The Internet of Things revolution started in 2015 and will continue to be strong in 2016. 2015 was the year everyone talked about the Internet of Things. (So was 2014. And 2013.) But unlike before, it was the year everyone started making plans, laying groundwork, and building the infrastructure. Internet of Things is coming. It’s not a matter of if or whether, but when and how. The premise of IoT is that a connected world will offer gains through efficiency.
The Internet of Things (IoT) has been called the next Industrial Revolution — it will change the way all businesses, governments, and consumers interact with the physical world. The Internet of Things (IoT) is an environment in which objects, animals or people are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer the data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. IoT has evolved from the convergence of wireless technologies, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS)
and the Internet. IoT is also called the Internet of Everything. A critical component for the IoT system to be a success will be secure bi-directional communication, mobility and localization services.
In the future, everything will be connected. It won’t just be our phones that access the Internet; it will be our light bulbs, our front doors, our microwaves, our comforters, our blenders. You can call it the Internet of Things, The Internet of Everything, Universal Object Interaction, or your pick of buzzwords that begin with Smart. They all hold as inevitable that everything, everything will be connected, to each other and to the Internet. And this is promised to change the world. Remember that the objects themselves do not benefit us, but what services and functions they make it possible to obtain. We will enjoy the outcome, hopefully even better quality products, informative and reliable services, and even new applications.
There will be lots of money spend on IoT in 2016, the exact sum is hard to define, but it is estimated that nearly $6 trillion will be spent on IoT solutions over the next five years. IoT is now a very large global business dominated by giants (IBM, Intel, Cisco, Gemalto, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Bosch, GE, AT&T, T-Mobile, Telefonica and many others). I see that because it is still a young and quickly developing market, there will be lots of potential in it for startups in 2016.
There will be a very large number of new IoT devices connected to Internet in the end of 2016. According to Business Insider The Internet of Things Report there was 10 billion devices connected to the internet in 2015 and there will be will be 34 billion devices connected to the internet by 2020. IoT devices will account for 24 billion, while traditional computing devicesw ill comprise 10 billion (e.g. smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, etc.). Juniper research predicted that by 2020, there will be 38.5 billion connected devices. IDC says it’ll be 20.9 billion. Gartner’s guess? Twenty-five billion. The numbers don’t matter, except that they’re huge. They all agree that most of those gadgets will be industrial Internet of Things. The market for connecting the devices you use all day, every day, is about to be huge.
Businesses will be the top adopter of IoT solutions because they see ways the IoT can improve their bottom line: lowering operating costs, increasing productivity, expand to new markets and develop new product offerings. Sensors, data analytics, automation and wireless communication technologies allow the study of the “self-conscious” machines, which are able to observe their environment and communicate with each other. From predictive maintenance that reduces equipment downtime to workers using mobile devices on the factory floor, manufacturing is undergoing dramatic change. The Internet of Things (IoT) is enabling increased automation on the factory floor and throughout the supply chain, 3D printing is changing how we think about making components, and the cloud and big data are enabling new applications that provide an end-to-end view from the factory floor to the retail store.
Governments are focused on increasing productivity, decreasing costs, and improving their citizens’ quality of life. The IoT devices market will connect to climate agreements as in many applicatons IoT can be seen as one tool to help to solve those problems. A deal to attempt to limit the rise in global temperatures to less than 2C was agreed at the climate change summit in Paris in December 2015. Sitra fresh market analysis indicates that there is up to an amount of EUR 6 000 billion market potential for smart green solutions by 2050. Smart waste and water systems, materials and packaging, as well as production systems together to form an annual of over EUR 670 billion market. Smart in those contests typically involves use of IoT technologies.
Consumers will lag behind businesses and governments in IoT adoption – still they will purchase a massive number of devices. There will be potential for marketing IoT devices for consumers: Nine out of ten consumers never heard the words IoT or Internet of Things, October 2015! It seems that the newest IoT technology extends homes in 2016 – to those homes where owner has heard of those things. Wi-Fi has become so ubiquitous in homes in so many parts of the world that you can now really start tapping into that by having additional devices. The smart phones and the Internet connection can make home appliances, locks and sensors make homes and leisure homes in more practical, safer and more economical. Home adjusts itself for optimal energy consumption and heating, while saving money. During the next few years prices will fall to fit for large sets of users. In some cases only suitable for software is needed, as the necessary sensors and data connections can be found in mobile phones. Our homes are going to get smarter, but it’s going to happen slowly. Right now people mostly buy single products for a single purpose. Our smart homes and connected worlds are going to happen one device, one bulb at a time. The LED industry’s products will become more efficient, reliable, and, one can hope, interoperable in the near future. Companies know they have to get you into their platform with that first device, or risk losing you forever to someone else’s closed ecosystem.
The definitions what would be considered IoT device and what is a traditional computing devices is not entirely clear, and I fear that we will not get a clear definition for that in 2016 that all could agree. It’s important to remember that the IoT is not a monolithic industry, but rather a loosely defined technology architecture that transcends vertical markets to make up an “Internet of everything.”
Too many people – industry leaders, media, analysts, and end users – have confused the concept of
“smart” with “connected”. Most devices – labeled “IoT” or “smart” – are simply connected devices. Just connecting a device to the internet so that it can be monitored and controlled by someone over the web using a smart phone is not smart. Yes, it may be convenient and time saving, but it is not “smart”. Smart means intelligence.
IoT New or Not? YES and NO. There are many cases where whole IoT thing is hyped way out of proportion. For the most part, it’s just the integration of existing technologies. Marketing has driven an amount of mania around IoT, on the positive side getting it on the desks of decision makers, and on the negative generating ever-loftier predictions. Are IoT and M2M same or different? Yes and no depending on case. For sure for very many years to come IoT and M2M will coexist.
Nearly a dozen contenders are trying to fill a need for long distance networks that cut the cost and power consumption of today’s cellular machine-to-machine networks. Whose technology protocols should these manufacturers incorporate into their gear? Should they adopt ZigBee, Apple’s HomeKit, Allseen Alliance/AllJoyn, or Intel’s Open Interconnect Consortium? Other 802.15.4 technologies? There are too many competing choices.
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, two pioneers of the Internet of Things are expanding their platforms and partnerships. Crowdfunding sites and hardware accelerators are kicking out startups at a regular clip, typically companies building IoT devices that ride Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Bluetooth Special Interest group is expected to release in2016 support for mesh networks and higher data rates.
Although ZWave and Zigbee helped pioneer the smart home and building space more than a decade ago, but efforts based on Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 6LoWPAN are poised to surpass them. Those pioneering systems are actively used and developed. Zigbee Alliance starts certification for its unified version 3.0 specification in few months (includes profiles for home and building automation, LED lighting, healthcare, retail and smart energy). EnOcean Alliance will bring its library of about 200 application profiles for 900 MHz energy harvesting devices to Zigbee networks. Zigbee will roll out a new spec for smart cities. The Z-Wave Security 2 framework will start a beta test in February and Z-Wave aims to strike a collaboration withleading IoT application framework platforms. Zigbee alredy has support Thread.
The race to define, design and deploy new low power wide area networks for the Internet of Things won’t cross a finish line in 2016. But by the end of the year it should start to be clear which LPWA nets are likely to have long legs and the opportunities for brand new entrants will dim significantly. So at the moment it is hard to make design choices. To protect against future technology changes, maybe the device makers should design in wireless connectivity chips and software that will work with a variety of protocols? That’s complicated and expensive. But if I pick only one technology I can easily pick up wrong horse, and it is also an expensive choice.
Within those who want to protect against future technology changes, there could be market for FPGAs in IoT devices. The Internet of Things (IoT) is broken and needs ARM-based field programmable gate array (FPGA) technology to fix it, an expert told engineers at UBM’s Designers of Things conference in San Jose. You end up with a piece of hardware that can be fundamentally changed in the field.
There seems to be huge set of potential radio techniques also for Internet of Things even for long distance and low power consumpion. Zigbee will roll out a new spec for smart cities in February based on the 802.15.4g standard for metro networks. It will compete with an already crowded field of 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz networks from Sigfox, the LoRa Alliance, Ingenu and others. Weightless-P is an open standard announced by Weightless SIG, which operates at frequencies below one gigahertz. Weightless-P nodes and development cards will be expected to be in the market already during the first quarter of 2016, at the moment Weightless IoT Hardware Virtually Unavailable.
I expect LoRa Technology is expected to be hot in 2016. The LoRaWAN standard enables low-data-rate Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) wireless communication with a range of up to 10 miles, a battery life of 10 years, and the ability to connect millions of wireless sensor nodes to LoRaWAN gateways. LoRa® technology works using a digital spread spectrum modulation and proprietary protocol in the Sub-GHz RF band (433/868/915 MHz). I see LoRa technology interesting because lots of activity around in Finland in several companies (especially Espotel) and I have seen a convincing hands-in demo of the LoRa system in use.
It seems that 3GPP Lost its Way in IoT and there is fragmentation ahead in cellular standards. In theory 3GPP should be the default provider of IoT connectivity, but it seems that it has now failed in providing one universal technology. At the moment, there are three major paths being supported by 3GPP for IoT: the machine-type version of LTE (known as LTE-M) and two technologies coming from the Cellular-IoT initiative — NB-IoT and EC-GSM. So here we are with three full standardization efforts in 3GPP for IoT connectivity. It is too much. There will like be a base standard in 2016 for LTE-M.
The promise of billions of connected devices leads everyone to assume that there will be plenty of room for multiple technologies, but this betrays the premise of IoT, that a connected world will offer gains through efficiency. Too many standard will cause challenges for everybody. Customers will not embrace IoT if they have to choose between LTE-M and Sigfox-enabled products that may or may not work in all cases. OEM manufacturers will again bear the cost, managing devices at a regional or possibly national level. Again, we lose efficiency and scale. The cost of wireless connectivity will remain a barrier to entry to IoT.
Today’s Internet of Things product or service ultimately consists of multiple parts, quite propably supplied by different companies. An Internet of Things product or service ultimately consists of multiple parts. One is the end device that gathers data and/or executes control functions on the basis of its communications over the Internet. Another is the gateway or network interface device. Once on the Internet, the IoT system needs a cloud service to interact with. Then, there is the human-machine interface (HMI) that allows users to interact with the system. So far, most of the vendors selling into the IoT development network are offering only one or two of these parts directly. Alternatives to this disjointed design are arising, however. Recently many companies are getting into the end-to-end IoT design support business, although to different degrees.
Voice is becoming more often used the user interface of choice for IoT solutions. Smartphones let you control a lot using only your voice as Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung have their solutions for this. For example Amazon, SoundHound and Nuance have created systems that allow to add language commands to own hardware or apps. Voice-activated interface becomes pervasive and persistent for IoT solutions in 2016. Right now, most smart home devices are controlled through smartphones, and it seems like that’s unlikely to change. The newest wearable technology, smart watches and other smart devices corresponding to the voice commands and interpret the data we produce – it learns from its users, and generate as responses in real time appropriate, “micro-moments” tied to experience.
Monitoring your health is no longer only a small group oriented digital consumer area. Consumers will soon take advantage of the health technology extensively to measure well-being. Intel Funds Doctor in Your Pocket and Samsung’s new processor is meant for building much better fitness trackers. Also, insurance companies have realized the benefits of health technologies and develop new kinds of insurance services based on data from IoT devices.
Samsung’s betting big on the internet of things and wants the TV to sit at the heart of this strategy. Samsung believes that people will want to activate their lights, heating and garage doors all from the comfort of their couch. If smart TVs get a reputation for being easy to hack, then Samsung’s models are hardly likely to be big sellers. After a year in which the weakness of smart TVs were exploited, Samsung goes on the offensive in 2016. Samsung’s new Tizen-based TVs will have GAIA security with pin lock for credit card and other personal info, data encryption, built-in anti-malware system, more.
This year’s CES will focus on how connectivity is proliferating everything from cars to homes, realigning diverse markets – processors and networking continue to enhance drones, wearables and more. Auto makers will demonstrate various connected cars. There will be probably more health-related wearables at CES 2016, most of which will be woven into clothing, mainly focused on fitness. Whether or not the 2016 International CES holds any big surprises remains to be seen. The technology is there. Connected light bulbs, connected tea kettles, connected fridges and fans and coffeemakers and cars—it’s all possible. It’s not perfect, but the parts are only going to continue to get better, smaller, and cheaper.
Connectivity of IoT devices will still have challeges in 2016. While IoT standards organizations like the Open Interconnect Consortium and the AllSeen Alliance are expected to demonstrate their capabilities at CES, the industry is still a ways away from making connectivity simple. In 2016 it will still pretty darn tedious to get all these things connected, and there’s all these standards battles coming on. So there will be many standards in use at the same time. The next unsolved challenge: How the hell are all these things going to work together? Supporting open APIs that connect with various services is good.
Like UPnP and DLNA, AllJoyn could become the best-kept secret in the connected home in 2016 — everyone has it, no one knows about it. AllJoyn is an open-source initiative to connect devices in the Internet of Things. Microsoft added support for AllJoyn to Windows in 2014.
Analysis will become important in 2016 on IoT discussions. There’s too much information out there that’s available free, or very cheaply. We need systems to manage the information so we can make decisions. Welcome to the systems age.
The rise of the Internet of Things and Web services is driving new design principles. The new goal is to delight customers with experiences that evolve in flexible ways that show you understand their needs. “People are expecting rich experiences, fun and social interactions… this generation gets bored easily so you need to understand all the dimensions of how to delight them”
With huge number of devices security issues will become more and more important. In 2016, we’ll need to begin grappling with the security concerns these devices raise. The reality of everything being connected can have unintended consequences, not all of them useful – Welcome to the Internet of stupid (hackable) things.
Security: It was a hot topic for 2015 and if anything it will get hotter in 2016. The reason is clear. By adding connectivity embedded systems not only increase their utility, they vastly increase their vulnerability to subversion with significant consequences. Embedded systems that add connectivity face many challenges, of which the need for security is both vital and misunderstood. But vendors and developers have been getting the message and solutions are appearing in greater numbers, from software libraries to MCUs with a secure root of trust.
Bruce Schneier is predicting that the IoT will be abused in conjunction with DMCA to make our lives worse instead of better. In theory, connected sensors will anticipate your needs, saving you time, money, and energy. Except when the companies that make these connected objects act in a way that runs counter to the consumer’s best interests. The story of a company using copy-protection technology to lock out competitors—isn’t a new one. Plenty of companies set up proprietary standards to ensure that their customers don’t use someone else’s products with theirs. Because companies can enforce anti-competitive behavior this way, there’s a litany of things that just don’t exist, even though they would make life easier for consumers.
Internet of Things is coming. It’s not a matter of if or whether, but when and how. Maybe it’ll be 2016, maybe the year after, but the train is coming. It’ll have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and probably eight other things, and you’ll definitely get a push notification when it gets here.
More interesting material links:
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Addressing The Challenges of Mixed-Signal Internet of Things Designs
https://www.mentor.com/tannereda/multimedia/tanner-addressing-challenges-mixed-signal-iot-design-webinar?clp=1&contactid=1&PC=L&c=2016_08_09_tanner_iot_challenges_od_v4_b
IoT designs include sensors/MEMS, analog and digital on the same IC. Designing all three together on a single IC has unique challenges such as handling three different modes simultaneously.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Data Integrity for the IoT
http://www.techonline.com/electrical-engineers/education-training/tech-papers/4439263/Data-Integrity-for-the-IoT
The data flowing through an Internet of Things (IoT) solution can be its greatest asset and its largest problem. Since IoT devices do not behave in the classical server/client model—where communication occurs in an ordered fashion—an IoT implementation must be designed with the explicit goal of ensuring data integrity. This paper explains how to manage this complexity with a multi-tiered architecture.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT Strategy A Top Challenge
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1330264&
Developing a strategic plan for the Internet of Things was the top challenge of attendees surveyed at the recent Sensors Expo.
In building out the Internet of Things, the world is undergoing a transformation on a scale similar to the Industrial Revolution, essentially a fourth wave of the Internet when nearly everything will be connected.
The early Internet was a collection of documents. Web sites served as online brochures or billboards. The second wave was an Internet of commerce when companies such as eBay and Amazon landed tens of billions of dollars in online sales. With the arrival of social media, the third wave became the Internet of people in which Facebook, for example, connects roughly a third of humanity to generate hundreds of billions of dollars.
Now we are embarking on the fourth wave, the Internet of Things which promises to dwarf every phase that came before. The IoT can be defined as a network of physical devices including appliances, vehicles, buildings, warehouses, pipelines and other infrastructure fitted with sensors and actuators that enable the objects to collect and share data with a central controller.
IoT investments will top $6 trillion over the next five years, and some 24 billion IoT devices will be installed by 2020, according to BusinessInsider.com. Just this year alone, enterprises will spend $232 billion on initiatives to build out the IoT, according to International Data Corp.
Increased efficiency is the main reason that businesses are investing in IoT development, according to 38.3% of respondents, followed by the pursuit of a competitive market advantage (28.4%). Other drivers for IoT investment include market share growth (15.9%) and cost savings (14.9%).
Hardware engineering is the area of most current expertise in the IoT field, according to 30.4% of survey respondents. The area of greatest interest for further skills training involves sensors development (57.7%), followed by systems design and integration (32.3%) and data analytics (28.9%). Other technical skills that respondents are interested in acquiring include artificial intelligence and machine learning (27.4%), and security (20.9%).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Building Functional Safety and Security into Modern IIoT Enterprises and Ecosystems
https://www.mentor.com/embedded-software/resources/overview/building-functional-safety-and-security-into-modern-iiot-enterprises-and-ecosystems-69c7beee-1358-410c-8d03-a0fa2b2ae1a8?clp=1&contactid=1&PC=L&c=2016_08_09_esd_functional_safety_od
There is no question that safety and security cannot be emphasized enough in today’s world of Industrial IoT (IIoT). IEC 61508, IEC 62062, ISO 13849, IEC 61511, and ISO 10218 are all safety standards in place today to maximize safety and minimize risk in industrial devices with embedded software. These standards help define a systematic approach to safety management with the incorporation of safety thought-processes in the product development process all the way from initial concept to end-of-life
Industrial IoT for safety-critical & non-critical applications with multiple OSes on an NXP Layerscape 1021A
https://www.mentor.com/embedded-software/resources/overview/industrial-iot-for-safety-critical-non-critical-applications-with-multiple-oses-on-an-nxp-layerscape-1021a-e7fe204a-90e4-443f-a48c-00a47d0c48ba?clp=1
Industrial automation applications require both safety-critical and non-safety-critical design elements. In this demo from the 2016 NXP-FTF, Mentor Embedded demonstrated these multiple OSes running on a dual-core Layerscale 1021A (QorIQ LS1021A) platform. The platform runs Nucleus® with Nucleus SafetyCert™ for the safety-critical portion and Mentor® Embedded Linux on the non-safety features, enabled by Mentor Embedded Hypervisor
Tomi Engdahl says:
Who’s Calling The Shots
Second of two parts: Software remains a growing challenge.
http://semiengineering.com/whos-calling-the/
A large part of this shift involves software, which falls on many plates throughout the ecosystem. Making sure all of the layers of software interoperate and integrate well together is no small feat, and it is growing in complexity at every turn as systems becomes more sophisticated.
“Even if you look back 10 or 20 years ago, there was already a lack of communication between hardware and software teams,” said Simon Rance, senior product manager in the systems and software group at ARM. “Now, the communication is almost completely broken or segmented because there’s an imbalance. There are four to six times as many software designers than there are hardware designers. Hardware is designing their portion of it having no idea how software is going to go in and program it all. And when something goes wrong for the software engineer, the hardware engineer has no idea what the heck they were trying to do in the first place anyway, so they can’t help them debug. It’s these type of issues that are where the system schedules are getting very long, not shrinking.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Connected Reliability Concerns
http://semiengineering.com/connected-reliability-concerns/
How a device behaves over time will be affected by other devices that were never considered.
Ever since the invention of the integrated circuit, the focus has been on improving technology—making it faster, smaller, cheaper, while also cutting the power budget. With the advent of the IoT and ubiquitous connectivity, the value proposition will change.
Rather than just improving the chip, the focus will shift to how that chip behaves in context. How does it work in a connected world? What else can be done with it, particularly in conjunction with other devices?
This is not a trivial change, and every change of this scale raises some serious issues. Security is an obvious one, and no matter how many dire warnings are issued or how many holes are plugged, there will be breaches in places no one thought about.
Far lower on the threat meter, but one that nonetheless will require serious attention, is connected reliability
And if another component in the connected chain fails, can the device recover—and how quickly?
This will quickly become more than just a theoretical problem. Everyone has experienced dropped calls when driving through areas where there are no signals. But with a device that needs to be continuously connected, signal loss can impact safety-critical equipment. While it may not cause a device failure, reliability will extend to such things as time to reboot and time to reconnect, update and respond.
Failovers are nothing new in medical devices. A pacemaker, for example, will continue to function beyond its battery life, and it has a built-in defribrillator that is good for at least one duty cycle. But that kind of reliability has never been thought about for a wide range of devices that will become part of the communication chain, from edge devices and edge-of-the-network servers all the way up to the cloud.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Leveraging Network Building Blocks and Cisco Validated Designs for Industrial Ethernet Deployment
https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1112640
Ethernet deployment has been exploding on the plant floor with the arrival of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). This has driven a major shift from Industrial Automation Control System (IACS) to industrial Ethernet Switch (IES) architectures. As a result of this shift, new challenges and topologies are emerging.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Auto parts supplier has big plans for its nascent IoT effort
http://www.networkworld.com/article/3098084/internet-of-things/auto-parts-supplier-has-big-plans-for-its-nascent-iot-effort.html?utm_campaign=iot-gateway&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=32489294&_hsenc=p2ANqtz–T1CSFf6hqjd2U2_7ZGrfVrPEBTO4aMomS8QKgmWnCjLq8gavnLEvPfcGGN6qPl-uNPoxmv5VJlR9jtWD7RMLHhMnQhi3J0kSRJvPijwBVIvb3ovc&_hsmi=32489294
Early benefits include a better understanding of what is happening on the shop floor, but automation is the goal. And there are organizational implications for IT
Hirotec is a $1.4 billion tier one parts and tooling supplier to automakers, specializing in closures (such as doors and hoods) and exhaust systems. Hester was instrumental in getting the IoT effort off the ground at the company’s US headquarters in Auburn Hills
How did the IoT conversation start at your company?
Hirotec is mainly a tier one production company for the automotive space, but we also sell tooling to produce the same assemblies, so what we learn from internal production we implement on the tooling side and what we learn from tooling we implement in production, so both businesses benefit. Once we started thinking about that same model for the data side, we started to see the potential benefit of what data and data analytics could give us for both our tooling and production customers.
In our opinion, IoT isn’t just about receiving information. IoT really is a closed loop automated system where we’re collecting data from all our devices, whether in our production facility or our customer’s production facility, automatically analyzing the data, automatically tying it to other datasets — whether they’re public or private — then making at least automated suggestions if not taking automated action.
For example, our system could theoretically look at our production schedule for the day, look at the weather, look at traffic patterns, and predict a traffic backup on a main delivery highway. Knowing that will delay our truck for an hour, the system could automatically rework the production schedule to optimize for the trucks that will be available. That gives you an idea about where we want to go and the potential that we see.
The Kepware server you mentioned helps you get over the initial hump of just connecting the various piece parts?
Exactly. We call it our universal translator. We don’t have to worry about what protocols our machines use, whether it Ethernet/IP, PROFINET, Modbus, DeviceNet, any of those industrial communication protocols. With Kepware, I don’t have to force my machine builders or my production teams to support a certain protocol that might not fit their application. They may have a legacy machine that requires a legacy protocol. They may need high speed communication which requires a different protocol. It’s not our place to make the business conform to the tool. This IoT tool should conform to the business, and that’s where Kepware plays a huge, but behind the scenes, role.
The Kepware server you mentioned helps you get over the initial hump of just connecting the various piece parts?
Exactly. We call it our universal translator. We don’t have to worry about what protocols our machines use, whether it Ethernet/IP, PROFINET, Modbus, DeviceNet, any of those industrial communication protocols. With Kepware, I don’t have to force my machine builders or my production teams to support a certain protocol that might not fit their application. They may have a legacy machine that requires a legacy protocol. They may need high speed communication which requires a different protocol. It’s not our place to make the business conform to the tool. This IoT tool should conform to the business, and that’s where Kepware plays a huge, but behind the scenes, role.
There are so many “IoT platforms” emerging now, do you think you’ll end up with multiple platforms or will you strive like hell just to have one?
One of the key things we’ve determined is the need to stay flexible. We always understand that the market brings new technologies and new solutions and we’re evaluating them all the time. That being said, when we did this initial evaluation we said we needed an ecosystem that’s scalable and flexible because you can run into a lot of trouble if you start having multiple solutions across multiple business functions because then you have to create custom connectors and it gets confusing and convoluted.
Anything else you think is critical to this whole IoT movement?
When it comes to IoT in the industrial space, two things, and they tie together.
One, I’m passionate about the six-week sprint idea. I’ve seen more creative and lower-cost solutions come out quicker than I’ve seen on other projects, larger or smaller. Six weeks in, people can see the light. I’ve seen our team present new solutions that we’ve never come up with before, just because of the sprint model.
And I think that ties into the big fascination I have with IoT, which is, I don’t necessarily think we’re waiting on technology to solve any of our challenges. I think what we’re doing is understanding culturally in business how to implement these solutions. The sensor data is there. The communication protocols are there. The tools like Kepware and ThingWorx are there. It’s more a matter of what does that look like in my business? It’s all very much cultural and human things that we need to solve, not so much technology challenges anymore.
Technology will continue to move forward and give us even better solutions, which is great, but the reality is it’s more of a business/human transformation than anything else.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Faurecia gains new visibility into manufacturing data
The increasing need to provide customers traceability for the parts it was producing motivated the company to further support these efforts.
https://www.smartindustry.com/articles/2016/new-article-page/?utm_campaign=iot-gateway&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=32489294&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_pJh4PoTn8UD_GUc0lGgRQKQ_7HGYPVmcWIyh1gu1qFrfeMp_T5P5mcL3nawR9NSRug8dIa158Zqc9S7Vg8InTBs0ArJ3Xn_c9wIgj_xIFjTwR1us&_hsmi=32489294
A recent report from LNS Research shows that 34% of companies are either currently adopting or planning to adopt Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology in the next year. Although adoption is still in its early stages, organizations already utilizing IIoT processes are maximizing efficiency and making smarter decisions across their organizations.
One such company is Faurecia, founded in 1997 and now one of the largest international automotive parts manufacturers in the world. Recognized for its operational excellence and technological expertise, Faurecia is a preferred partner of the world’s largest automakers.
Although the data for providing this traceability had always been available, the organization’s solutions for collecting and distributing it were not on par with the efficiency and scalability that can be achieved with today’s more modern IoT solutions and supporting architectures.
“In the modern age of manufacturing, data is king,” says Unruh. “Consumers today have come to expect that they can get an update on a process at any time without the need for human interaction or intervention, and the same is true for our customers. We realized that we needed to provide greater transparency into our processes and products, so that our customers can plan and react accordingly and improve their own efficiencies.”
From OPC DA to REST/HTTP
Realizing that connectivity, data access, and scalability would be essential, Faurecia set out to find a communication solution that could connect to the various programmable logic controllers (PLCs) on the factory floor. The company began a pilot program in its Porto Real, Brazil factory using Kepware’s flagship connectivity platform, KEPServerEX. The company was familiar with the solution, having used KEPServerEX for a number of years to connect PLCs on the plant floor to “IJ Core,” Faurecia’s proprietary parts fabrication and manufacturing execution system (MES) via the OPC DA protocol.
Using OPC DA to broker communications was complicated and becoming increasingly antiquated. The company considered replacing its OPC DA communications with OPC UA, which—though more modern—proved to be even more complex and required time and resources for implementation.
After learning more about Faurecia’s goals, Kepware representatives recommended that Faurecia implement the REST Server Agent in the IoT Gateway for KEPServerEX. The developers working on Faurecia’s MES were already comfortable with REST/HTTP (protocols ubiquitous in IT and on the web, and used in Internet of Things platforms) and were excited about the new middleware language that used KEPServerEX connections they already had in place.
Faurecia has a local server in each plant running its IJ Core MES platform. Using the IoT Gateway, the company began collecting data from the shop floor and communicating it to IJ Core over REST/HTTP. IJ Core was then able to store that information, satisfying customer requests for traceability spanning several years.
“The IoT Gateway’s ease of implementation and use—and ability to communicate with the leading devices on the shop floor—gives us peace of mind,” says Unruh. “We’re able to concentrate on other facets of the business because it just works. With greater visibility into the processes we have in place, we’re able to make more educated decisions about our future, which is invaluable.”
Boardroom to shop-floor benefits
By implementing the IoT Gateway as the communications medium between PLCs on the plant floor and IJ Core, Faurecia is able to provide customers with the product traceability they require. With new visibility into the manufacturing data of parts provided by Faurecia, the world’s largest automotive OEMs are able to satisfy regulatory requirements and improve overall product quality for consumers.
The solution has also improved the daily professional quality of life for developers working on IJ Core. Utilizing the familiar REST protocol instead of OPC DA enables them to spend more time increasing productivity and less time troubleshooting.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Industrial IoT and Communications at the Edge
https://www.kepware.com/industries/iot-internet-of-things/?utm_campaign=iot-gateway&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=32489294&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_tGkRr1oZaVg-THseLUbjEIPfgAZVrFYObQ2eoqfqc2eQ6vo6YYNl8dd09TObmIrQbUHpFLaDjQMNIOvglCOew21VEx5hsdubsqBNhWGyg5FqJxzY&_hsmi=32489294
Kepware’s Tony Paine explores the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT), detailing its history and the operational improvements it will enable in automation and control systems.
Device-to-Cloud Interoperability
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is an evolution of existing technologies that enables end users to improve processes, drive productivity, and maintain an edge in our increasingly competitive global economy. The IIoT requires technology that can solve the interoperability challenges of device connectivity by reliably and securely delivering data across the public domain at a much larger scale than previously thought possible.
Interoperability is currently the greatest challenge facing the Internet of Things, and may be the missing link to implementing and realizing the value of many IIoT deployments.
Kepware’s industry-leading communications platform, KEPServerEX, delivers the most complete solution for device-to-cloud interoperability. KEPServerEX provides a single integrated platform for collecting, aggregating, and providing secure access to your industrial operations data.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Making IoT magic
http://www.networkworld.com/article/3078765/internet-of-things/making-iot-magic.html#tk.drr_mlt
Connecting devices is just the first act in an Internet of Things production. The magic happens when analytics transform data into business intelligence. CIOs need to play a role.
Fred and Ginger, peanut butter and jelly, the Internet of Things (IoT) and… analytics?
Despite all the hoopla over what’s possible with connected products, the connecting part is easy compared to what it takes to develop and deploy analytic systems that transform the data deluge into something that gives companies a competitive business advantage.
“Analytics is at the core of the IoT value proposition — it’s the central component for enabling the automation and promise of IoT, whether for consumer or enterprise markets,” says Ryan Martin, an analyst at ABI Research. Given the importance of analytics to the value of connected systems, ABI is projecting the market for tools that integrate, store, analyze and report on IoT data to hit $30 billion in 2021.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The IoT company behind the curtain
http://www.networkworld.com/article/3064356/internet-of-things/the-iot-company-behind-the-curtain.html#tk.drr_mlt
Greenwave Chief Scientist Jim Hunter explores the promise of the Internet of Things – and the challenges it still faces.
Greenwave Systems is sort of the BASF of Internet of Things: It doesn’t make the IoT products you buy, it makes them better. Greenwave (one of Network World’s recently named IoT Companies to Watch) provides software and services that help consumer-facing companies like Verizon deliver IoT features to their customers. IDG US Media Chief Content Officer John Gallant talked recently to Greenwave’s Chief Scientist, Jim Hunter, about how the company is empowering IoT applications and how new voice and social-media-driven capabilities will change the market. Hunter also explored the evolving IoT market and offered a candid assessment of how data ownership and security issues could hamper the IoT revolution.
As the company began to grow we realized that we had a lot more expertise than just energy. We started to build a product that was a horizontal application for connectivity. I’ll tell you where that has evolved to in a second. We are today 250 employees.
Tomi Engdahl says:
App darling IFTTT says it can run with Apple, Google and Amazon in the smart home race
If connected devices have a building boom, IFTTT wants to the plumbing.
http://www.recode.net/2016/8/10/12419272/ifttt-connected-devices-recipes-ring
IFTTT, a quiet startup that’s well known in the developer world, is trying to make some noise in the home.
The company’s main schtick is providing “recipes” — a service that automates connections between products and apps. Want your Instagram photos to automatically upload to Dropbox? Write an IFTTT recipe. (Hence its name: “if this, then that.”)
Starting today, IFTTT is allowing these recipe capabilities to live inside other company apps, starting primarily with home automation startups. That’s intentional: Connected-device makers have been trying to figure out how their many gadgets can talk to one another.
IFTTT would like to be that connective plumbing, particularly as the smart home market is seeing a sudden surge of investment from Amazon and Google.
An example: Ring is a company that sells internet-connected doorbells. It has tested IFTTT recipes for six months or so. The most popular feature, said Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff, is an integration with a smart lightbulb. Doorbell rings; light turns on.
Now his company can pitch more complex and tailored use cases, like an alert for office workers, via messaging app Slack, if someone is at the office door.
IFTTT last raised a financing round of $30 million two years ago, when tech giants like Google and Samsung were splurging on home automation companies. That wave fizzled; device sales failed to rise as expected.
But there’s a new connected home push now, driven now by intelligent voice speakers from Amazon and Google as well as Apple’s software efforts. Connectivity fixes are still an issue, although it’s unclear if the big tech companies need to turn to someone like IFTTT to solve it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT Ingenuity in the Sports and Auto Industry
https://www.eeweb.com/company-news/ibm/iot-ingenuity-in-the-sports-and-auto-industry
IBM has helped Honda build IoT-connected Formula One (F1) cars using IBM’s Watson Internet of Things (IoT) technology. The newly improved F1 cars has the capability to apply data and analytics in real-time to improve performance, fuel efficiency, and real-time racing decisions.
The exciting world of motorsports has brought entertainment to fans worldwide for almost 100 years, and is known for the split-second reactions by drivers that make or break the race. After a race, engineers would pull data, including timing and fuel flow, from the power unit to adjust racing strategies for the next race.
Today, the sport has evolved to one that is highly data driven with drivers always being connected. Now, racing teams can analyze fast streaming power unit and driver data to adjust racing strategies in real-time, including ways to conserve fuel — all critical factors that can help to win the race.
“Honda R&D is thrilled to work with IBM to mark its return to F1 racing, applying advanced IoT technologies to help ensure our drivers and teams are constantly connected,”
Honda is using the IBM IoT for Automotivesolution, based on IBM Watson IoT technology, to deliver data generated from cars, including temperature, pressure and power levels, directly to the cloud for real-time analysis.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT changed everything. Here’s how to adapt.
The Connected World: The Impact and Challenges of a Changing Reality
https://www.mentor.com/pcb/resources/overview/the-connected-world-the-impact-and-challenges-of-a-changing-reality-50904e07-007d-446f-aa52-1d2bffd0c50a?clp=1&contactid=1&PC=L&c=2016_08_10_bsd_xpedition_connected_world_wp_v1
One of the most significant things to happen in recent years is the establishment of a connected world known as “The Internet of Things” (IoT). In the IoT, an increasing number of interconnected devices and systems are joined together, introducing not only mind-blowing capabilities and benefits, but also great challenges.
This paper explores how the IoT impacts the electronics industry.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Think Big for Ultra-Low Power IoT SoCs
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1330258&
Some of the best ideas in creating breakthrough IoT innovation could be gleaned from the design of much larger SoCs.
The so-called Internet of Things is rife with design challenges.
Many SoC engineers in this field are trying to cram the greatest possible processing power within the lowest possible power budget.
That’s what it’s going to take to provide value at the network edge as more and more devices deploy sensors, microcontrollers and modems to send information back to the core for big data analytics. Or so the conventional wisdom goes.
But that could be a mistake.
Power envelopes for edge IoT devices are so small, they’re forcing designers of IoT SoCs and other similar low-end devices to think creatively about reducing standby and active power consumption.
But by thinking small, they could be missing the big picture: Some of the best ideas in creating breakthrough IoT innovation could be gleaned from the design of much larger SoCs. From experience, I can tell you that in order to get small, it’s necessary to Think Big.
The key point is that the designers of this IoT chip weren’t trapped by conventional thinking. They looked for solutions to their power problems by exploring outside the microcontroller envelop. In fact, they achieved ultra-low power IoT success because they dared to Think Big.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
IFTTT recipes now embed directly on 3rd party apps like Ring, Roger and Lifx
https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/10/ifttt-recipes-now-embed-directly-on-3rd-party-apps-like-ring-roger-and-lifx/
IFTTT made a name for itself as a platform for people to easily build (or pick up pre-built) scripts to automate tasks in and between various apps — say, to turn on the air conditioner using your home’s smart thermostat when your car tells it that you are 20 minutes’ drive away. Now, as part of the company’s bid to grow in ubiquity, it is taking the next natural step: instead of expecting users to find or write those recipes themselves on IFTTT, it will now allow developer partners to embed those IFTTT recipes directly in their own third-party apps.
Third-party embeds will now be open to all developers, but for today, the first group of partner companies to host IFTTT recipes are video doorbell Ring, money manager Qapital, pollution monitor Foobot, garage manager Garageio, car monitor Automatic, air quality tracker Awair, video doorbell Skybell, smart bulb company LIFX, weather info provider Bloomsky, messaging app Roger, home security startup Abode, and Stack Lighting.
For now, the service will be free for developers to use, said Linden Tibbets, the co-founder and CEO of IFTTT.
While IFTTT works with any app, more recently the company has seen an opportunity in working with connected hardware startups, creating recipes to automate those services and helping a fragmented market work more harmoniously.
But the logic of why IFTTT would flip these services out to be discovered on apps themselves is pretty clear.
The mantra of what IFTTT does is to simplify some of the mechanics and automation behind how a lot of new and often siloed apps and services work today, but for the vast majority of users, actually going to another website to pick up these recipes represents a leap too far.
The hurdle of getting IFTTT recipes to be understood — let alone used — is something that Tibbets himself acknowledges.
“Our biggest challenge is that we have taken a different path to others,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Palantir buys data visualization startup Silk, product to be phased out
http://www.geekwire.com/2016/palantir-buys-data-visualization-startup-silk-product-phased/
The secretive CIA-backed enterprise data powerhouse Palantir has acquired Silk, the maker of a data publishing platform that allows individuals to create interactive charts and maps.
Silk.co as a platform will continue to operate. Nothing will change to current Silks, and you can still create a new Silk for free. However, because of our new roles at Palantir, Silk.co will operate “as is” and we will not be able to provide technical or customer support to new or existing Silk accounts any longer, nor will we be doing any further development work or adding new features to the hosted Silk.co product.
Tomi Engdahl says:
It’s About to Get a Lot Easier for Apps to Talk to Each Other
http://www.wired.com/2016/08/ifttt-app-integration/
IFTTT is a handy way of automating your life. You can use the service—the acronym means “if this, then that”—to, say, upload your Instagram photos to Dropbox, save the links you share on Facebook to a bookmarking app, or turn on the lights when your fitness tracker realizes you’re awake. And you can do it without writing a single line of code.
Until now, though, that required going to the IFTTT website or app to set up the necessary connection. Starting today, developers can embed IFTTT within apps and enable users to connect the hundreds of apps that the service supports.
But there is a downside. Unlike the web, which is decentralized, IFTTT is a single company. One that could go away, or change its terms of service. This has become a real problem for app developers in recent years, as crucial cloud services like Facebook’s Parse and PayPal’s StackMob have shut down.
Qapital CEO George Friedman says that’s a risk worth taking. Customers who use Qapital’s IFTTT integrations save about four times as much money as those who don’t, and building those integrations by hand isn’t an option. “We have a lot of infrastructure to build,” he says, “and we could never do what IFTTT does with that quality.”
A fully decentralized solution might be better. But IFTTT is a step forward.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Uberize Your Remote Equipment
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&doc_id=280487&
Over the past few years Uber ridership has skyrocketed while traditional taxi cabs have struggled to compete. Why are so many people choosing Uber? Most of it comes down to cost and ease of use. With Uber’s mobile app, riders can see who their driver is, when they’ll arrive, how much it will cost, and then pay for their ride using their phone.
The same sort of technological disruption is sweeping across the industrial business landscape, and the results are game-changing. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) can be loosely thought of as the “Uberization” of industrial equipment. The IIoT refers to the network of physical objects in industrial settings — devices, equipment, buildings, etc. — that are embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and the network connectivity that enables these objects to collect, exchange, and report data.
What was once a disconnected, inefficient system has been transformed through technology, specifically remote connectivity. The result is an explosion of real-time data about machines and systems that can be used to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve performance.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bluetooth came into the coffee cup
Coffee company Paulig has announced smart coffee cup. A couple of years ago the idea was still in the prototype stage, few now smart mug the company has received the first tranche of the sale. Mug is a flexible digital e-paper display and a Bluetooth radio link.
Tea heat energy utilizing digital paper display screen can be sent to a mobile phone or tablet data or images. As evidence, a flexible e-paper disc and the radio connection is established low-power Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) version 4.0, respectively, with a GATT-profile support.
Mug is designed in Finland, within the territory of the European Union. Patent applications are enterprise, led by the USA, the EU and several other markets.
Smart cup does not have a battery and electric heat is created TEG-module, when poured into a cup of warm coffee. Limited edition mugs are in Paulig store for 59 euros.
Source: http://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2016/08/10/bluetooth-tuli-kahvikuppiin/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Logitech’s new Pop Home Switch simplifies smart home control
https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/11/logitech-pop/
Logitech has a new device called the Pop Home Switch, and it’s a bit different from their usual offerings. A company known for Universal Remotes encrusted with physical keys, touchscreen displays and all manner of interaction options is instead going for single-button simplicity.
The Pop is a broad button about the size of your palm, which connects to a hub that plugs directly into an outlet via Bluetooth LE. The hub has the real smarts, with support for a whole host of top smart home gadgets, including Phillips Hue lights, LIFX connected bulbs, Lutron smart drapes and August locks, to name just a few. Using a companion app on either Android or iOS, you simply scan your Wi-Fi network for compatible devices, then tie those devices to one or more Pop for simplified control and recipe creation.
Individual Pops only offer a big, single button – but they can be programmed to do three different things, since you can press, double press and long press each to trigger a separate action. This means you could program a Pop to turn your Phillips Hue lights on or off, activate just a single room or group, and also set it to dim the brightness to set the mood. If you want more flexibility, the idea is you’d add more Pops; a Starter Pack comes with two and a hub, and additional Pops can easily be added to the same hub.
Part of why Logitech wanted to stick with a simple hardware solution was because of the growing app bloat associated with smart home control. Every time you add a new smart device from a different manufacturer, you basically have to add a new app to your collection
“A phone is actually very, very personal to you,” Raggio explained. “If your friends come over, or you’ve got a babysitter, the aspect of control that you’ve got set up on your phone, you can’t just give that person, since you’re not going to hand over your phone.”
The Pop, of course, be used by anyone, and they come in four different colors to help people keep track of which one controls which actions.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Linux Botnets Dominate the DDoS Landscape
77.4% of targeted resources were located in China
http://news.softpedia.com/news/linux-botnets-dominate-the-ddos-landscape-507043.shtml
Linux botnets accounted for 70.2 percent of all DDoS attacks initiated in Q2 2016, according to statistics released by Kaspersky Lab’s most recent edition of its DDoS Intelligence Report.
This is not a surprising fact, taking into account that, in the previous three months, security researchers unearthed a DDoS-capable botnet of over 25,000 DVRs running Linux-based firmware, another Linux-based botnet that leverages home routers, and over 100 different botnets based on LizardStresser, a tool developed by the infamous Lizard Squad, also targeting Linux-based IoT equipment.
“IoT botnets to continue to grow”
“It is possible that by the end of this year the world will have heard about some even more ‘exotic’ botnets, including vulnerable IoT devices,” Kaspersky’s team writes in its report.
Read more: http://news.softpedia.com/news/linux-botnets-dominate-the-ddos-landscape-507043.shtml#ixzz4H3q8Rufb
Tomi Engdahl says:
Building wearables that sense, think, and communicate, part 1
http://www.edn.com/design/wireless-networking/4442481/Building-wearables-that-sense–think–and-communicate–part-1?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_weekly_20160811&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_weekly_20160811&&elqTrackId=684e95c6a548424ab97e80e07aa23d65&elq=96676eedaad14984844633b496545976&elqaid=33425&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=29209
Design requirements for modern wearable products include sleek form factor, embedded intelligence, energy efficiency, expandability, cost-effectiveness, and more. These requirements impose many design challenges for manufactures of these types of devices, including:
Long battery life to ensure “always on” functionality
Housing multiple ICs within a small form factor
Maintaining low cost while adding new functionality
Monitoring multiple sensors while also performing sensor fusion using DSP-like processing
Providing differentiating features such as Over-The-Air (OTA) firmware upgrades
Ensuring secure storage and personal data transmission
The ability to communicate information to other devices
Sophisticated user interfaces such as touchscreen displays
Pressure to provide never-ending improvements and feature creep combine to force designers to look for ways to integrate greater functionality into a single chip to simplify design. This article discusses the use of feature-rich MCUs to meet the complex design challenges involved with building interactive wearables devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
EPA Crowdsources Pollution Sensing
$4.5M pollution-solution grants
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1330294&
$4.5 million in grants from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) aim to engage local communities in the quest for ever lower levels of air pollution. By crowdsourcing its efforts the Advanced Air Monitoring Technology grants, funded by the EPA’s Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, will develop, test and deploy new portable, low-cost, easy-to-use technologies for measuring air pollution.
“These grants offer a joint learning experience as air quality experts and communities are learning from each other,” James Johnson, Director of the National Center for Environmental Research in EPA’s Office of Research and Development told EE Times. “Communities will explain what they want from the sensors, how they will use the tools, and how well the tools are working, while experienced researchers will explain the considerations and limitations of the tools, and how to use and interpret the data.”
As any EE Times reader knows, advanced low-power wireless gas sensors has been revolutionized by ultra-small microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). And while the predictions for trillions of sensors by 2050 has been made, very few of these new technological resources have actually been deployed, according to the EPA. The purpose of the Advanced Air Monitoring Technology grants is to get the ball rolling by connecting the technologists with the people breathing the air in hopes of crowdsourcing success.
Not only will the grants fund projects to educate the public about the why, what and how-to-use advanced air quality sensor technology, but will also aim to quantify the accuracy and efficacy for air monitoring technologies and how to get high-quality data and actionable analytics from them.
“Managing air pollution is a big job, but it can be made easier when the whole community gets involved. We call it ‘citizen science’—where people without a background in research can use scientific tools to address problems in their environment,”
The Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh) will concentrate on using the accuracy of air pollution sensors to enhance the usefulness of the data to consumers. By developing maps and interactive tools for deploying air quality parameters, the researchers will collaborate with community groups to enhance methods of reducing their carbon footprint.
Tomi Engdahl says:
First drag-n-drop IoT app builder for Arduino, Raspberry Pi, ESP8266, SparkFun boards, and others
http://www.blynk.cc/
Blynk is a Platform with iOS and Android apps to control Arduino, Raspberry Pi and the likes over the Internet.
It’s a digital dashboard where you can build a graphic interface for your project by simply dragging and dropping widgets.
It’s really simple to set everything up and you’ll start tinkering in less than 5 mins.
Blynk is not tied to some specific board or shield. Instead, it’s supporting hardware of your choice. Whether your Arduino or Raspberry Pi is linked to the Internet over Wi-Fi, Ethernet or this new ESP8266 chip, Blynk will get you online and ready for the Internet Of Your Things.
ThingStudio
http://www.thingstud.io/
ThingStudio works will all major IoT cloud platforms, or your own hosted systems.
HTML ‹–› IoT
If you can write HTML you can control the Internet of Things. It’s that simple.
Makers, Hackers & Designers
Free. $0. Create great mobile UI’s for the Internet of Things and connected devices. Hacker love.
How can I get started?
To get started, simply setup your device to publish JSON messages on a topic, create a connection between your device and ThingStudio via MQTT (we even provide a free MQTT desktop broker to get you started), and create a simple HTML template to publish your data to the web or an app in real time.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Protocol Conversion Connects Devices to the IIoT
Within the industrial sector, connecting disparate devices from multiple manufacturers is made possible through protocol conversion.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intelligent, IO-Link connected sensors underpin the Industrial Internet of Things
http://www.edn.com/design/analog/4442434/Intelligent–IO-Link-connected-sensors-underpin-the-Industrial-Internet-of-Things?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160801&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160801&elqTrackId=58bfd067a69041a697a24eae7816ec58&elq=6ffbd2cd4a254112ad928075545cde00&elqaid=33252&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=29071
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rectenna Serves 2.45-GHz Wireless Power Transmission
http://mwrf.com/systems/rectenna-serves-245-ghz-wireless-power-transmission?code=UM_Classics072a&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=7142&utm_medium=email&elq2=ac0be696e28240d0ac4b282d07ef35cc
This fairly simple and straightforward rectenna design can be applied for conversion of energy at RF/microwave frequencies to usable DC power.
Tomi Engdahl says:
High-voltage converter targets smart homes
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4442466/High-voltage-converter-targets-smart-homes?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160801&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160801&elqTrackId=3ecfeabf947d45f5b258791b105ebde7&elq=1f9914bfda864326b3705248a4ae7a38&elqaid=33257&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=29076
VIPer01 from ST Microelectronics is an offline AC/DC converter that integrates an 800-V avalanche-rugged MOSFET with PWM current-mode control. The part enables designers to build a low-power switch-mode power supply with a 5-V output for use in home appliances, building and home control, lighting, and motion control, as well as small industrial and consumer applications. It also provides the auxiliary supply to microcontrollers in IoT devices that are permanently connected to the internet or local network.
With its low power consumption and automatic PFM operation under light load, the VIPer01 meets stringent energy-saving standards, including U.S. Energy Star and the European EuP Lot 6 Tier 2 of the EC Ecodesign Directive. System input power consumption is less than 10 mW at 230 VAC in no-load condition and less than 400 mW at 230 VAC with a 250-mW load.
http://www.st.com/content/st_com/en/products/power-management/ac-dc-converters/high-voltage-converters/viperplus/viper01.html?icmp=tt3928_gl_pron_jul2016
Tomi Engdahl says:
The right communication gateway is key to enabling your path to IoT success
https://blog.prismtech.com/2016/06/30/the-right-communication-gateway-is-key-to-enabling-your-path-to-iot-success-2/?utm_source=IIoT+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=PPL&utm_campaign=IIot
The race for IoT domination is on. The IoT space is already filled with a vast array of technologies and protocols, making the choice of the right IoT communication gateway a fundamental requirement on you path to IoT success. Why ?
Expanding your system’s connectivity options is key to a leveraging the benefits of the IoT.
Communicating with system endpoints across networks and using different communication protocols is unavoidable.
Converting you data into the most appropriate format possibly for more sophisticated downstream processing will enable the right decisions to be made at the right time, unlocking new IoT insights and generating new business value.
If you are looking to develop a future-proof IoT system that is flexible and adaptable to changes driven by constant technological evolution
Tomi Engdahl says:
What to expect from Industrial Internet-of-Things (IIoT)?
http://intelligentsystemssource.com/what-to-expect-from-industrial-internet-of-things-iiot/?utm_source=IIoT+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=PPL&utm_campaign=IIot
Why is the industry buzzing about IIoT?
It represents limitless potential. According to Dan Isaacs, Marketing Manager of Xilinx, IIoT provides smart solutions to medical, energy, automotive and manufacturing segments. In many cases, IIoT can reduce unplanned down time provide potential savings. So where are these opportunities? They are happening all around us.
What are the challenges ahead?
IIoT still has hurdles ahead. Among them are the constant battle with hackers, ongoing changes and how the various IIoT standard organizations ( IPSO, IEEE, AllSeen Alliance, Industry 4.0, Industrial Internet Consortium and more) coexist. Gareth Noyes, Chief Strategy Officer of Wind River, pointed out, “The IIoT will force companies to face some fundamental issues, including how they will evolve and transform their business models. By nature the IIoT will be massively disruptive and will challenge the dynamics of existing supply chains, creating opportunities for some and threats to traditional business practices for others.”
The bigger concern, perhaps, is security. Hackers love IIoT. Why? Because each connection opens up another hacking opportunity. Unless end-to-end security is deployed, it will be disasters waiting to happen. Since security is such a complex problem to deal with, it will be an ongoing battle between IIoT solution providers and hackers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Future of IIoT
http://intelligentsystemssource.com/the-future-of-iiot/?utm_source=IIoT+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=PPL&utm_campaign=IIot
It may be a little awkward to discuss the future of the Internet of Things (IoT) when there isn’t a clear consensus on what exactly the IoT encompasses. What aren’t in short supply, however, are the assertions and projections on its fast growth trajectory. Much of the growth of IoT will come from the application of the “network effect” to connected things– allow me to elaborate. Metcalf ’s Law is often cited to describe the growth of the Internet and social networks: that the value of a communications network is proportional to the square of the number of users. However, the original claim made by Bob Metcalf actually talked about “compatibly communicating devices” which applies to the IoT as well as to a social network. Consequently, it follows that unleashing the value of interconnectivity will spur super linear growth.
The concept of interconnectivity is an important one. It is important but not enough that a smart device is connected, it can get even smarter by leveraging information from other devices in the IoT. Making interconnectivity happen comes with a set of challenges that is driving the improvement of sensor products at NXP.
Trusted Data
When the overall device functionality depends on other devices connected to the same network, it becomes even more important that the system can trust all its incoming data sources. Consider a connected car, trust must go well beyond merely encrypting messages between Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), smart sensor data coming from the infrastructure and other vehicles on the road. Such interconnectivity must enable data exchanges to allow a car to receive up-to-the-minute information on road conditions and traffic hazards, long before such information would be updated to a centralized database.
Actionable Information
We want smart devices and IoT to help save our time, and not to distract us with meaningless trivial information. To do so, new smarter algorithms are required to translate physical changes into actionable information.
Low Power Consumption
Sensors in the IoT need to operate continuously, however many of them are battery operated. While consumers put up with charging their smartphones daily, it is inconceivable to recharge billions of IoT sensors on any regular basis.
Conclusion
IoT promises to be the next inflection point for technology companies. To fulfill that promise, IoT applications- including sensors- will require ultra-low power systems with trusted connectivity and smart algorithms.
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY Smartwatch Based On ESP8266 Needs Classification
http://hackaday.com/2016/08/12/diy-smartwatch-based-on-esp8266-needs-classification/
Building your own smartwatch is a fun challenge for the DIY hobbyist. You need to downsize your electronics, work with SMD components, etch your own PCBs and eventually squeeze it all into a cool enclosure. [Igor] has built his own ESP8266-based smartwatch, and even though he calls it a wrist display – we think the result totally sells as a smartwatch.
http://morethanuser.blogspot.fi/2016/03/esp12e-oled-smartwatch-honestly-its.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Microsoft Flow, the company’s IFTTT competitor, comes to Android — Microsoft Flow, the company’s workflow management tool, has now arrived on Android. The app, a competitor of sorts of IFTTT and Zapier, offers an interface where you can mash up two or more services in order to create workflows …
Microsoft Flow, the company’s IFTTT competitor, comes to Android
https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/12/microsoft-flow-the-companys-ifttt-competitor-comes-to-android/
Microsoft Flow, the company’s workflow management tool, has now arrived on Android. The app, a competitor of sorts of IFTTT and Zapier, offers an interface where you can mash up two or more services in order to create workflows – like getting a text when you receive an important email, or copying images from Instagram to Dropbox, saving a Twitter search to an Excel file, among other things.
The service itself debuted in April this year, then later made its way to iOS with promises of an Android launch in the future.
While similar in spirit to IFTTT and others, the difference is that Microsoft Flow focuses more specifically on integrations with Microsoft’s own business tools, like Office 365, Dynamics CRM, PowerApps, and Yammer, along with other enterprise-friendly services such as MailChip, Github, Salesforce and others.
On mobile, the app is used to monitor and manage the workflows you’ve previously set up on the web.
The app also includes an Activity Feed where you can see all your recent Flow actions
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackerspacing: Making A Temperature Logger
http://hackaday.com/2016/08/13/making-a-makerspace-temperature-logger/
A small part of the new space is a temperature logger, and it’s one whose construction they’ve detailed on their website. It’s a simple piece of hardware based around a Dallas DS18B20 1-wire temperature sensor and an ESP8266 module, powered by 3 AA batteries and passing its data to data.sparkfun.com. The PCB was created using the space’s CNC router, and the surface-mount components were hand-soldered. The whole thing is dwarfed by its battery box, and will eventually be housed in its own 3D printed case.
Making a Makerspace Temperature Logger
https://www.swindon-makerspace.org/2016/07/07/making-makerspace-temperature-logger/
First, use the Makerspace PCB milling machine to cut a circuit board.
Next, soldering. Even the finest of soldering iron tips looks massive next to some of those components, so a good magnifying lamp helps.
After testing the boards for shorts and checking that all the resistors were correctly soldered, an initial power-on with the ESP8266 board in place proved that everything actually worked.
Using SMD components meant that the circuit board wasn’t all that much larger than the ESP8266
Finally connection to a 3xAA batter holder and the project is ready to deploy. The code is written to connect to wifi, read the temperature sensor and send the data to data.sparkfun.com, then go back to sleep to conserve power.
Tomi Engdahl says:
We’re Fans of Dave’s Fans
http://hackaday.com/2016/08/13/were-fans-of-daves-fans/
Hackaday.io contributor extraordinaire [davedarko] gets hot in the summer. We all do. But what separates him from the casual hacker is that he beat the heat by ordering four 120 mm case fans. He then 3D printed a minimalistic tower frame for the fans, and tied them all together with a ULN2004 and an ESP8266. The whole thing is controlled over the network via MQTT. That’s dedication to staying cool.
We really like the aesthetics of this design. A fan made up of fans!
these large case fans can push a lot of air fairly quietly
I’m a fan of your fan
it’s warm so I ordered some pc-case fans to stack them
https://hackaday.io/project/7075-im-a-fan-of-your-fan
A lot of potential hacks here. First prepare the PWM setup with L293D or ULM2803A, then decide how to generate the pwm. 555? attiny85? ESP8266? Make it spin?
I recently played around with mqtt again and used one of my #Ignore this ESP8266 board -s to internet-of-thingify this fan construct. Searching for reasons why the uln2004 wouldn’t work with 3.3V I tried pnps and npns until I found that I haven’t declared the pins I was using as an output.
But now it runs and I can control it via MQTT.fx – winning.
The ESP arduino soft PWM runs at 1kHz and I can hear it, that is kind of annoying.
Don’t forget to set different clientIDs
also works as a fume fan
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hacklet 120 – Coffee Hacks
http://hackaday.com/2016/08/13/hacklet-120-coffee-hacks/
We start with [opeRaptor] and CoffeeOfThings. [OpeRaptor] has created a wireless, internet connected coffee carafe. The carafe has three CdS cells which enable it to detect how much black gold is left in the pot. A TMP36 sensor reports the current coffee temperature. Data is sent out via a NRF24l01 radio. The brains of the coffee pot is an MSP430 microcontroller. All this runs from a simple CR2032 coin cell. A base station receives the coffee data, displays it on a very nice Vacuum fluorescent Display (VFD). An ESP8266 then passes the data on to the internet.
CoffeeOfThings
A connected coffee jug.
https://hackaday.io/project/4541-coffeeofthings
A Connect a coffee jug to the internet via a network of NRF24l01 and the ESP8266. Data stored and displayed on ThingSpeak.com and the VFD.
Jug:
- 3 LDRs in order to detect the level of coffee
- 1 TMP36 for temperature
- 1 NRF24l01 module
- 1 MSP430G2553 running energia
Base relay:
- 1 16Character Vacuum Fluorescent Display
- 1 MSP430G2553 running energia
- 1 NRF24l01 module
- 1 ESP8266 running the AT firmware
Tomi Engdahl says:
Brilliant Device Allows You To Find Stolen Bikes, Keys, Dogs… Anything, Really!
http://studylifestyle.com/2016/trackr/3/1/?cid=11&utm_term=aol-techcrunch&sxid=q4i61313v9jd
. You can track your vehicle without breaking the bank and it’s easier than you ever thought it could be!
As you know, most aftermarket GPS tracking units are expensive and must be installed by a professional. Similar services offered by car manufacturers as a “concierge service” are actually expensive monthly subscriptions that they conveniently hide in you car payment. Either way, they are both costly and require you to pay a monthly bill just to maintain the service. But don’t we already pay enough monthly bills?
The good news for you is technology is solving many of life’s most annoying problems: Like losing and forgetting where you parked your car!
One company has created a tiny device with an advanced tracking app that works with iPhone or Android phones and it could be exactly what you’re looking for.
It’s called TrackR, it’s about the size of a quarter and it’s revolutionizing the way we keep track of our important things.
You only need to install the thin battery in the TrackR, download the free app on your iPhone or Android, link the device to the app and then attach TrackR to whatever you want to keep tabs on.
Now, if you ever forget where you parked your car you can quickly find it using your smartphone. All you need to do is open the app on your phone, click on the “find device” icon and it will tell you exactly where the TrackR was last seen and the coordinates of it’s current location
Tomi Engdahl says:
JUST DO IoT
BBC Micro:Bit connected to LoRaWAN network
https://hackaday.io/project/12164-just-do-iot
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Week In Review: IoT
http://semiengineering.com/the-week-in-review-iot-13/
AT&T struck a deal to provide connectivity for wearable devices from Biotricity, which plans to field an Internet of Things-enabled wearable device by the end of 2016. Biotricity CEO Waqaas Al-Siddiq said in a statement, “As we prepare to commercialize our first medical solution, we understand the importance of integrating IoT into next-generation devices within the regulatory environment, as we believe there will be a true market advantage.”
Finance
What two stocks are the best long-term plays for the Internet of Things? Leo Sun of The Motley Fool proposes Cisco Systems and Sierra Wireless. Cisco is diversifying beyond its routers and switches into collaboration, cybersecurity, and video services, he notes. The networking giant acquired Jasper Technologies earlier this year and used it to form its IoT Cloud Business Unit. Sierra Wireless makes and sells 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE embedded modules and gateways. “I personally prefer Cisco over Sierra as a long-term play on the IoT market, but Sierra could rebound as billions of additional objects come online,” Sun writes.
Products
Microchip Technology has an end-to-end security offering for Internet of Things devices that connect to Amazon Web Services. The chip company collaborated with AWS to help IoT devices comply with the public cloud computing service’s mutual authentication IoT security model. Microchip is providing the AT88CKECC kit and the AWS-ECC508 device. “We understand the often complex nature of implementing AWS mutual authentication in microcontrollers,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cisco-backed iOT comms aspirant LoRa ship IoT dev kit
Thing-makers get a bi-directional wireless standard they can all agree on
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/15/lora_backers_ship_iot_dev_kit/
Three companies backing the LoRa Alliance have joined together to push things along with an Internet of Things development kit.
LoRaWAN is one of a bunch of low-power wireless communications proposals for IoT, in particular targeting the battery-powered sensor applications.
The LoRa Alliance members, silicon developer Semtech, wireless vendor Libelium, and network services outfit Loriot, have pitched into the development kit.
There are two versions of the kit, supporting either the 915 MHz band used in America, or the 868 MHz frequencies used in Europe.
The kit has a gateway, ten Semtech sensor devices, application software, and a connection to the Loriot LoRaWAN cloud networtk.
The idea is to get the developer working without having to pre-test hardware, software, or whether the gateway is connecting to the network.
LoRaWAN envisages a star-of-stars topology: the gateway acts as a transparent bridge to relay messages from devices to a network server.
The spec supports both bidirectional communications with end-points, and multicasts for operations like software upgrades.
It’s a low-data-rate spec running from 300 bits/second up to 50 Kbps, with data rate managed by the server
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: Polling The Polling Places
http://hackaday.com/2016/08/15/hackaday-prize-entry-polling-the-polling-places/
A decade and a half ago, a developer testified that he was contracted to make code that would swing an election using electronic voting machines. In this year’s presidential primaries, exit polling significantly differed from official results, but only in precincts using unverifiable electronic voting machines. A democracy can only exist if the integrity of the voting process can be assured, and there is no international electoral oversight committee that would verify the elections in every precinct of the United States.
Your vote may not count, but that doesn’t mean you should wait for hours to cast it. This Hackaday Prize aims to end excessive waiting times at polling places, by giving voters a handy app to check the wait times they’re about to face.
The Qubie is a device that simply keeps track of how long voters are waiting in line at their polling place. The tech behind this is extremely simple – just a Raspberry Pi, WiFi adapter, and a battery. The device keeps track of how long voters have been waiting in line by looking at WiFi coming from smartphones.
Qubie
https://hackaday.io/project/11047-qubie
Qubie is a small wireless device that measures waiting time at a polling place for the benefit of both election jurisdictions and citizens.
Qubie uses public wireless signals from smartphones and wearables to measure how long voters wait in line at a polling place. Throughout the day, Qubie can build a detailed picture of waiting time, delays, and smooth stretches by time of day. The data Qubie produces is 100% anonymous and can help election officials better understand the needs of polling places by providing straightforward queue data. The data can then be used in conjunction with other information to better allocate resources and poll workers, in order to ensure election days go smoothly.
Qubie goes one step further, and makes waiting time data available to voters through mobile and web apps. Voters can check what the wait times currently are at their respective polling place, and can time their visits accordingly.
Qubie is built on open hardware and its software is open source. It is available for jurisdictions to implement themselves at no cost.
Qubie is distributed under a 3-clause BSD license, and is available on GitHub at
https://github.com/FreeAndFair/Qubie
Tomi Engdahl says:
How IoT companies can beef up their data security
http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2016/08/15/how-iot-companies-can-beef-up-their-data-security/
With high-profile data breaches all over the news, cybersecurity is on everyone’s mind. But beyond educating staff and users alike on best practices, what can Internet of Things companies do to improve their data security practices as they rush to ship products out the door?
To find out, I asked 10 entrepreneurs from YEC
Tomi Engdahl says:
Triggy – Cloud Connected Trigger
https://hackaday.io/project/12829-triggy-cloud-connected-trigger
Tiny smart device which triggers a cloud-based action on a displacement, a temperature change, a proximity… outstanding possibilities!
The key idea behind Triggy is to automate any cloud based action from a physical sensed event, using an Android powered device (phone or tablet) as the internet gateway. Events and actions mapping is done thanks to the IFTTT service. IFTTT allows to define rules (also known as Recipe) such as “If This Then That”
Triggy aims to offer new possibilities for the “This” and to enable powerful and useful rules.
Today one can easily buy and install a more or less expensive smart home solution. Some of them allows a connection to the cloud, others also support the IFTTT service. With Triggy, we want to enable new possibilities, new usages, and not only limited to the home automation.
Now that we have optimized the firmware embedded on the nRF52832, we are able to perform nearly final power consumption measurements. These have been done in all three modes of operation. The connected mode consumption has been measured with a Nexus 7, Android 6.0.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Intel introduces Joule, a new chip module for developers to bring computer vision tech to cheap prototypes
Intel’s new Joule system can help gadgets see and understand the world
Computer vision in a tiny package
http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/16/12505278/intel-joule-computer-vision-ar-vr-drones-idf-2016
Intel today introduced a new chip module it calls Joule, a tiny board for developers designed to bring powerful computer vision technology to cheap and easy-to-make prototypes. Joule is essentially a tiny and powerful computer with all its standard up-to-date parts. But it also has enhanced sensors powered by Intel’s RealSense tech that make it suitable for powering software for drones, robots, and other gadgets to help those devices see, analyze, and collect data about the real world. Intel says this type of vision and data collection should let Joule be used for automation as well.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lauren Goode / The Verge:
Intel announces Project Euclid, a compact RealSense module that brings cameras, motion sensors, and onboard communications to robots
Intel’s Project Euclid is a RealSense module for robots
It’s almost too easy to make a robot
http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/8/16/12504678/intel-project-euclid-robots-realsense-module-tiny-computer
Among other announcements today, including a new VR reference design and a partnership with Microsoft to bring mixed reality to the mainstream, Intel said it has created a module aimed at robotics makers and developers.
Called Project Euclid, the module is based on Intel’s RealSense “perceptual computing” technology. It’s a small, candy bar-sized developer kit that “brings sensors to any robot,” said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich during the company’s keynote.
It has an atom processor, cameras, motion sensors, onboard communications capabilities, and a battery. Basically, it’s meant to bring a bunch of things needed to build robotics into a small, self-contained PC.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kalevala Koru brings sales smart jevelery carried out with the Espoo-based BiiSafe with integrated motion sensors in addition to Bluetooth 4.2 radio chip and four megabytes of memory. BiiSafe offers a piece of jewelery to find and connect electronic online service persons and matters.
Kalevala Koru brings together with BiiSafen soon as the sale of silver jewelry Buddy product line, providing users with a new kind of communication possibilities. It can be created via a wireless connection functionality.
” Älykoru brings both companies totally new opportunities to serve consumers when the same package is now a well-crafted piece of jewelry, that the functionality of everyday life to help, ”
Jewelry’s promises to increase safety, as it can be divided between the location of your local district or, where appropriate, to ask for help.
Jewelry’s price is about 300 euros, and the basic shaped Buddy tracking module 39 Euros.
Source: http://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2016/08/16/suomalaisyritykselta-alykoru-kaulaan/
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT in Healthcare: Facing the Biggest Hurdles
http://www.techonline.com/electrical-engineers/education-training/tech-papers/4440181/IoT-in-Healthcare—Facing-the-Biggest-Hurdless=NL_TOL_Edit_Subs_20160817_TechnicalPaper
As the medical industry evolves with more sophisticated and advanced techniques to cater to the human life span and ailments associated with it, concepts like IoT are having a profound impact on its comprehensive evolution. However, with the deepening impact of IoT coming forth, daunting challenges arise in implementing and integrating it with the core medical ecosystem. Medicine and healthcare is a big scattered puzzle and IoT finds effective usage in each block of the larger puzzle. The challenge is to bring each piece together in a functionally constructive form.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Home> Tools & Learning> Products> Product Brief
Secure chip works with Amazon Web Services
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4442548/Secure-chip-works-with-Amazon-Web-Services?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160815&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160815&elqTrackId=cff086f413c04cc28b99521081b1d666&elq=e02259b2ce544210b3c7a1f347c9b27c&elqaid=33471&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=29250
Jointly developed with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the Microchip AWS Zero Touch Secure Provisioning Kit helps designers develop IoT devices that comply with new AWS security regulations. These regulations state that a device must use mutual authentication with a remote server to be authorized on the AWS cloud.
The AT88CKECC-AWS-XSTK kit leverages the ECC508 secure crypto device, which assists with meeting security standards during the prototyping and preproduction phase. Simply solder the tamper-resistant device on the board and connect it over I2C to the host microcontroller. The ECC508 is preconfigured to be automatically recognized by the AWS IoT service. It also has a low-power processor-agnostic cryptographic accelerator for compatibility with a wide range of resource-constrained IoT devices.
The AWS Zero Touch Secure Provisioning Kit serves as a complete development and prototyping platform for AWS IoT device provisioning and includes a preconfigured, self-signed Root Module for evaluating certificate root operations prior to engaging a Root Certificate Authority.
The AT88CKECC-AWS-XSTK kit costs $249 each. Prices for the ECC508 IC start at $0.60 each in lots of 10,000 units.
AWS Zero Touch Secure Provisioning Platform
http://www.atmel.com/applications/IOT/aws-zero-touch-secure-provisioning-platform/default.aspx
The AWS Zero Touch Secure Provisioning Platform offers the industry’s first end-to-end security solution for Internet of Things (IoT) devices that connect to the Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) cloud. The product was developed jointly with AWS and will help IoT devices complying quickly and easily with AWS’s mutual authentication IoT security model. The new state that a device must use mutual authentication with a remote server to be authorized on the AWS cloud. Adding Microchip’s pre-configured ECC508 device and software kit to a system is now the simplest and most secure solution available to connect to the AWS IoT service.
In the Internet of Things (IoT) space, security is by far the greatest challenge that designers need to overcome. Microchip’s AWS Zero Touch Secure Provisioning Platform offers the industry’s first end-to-end security solution for IoT devices that connect to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud. This platform was developed jointly with AWS to help designers to quickly and easily develop IoT devices that are in compliance with the new AWS security. These new state that a device must use mutual authentication with a remote server to be authorized on the AWS cloud. Incorporating Microchip’s preconfigured ECC508 secure crypto device and software kit into your system provides you with the simplest and most secure method to connect your design to the AWS IoT service.
All cloud-connected devices need a unique and protected identity that can be securely authenticated. There two main challenges to achieving this goal: providing a secure authentication method and managing the private keys in a large-scale production environment. The AWS-ECC508 meets these challenges by complying with AWS IoT just-in-time registration. While one-way authentication has commonly been used to secure systems, AWS IoT now offers mutual authentication between devices and the remote server.