According to Intel IoT is expected to be a multi-trillion-dollar market, with 50 billion devices creating 44 zettabytes (or 44 trillion gigabytes) of data annually by 2020. But that widely cited 50 billion IoT devices in 2020 number is clearly not correct! Forecast of 50 Billion Devices by 2020 Is Outdated. In 2017 we should be talking about about some sensible numbers. The current count is somewhere between Gartner’s estimate of 6.4 billion (which doesn’t include smartphones, tablets, and computers), International Data Corporation’s estimate of 9 billion (which also excludes those devices), and IHS’s estimate of 17.6 billion (with all such devices included). Both Ericsson and Evans have lowered their expectations from 50 billion for 2020: Evans, who is now CTO of Stringify, says he expects to see 30 billion connected devices by then, while Ericsson figures on 28 billion by 2021.
Connectivity and security will be key features for Internet of Things processors in 2017. Microcontroller (MCU) makers will continue to target their products at the Internet of Things (IoT) in 2017 by giving more focus on battery life, more connectivity of various types, and greater security. The new architectures are almost sure to spawn a multitude of IoT MCUs in 2017 from manufacturers who adopt ARM’s core designs.
ARM will be big. Last year, ARM’s partners shipped 15 billion chips based on its architectures. The trend toward IoT processors will go well beyond ARM licensees. Intel rolled out the Intel Atom E3900 Series for IoT applications. And do not forget MIPS an RISC-V.
FPGA manufacturers are pushing their products to IoT market. They promise that FPGAs solve challenges at the core of IoT implementation: making IoT devices power efficient, handling incompatible interfaces, and providing a processing growth path to handle the inevitable increase in device performance requirement.
Energy harvesting field will become interesting in 2017 as it is more broadly adopted. Energy harvesting is becoming the way forward to help supplement battery power or lose the need for it altogether. Generally researchers are eyeing energy-harvesting to power ultra-low-power devices, wearable technology, and other things that don’t need a lot of power or don’t come in a battery-friendly form factor.
Low power wide area networks (LPWA) networks (also known as NarrowBand IoT) will be hot in 2017. There is hope that f LPWA nets will act as a catalyst, changing the nature of the embedded and machine-to-machine markets as NB-IoT focuses specifically on indoor coverage, low cost, long battery life, and enabling a large number of connected devices. The markets will become a kind of do-it-yourselfers paradise of modules and services, blurring the lines between vendors, users and partners. At the same time for years to come, the market for low power wide area networks (LPWA) will be as fragmented and is already in a race to the bottom (Sigfox, said to be promising costs approaching $1 per node per year). Competing technologies include Sigfox, LoRa Alliance, LTE Cat 1, LTE Cat M1 (eMTC), LTE Cat NB1 (NB-IoT) and other sub-gigahertz options almost too numerous to enumerate.
We are starting to see a battle between different IoT technologies, and in few years to come we will see which are winners and which technologies will be lost in the fight. Sigfox and Lora are currently starting well, but telecom operators with mobile networks NB-IoT will try hit the race heavily in 2017. Vendors prep Cat M1, NB1 for 2017: The Cat M1 standard delivers up to 380 Kbits/second over a 1.4 MHz channel. NB-1 handles up to 40 Kbits/s over 200 kHz channels. Vendors hope the 7-billion-unit installed base of cellular M2M modules expands. It’s too early to tell which technologies will be mainstream and which niche. It could be that cellular NB-IOT was too late, it will fail in the short term, it can win in the long term, and the industry will struggle to make any money from it. At $2 a year, 20 billion devices will contribute around 4% of current global mobile subscription revenues.
New versions of communication standards will be taken into use in 2017. For example Bluetooth 5 that adds more speed and IoT functionality. In 2017, we will see an increase in the number of devices with the new Bluetooth 5 standard.
Industrial IoT to gain traction in 2017. Industrial applications ultimately have the greater transformative potential than consumer products, offering users real returns on investment (ROI) rather than just enhanced convenience or “cool factor”. But the industrial sector is conservative and has been slow to embrace an industrial IoT (IIoT), but is seems that they are getting interested now. During the past year there has been considerable progress in removing many of the barriers to IIoT adoption. A global wide implementation of an IIoT is many years away, of course. The issues of standards and interoperability will most likely remain unresolved for several years to come, but progress is being made. The Industrial Internet Consortium released a framework to support development of standards and best practices for IIoT security.
The IIoT market is certainly poised to grow. A Genpact research study, for instance, indicates that more than 80% of large companies believe that the IIoT will be essential to their future success. In a recent market analysis by Industry ARC, for instance, the projected value of the IIoT market will reach more than $120 billion by 2021. Research firm Markets and Markets is even more optimistic, pegging IIoT growth at a CAGR of 8% to more than $150 billion by 2020. And the benefits will follow. By GE’s estimate, the IIoT will stimulate an increase in the global GDP of $10 to $15 trillion over the next 20 years.
Systems integrators are seeking a quick way to enter the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) market. So expect to see many plug and play IoT sensor systems unveiled. There were many releses in 2016, and expect to see more in 2017. Expect to see device, connectivity and cloud service to be marketed as one packet.
IoT analytics will be talked a lot in 2017. Many companies will promise to turn Big Data insights into bigger solutions. For industrial customers Big Data analytics is promised to drive operational efficiencies, cut costs, boosting production, and improving worker productivity. There are many IIoT analytic solution and platform suppliers already on the market and a growing number of companies are now addressing industrial analytics use.
In 2016 it was all bout getting the IoT devices connected to cloud. In 2017 we will see increased talk about fog computing. Fog computing is new IoT trend pushed by Cisco and many other companies. As the Internet of Things (IoT) evolves, decentralized, distributed-intelligence concepts such as “fog computing” are taking hold to address the need for lower latencies, improved security, lower power consumption, and higher reliability. The basic premise of fog computing is classic decentralization whereby some processing and storage functions are better performed locally instead of sending data all the way from the sensor, to the cloud, and back again to an actuator. This demands smarter sensors and new wireless sensor network architectures. Groups such as the Open Fog Consortium have formed to define how it should best be done. You might start to want to be able to run the same code in cloud and your IoT device.
The situation in IoT security in 2016 was already Hacking the IoT: As Bad As I Feared It’d Be and there is nothing that would indicate that the situation will not get any better in 2017. A veritable army of Internet-connected equipment has been circumvented of late, due to vulnerabilities in its hardware, software or both … “smart” TVs, set-top boxes and PVRs, along with IP cameras, routers, DSL, fiber and cable modems, printers and standalone print servers, NASs, cellular hot spots, and probably plenty of other gear. IoT world at the moment is full of vulnerable devices, and it will take years to get then replaces with more secure devices. Those vulnerable devices can be used to make huge DDoS attacks against Internet services. The 2016 October 21 cyberattacks on Dyn brought to light how easily many IoT devices can be compromised. I expect that kind of incidents will happen more in 2017 as DDoS botnets are pretty easy to build with tools available on-line. There’s no question that everyone in the chain – manufacturers, retailers and consumers – have to do a better job securing connected devices.When it comes to IoT, more security is needed.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Rachel Becker / The Verge:
As rumors about Apple’s glucose tracker intensify, a look at scientific and technological challenges to non-invasive blood sugar monitoring — ‘Everybody thinks they have a way to do it, and everybody, so far, has failed’ — Illustrations by James Bareham and Rosy Warren
Apple’s needleless blood sugar tracker has an uphill battle in front of it
‘Everybody thinks they have a way to do it, and everybody, so far, has failed’
https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/25/15685148/apple-watch-glucose-tracker-blood-sugar-monitoring-diabetes
Tomi Engdahl says:
bluey
Nordic nRF52832 BLE development board with Temperature/Humidity/Light/Accelerometer sensors.
https://hackaday.io/project/19962-bluey
Bluey is a BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) development board with Temperature, Humidity, Ambient Light and Accelerometer sensors.
Bluey uses the Nordic nRF52832 BLE SoC (System on a Chip) which has an ARM Cortex-M4F CPU and a 2.4 GHz radio that supports BLE and other proprietary wireless protocols. It also supports NFC, and in fact the board comes with a built-in NFC PCB antenna.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Internet of Cigars
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/27/the-internet-of-cigars/
We know, we know. They are bad for you. You shouldn’t start, but some people do love a cigar. And a fine cigar is pretty particular about drying out. That’s why tobacconists and cigar aficionados store their smokes in a humidor. This is anything from a small box to a large closet that maintains a constant humidity. Of course, who could want such a thing these days without having it connected to the Internet?
This fine-looking humidor uses a Raspberry Pi. When the humidity is low, an ultrasonic humidifier adds moisture to the air. If it gets too high, a fan circulates the air until it balances out. Who knew cigar smoking could be so high-tech? The humidity sensor is an AM2302. There’s also a smart USB hub that can accept commands to turn the fan and humidifier on and off.
HumidorPi
https://imgur.com/gallery/WZcSI
Tomi Engdahl says:
ESP32 Hamster Wheel Tracker Tweets Workout Stats
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/27/esp32-hamster-wheel-tracker-tweets-workout-stats/
Even with all the hamster wheel trackers out there (and on this site) there’s room for improvement. [Bogdan] upgraded his hamster wheel from an Arduino and datalogging shield to an ESP32, and unleashed some new capabilities one does not ordinarily associate with hamster wheels.
Hamster Wheel – IoT Tracker w/Twitter integration
http://www.bogdanberg.com/2017/05/21/hamster-wheel-iot-tracker/
Tomi Engdahl says:
In the current Wild West of IoT, putting both the right security strategy and solution in place can be daunting. CENTRI’s latest complimentary white paper “The Need for IoT Advanced Security: Why Do-it-Yourself Isn’t Enough for IoT” puts things in focus. We explore the challenges of IoT security, the shortcomings of DIY approaches and what you should look for in an advanced IoT security solution.
https://www.centritechnology.com/dl/j8sEO99cm3WPdma435s/The-Need-for-IoT-Advanced-Security_White-Paper_May-2017.pdf?utm_source=Our+Big+List&utm_campaign=f5f9e0e0fb-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_24&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8da1ff1df1-f5f9e0e0fb-179803657
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Week In Review: IoT
Intel and the IoT; new Cisco products; IIoT at NIWeek.
https://semiengineering.com/week-review-iot/
Whither Intel’s Internet of Things efforts? “While Intel’s IoT business certainly won’t solve its ongoing troubles in the PC and data center markets anytime soon, staying invested in that market will ensure that the chipmaker doesn’t miss another major technological shift, as it did with mobile devices about a decade ago,” Leo Sun writes in this analysis.
Cisco Systems introduced Cisco IoT Threat Defense, a portfolio of architectures and services being implemented in advanced medical care, automated manufacturing, and power generation and delivery.
At its annual NIWeek conference, National Instruments showed off its NI Industrial IoT Lab in the Embedded Pavilion within the conference’s exhibition.
The Industrial Internet Consortium has approved an asset outage management testbed
TDK reported completing its acquisition of InvenSense
Cisco Systems reported that 60% of all IoT initiatives stall at the proof-of-concept stage and 26% of companies surveyed said they had a successful IoT initiative. One-third of completed IoT projects were considered a failure, the Cisco survey found.
MachNation reports its creation of the worldwide IoT Device Management ScoreCard, evaluating and rating 18 IoT device management vendors, including ARM, Bosch, Huawei Technologies, Microsoft, PTC, Sierra Wireless, and Wind River.
MachNation forecasts 2017 IoT device management revenue will increase 107%, with one-third of it coming from North America. It also forecasts that global IoT platform revenue will hit $2 billion this year.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Automotive, medical, industrial, IoT, augmented reality, cloud/server and other markets are the big new market opportunities that have been identified by many companies. But which chips, at which nodes, and in which configurations or packages isn’t obvious at this point. And that’s a problem for EDA vendors, which already are stretching their resources.
Source: https://semiengineering.com/foundry-wars-take-two/
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to navigate the future of IIoT systems
It’s critical to understand which IIoT connectivity technologies to use for each application in the IIoT space.
http://www.controleng.com/single-article/how-to-navigate-the-future-of-iiot-systems/e4a80e30a299ca281676338354219ba7.html
The Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) recently published the Industrial Internet Connectivity Framework (IICF) after two years of analyzing the IIoT technologies. The IICF includes the insights and strong opinions from many experts, including those from the top industry consortia, many companies, and most important standards.
The most surprising conclusion: the IIoT is big. Really big. It’s so big that the technologies don’t really overlap. The impression that there is overlap is mostly just confusion.
Designers may think to choose any standard, including the data distribution services (DDS from the Object Management Group), OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA), MQ Telemetry Transport (MQTT), or oneM2M and succeed. But this implies the IIoT connectivity solution space overlaps
The reality is very different. The IIoT covers many industries and with very different use cases including industrial control, robotics, autonomous cars, aerospace, manufacturing, process control, central power generation, and distributed renewable energy. These are only a few of the hundreds of companies and thousands of applications in the IIoT space.
In fact, the IIoT space is so big that the technology options rarely, if ever, overlap. Today’s architecture challenge in the IIoT space is therefore not one of choosing among overlapping technologies that may each be able to reasonably solve a problem. The challenge is understanding the technologies, comparing the intended use to the application, and choosing the one that best addresses the particular challenge the applications faces.
The lack of overlap in the IIoT space actually makes an architect’s task much simpler. The real problem isn’t choosing between similar options; it’s understanding the very different options and overcoming biases. The IICF directly addresses this.
he IICF identifies four potential “core connectivity standards” DDS, OPC UA, oneM2M, and RESTful HTTP. The first three are analyzed below.
RESTful HTTP is well understood, so it’s not analyzed here.
DDS
Here are five questions to answer to decide if you need DDS:
1. Is it a big problem if your system stops working for a short time?
2. Have you said either “millisecond” or “microsecond” in the last two weeks?
3. Do you have more than 10 software engineers?
4. Are you sending data to many places, as opposed to just one (like to the cloud or a database)?
5. Are you implementing a new IIoT architecture?
If the answer to three out of the five questions was “yes,” DDS is needed.
OPC UA
OPC UA technology targets device interoperability. Before OPC UA (or its predecessor OPC), applications simply accessed devices directly through proprietary application program interfaces (APIs) provided by device vendors. Unfortunately, this meant that applications became dependent on the particular device they controlled. Worse, higher-level applications such as human-machine interfaces (HMI) had no easy way to find, connect to or control the various devices in factories.
Determine if OPC UA should be used by answering the following questions:
1. Are you in in discrete manufacturing?
2. Are you building a device that will be integrated by industrial engineers or technicians, rather than software engineers?
3. Will your product be used in different applications in different systems, as opposed to one (type of) system where you control the architecture?
4. Have you said the word “workcell” in the last two weeks?
If the answer to the majority of these questions is “yes” then OPC UA is likely a good choice. Why? Let’s look at how the technology fits these use case indicators:
OneM2M
To determine if you should use oneM2M, consider these questions:
1. Do you know what “ICT” stands for, and does it describe what you do?
2. Is the cellular network your primary connection technology?
3. Are your target applications largely composed of moving parts?
4. Can the components of the system tolerate intermittent connections and loosely-controlled latencies?
5. Will the system leverage services provided by a communications provider such as a telephone company?
These questions differ in character from the questions about the previous technologies. OneM2M results from cooperation among many mobile wireless providers. It targets networks of mobile devices that communicate mostly or only through the base-station infrastructure.
MQTT
MQTT is a simple protocol designed mostly for the “data collection” use case. It does not qualify as a “core connectivity standard” per the IICF guidelines, because it has no standard type system. Thus, it can communicate only opaque data types, not typed data structures. Without a type system, it cannot offer a standard ability to interoperate at the “syntactic” data-structure level.
Nonetheless, MQTT enjoys significant awareness. Because of its simplicity, simple questions about your system will help determine if it’s appropriate:
1. Do you think of your application as data collection?
2. Is there little device-device communications?
3. Is interoperability not a consideration?
4. Do you have many small devices?
5. Is software a minor challenge?
Again, if the answer to three of these questions is yes, consider MQTT.
Working together
Much of the IICT is dedicated to an architecture for integrating these technologies. This is critical for the emergence of the “Internet” part of the IIoT. The reference architecture requires standards-based core gateways between core connectivity standards
Someday, there will be integrations, such as manufacturing systems integrated with transportation and power. Sophisticated autonomy software will reconfigure workcells, creating a bold new world for component device vendors. Wireless 5G systems will interoperate with freeway controllers and autonomous vehicles. Wireless 5G may even directly control factory devices, eliminating wiring in manufacturing.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Terms and acronyms for mobile electronic controls
http://www.controleng.com/single-article/terms-and-acronyms-for-mobile-electronic-controls/778ab89f3d602bc949ce5f191d95a56c.html
Understanding the terms and language for mobile electronic control systems is crucial. Highlighted below are key terms that users need to know.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Role-based manufacturing apps for real-time operations
http://www.controleng.com/single-article/role-based-manufacturing-apps-for-real-time-operations/35983bdf2dabefc609f2efef26600be6.html
PTC’s ThingWorx role-based manufacturing apps are designed to unify data from enterprise business systems and the sensored physical world, and are designed to deliver user information and real-time insight in context for individual roles.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel’s Vision for Single Board Computers is to Have Better Vision
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/26/intels-vision-for-single-board-computers-is-to-have-better-vision/
At the Bay Area Maker Faire last weekend, Intel was showing off a couple of sexy newcomers in the Single Board Computer (SBC) market. It’s easy to get trapped into thinking that SBCs are all about simple boards with a double-digit price tag like the Raspberry Pi. How can you compete with a $35 computer that has a huge market share and a gigantic community? You compete by appealing to a crowd not satisfied with these entry-level SBCs, and for that Intel appears to be targeting a much higher-end audience that needs computer vision along with the speed and horsepower to do something meaningful with it.
This is the Euclid. Its size and shape reminds me of digital recorders from the 90’s and early 2000’s, but it has a sleek glossy black finish
This beast is running a quad-core Atom processor with 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB on-board storage. That alone isn’t going to blow you away, but the Euclid also has a RealSense depth camera, an RGB camera, and a fisheye camera built in. It’s capable of stereoscopic vision (VGA resolution) and includes a bevy of sensors crucial for robotics like IMU and GPS. The thing even comes with a Lithium battery.
It’s running a full desktop install of Ubuntu which may sound a bit like overkill
If you’re more into the bare PCB, the Joule which was announced back in August) is worth a look. It uses an approach now familiar from Intel’s “maker” offerings; Joule itself is a module that needs a host board to break out all of the connections. It is also running an Atom processor with 4GB of RAM and 32 GB of onboard storage. Sounds a lot like the Euclid, right? They’re close, but the two do have different processors.
Basically, Joule is the brains, and Euclid is a flashy way to market them…
Tomi Engdahl says:
NIST Helps You With Cryptography
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/25/nist-helps-you-with-cryptography/
Getting cryptography right isn’t easy, and it’s a lot worse on constrained devices like microcontrollers. RAM is usually the bottleneck — you will smash your stack computing a SHA-2 hash on an AVR — but other resources like computing power and flash code storage space are also at a premium. Trimming down a standard algorithm to work within these constraints opens up the Pandora’s box of implementation-specific flaws.
NIST stepped up to the plate, starting a lightweight cryptography project in 2013 which has now come out with a first report, and here it is as a PDF. T
Still, there are some concrete recommendations. Here are some spoilers. For encryption, they recommend a trimmed-down version of AES-128, which is a well-tested block cipher on the big machines. For message authentication, they’re happy with Galois/Counter Mode and AES-128.
Report on Lightweight Cryptography
http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ir/2017/NIST.IR.8114.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cisco IoT Threat Defense: Securing the IoT at Scale
https://blogs.cisco.com/security/cisco-iot-threat-defense-securing-the-iot-at-scale
Protect Vital Services in Advanced Medical Care, Automated Manufacturing, and Power Generation and Delivery
Cisco has designed, deployed, and secured networks for over 25 years. We continue to build the equipment, invent the technologies, and develop the standards that help make the Internet possible.
We have invented an extensible, automated, policy-based technology to solve the problem of secure segmentation at scale for the IoT. It is supported across a wide range of Cisco equipment – ruggedized or non-ruggedized, in the data center or branch office.
Cisco IoT Threat Defense is built as a cybersecurity architecture, featuring a strong cast of integrated products, starting with Identity Services Engine (ISE) and TrustSec, which facilitate extensible, scalable segmentation using group- and device-based access policy throughout the network. These are layered with Stealthwatch, Umbrella and Next-Generation Firewall, as well as Cognitive Threat Analytics, AnyConnect VPN, and Advanced Malware Protection. Cisco Security Services puts real people into the solution to help organizations make decisions about protecting their environments, from medical facilities treating patients, to manufacturing plant operations, to power companies powering the electric grid.
Let’s be clear about something important. The last thing operators of critical networks want to hear about is automated cybersecurity. It may be fine for most IT networks, but certainly not for industrial control networks, and we know this. You can automate as much or as little as you want. It’s your network, and you control it. We help you do it more easily and securely.
Tomi Engdahl says:
What Will Happen to Intel’s Internet of Things Business?
The chipmaker talks a lot about its growing IoT business, but it still isn’t generating enough cash to become a major pillar of growth.
https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/05/21/what-will-happen-to-intels-internet-of-things-busi.aspx
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) CEO Brian Krzanich frequently highlights the Internet of Things (IoT) as a key growth market for the aging chipmaker. But critics are quick to point out that the segment generated just 5% of its revenues and 3% of the company’s operating income last quarter — so it’s hardly a pillar of growth for the company.
Revenue at the business rose 11% annually to $721 million during the quarter, fueled by rising demand for its industrial, video, and automotive chips. But operating income fell 15% to $105 million due to higher investments in driverless cars and other technologies.
Looking ahead, will Intel’s IoT business ever become big enough to be considered a core business? Or will it remain a tiny side business compared to its core PC and data center businesses?
Tomi Engdahl says:
What Will Happen to Intel’s Internet of Things Business?
The chipmaker talks a lot about its growing IoT business, but it still isn’t generating enough cash to become a major pillar of growth.
https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/05/21/what-will-happen-to-intels-internet-of-things-busi.aspx
3. IoT video solutions
A crucial core technology in the driverless vehicle push is computer vision. That’s why Intel acquired computer vision start-up Movidius last September. Movidius is the developer of Project Tango, a project from Alphabet’s Google that creates virtual overlays of real-world surfaces with depth-sensing cameras — a concept which is related to Intel’s own augmented reality headset, Project Alloy. Buying both Movidius and Mobileye should significantly strengthen Intel’s own RealSense depth-sensing cameras.
4. Wearable devices
Wearable devices — powered by the button-sized Curie module or SD-card sized Edison chip — were featured prominently in Intel’s earlier promotions of IoT technologies. The company also acquired fitness watchmaker Basis and smart eyewear maker Recon in 2015. Intel secured high-profile partnerships with Google, Fossil, Oakley, and Tag Heuer to develop new fitness trackers and smartwatches. It even put its chips into a wide variety of bracelets and experimental smart clothing.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Finnish operator DNA introduces NB-IoT technology
DNA’s mobile network will be introducing this year’s narrow-band NB-IoT. The new technology is already in pilot use in Kesko’s retail business premises. The implementation of the pilot was carried out by Ericsson, DNA, Enermix and UnSeen Technologies for connecting the devices to the network.
According to DNA, the tests carried out now indicate that the new NB-IoT technology allows for a wider range of devices to be connected to the network. It means, according to DNA, that in the future, more and more different sensors can be connected to the 4G network and devices in the most challenging locations. At the same time, it is possible to facilitate the monitoring of the air quality of the buildings, the condition of the drainage network or the level of the logistics warehouse.
At the moment, Kesko’s retail trade has been testing the indoor air measurement service utilizing NB-IoT technology, which is offered to the customer via the Enermix cloud computing service. In the pilots, air pressure and temperature sensors were connected to the grid. Connecting devices to the network was answered by UnSeen Technologies. Suppliers are also included in the tests.
Advantages of the 4G network technology include, according to DNA, the long battery life and reliability of the devices in challenging network coverage areas. NB-IoT is well suited for objects where relatively small amounts of data are transferred. In addition, its benefits are low energy consumption. This will significantly reduce the need for maintenance.
Source:
http://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/05/29/dna-tuo-nb-iot-tekniikan-kayttoon/
Tomi Engdahl says:
CYALKIT-E04 S6AE102A and S6AE103A Evaluation Kit
http://www.cypress.com/documentation/development-kitsboards/cyalkit-e04-s6ae102a-and-s6ae103a-evaluation-kit
The CYALKIT-E04 S6AE102A and S6AE103A EVK is an easy-to-use energy harvesting evaluation kit used to develop applications that require battery-free operation or battery-life extension. This kit consists of an S6AE102A board, S6AE103A board, and a sensor board, along with a solar module, wires, and a coin battery for testing different configurations. The S6AE102A and S6AE103A boards have pin headers compatible with Arduino.
This kit can be used standalone as an energy harvesting power board, or it can be used in conjunction with the CY8CKIT-042-BLE Bluetooth® Low Energy Pioneer Kit that has compatible pin headers with Arduino to develop BLE-based battery-free wireless sensor applications.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ABB and IBM partner in industrial artificial intelligence solutions
https://www.ibm.com/blogs/internet-of-things/artifical-intelligence-partnership/?cm_mmc=Earned-_-Watson+IoT_Connected+Operations-_-WW_WW-_-NwsLtr+Blog+ABB+and+IBM&cm_mmca1=000018FN&cm_mmca2=10005309&&WOW_IoT_Connected_Operations_Newsletter_05252017_Send1&spMailingID=17311061&spUserID=MzA4MTM5MjU5ODgxS0&spJobID=1022123654&spReportId=MTAyMjEyMzY1NAS2
Tomi Engdahl says:
TechCrunch:
VCs invested over $300M last year in startups building apps, monitoring devices, and services to improve sleep
Chasing dreams may be the next sleeper hit for venture capitalists
https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/27/chasing-dreams-may-be-the-next-sleeper-hit-for-venture-capitalists/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Machine vision data remains on the periphery of the manufacturing line. Silos containing images — and maybe pass/fail status — are scattered across the production line as though the only option is the most basic of traceability. Data collected by the cameras and vision system applications is being lost – data that can help improve the inspection process as well as contribute to the fast resolution of quarantines and recalls.
Source: http://www.vision-systems.com/webcasts/2017/06/manufacturing-4-0-data-management-principles-for-machine-vision.html?cmpid=enl_vsd_vsdnewsletter_2017-05-30
Tomi Engdahl says:
Modular WiFi-Switch
Modular ESP8266 Wi-Fi switch to the installation in switch boxes.
https://hackaday.io/project/20035-modular-wifi-switch
The WiFi switch consists of three PCBs.
Part 1 = Switch and Display
Part 2 = WLAN and Logic Stuff
Part 3 = Power and Powerswitch
Tomi Engdahl says:
Organizations Concerned About Medical Device Attacks: Study
http://www.securityweek.com/organizations-concerned-about-medical-device-attacks-study
Many manufacturers and healthcare delivery organizations (HDO) are concerned about medical device attacks, but only few have taken significant steps to address the threat, according to a study commissioned by electronic design automation solutions provider Synopsys.
The study, based on a survey of 550 individuals conducted by the Ponemon Institute, shows that 67 percent of medical device makers and 56 percent of HDOs believe an attack on the medical devices they build or use is likely to occur in the next 12 months.
In fact, roughly one-third of respondents said they were aware of cyber incidents that had a negative impact on patients, including inappropriate therapy or treatment delivery, ransomware attacks, denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, and hijacking of medical devices.
On the other hand, only 17 percent of device manufacturers and 15 percent of HDOs have taken significant steps to prevent attacks. Roughly 40 percent on both sides admitted that they haven’t done anything to prevent attacks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Thomas Ricker / The Verge:
Essential Home announced as a privacy-focused Amazon Echo competitor, to have a round “auto-display” and be less cloud dependent, reportedly coming late summer — ‘An entirely new type of product’ — Essential Home is the new intelligent assistant with round “auto-display” just announced by Andy Rubin’s new venture.
Essential Home is an Amazon Echo competitor that puts privacy first
‘An entirely new type of product’
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/5/30/15711258/essential-home-voice-assistant-andy-rubin
Essential Home is the new intelligent assistant with round “auto-display” just announced by Andy Rubin’s new venture. It can be activated with a question, a tap, or even a “glance,” according to Essential, and it’s designed to never intrude upon the home. In that way Essential calls it “an entirely new type of product” but it mostly borrows ideas from existing products in an attempt to outdo them.
Essential Home lets you control your music, ask general interest questions, set timers, and control your lights — capabilities we’ve seen from Google and Amazon, only Essential promises to do them better, somehow.
It’s like Google Home or Amazon’s Echo series of assistants, only without the “boxes, tubes, or strange lights.” It’s like Nest, but it doesn’t try to make your home smart by anticipating your needs — it suggests certain behaviors instead. “In the end people decide,” says Essential.
What Essential Home is exactly, isn’t clear. Essential has some nice renders showing the concept in action. But we’re not seeing any photos of a working device and nothing in the way of specifications, prices, or delivery dates.
A report in Wired says that Essential Home will ship later this summer with the intention of bringing “order to the endless standards, protocols, and systems wrought by the Internet of Things.” So far, they’ve built a system that works seamlessly with SmartThings, HomeKit, Nest, “and the rest,” according to Wired, including Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant. Whether all that functionality will be in the shipping product, though, is unclear.
https://www.wired.com/2017/05/essential-andy-rubin/#slide-6
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://threadgroup.org/
WHAT IS THREAD?
Thread was designed with one goal in mind: to create
the best way to connect and control products in the home.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to Build Your Own Google AIY without the Kit
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/30/diy-google-aiy/
Google’s voice assistant has been around for a while now and when Amazon released its Alexa API and ported the PaaS Cloud code to the Raspberry Pi 2 it was just a matter of time before everyone else jumped on the fast train to maker kingdom. Google just did it in style.
Few know that the Google Assistant API for the Raspberry Pi 3 has been out there for some time now but when they decided to give away a free kit with the May 2017 issues of MagPi magazine, they made an impression on everyone. Unfortunately the world has more makers and hackers and the number of copies of the magazine are limited.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google AIY: Artificial Intelligence Yourself
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/04/google-aiy-artificial-intelligence-yourself/
When Amazon released the API to their voice service Alexa, they basically forced any serious players in this domain to bring their offerings out into the hacker/maker market as well. Now Google and Raspberry Pi have come together to bring us ‘Artificial Intelligence Yourself’ or AIY.
A free hardware kit made by Google was distributed with Issue 57 of the MagPi Magazine which is targeted at makers and hobbyists which you can see in the video after the break. The kit contains a Raspberry Pi Voice Hat, a microphone board, a speaker and a number of small bits to mount the kit on a Raspberry Pi 3. Putting all of it together and following the instruction on the official site gets you a Google Voice Interaction Kit with a bunch of IOs just screaming to be put to good use.
https://aiyprojects.withgoogle.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Low cost (~ 9$) IoT for Arduino and Raspberry Pi
https://hackaday.io/project/10416-low-cost-9-iot-for-arduino-and-raspberry-pi
Low cost IoT platform for Arduino Nano and Raspberry Pi under 9USD for all parts (included shipping) base on Ebay seller.
Target for this project would be creat IoT platform for Arduino Nano and Raspberry PI 2 base on Ebay parts under $9.
Learn also about Breadboard PCB project with support for Raspberry Pi connector on board.
https://www.awesomepcb.com/breadboard-pcb-with-raspberry-pi-support/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rockwell Automation CEO forecasts Industrial Internet of Things trends at Cisco’s 2017 IoT World Forum
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2017/040/rockwell-ceo-iot.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cimdatacenternewsletter_2017-05-30
Blake Moret, president and CEO of Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK), spoke on Internet of Things (IoT) adoption and its impact on industrial productivity, sharing insights with more than 1,200 business leaders at Cisco’s IoT World Forum in London today.
As Moret described, the positive outcomes associated with IoT will continue to accelerate as organizations progress from pilot or proof-of-concept IoT projects to scalable IoT deployments.
According to the Global IoT Decision Maker Survey published by International Data Corporation (IDC), nearly one-third (31 percent) of those surveyed have already launched IoT solutions, and another 43 percent are looking to deploy solutions in the next 12 months. Rockwell Automation is seeing a similar trend in its deployment of IoT solutions, and continues to increase its number of pilots across industries, applications and geographies.
“Manufacturers and industrial operators are discovering practical ways to apply IoT across their operations, and they’re deriving measurable business value as a result,” Moret said. “Combining IoT technology and expertise in specific industrial applications enables better collaboration, faster problem-solving and increased productivity.”
Moret referenced several factors driving the adoption of industrial IoT and connected operations, including lower cost of computing and connectivity, and the convergence of information technology and operations technology.
“We have great technology, good people and a strong culture, but another component that sets us apart from our competitors is our ability to partner with companies such as Cisco. Together, we deliver expertise and solutions for highly secure, smooth connectivity from the plant floor to the enterprise network,” said Moret.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Avnet intros ‘Visible Things’ development kit for Industrial IoT applications
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2017/040/avnet-iot-dev.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cimdatacenternewsletter_2017-05-30
At this month’s Internet of Thing World (May 14-17) in Santa Clara, CA, global technology distributor Avnet (NYSE: AVT) introduced a starter kit specifically designed for the development of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications.
The SK002 Visible Things Industrial IoT Starter Kit adds to the company’s Visible Things platform, which it says offers a complete development solution that enables engineers to get their IoT systems and applications quickly designed, tested and deployed. Targeting a wide range of industrial markets, the kit combines secure, integrated hardware and embedded software to connect smart sensors and embedded devices, via gateway solutions or low-power wide area networking technologies, to the cloud and smart enterprise software. The distributor says “the highly flexible development platform aids in the design of a broad portfolio of industrial applications, including: remote monitoring, predictive maintenance of motors and drives, room control in homes and buildings, lighting, security and surveillance, smart energy metering and healthcare, as well as industrial automation applications such as inspection capabilities, drive monitoring and sensor hubs.”
According to a press release, “The SK002 Visible Things Industrial IoT Starter Kit offers all the benefits of the platform’s debut starter kit (SK001), with additional functionality, including smart pressure and energy-harvesting sensors, controller area network (CAN) and NFC connectivity, embedded vision and audio, as well as delivering Power over Ethernet (PoE). The Renesas Synergy S7G2-FBGA224 kit is based around an ARM M4 Cortex microcontroller.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Flexible nanogenerator acts as loudspeaker, microphone
https://semiengineering.com/powerperformance-bits-may-30/
Engineers at Michigan State University developed a paper-thin, flexible ferroelectret nanogenerator, or FENG, that can both generate energy from human motion and act as a loudspeaker and microphone.
“This is the first transducer that is ultrathin, flexible, scalable and bidirectional, meaning it can convert mechanical energy to electrical energy and electrical energy to mechanical energy,” said Nelson Sepulveda, MSU associate professor of electrical and computer engineering.
The FENG starts with a silicone wafer, which is then fabricated with several layers of environmentally friendly substances including silver, polyimide and polypropylene ferroelectret. Ions are added so that each layer in the device contains charged particles.
How scientists turned a flag into a loudspeaker
http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2017/how-scientists-turned-a-flag-into-a-loudspeaker/
A paper-thin, flexible device created at Michigan State University not only can generate energy from human motion, it can act as a loudspeaker and microphone as well, nanotechnology researchers report today in Nature Communications.
The audio breakthrough could eventually lead to such consumer products as a foldable loudspeaker, a voice-activated security patch for computers and even a talking newspaper.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Vlad Savov / The Verge:
Nest unveils Cam IQ, a smart home camera with a 4K video sensor that uses Google’s AI for facial recognition; preorders open now for $299, ships end of June
Nest cams back from the dead with new home monitoring device
The Cam IQ presents an intriguing mix of high-fidelity video and smart motion detection and alerts
https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/31/15716830/nest-cam-iq-announced-specs-features-release-date-price
today the Alphabet-owned company is making a splashy return to prominence with a new “intelligent” indoor camera called the Nest Cam IQ. Bearing a similar shape and styling to Nest’s signature thermostat, the Cam IQ costs $299 (or $498 for a pair) and will begin shipping by the end of June.
Nest has also built in a powerful speaker, a three-microphone array with noise and echo suppression, and an impressively flexible and strong pivot stand, but the hardware is really not the thing this company’s excited about.
Using some deep-learning tech from Google, the Cam IQ can accurately detect what’s moving within its field of vision — whether it’s just your pet, for instance, or a shadow cast by the changing light. If it’s something more sinister, like a person, the camera can then automatically zoom in and track that person as they move around the room.
Should you opt to subscribe to the Nest Aware service ($10 per month or $100 per year), the Cam IQ will also offer a facial recognition facility that will sort between known friends or family members and any strangers, and alert you accordingly. Additionally, making use of those extra mics, Nest Aware can now also pick up audio cues for alarm, whether it be a dog barking, humans talking, or a window being smashed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
according to VTT, it is a good idea for companies to prepare themselves to investigate the possibilities of artificial intelligence.
Finnish companies are also beginning to see the benefits of using artificial intelligence. For example, a new contract with the Machine, which will allow Kone to switch to Salesforce on field service.
All of this has a huge impact on our daily lives. At the same time, it is a big opportunity for Finnish companies. – Artificial intelligence in Finland at a very high level, as well as an understanding of artificial intelligence. In old businesses where the IT department is only seen as a cost, this can be a problem and for many startups, there is a chance to capture the market.
There is currently a huge IoT buum in Finland when companies are starting to collect huge amounts of data across different sensor networks. Many companies do not yet know what this data should do. In that development artificial intelligence is a natural next step. Artificial intelligence raises information from the point of view relevant to business and decision making.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/6396-pian-kaikissa-ohjelmistoissa-on-tekoalya
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arrow is now a design and software company
Before everything was easier. Arrow Electronics was known as a component wholesaler, which provided circuitry for all potential suppliers and little technical support, but not much else. New Arrow is a very different company.
Arrow is nowadays nothing but a iron supplier.
Arrow has deliberately sought to get rid of his old image as a “just” broadline distributor. For a couple of years, the company has made it through its Five Years Out slogan. According to Smith and Bickley, it is not a matter of solving the eternal problem of basic distribution: small margins in a sector where volumes threaten to shrink. Instead, Arrow helps businesses move to the Internet of Things.
- Traditionally, companies are either hardware or software experts. IoT is, however, a complex and multidisciplinary challenge that, however, includes both sides. We want to solve this customer problem, the men say.
According to Bickley, 70 per cent of Arrow’s IoT customers are new acquaintances. Businesses that are bringing IoT into their own business but have no idea how to do it. – For these companies, Arrow is the supplier of the solution. Our role is to be implementing this “überisation”.
The industrial internet also forces Arrow’s old customers to come up again.
- Ten years ago this would have been an absolutely impossible idea. We could not have told the journalist what these should develop. Now, big suppliers like Cypress, Analog Devices, Intel and Microsoft are listening to us when the IoT world needs to develop products, Smith praises.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/6392-arrow-on-nyt-suunnittelu-ja-softayritys
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple’s Siri-controlled speaker enters production, will feature virtual surround sound and have no screen, could debut at WWDC and ship later this year — Device enters overseas production ahead of annual conference — Company seeks differentiation with surround sound, Apple Music
Apple Is Manufacturing a Siri Speaker to Outdo Google and Amazon
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-31/apple-said-to-ready-siri-speaker-in-bid-to-rival-google-amazon
The iPhone-maker has started manufacturing a long-in-the-works Siri-controlled smart speaker, according to people familiar with the matter. Apple could debut the speaker as soon as its annual developer conference in June, but the device will not be ready to ship until later in the year, the people said.
Introducing a speaker would serve two main purposes: providing a hub to automate appliances and lights via Apple’s HomeKit system, and establishing a bulwark inside the home to lock customers more tightly into Apple’s network of services.
The device will be a hub for Apple’s HomeKit home automation system, letting users control devices such as lights, door locks and window blinds. At present, an Apple TV or iPad is required to control that equipment from outside the home or automatically. The Echo and Google Home both support third-party services and smart home appliances.
Ahead of Apple’s launch, the competition has upgraded their speakers with support for making voice calls, while Amazon’s gained a touchscreen.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The pleasure and the pain of the accessible smart home
https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/31/the-pleasure-and-the-pain-of-the-accessible-smart-home/
People like to point to 1989’s Back to the Future II as presciently showing technologies that exist today. Video conferencing, for example, was futuristic 28 years ago, but people FaceTime all the time nowadays.
Another advancement filmmakers got right was the idea of the smart home. In the scenes where Future Marty McFly is home, computers are greeting him when he comes though the door, helping his son change the channel on the television and cooking pizza after being told the preferred hydration level.
In 2017, the promise of the smart home is more or less reality. Companies like Apple and Amazon are using Siri and Alexa, respectively, to help customers control almost every aspect of the home. From controlling door locks to light switches to thermostats and more, the burgeoning capabilities of these intelligent assistants are making tasks such as turning on the lights in the living room doable by just the sound of your voice or the tap of a button on your phone.
However convenient and futuristic, one area where the smart home has enormous potential (and pitfalls) is accessibility. For people with physical motor impairments, the ability to open doors and flip switches with only your voice has the potential to make the home more accessible than ever before.
From an accessibility perspective, outfitting a home with tech like Hue lights is conceptually similar to installing handrails.
A combination of handrails in the bathroom and Hue lights in the living room does more than make a person’s home more accessible. The use of such tools also helps foster a greater sense of independence, dignity and peace of mind for users.
The promise of smart home devices creating more accessible homes is already being realized for some.
“HomeKit and Switch Control and Siri have given me a lot of value and a lot of opportunities to demonstrate that I’m a quality man and I’m a man of integrity,” Stabelfeldt told NBC News. “To get up every day and go to work: Everybody’s valuable, everybody has worth, everybody should have the opportunity to demonstrate it.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM Cores Target AI-powered Future
Plans to be in all 1 trillion IoT devices by 2035
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331795
ARM plc Monday (May 29) announced its two new application processor cores, the high-end Cortex-A75 and the mid-range Cortex-A55, as part of an ambitious goal to accelerate AI adoption and get an ARM processor core into every IoT device by 2035.
The Cortex-A75 offers performance increases versus previous generations, while the Cortex-A55 delivers both performance and efficiency increases. Both cores come with a level of configurability which makes them suitable for all the Cortex-A family’s markets, in contrast to previous cores which have been optimized for specific applications (for example, the A73 for mobile applications or the A72 for servers).
Both cores are based on ARM’s brand new DynamIQ technology, which the company is heralding as a way to redefine multi-core processing.
“DynamIQ is a fundamental change to the way we build Cortex-A clusters,”
DynamIQ allows a more mix-and-match approach, with heterogeneous core types in the same cluster, that can be configured or optimized differently. It also includes an upgraded memory subsystem to deal with data flowing between the different cores, and a new specific instruction set for AI tasks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Verification And The IoT
https://semiengineering.com/verification-and-the-iot-2/
Experts at the Table, part 2: What is good enough, and when do you know you’re there?
Tomi Engdahl says:
The IIoT opportunity seen from a signal-processing perspective
Address challenges involving real-time signals exchanged by many data-generating devices.
http://www.plantengineering.com/single-article/the-iiot-opportunity-seen-from-a-signal-processing-perspective/6011cb33b12afb97962f5b3e72fc007c.html
In the future, process-production and discrete-manufacturing industries increasingly will rely on the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to improve their operations. While there are many definitions for IIoT, one of the more common is “a distributed network of smart sensors that enables precise control and monitoring of complex processes over arbitrary distances.”
A 2016 survey by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) revealed that 33% of leading industrial and manufacturing companies with current high levels of digitization are projected to increase their digitization efforts to 72% by 2020. The survey of more than 2,000 participants from 26 countries showed that leading investment areas include vertical value-chain integration (72%), product development and engineering (71%) and customer access, including within sales channels and for marketing efforts (68%). Almost 72% of manufacturing enterprises surveyed predicted their use of data analytics would improve customer relationships, and 35% of companies adopting the European variant of IIoT, Industrie 4.0, expected revenue gains higher than 20% over the next five years. These results illustrate the growing expectation that IIoT will be the driver for third industrial-innovation wave.
But what does IIoT mean from a signal-processing perspective?
The IIoT concept includes all the main characterizing features of the IoT computing paradigm, including ubiquitous sensing, data interaction and collection and data analysis. These functions are enabled by machines that talk to each other as they complete tasks—in a smarter and more efficient way than possible by humans acting alone. Machine-to-machine communication supports autonomous communications among devices.
Autonomous machine capabilities enabled by IIoT culminate in cyber-physical production systems (CPPS). In other words, systems for which the boundary between what is physical and what is digital becomes increasingly indistinguishable.
Signal processing plays a critical role as an IIoT enabler, despite being overshadowed by other aspects of IIoT, including the communication architectures, sensing technologies and power management involved. Advanced machine-learning approaches will support predictive and prescriptive analytic solutions by connecting previously stranded data from smart sensors, equipment and other assets.
The IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) IoT Special Interest Group (SIG) promotes the development, standardization and application of signal- and information-processing technologies targeting unique challenges from emerging IIoT scenarios.
Significant industrial sectors impacted by IIoT include process production, discrete manufacturing, utilities and oil & gas. However, these “industrial” applications also have relevance in areas such as “smart cities” or “smart agriculture” domains. The common foundation of these sectors relies on the basic integration between information technology (IT) and operation technology (OT), enabled by the IIoT.
The IIoT market is estimated to reach near $124 billion by 2021.
Yet despite innovation and increasing awareness about IIoT opportunities, the industrial sector lags in fully embracing IoT for reasons as follows:
Because long-lifecycle legacy field devices won’t be upgraded anytime soon, to achieve ubiquitous IIoT the solutions must be “appendages” to in-service products.
The scaling of vertical IIoT solutions presents challenges.
Engineering managers resist deploying unproven technologies.
Energy consumption
Even In its early stages, IIoT has been used to reduce resource consumption and carbon emissions by industrial systems. Nevertheless, IIoT systems—including a diversity of devices with sensing, processing, and communications capabilities—consume substantial amounts of energy, which can contribute to a larger carbon footprint. On the other hand, IIoT systems typically consist of low-power devices supported by batteries, which constrain the continuous operations of IIoT systems.
Signal-processing perspectives
Unique signal-processing needs arise from the IoT ecosystem. These include: robust information sensing from complex and adverse environments using massive connected sensors and distributed signal processing; low-power situation-aware data-transmission and processing; and the privacy-preserving processing of information that is shared by connected things.
Edge device evolution
Edge devices or intelligent gateways also play a prominent role in the growing IIoT infrastructure and these network devices will be used to collect, aggregate, filter and relay data close to industrial processes or production assets. By running analytics and advanced machine learning algorithms, they detect anomalies in real time communicate to operators. Therefore, the emerging trend is to move intelligence to the edge of the network, closer to the data sources. This is also a viable option when it is not feasible to run analytics on a cloud platform or when a cloud-based solution is unavailable.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Few companies have clear IIoT vision, according to survey
http://www.plantengineering.com/single-article/few-companies-have-clear-iiot-vision-according-to-survey/cb31c32f96e9089662fe25184a5adb21.html
A survey by the Business Performance Innovation (BPI) network showed that fewer than two percent of large corporations have a clear vision for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).
Fewer than two percent of executives at large organizations say their companies have a clear vision of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), with implementation well underway. That is according to a new report by consultancy Business Performance Innovation (BPI) Network, working in partnership with The CMO Council, Penton’s IoT Institute, and The Nerdery.
The study, The Impact of Connectedness on Competitiveness, is based on a global survey of 350 executives from large enterprises. It found that more than half (52%) of executives at large enterprises expect IIoT to have a ‘significant’ or “major” impact on their industry within three years, with another third (32%) forecasting a “moderate” impact in that timeframe.
However, adoption lags behind expectations, with just one in ten respondents characterizing attention and adoption within their industry as “widespread and aggressive.” More than half (53%), meanwhile, report growing interest.When it comes to their own organizations, only 1.5% say their organizations have a “clear vision of IIoT with implementation well underway”, while 29% say they have made a strong commitment, with implementation and pilots just getting started. A further 28% describe themselves as being in the planning stages.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Get your maintenance program ready for IIoT
http://www.plantengineering.com/single-article/get-your-maintenance-program-ready-for-iiot/ecdfa5a45237db752ea88756458da469.html
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) provides many benefits for maintenance programs and companies looking to take advantage should take some proactive steps to make the transition seamless.
What are the potential benefits of using the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for your maintenance operation? Advocates cite many time, labor and material-saving advantages, including:
Interaction with production systems and preempt product losses due to equipment failure and/or unplanned maintenance downtime
Interfacing with the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) to kick out work orders based on current conditions
Equipment such as pumps can be programmed to switch over to back-up systems and redundancies based on conditions
Links to maintenance inventory to call out parts needed for condition-based maintenance requirements
Real-time readouts via handheld devices improve effectiveness of time spent on inspection rounds
More detailed feedback to operators
Providing follow-up on maintenance activity to verify it was completed correctly and on schedule
Accelerating defect elimination and financial gains identified from the maintenance.
Plant managers need to collaborate with production, engineering and quality cohorts to assess hardware and connectivity requirements, implementation costs and data security measures. You’ll need to address integration and communication with existing equipment (good news: you can probably use most of the of the sensors and connectivity technology that you already have in place).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Embracing IIoT’s potential for maintenance
Companies can and should embrace and apply critical aspects of IIoT, including machine learning, analytics, and mobility
http://www.plantengineering.com/single-article/embracing-iiot-s-potential-for-maintenance/a69e535637afb014de94dba7ab47c05e.html
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and the concept of IIoT for Maintenance are popular buzzwords in the maintenance world today. But what do they mean, and how can these concepts benefit maintenance professionals attempting to meet production demands, increase productivity and boost the bottom line?
The IIoT story has evolved far beyond what it was when it was first introduced to me 15 years ago. In the early days, there was reluctance from upper management to embrace IIoT. Today, leveraging cloud technology is becoming a requirement. Cloud-based systems and IIoT enable companies to buy the best-of-breed solutions without turning the information technology department upside down. Companies today can embrace and apply critical aspects of IIoT, including machine learning, analytics, and mobility.
Machine learning
Machine learning is a type of artificial intelligence that provides computers with the ability to learn patterns and trends without specific programming. Machine learning focuses on the development of programs that change when exposed to new data. For maintenance professionals, these programs can mean changes in preventive (PM) or predictive (PdM) maintenance schedules based on equipment condition.
It is not critical how information is imported into a system such as a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). My experiences with the evolution of CMMS and mobility have shown that even with manual methods, machine learning can result in establishing procedures to address planning pitfalls, better inventory control, stronger PM practices and maintenance discipline.
Analytics
Information on all assets, labor, and work management is readily available with the ability to connect CMMS and tools. More specifically, through advanced analytics, maintenance professionals can interpret data from multiple sources (including structured and unstructured data) into a wide variety of operational and asset management systems. This analysis provides a deep and wide perspective, exposing conditions not normally evaluated.
Mobility
In today’s industrial world, smartphones and laptops are more prevalent than desktops. Mobility is tied to most things in our world, and can help provide a cost-effective method to leverage IIoT. The power of mobile technology can turn machine learning and analytics into action by feeding the data directly from a piece of equipment to a handheld device.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Five positive impacts from the IIoT on manufacturing
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has impacted manufacturing in areas such as predictive maintenance, safety, and supply chain visibility.
http://www.plantengineering.com/single-article/five-positive-impacts-from-the-iiot-on-manufacturing/4db18ab494621f0b041a043c70c03161.html
Manufacturing is using the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to tremendous effect and the impact has created many positive developments. The IIoT’s advantage is especially noticeable in these five areas:
1. Predictive maintenance
2. Supply chain visibility
3. Cross-facility operations analysis
4. Automation
5. Safety
Rockwell Automation’s Dave Krieger gave a talk at this year’s EHS Today Safety Leadership Conference, noting, “Safety has always been there, but not one has ever really collected data. That could help in compliance and auditing.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hijacking the Sonoff OTA Mechanism
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/31/hijacking-the-sonoff-ota-mechanism/
ITEAD’s Sonoff line is a range of Internet-of-Things devices based around the ESP8266. This makes them popular for hacking due to their accessibility. Past projects have figured out how to reflash the Sonoff devices, but for [mirko], that wasn’t enough – it was time to reverse engineer the Sonoff Over-The-Air update protocol.
[mirko]’s motivation is simple enough – a desire for IoT devices that don’t need to phone home to the corporate mothership, combined with wanting to avoid the labor of cracking open every Sonoff device to reflash it with wires like a Neanderthal. The first step involved connecting the Sonoff device to WiFi and capturing the traffic. This quickly turned up an SSL connection to a remote URL. This was easily intercepted as the device doesn’t do any certificate validation – but a lack of security is sadly never a surprise on the Internet of Things.
SonOTA – Flashing Itead Sonoff devices via original OTA mechanism
http://blog.nanl.de/2017/05/sonota-flashing-itead-sonoff-devices-via-original-ota-mechanism/
There’s now a script with which you can flash your sonoff device via the original internal OTA upgrade mechanism, meaning, no need to open, solder, etc. the device to get your custom firmware onto it.
This isn’t perfect (yet)
Tomi Engdahl says:
LoRa+BLE Puts IoT Everywhere on the Map
http://www.mwrf.com/systems/lorable-puts-iot-everywhere-map
Thanks to the blend of LoRa technology and Bluetooth Low Energy, the Internet of Things can reach locations without telecommunications infrastructure.
When it comes to the Internet of Things (IoT), far-flung is also fun because it’s about where the future of IoT lies: Way out on the edge of where sensor device-to-cloud wireless connectivity has ever been able to go geographically.
IoT has been anything but far-flung up until now. Yes, it is already being deployed in lots of locations. The analyst reports that come out each month say that billions upon billions of wireless sensors and devices will be deployed in the next few years.
But if you fling a dart at a map, chances are you would hit a geographic location where IoT was once likely to be difficult or challenging to achieve—either technically or economically. That’s because the vast majority of wireless IoT deployments today are done within arm’s reach of telecommunications infrastructure, whether in the form of wired infrastructure or wireless towers.
Infrastructure Dependency
There’s a good reason why IoT has stuck close to that infrastructure, which typically means close to cities and towns and the routes that connect them. IoT deployments rely on Ethernet, fiber, and cellular infrastructure as the conduit for data sent to and received from those wireless devices. That provides the backhaul for an engineer in Chicago to receive packets of data from a set of sensors in Peoria, and to send instructions and other information to the wireless IoT devices remotely.
Typically, that backhaul is provided via fiber through something like a Wi-Fi or cellular connection from a gateway.
when you combine a new technology, LoRa, with one that is already a fundamental element of so many IoT deployments: Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).
IoT networks that utilize BLE (also known as Bluetooth Smart) can be deployed in nearly any physical space, given its small footprint and energy-miser architecture that enable small wireless sensors and controls to operate on a battery charge for years. With BLE, these small devices can be placed nearly anywhere within a given location
But without backhaul, those BLE devices are simply talking to one another in an echo chamber—they lack two-way communication back to the people who want to get that data and send instructions. As a result, the majority of BLE-based IoT applications use the mobile phone as a gateway back to the cloud via its cellular connection. But in absence of a cellular or mobile phone, what do you do? This is where LoRa comes in.
Together, BLE and LoRa provide the combination of short-range, inter-device communications and long-haul backhaul over distance to allow the implementation of IoT networks in a much broader geographic area.
With that said, some exciting applications await LoRa in metro areas: A few LoRa gateways can create an IoT network for a large urban area, connecting a large number of devices with their own low-power network that need not rely on traditional telecom infrastructure. Those applications include environmental monitoring, to city management, to utility-meter measurements among dozens of others.
The LoRa gateway on-site would relay data packets to and from the cloud via a series of small nodes every 10 miles, each of which utilize the ultra-low-power LoRa to stay running for long periods on a small battery. That backhaul can extend as far as necessary until a connection is able to be made to traditional telecom infrastructure.
LoRaWAN data rates range from 0.3 to 50 kb/s. To maximize battery life of the end devices as well as overall network capacity, the LoRaWAN network server manages the data rate and RF output for each end device individually by means of an adaptive-data-rate (ADR) scheme.
Tomi Engdahl says:
For Prototyping, New Software-Defined Radio for Millimeter Waves
http://www.mwrf.com/software/prototyping-new-software-defined-radio-millimeter-waves
National Instruments released new radio heads that can be swapped into its millimeter wave transceiver system to measure how these high frequencies are affected by trees, buildings, cars, and people.
National Instruments’ radio heads operate over the 28 gigahertz frequency band, which exists much higher on the wireless spectrum than the scarce and expensive low frequency bands now used in communications. But wireless carriers like AT&T and Verizon are increasingly targeting the band and higher ones for 5G networks.
Starting in 2012, National Instruments partnered with Nokia to build 73 GHz radio heads for testing and prototyping. Tapping into the 28 GHz band takes little more than plugging in the new devices, since the software is compatible between the radio heads. (National Instruments also has 60 GHz heads for the transceiver).
The new radio heads follow a recent announcement that AT&T had used the prototyping system to build a tool for tapping into 28 GHz spectrum. The tool, called Porcupine for its crown of horn antennas, is helping the wireless carrier with tricky tasks like connecting vehicles and planning where to position 5G equipment for best coverage.
The decision to target the new radio heads at 28 GHz spectrum also came from projects around the wireless industry, Yost said. This week, National Instruments showed the radio heads running a 5G specification that Verizon published separately this year from the formal standards process. The company next plans to release 39 GHz radio heads.
Verizon recently won a $3.1 billion bidding war for Straight Path, a major holder of 28 and 39 GHz licenses.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM Cores Target AI-powered Future
Plans to be in all 1 trillion IoT devices by 2035
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331795
ARM plc Monday (May 29) announced its two new application processor cores, the high-end Cortex-A75 and the mid-range Cortex-A55, as part of an ambitious goal to accelerate AI adoption and get an ARM processor core into every IoT device by 2035.
Both cores are based on ARM’s brand new DynamIQ technology, which the company is heralding as a way to redefine multi-core processing.
“DynamIQ is a fundamental change to the way we build Cortex-A clusters,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Value of Data Protection in the Internet of Things
https://www.securerf.com/the-value-of-data-protection-in-the-internet-of-things/?utm_campaign=Email%20Newsletter&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=52593614&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8_wSIQekkZKrE57GF-ibUxr1JF_Y0P1tmS2o_YLRoLlpvYKNBNq_UxSsPTswHPoMY227lfK8h2xmeLOTIOfK_bREgNy_PPVxV1JbsX2z_TkGyrMs4&_hsmi=52593614
The IoT is made up of billions of devices that collect and share data. If this data is not properly secured, it puts both end-users and manufacturers at risk for all sorts of disastrous consequences.
For example, the data Data Protection Value collected by a smart thermostat can reveal when someone is home based on their heating and cooling settings. If this information is not adequately protected, thieves can use it to determine when to break into houses. Similarly, if the data from a sensor monitoring a factory assembly line is not secured, it can be accessed and used by a competitor to steal inventory information. Even seemingly innocuous information can be combined from multiple devices to build detailed pictures of a person’s lifestyle or buying behavior.
Breaches can have equally devastating consequences for the companies that failed to adequately secure the devices in the first place. Security breaches, particularly high-profile ones, can cause irreversible brand damage, revenue loss, drops in stock price, and other significant negative ramifications.
According to Cisco, the billions of devices comprising the Internet of Things will generate trillions of gigabytes of data by 2018 – some 400 zettabytes a year to be more precise – and all that data needs to be safeguarded from hackers to protect consumers and manufacturers.
Identification and authentication are related – they are cryptographic functions that provide a provable identity. They are necessary to ensure information is being communicated to the correct device and that the source can be trusted.
The next layer of data protection in the IoT is encryption. First and foremost, when sensitive data is moving from device-to-device (data in motion), it should be encrypted.
Encryption using a cipher like AES can provide confidentiality, making the data incomprehensible to eavesdroppers.
However, protecting your IoT data is not just about protecting data in motion. You also need to protect the data that resides on your IoT devices, which is data at rest. This includes the device’s identity information, configuration, running state, and programming, as well as audit and log files.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT Security Vulnerabilities of Smart Cities
https://www.securerf.com/iot-security-vulnerabilities-smart-cities/?utm_campaign=Email%20Newsletter&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=52593614&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_IeAym9_8XRCdZQE_3OOoN-O-RNg4iJiE6gpiDDDL-QIeZlZcJlkTL2mQUJ5KsuYxUAqHjxQ1TAZsAmOerIfdhL3bWFNef1V2f38UmEpGa9OttiW8&_hsmi=52593614
As IoT devices become smaller and cheaper, more cities are leveraging them to transform themselves into smart cities. Smart cities use IoT devices and technologies to improve the efficiency of their services and assist their citizens in a variety of ways. Smart city IoT applications include:
Traffic-management systems that reduce congestion and save money on infrastructure repairs;
Trash bins on city streets and in parks that tell municipal waste managers when bins are ready to be emptied;
Sensors in parking lots connected to mobile apps that show users when and where parking spaces are available;
Sensors in street lights that cause them to brighten when people are within a certain distance of the lamp;
Water sensors that detect when parts of a city are flooded or when a river, stream, or lake has reached a certain height; and
Bus shelters where waiting passengers can see the location of a bus or train in real time.
As connected devices become more pervasive in smart city deployments, the potential threats from a cyber intrusion grow exponentially more dangerous.
How can smart-city managers balance the usefulness of the data collection and management capabilities with the potential risks of abuse and takeover? The answer is that devices must be able to authenticate themselves to the network and to each other, as well as authenticate any messages they send and receive. This ensures that messages received from the devices have not been modified in transit, and that the device won’t respond to commands from unauthorized sources.
The next logical question is: Why are existing devices not already secure? The answer is complex, but boils down to a few main points:
IoT devices typically used in smart cities are often extremely constrained, with limited computation, storage, or energy capabilities. Examples of constrained devices can include smaller 32-, 16-, and even 8-bit CPUs and microcontrollers with limited clock speeds.
There are other cryptographic technologies that fit constrained devices and provide a high level of security without the computational or energy overhead of the legacy methods.
Many devices used by smart cities are left in the field for long periods, say 10-20 years or more. Such devices not only need security, they also need upgradeability and resiliency. It’s likely that during their lifetimes, new bugs will be found that require software updates. Moreover, it’s expected that quantum computers will become large enough in that time to render all legacy cryptographic systems ineffective. So any systems or devices deployed using a legacy cryptographic solution will need to be upgraded to quantum-safe cryptography.
Why build a device you expect to live for 10-20 years but use cryptography you know will be dead in five to 10 years?
Tomi Engdahl says:
CryptoManager IoT Device Management
https://semiengineering.com/cryptomanager-iot-device-management/
How to implement end-to-end security for IoT device chipsets and cloud-based platform-as-a-service.
The Internet of Things (IoT) market is caught in the difficult position of needing security, but, due to the fractured nature of the market, do not have an easy way of implementing a robust security solution. The Rambus CryptoManager IoT Device Management is a turnkey device-to-cloud solution that provides seamless end-to-end secure connectivity throughout all stages of the device life-cycle. Specific features include device identification and mutual authentication, disaster recovery and key management, device attestation, and decommissioning and re-assignment of keys to better manage devices and mitigate various attacks. The CryptoManager IoT Device Management solution is pre-integrated with the IoT device chipsets and popular cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS), creating an easily integrated and deployed solution. When a device is powered up and connected to the internet, it automatically connects to the IoT Device Management service, seamlessly authenticates, and provisions relevant security credentials.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Playing Catch Up With IoT Security
https://semiengineering.com/playing-catch-iot-security/
An unsecured IoT ecosystem introduces real-world risks, and we’re already seeing the consequences.
While the benefits of the Internet of Things (IoT) are clear, security hasn’t managed to keep up with the rapid pace of innovation and deployment. As the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently stated, an unsecured IoT ecosystem introduces real-world risks that include malicious actors manipulating the flow of information to and from network-connected devices or tampering with devices themselves. This can lead to the theft of sensitive data and loss of consumer privacy, interruption of business operations, slowdown of internet functionality via large-scale distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and potential disruptions to critical infrastructure.
In recent months, unsecured IoT devices have been targeted by multiple malware strains, including Brickerbot, Mirai and Hajime.
According to Radware (via the DHS), BrickerBot.1 and BrickerBot.2 exploit hard-coded passwords, exposed SSH and brute force Telnet. Although BrickerBot.1 is no longer active, BrickerBot.2 continues to target Linux-based devices which may or may not run BusyBox and which expose a Telnet service protected by default or hard-coded passwords. The source of the attacks is concealed by TOR exit nodes.
Meanwhile, Mirai continuously scans for IoT devices that are accessible over the internet and protected by factory default or hardcoded user names and passwords.
The rise of Internet of Things malware illustrates the real-world risks associated with deploying unsecured IoT devices. Indeed, nearly every device is a potential target for cyber criminals with malicious intent. As such, it is important to understand that reducing the IoT attack surface starts with adequately protecting both services and endpoints. To be sure, an attacker cannot compromise an endpoint without first establishing an unauthorized communication channel.
An IoT security solution should therefore only allow legitimate, verified cloud services to ‘talk’ with each device by thwarting unauthorized communication attempts trying to exploit known vulnerabilities in the device’s software or firmware.
Perhaps most importantly, IoT security solutions should be ready out of the box: simple, affordable and easy to use. One effective method of simplifying security and reducing costs is to deploy IoT devices with pre-provisioned keys, identifiers and pre-integrated security software that ‘knows’ how to work seamlessly with the service security component. This model allows service providers to bolster security for a wide range of connected ‘things.’
https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/Strategic_Principles_for_Securing_the_Internet_of_Things-2016-1115-FINAL….pdf