster management and optimization.
A decade of internal innovation also stands behind today’s general availability of Google Cloud Pub/Sub. Delivering over a trillion messages for our alpha and beta customers has helped tune our performance, refine our v1 API, and ensure a stable foundation for Cloud Dataflow’s streaming ingestion, Cloud Logging’s streaming export, Gmail’s Push API, and Cloud Platform customers streaming their own production workloads — at rates up to 1 million message operations per second.
Such diverse scenarios demonstrate how Cloud Pub/Sub is designed to deliver real-time and reliable messaging — in one global, managed service that helps you create simpler, more robust, and more flexible applications.
Cloud Pub/Sub can help integrate applications and services reliably, as well as analyze big data streams in real-time. Traditional approaches require separate queueing, notification, and logging systems, each with their own APIs and tradeoffs between durability, availability, and scalability.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fitbit caters to corporations, and not just with discounted fitness trackers
http://www.itworld.com/article/2969974/fitbit-caters-to-corporations-and-not-just-with-discounted-fitness-trackers.html
Fitbit is known for selling fitness trackers to consumers, but the company also sees its fortunes in the enterprise market.
“We think virtually every company will incorporate fitness trackers into their corporate wellness programs,” Fitbit CFO Bill Zerella said Tuesday.
no flash
Tested: How Flash destroys your browser’s performance
Businesses are using wellness programs to increase employee productivity, decrease the number of sick days workers take and potentially reduce health care costs, Zerella said during a session at the Pacific Crest Global Technology Leadership Forum.
In fact, Fitbit’s device growth among businesses rivals consumer use, he said, adding that companies of all sizes use Fitbit wearables.
Fitbit sold 4.5 million devices during the quarter, although the company didn’t say how many were bought by businesses.
Tomi Engdahl says:
MasterCard and Nymi say they’ve completed the first heartbeat-authenticated mobile payment in the wild
http://venturebeat.com/2015/08/12/mastercard-and-nymi-say-theyve-completed-the-first-heartbeat-authenticated-mobile-payment-in-the-wild/
The Canadian biometrics company Nymi, working with TD Bank Group and MasterCard, says it’s completed the first wearable credit card transaction authenticated by the user’s heartbeat.
Nymi’s dedicated payments authentication wristband executes a payment when held up to a point of sale terminal that accepts MasterCard. The band contains an NXP near field communication (NFC) chip to communicate with any terminal that supports contactless Tap & Go technology. To prove that the wearer is indeed the MasterCard account holder, the band reads the wearer’s unique heartbeat pattern.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi and Windows 10 IoT Core: A Huge Letdown
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/13/raspberry-pi-and-windows-10-iot-core-a-huge-letdown/
Last Spring, Microsoft unveiled their plan for Windows and the Internet of Things. It starts with the Raspberry Pi and Windows 10 IoT Core – a stripped down system with Windows API calls running on an ARM architecture. Yes, Microsoft is finally moving away from the desktop, building a platform for a billion Internet of Things things, or filling the gap left by tens of thousands of POS terminals and ATMs running XP being taken offline. Either one is accurate.
Earlier this week, Microsoft announced the first public release of Windows 10 IoT Core. This is the review, but here’s the takeaway: run. Run as fast as you can away from Windows IoT. It’s not worth your time unless you have a burning desire to write apps for Windows, and even then you could do a better job with less effort with any Linux distro.
When Windows 10 IoT was first announced, there was great hope for a Windows RT-like experience. Being able to run real Windows applications on a Raspberry Pi would be a killer feature
Windows 10 IoT core isn’t so much an operating system, as it is a device that will run apps written with Windows APIs: there is no shell. If you want to control dozens or hundreds of devices, each running a program written in Visual Basic, JavaScript, C#, or Python, this is for you.
The majority of interaction with Windows 10 IoT Core is over the web. After booting and pointing a browser to the Pi, you’re presented with a rather complete web-based interface. Here, you can check out what devices are connected to the Pi, look at the running processes, and run new apps. Think of this feature as a web-based Windows control panel.
Officially, the only way to install Windows 10 IoT Core is with a computer running Windows 10. There are a few ways around this
Yes, Windows 10 is free for everyone with a relatively modern Windows box, but since the only requirement for running Windows 10 IoT core is putting an image on an SD card and monitoring a swarm of IoT Core devices, there is no reason why this OS can’t be supplied in an .IMG file.
There are a few shortcomings of the Windows 10 IoT core for the Raspberry Pi. Officially, the only supported WiFi module is the official Raspberry Pi WiFi module with a BCM43143 chipset. By far, the most popular WiFi module used for the Raspberry Pi (and something you should always carry around in your go-bag) is the Edimax EW-7811Un, a tiny WiFi module that uses a Realtek chipset.
If you’ve ever wanted clearer evidence the Windows 10 IoT core is not meant to be an extensible system like every other Linux-based single board computer, you need only look a little deeper.
Who is this for, exactly?
The idea that Microsoft would put out a non-operating system without support for the de facto standard WiFi adapter, a hardware UART, or drivers for the majority of peripherals is one thing. Selling this to the ‘maker movement’ strains credulity. There is another explanation.
This is not a device for makers, this is a device for point of sale terminals and ATMs. Windows XP – the operating system that is still deployed on a frighting number of ATMs – is going away soon, and this is Microsoft’s attempt to save their share of that market. IoT Core isn’t for you, it isn’t for me, and it isn’t for the 9-year-old that wants to blink an LED. This is an OS for companies that need to replace thousands of systems still running XP Embedded and need Windows APIs in kiosks and terminals.
For anyone with a Raspberry Pi 2 and an SD card, the only investment you’ll make in trying out Windows 10 IoT Core is your time. It’s not worth it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Promise of 5G
http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/15/08/16/2134227/the-promise-of-5g
From instant monitoring of leaking pipelines, to real-time worldwide collaboration, the increase in machine-to-machine communications that 5G allows will change the way we live. This TechCrunch article takes a look at the promise that 5G holds and its possibilities. From the article: “By 2030, 5G will transform and create many uses that we cannot even think of yet. We will live in a world that will have 10-100 times more Internet-connected devices than there are humans.
The Promise Of 5G
http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/15/the-promise-of-5g/
How machines share data is very different from how they communicate with humans, or how humans communicate with machines or one another.
Since then, we have moved through 3G and now 4G networks, with 5G on the horizon. 3G and 4G networks allowed us, as a society, to engage with the new world of digital information and entertainment on our own terms.
Now with the leap to 5G networks, we can start to completely reshape entire industries, and rethink how we run our cities and manage critical national infrastructures. 5G will be a far more capable network than its predecessors; it will deliver speeds of up to 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps), which is 40 times faster than the current maximum speeds achievable on 4G.
This sounds like futuristic wishful thinking, but, of course, so too did the idea of carrying around a mini supercomputer in your pocket. In fact, some companies and charitable organizations are already providing hints of what is possible.
Today, you access data on-demand as you move from point A to point B.
Today, when you need data service, you use your device to pull it down from the cloud via a high-speed network.
5G will turn this one-way interaction we have today with data into something new. Imagine a new network that will enable machines to communicate instantly without any human intervention, and to do things on our behalf and for our benefit without our active engagement.
The result will be a further transformation of how we live our lives, and a steep increase in machine-to-machine (M2M) communications to enable fuller, richer and more convenient lifestyles. This is the promise of 5G as it enables the Internet of Things (IoT).
You’ve likely read reports of the ongoing development of self-driving cars, and the promise that within the next 15-20 years, we can comfortably and safely read a newspaper during a long journey. Our cars will download real-time traffic information and use it to avoid congestion and accidents, getting us safely and quickly where we need to go.
The benefits extend far beyond convenience and avoiding traffic jams. The opportunity to not just reduce, but eliminate, car accidents will translate to saving more than one million lives every year in the U.S. alone. This means saving $300 billion in economic costs due to car crashes, and reducing annual CO2 emissions by as much as 300 million tons, just in U.S.
There are several technical hurdles to overcome, and the biggest is for the industry and the world’s governments to work together to develop a standard for 5G.
There are critical security issues that technology developers must address.
Further, there are critical security issues that technology developers must address. Much of the growth in the IoT trend will be based on M2M communication. How machines share data is very different from how they communicate with humans, or how humans communicate with machines or one another.
Traditional security solutions used to protect our computers and phones against cyberattacks will not work on connected printers, cars or smart-city infrastructure systems. Device and equipment manufacturers will play a critical role in enabling 5G connectivity by embedding security during the product design and development cycle.
Tomi Engdahl says:
David Pierce / Wired:
Google partners with TP-LINK on OnHub, an easy to use $199 Wi-Fi router that makes sure your devices are connecting efficiently — Rejoice: Google Just Created a Stupidly Simple Wi-Fi Router — It’s actually pretty easy to deal with your wireless router.
Rejoice: Google Just Created a Stupidly Simple Wi-Fi Router
http://www.wired.com/2015/08/google-onhub-wi-fi-router/
It’s actually pretty easy to deal with your wireless router. All you need to do is plug in an Ethernet cable, go to a very particular IP address, remember a username and password (it’s probably “admin” for both), find your settings in a dial-up-slow interface that wasn’t even impressive in the 80s (when it was presumably last updated), and then hope against hope you don’t cause thirty more problems every time you fix one.
OK, fine. Dealing with your wireless router is horrible. That’s what Google found out over the last year or so, as it started dropping into people’s homes to talk about Wi-Fi.
“We spent a lot of time with people who were having all kinds of trouble with their Wi-Fi,” says Trond Wuellner, a Google product manager. Wuellner’s been at the company for eight years, most of it spent working on wireless connectivity for Chromebooks. He knows your Wi-Fi sucks, and he thinks Google can help.
Today, the company is launching a new device called the OnHub, in partnership with router-maker TP-Link. There’s another, Asus-made device in the works. For $199, it promises to make your Wi-Fi faster and more reliable, and to give you the ability to update and fix your connection.
It’s not your average router, with wires and antennas poking out from every side; it’s a large cylindrical device with a blinking light on the top, shades of the Amazon Echo or Apple’s Airport Extreme router. Its outer shell is removable
There’s a lot of Chromecast DNA in the OnHub, in that most of your interaction with the device happens through an app on your phone. It’s called Google On, and it’s available for iOS and Android.
OnHub is only the latest move in Google’s relentless attempt to make it easier to get online.
Chris Burns / SlashGear:
Google OnHub will be the first Brillo device for the Google On smart home ecosystem, which will soon have its own app
Google OnHub will be the first Brillo device for Google On
http://www.slashgear.com/google-onhub-will-be-the-first-brillo-device-for-google-on-18398100/
Google OnHub was revealed today by Google as the first doorway to a full smart home ecosystem. This service will be tied together with software protocols revealed in part earlier this year as Google Brillo and Google Weave. When Brillo was first revealed earlier this year, then-SVP of Product (now CEO) for Google Sundar Pichai showed how your smartphone would connect to all the Brillo-enabled smart devices in your home using a common-language protocol called Weave. This is the beginning of the smart home system called Google On.
Google OnHub will be the first Google Brillo device.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google’s OnHub Goes Toe to Toe with Amazon Echo
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/19/googles-onhub-goes-toe-to-toe-with-amazon-echo/
Yesterday Google announced preorders for a new device called OnHub. Their marketing, and most of the coverage I’ve seen so far, touts OnHub as a better WiFi router than you are used to including improved signal, ease of setup, and a better system to get your friends onto your AP (using the ultrasonic communication technique we’ve also seen on the Amazon Dash buttons). Why would Google care about this? I don’t think they do, at least not enough to develop and manufacture a $199.99 cylindrical monolith. Nope, this is all about the Internet of Things, as much as it pains me to use the term.
OnHub boasts an array of “smart antennas” connected to its various radios. It has the 2.4 and 5 Gigahertz WiFi bands in all the flavors you would expect. The specs also show an AUX Wireless for 802.11 whose purpose is not entirely clear to me but may be the network congestion sensing built into the system (leave a comment if you think otherwise). Rounding out the communications array is support for ZigBee and Bluetooth 4.0.
I have long looked at Google’s acquisition of Nest and assumed that at some point Nest would become the Router for your Internet of Things
Some people were turned off by the Nest because it “watches” you to learn your heating preferences. The same issue has arisen with the Amazon Echo which is “always listening”.
Google has foregone those built-in futuristic features and chosen a device to which almost everyone has already grown accustom: the WiFi router. They promise better WiFi and I’m sure it will deliver. What’s the average age of a home WiFi AP at this point anyway? Any new hardware would be an improvement.
https://on.google.com/hub/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel CEO Sees A Bright Future For IoT, Developers
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1327458&
At the Intel Developer Forum(IDF) in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, CEO Brian Krzanich said there’s never been a better time to be a developer.
“I’ve never seen such diversity of opportunity for developers,” said Krzanich during his keynote at the event.
That’s not exactly a novel sentiment. In 2013, the Outcast Agency held a media event based on the theme “The developer is king.” The event involved representatives from companies that depend on developers, such as Github, Google, Mixpanel, New Relic, and Stripe talking about why it’s a great time to be a developer. That was also the message coming out of Twilio’s Signal developer conference in May. The web, mobile platforms, and the cloud have all expanded the need for developers and the scope of their work.
Intel CEO Sees A Bright Future For IoT, Developers
http://www.informationweek.com/mobile/mobile-devices/intel-ceo-sees-a-bright-future-for-iot-developers/d/d-id/1321809
Tiny computers, real-time depth sensing, and breakthrough memory technology are among the innovations featured at this year’s Intel Developer Forum. CEO Brian Krzanich detailed how connected devices will change the way we all do business.
At the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, CEO Brian Krzanich said there’s never been a better time to be a developer.
“I’ve never seen such diversity of opportunity for developers,” said Krzanich during his keynote at the event.
At IDF, Krzanich oversaw demonstrations of a variety of Internet of Things devices:
The Memomi memory mirror, which allows clothing customers to see potential purchases they’ve tried on in different colors;
The Nabi clip, which can be attached to an infant (or car seat) in order to transmit a reminder that you’ve left the child in the car (or any place one might park a child to run an errand…the wing of an airplane, the International Space Station, you name it); and
An N & W vending machine that can determine your gender and age and can sense gestures so it can be operated without being touched – ideal for airports, hospitals, and germophobes anywhere.
The advantage of devices such as the vending machine, said Krzanich, is that data gets sent to the cloud so the business owner can make improved decisions. “As you move across verticals, you can see that these end-to-end soultions provide an opportuntiy for the smart retail segment,” he said. (As for the Nabi child abandonment sensor, perhaps technology isn’t the optimal solution.)
IoT chipmakers Atmel and Microchip have signed on to implement Intel’s Enhanced Privacy Identification (EPID) technology, which should help improve IoT security.