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 Forecast of 50 Billion Devices by 2020 Is Outdated.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:
IoT coverage for 95% of UK by 2019? We can’t even do 4G, Sigfox
French firm and new pals WND announce, err, ambitious plans
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/23/sigfox_wnd_uk_95_per_cent_iot_network_coverage_claim/
French Internet of Things connectivity firm Sigfox says it is partnering with a hitherto unheard-of firm, WND-UK, to cover “95 per cent” of Blighty by 2019.
WND is a very recent expansion into the UK, having set up shop earlier this year. Sigfox is a French-headquartered firm which has had an active commercial presence in the UK since 2014, deploying its IoT connectivity gear in a number of locations around the country – but on a relatively limited scale.
WND-UK “will deploy, operate and maintain a nationwide network”, according to Sigfox’s statement this morning. Their claim of being able to secure coverage of “95 per cent of the UK” is not quantified as to whether that is landmass coverage or population coverage – and it’s a claim that badly needs further explanation.
Ofcom’s 2016 Connected Nation report reckons (PDF) that 93 per cent of UK consumers can get data services coverage from their mobile operator in “outdoor premises” of the type likely to have IoT sensors installed.
it is difficult to see how the French firm is going to hit its 95 per cent coverage target, particularly when mobile network operators with large pots of cash and licence obligations to boot have, so far, not secured that level of coverage for 2G/3G/4G.
Tomi Engdahl says:
What Does Your Smart Meter Know About You?
http://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/energy/the-smarter-grid/what-does-your-smart-meter-know-about-you
An ordinary smart meter gives your local utility useful information about how much energy you are using—every hour, or even as often as every minute. This helps utility planners efficiently adjust electricity generation to meet demand or encourage reductions in demand when necessary.
But machine learning systems, looking at that data, can tell something else about your home besides its energy use—they can tell if you are home, or if you are not.
That information, Jin says, is also useful for utilities—they can call or show up to perform necessary maintenance when you are home, and not waste personnel time trying to reach you.
But they aren’t the only ones who can access this information, given the data is transmitted wirelessly, and isn’t necessarily encrypted at every stage of its journey.
In a recent paper, Jin and his colleagues demonstrated that machine learning systems can be trained to detect occupancy without any initial information from a home owner. “You just need a smart meter that listens over time,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cho Mu-Hyun / ZDNet:
Samsung Electronics says its has begun mass production of Exynos i T200, its first processor optimized for Internet of Things devices
Samsung produces IoT-optimised Exynos i T200 processor
http://www.zdnet.com/article/samsung-produces-iot-optimised-exynos-i-t200-processor/
Samsung Electronics has begun production for its first Internet of Things-optimised Exynos processor.
Samsung Electronics has launched the Exynos i T200, its first processor optimised for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, the company has announced.
The South Korean tech giant said the chip has upped security and supports wireless connections, with hopes of giving it an advantage in the expanding IoT market.
Eynos i is a derivative brand of Eyxnos — which is used by Samsung for its processors for smartphones — aimed at IoT devices. Future processors for IoT will continue to carry the brand, a company spokesperson said.
The Exynos i T200 applies Samsung’s 28-nanometer High-K Metal Gate process and has multiple cores, with the Cortex-R4 doing the heavy lifting and an independently operating Cortex-M0+ allowing for multifunctionality.
For example, if applied to a refrigerator, Cotext-R4 will run the OS and Cotex-M0+ will power LED displays on the doors.
The Exynos i T200 supports 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connectivity and has Wi-Fi Alliance certification and Microsoft’s Azure IoT certification. It also supports open-source IoT protocol standard IoTivity, suggested by Open Connectivity Foundation.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Virgin Media tells 800,000 customers to change passwords after routers found vulnerable to hackers
http://www.zdnet.com/article/virgin-media-tells-800000-customers-to-change-passwords-after-routers-found-vulnerable-to-hackers/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=linkedin#ftag=RSSbaffb68
Ethical hackers carried out research on the Super Hub 2 router and found it could be used to take control of Internet of Things devices.
Virgin Media has warned 800,000 customers using its Super Hub 2 router to change their passwords because a security vulnerability could expose their passwords to hackers, enabling attackers to gain control of other smart devices on the network.
The company says that the risk of compromise is only minimal, but customers who haven’t changed the default password displayed on a sticker attached to the router to change both that and their network password in order to protect against potential attacks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jon Russell / TechCrunch:
Trend Mirco announces launch of $100M venture fund targeting startups predominantly in IoT
Cybersecurity firm Trend Micro announces $100M startup fund
https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/27/cybersecurity-firm-trend-micro-announces-100m-startup-fund/
Security firm Trend Micro is the latest corporate to jump into the startup investment world after it unveiled a $100 million corporate fund today. It is predominantly looking at opportunities in the internet-of-things (IoT) space, but the exact scope of how it will operate is not clear.
Tomi Engdahl says:
What could Grocery-IoT look like?
https://developer.vantiv.com/people/[email protected]/blog/2016/10/26/how-can-iot-improve-the-grocery-store?utm_campaign=TechMeme&utm_medium=PaidPlacement&utm_source=Referrer&utm_content=GroceryStoreIoT
Possibly it’s just me, however I commonly* find myself thinking how IoT, payments and simplification of daily duties could be mashed together to simplify the grocery store. Since I pass by our grocery store daily, I’m usually the one given a list of items to buy. The list in itself for some reason has always seemed a very inefficient way to shop. Why you may ask? First, it’s never in the proper order of items in the store.
Second, it’s never quite accurate. How am I supposed to know the difference between tomato sauce versus pureed tomato sauce. Or ground turkey versus minced turkey.
Third, I commonly have to aggregate from multiple different delivery mechanisms.
Fourth, the list is never complete thus usually leading to additional trips to the grocery store either after I get home or the following day.
So how could IoT improve the grocery store? I believe that the solution starts with the last checkout and builds upon itself with all subsequent checkout’s. What if either the card reader or my phone could could store all of the items I purchased. Possibly upon checkout I use my phone to read a QR code (printed on my receipt or screen of a kiosk) that allowed an app to request through an open API (think HATEOS) a summary of all items just purchased. From there the application could offer other features through other open API’s such as recipes which would post to my application breakfast, lunch and dinner ideas. I could quickly scan the possibilities and use the application to check if I have all of the ingredients (as well as enough of all ingredients) in my cart. I know it’s a bit inefficient at this point to have to go back through the store and buy additional items however bear with me. So this completes round one of Grocery-IoT experience which I’d admit so far isn’t too impressive. I think this model gets better with use, so let’s move to round 2.
My family can add to the list through our IPad via recipes or ingredients or through using a home assistant like Amazon Echo / Google home.
IoT devices (growing)
- Card reader device
- Cell Phone(s)
- Computer, Tablet etc.
- Augmented Reality headset
- Refrigerator
- Washer Dryer
- Watch that guides you through the store
- Uber
- Amazon Echo / Google home (or home assistant)
- Bometric Authentication
Additional spin-off services
- Grocery home delivery
- Autonomous grocery delivery. Just this week Budweiser/Uber tested a semi that drove 120 miles to deliver beer.
- Online to onsite or Online to online ordering
- Ability to associate application with grocery loyalty card as well as coupon offers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wall Street Journal:
Source: Alibaba will introduce an Amazon Echo-like device for Chinese consumers as soon as next week
Chinese Tech Titan Alibaba Looks to Echo Amazon’s Smart-Speaker Success
https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-tech-titan-alibaba-looks-to-echo-amazons-smart-speaker-success-1498825026?mod=yahoo_hs&yptr=yahoo
The home device, powered by voice-recognition technology, will be targeted at Chinese consumers. Among other features, the device will allow people to use verbal commands to buy products from Alibaba’s shopping platforms Taobao and Tmall, the person said.
Alibaba’s device, which was first reported by the Information, will likely heighten the competition for Amazon, Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL -0.87% Google and Apple Inc. when they look to market their own digital assistants in China.
Chinese search-engine giant Baidu Inc. BIDU -0.43% launched its own voice-controlled home robot, called Little Fish, in April. It includes a tablet screen that allows users to perform searches, order food and play music and movies.
Alibaba’s smaller e-commerce rival JD.com Inc. JD -0.71% already sells a smart home speaker, called Dingdong
Home device, expected to be unveiled soon, will allow consumers to use voice commands to buy products from online-shopping sites
Tomi Engdahl says:
Is It A Stupid Project If You Learn Something From The Process?
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/01/is-it-a-stupid-project-if-you-learn-something-from-the-process/
Fidget spinners — so hot right now!
[Ben Parnas], and co-conspirator in engineering inanity [Greg Daneault], brought to the recent Boston Stupid Hackathon in Cambridge, MA, their IoT-enabled Fidget Spinner…. spinner. A Spidget Finner. Yep, that’s correct: spin the smartphone, and the spinner follows suit. Stupid? Maybe, but for good reason.
Part satire on cloud tech, part learning experience, a curt eight hours of tinkering brought this grotesque, ESP32-based device to life. The ESP can the Arduino boot-loader, but you’ll want to use the ESP-IDF sdk, enabling broader use of the chip.
Creating an app that pulls data from the phone’s gyroscope, the duo set up the spinner-bot to access the WiFi and request packets of rotational data from the smartphone via a cloud-based server — the ‘spincloud.’ Both devices were enabled as clients to circumvent existing IoT services.
Ridiculous or not — if you learn something, then it’s probably worthwhile! So keep hacking away at those ideas and you might be able to justify it to all the people with concerned stares.
The Spidget finner demo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRJj4xgd7W4
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Alexa, what plane is that?”
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/02/alexa-what-plane-is-that/
We’ve all probably done it — gazed up at a passing jetliner and wondered where it was going and what adventures its passengers were embarked upon. While the latter is hard to answer, the former just got a bit easier: just ask Alexa what the plane is.
Teaching Alexa to Spot Airplanes
Fun with RTL-SDR and Amazon Echo Dot
https://www.nicksypteras.com/projects/teaching-alexa-to-spot-airplanes
As an airplane fanatic, I’d often go to FlightRadar24.com to look up the different airplanes as they passed by, but after a while that became cumbersome.
So, I taught Alexa to do the work for me!
This was actually a pretty straightforward job. The first step was to make two new electronics purchases (not including my Echo Dot):
Raspberry Pi (~$35)
RTL-SDR USB Dongle (~$20)
The dongle is essentially a radio receiver for your computer that can pick up most unencrypted radio broadcasts.
By plugging the dongle into the raspberry pi (and placing by a window with an unobstructed view), and with the help of some open source software, the Pi can be turned into a cheap ADS-B decoder/server!
In case there’s more than one airplane nearby, I use gpxpy to calculate the distance of each plane to my window and then choose the closest.
Finally, I set up a public node js server on my raspeberry pi that pulls the airplane data and formats it into a good ol’ English sentence when requested. Then, I simply have Alexa make a request to the pi server when prompted and read back the result.
If you’re not familiar with how Alexa skills work, you basically create a new skill on the Alexa Skills Kit dashboard, give that skill a name and various utterances that can invoke it (“what plane is that?”) and point it to an AWS Lambda function or similar service capable of processing an Alexa skills request. You don’t have to use AWS Lambda, but it’s definitely a quick and easy option for simple skills. Mine simply returns a basic Alexa skill response with the formatted airplane data from the pi server.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Beverage Cooler That Comes To You!
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/02/a-beverage-cooler-that-comes-to-you/
Feel like taking a long walk, but can’t be bothered with carrying your drinks? Have no fear, this “Follow Me” Cooler Bot is here!
Really just a mobile platform with a cooler on top, the robot connects to smartphone via Bluetooth, following it using GPS.
The Arduino Uno — via an L298n motor driver — controls two 12V DC, brushed and geared motors mounted with 3D printed brackets, while a Parallax PAM-7Q GPS Module in conjunction with an HMC 5883L compass help the robot keep its bearing. A duo of batteries power the motors and the electronics separately to prevent any malfunctions.
Controlling the platform is done on an Android smartphone using Blynk.
There isn’t anything more complicated going on — like obstacle avoidance or sophisticated pathfinding
Make an Autonomous “Follow Me” Cooler
https://www.hackster.io/hackerhouse/make-an-autonomous-follow-me-cooler-7ca8bc
We use an Arduino to build an autonomous “follow me” cooler that connects to a smartphone via Bluetooth and uses GPS to navigate.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT Sit Counter
Personal Lethargy Tracker
https://hackaday.io/project/25152-iot-sit-counter
Once a luxury, sitting has now become an ailment. Have you yet wondered to just how many times in a day you sit or to what percentage of your day is consumed on bended knee? Making use of a resistance sensor and a NodeMCU ESP-12E, we are able to track our daily lethargy and display it in all of it’s aggregated misery. Amend as needed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wearable Thermoelectric Generators for Self-Powered Electronics
https://www.eeweb.com/project/wearable-thermoelectric-generators-for-self-powered-electronics
The human body produces heat as a byproduct of metabolic chemical reactions. Both the conversion of organic matter into energy and the transformation of that energy into useful work contributes to our core body temperature. The heat is then distributed to different parts of the body by the blood flow and is released through the skin via radiation, convection and sweat evaporation. As the ambient temperature changes, the body regulates the blood flow through contracting (vasoconstriction) and dilation (vasodilation) of the blood vessels.
TEGs for Harvesting Heat from the Human Body
When a TEG is placed on the human body, the extrinsic temperature differential, ∆Te between the body core and the ambient results in a steady flow of heat through the TEG, which leads to an intrinsic temperature differential, ∆Ti across the TEG, which in turn produces an output voltage, Vo via the Seebeck effect.
Wearable Thermoelectric Generators for Self-Powered Electronics.
https://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/handle/1840.20/33193
Tomi Engdahl says:
Simplified UI Design with TSI Solution for IoT Applications
https://www.eeweb.com/news/simplified-ui-design-with-tsi-solution-for-iot-applications
NXP Semiconductors announced its new NXP Touch solution that combines specialized touch software with the Touch Sense Interface (TSI) module. It is available on the Kinetis KE15Z MCU along with a complete set of tools enabling designers to easily add touch to user interface designs on IoT applications including home appliances, smart buildings, machines for industrial control and more.
Key aspects of the NXP Touch solution include:
Two operation modes (self-cap and mutual cap)
Advanced robustness in electromagnetic compatibility (EMC)
Pre-certified and tested hardware, including IEC61000-4-6 certification for 3V and 10V
Water and other liquid resilience (waterproof)
High sensitivity and resolution
Optimized software, including NXP Touch Library and SDK touch APIs support
NXP Simplifies User Interface Designs with new Touch Sense Solution for IoT Applications
http://media.nxp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=254228&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2281955
NXP’s new Touch solution accelerates time to market with pre-certified and tested hardware components, optimized software environment and easy-to-use configuration tools
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Week In Review: IoT
Trend Micro to invest $100M; MediaTek debuts NB-IoT chip; Tech Data likes IoT.
https://semiengineering.com/week-review-iot-5/
Trend Micro, the cybersecurity firm, announced a corporate venture fund of $100 million to invest in emerging technology markets, including the Internet of Things. Gartner estimates 26 billion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2020.
Cisco Jasper introduced the Control Center 7.0 IoT connectivity management platform, with advanced capabilities, premium services, and low-power wide-area network support. AT&T, a Cisco Jasper service provider, will offer the AT&T Control Center – Advanced platform, with the new capabilities and certain premium services. Cisco Systems also unveiled its Kinetic IoT operations platform, focused on managing connections, fog computing, and data delivery.
MediaTek this week brought out the MT2625 narrowband IoT system-on-a-chip device. The company will collaborate with China Mobile on developing an NB-IoT module based on the ultra-low-power chipset.
Sierra Wireless unveiled the dual-mode AirPrime WP77 low-power, wide-area cellular modules, supporting LTE-M and narrowband IoT, with optional fallback to 2G.
Nortek Security & Control reports it has shipped more than 20 million IoT wireless sensors and more than 4 million intelligent connected systems for commercial security, home control, personal health and wellness, and residential security applications. The company supplies the 2GIG, GoControl, Linear, and Numera brands, along with private-labelled products and services.
Tech Data, the wholesale distributor of technology products and provider of technical services, enhanced its Smart IoT and Analytics Solutions Practice in the Americas, which offers IoT design services and one-on-one consultations with partners.
Telit Communications is partnering with OT-Morpho to address the widespread adoption of IoT technology.
Visiongain says the IoT aerospace and defense market will be valued at $22.6 billion this year
Tomi Engdahl says:
Discover the next level of security, power and efficiency
https://www.infineon.com/cms/en/applications/consumer/home-appliances/?elq_mid=2847&elq_cid=489977&ic=0580001
For consumers, a home appliance takes over everyday tasks and makes life much easier and more comfortable – be it washing clothing or dishes or cooling a home. Historically home appliances have been big energy consumers. But at an age of heightened awareness for the environment and financial costs, the demand for energy efficient systems is rapidly growing. At the same time, consumers expect the sleekest, quietest, most compact and visually appealing home appliances. Also, connectivity between an increasing number of devices requires a fallback for user privacy. Product designers are challenged in terms of form and function: They must deliver smaller, smarter secure solutions that are the most powerful – and the most energy-efficient.
Security for the smart home
Trust in the smart home.
https://www.infineon.com/iot-security-ebrochure/en/smart_home.html?elq_mid=2847&elq_cid=29999&ic=0580001
„Smart home products make life easier, more eco-friendly and are easy on the wallet. There’s just one catch: They don’t all have the same security standards.“
„By 2020, 100 million light fixtures will be network controlled. At least as many gaps to access sensitive customer data will emerge.“
Treat yourself to our system knowledge. It’s worth it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Safety Plus Security: Solutions And Methodologies
Part 2: Connecting to the Internet adds new demands for safety-critical markets.
https://semiengineering.com/safety-plus-security-solutions-methodologies/
As more technology makes its way into safety-critical markets—and as more of those devices are connected to the Internet—security issues are beginning to merge with safety issues.
The number of attempted cyberattacks is up on every front, which has big implications for devices used in safety-related applications. There are more viruses, ransomware, and counterfeit chips and IP. And while the total number of breaches is flat, mostly due to increased attention to security, the impact of those breaches is larger. In effect, hackers are getting better at choosing their targets.
This is bad enough for IT systems. But as as medical devices, cars, and industrial control systems are connected to the Internet, cybercrime increasingly will have a direct effect on personal and public safety. Moreover, while most of this has involved software in the past, chips increasingly will be part of the attack infrastructure.
There is another facet to consider with these new applications, as well. Most hardware designs today have a life expectancy of two for consumer/mobility designs, to four years for server hardware. But in the case of industrial, medical and automotive applications, electronics are supposed to last a decade or more.
Security, meanwhile, is never 100% effective, and it becomes less effective over time. Connectivity and device complexity, which is compounded by regular software updates, are contributing factors to a rise in data leakage. In addition, security measures that are considered impervious to attacks today likely will be vulnerable within several years because hacker tools and know-how are constantly evolving.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Zigbee Alliance debuts multi-band mesh networking technology for massive IoT deployments
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2017/06/zigbee-mesh-iot.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cimdatacenternewsletter_2017-06-26
The Zigbee Alliance, an association of companies creating, maintaining and delivering open, global standards for the Internet of Things (IoT), today announced the availability of Zigbee PRO 2017, the latest offering in the Alliance’s flagship mesh networking technology designed to connect and facilitate interoperability between smart devices. Zigbee PRO is the underlying network technology that supports full-stack interoperable devices certified under Zigbee 3.0.
With PRO 2017, Zigbee is the first mesh network capable of operating in two ISM frequency bands simultaneously: sub-GHz 800-900 MHz for regional requirements and 2.4 GHz for global acceptance. This dual-band option enables flexibility and design choice for manufacturers, municipalities and consumers wanting to connect products across buildings, cities and homes. “PRO 2017 is the ideal wireless solution to cast large IoT networks across buildings, business parks, large facilities, cities and venues challenged by connectivity issues such as reinforced concrete and steel studs,” said Victor Berrios, vice president of technology, Zigbee Alliance. “The deployment potential is tremendous for smart homes, smart buildings and smart cities.”
Devices based on the Zigbee PRO 2017 network specification are part of Europe’s biggest engineering projects today: Zigbee PRO-based solutions are being deployed across the United Kingdom, which has a government mandate to roll out smart meters to approximately 30 million homes by 2020 with an estimated $15 billion expected in net benefits based on consumer energy savings and lower energy generation demand.
Leveraging Zigbee PRO 2017, product manufacturers can now build devices that utilize a single network operating on multiple bands to address the challenges of surrounding physical environments. The inclusion of sub-GHz capabilities supports IoT networks for multiple use cases including smart outdoor lighting, use within facilities such as retail settings and data centers that need to monitor broad ambient conditions, and when deployed across harsh environments. The Zigbee PRO 2017 network specification provides key advantages including longer range, reduced power consumption and lower operating costs for low-data-rate applications ranging from home security and automation, to smart metering and connected lighting.
According to Parks Associates, more than 442 million connected consumer devices – including connected entertainment, mobile, health and smart home devices – will be sold in the U.S. in 2020.
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘Big Data’ Angst Might Foster ‘IoT Fatigue’
Fear of Siri, Big Brother
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1329499&_mc=RSS_EET_EDT
Even before the market is up and running, we might be witnessing the onset of IoT fatigue, especially manifest in fear of ‘Big Data’.
It used to take years for the general public to catch on to new technologies and devices, and even longer to grasp all the intended and unintended consequences of their use.
With the Internet of Things (IoT), however, I sense a public perception that’s outpacing the actual promise of IoT.
IoT, a notion little known to most consumers a few years ago, has gotten 2.3 million social Twitter mentions in just the first three months this year (January 1st to April 10th), according to Argus Insights, a Los Gatos, Calif.-based market research firm.
Surprising isn’t the volume of social mentions. It’s the fact that such social conversation is already exposing, in one way or another, the gap between IoT’s reality and perception.
We might be witnessing the onset of IoT fatigue even before the market is up and running.
As IoT grows, so does the volume of data collected. People get that.
Disconcerting, however, is that IoT ‘Big Data’ conversation is now turning into “fears of what will happen to this pool of data and how will it remain secure,” Argus Insights’ reported.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Week In Review: IoT
IIoT startups get cash; Joe Costello returns to DAC; new NXP MCUs.
https://semiengineering.com/week-review-iot-4/
Samsara, an Industrial Internet of Things startup, raised $40 million in its Series C financing, led by General Catalyst. Andreesen Horowitz
The supplier of Internet-connected sensors for industrial and transportation applications has raised a total of $80 million in private funding.
Joseph Costello, the first CEO of Cadence Design Systems and now the chairman and CEO of Enlighted, a smart-building IoT startup, gave a keynote address at the annual Design Automation Conference in Austin, Texas. “I believe that the IoT will be bigger than anything we have ever seen before,” he said. “The Internet caused a degree of consolidation of the industry into a few devices and this led to a decreasing number of successful companies producing them. The IoT will be the opposite. Things will become diversified and each will require different technologies, different sensors. We will see proliferation of design.”
NXP Semiconductors this week uncorked its LPC84x line of microcontrollers, based upon ARM’s Cortex-M0+ design cores.
Samsung Electronics introduced the Exynos i T200 processor for IoT devices.
Intel has quietly discontinued its Edison, Galileo, and Joule development boards for the IoT, saying shipments will stop at the end of this year, according to multiple online reports
The chip giant remains in the IoT market with other offerings.
Calif. Francis Gouillart of the Experience Co-Creation Partnership described the “Internet of Tomatoes” project in New England, bringing IoT technology to the cultivation, harvesting, transportation, and retailing of tomatoes.
Visiongain forecasts the worldwide IoT health care market will see a compound annual growth rate of 23.3% over the next decade, increasing from $10.6 billion last year.
ReportsnReports.com predicts the IoT security market will increase from $6.62 billion this year to $29.02 billion by 2022, for a CAGR of 34.4% over five years.
The LoRa Alliance said it now has more 500 ecosystem members. The LoRaWAN protocol is being used by at least 42 network operators, and there are more than 250 ongoing trials and city deployments, it was said.
The Internet of Things Community said Amazon Web Services has become a corporate member of the group.
Intel Discontinues Joule, Galileo, And Edison Product Lines
http://hackaday.com/2017/06/19/intel-discontinues-joule-galileo-and-edison-product-lines/
Tomi Engdahl says:
ReportsnReports.com predicts the IoT security market will increase from $6.62 billion this year to $29.02 billion by 2022, for a CAGR of 34.4% over five years.
Source: https://semiengineering.com/week-review-iot-4/
More:
Internet of Things (IoT) Security Market by Type (Network, Endpoint, Application and Cloud Security), Solution (Identity Access Management, Device Authentication and Management, Security Analytics, and IDS/IPS), Service, Application Area, and Region – Global Forecast to 2022
http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/409771-internet-of-things-iot-security-market-by-technologies-network-cloud-and-application-security-identity-access-management-analytics-utm-ids-ips-device-management-encryption-industry-verticals-and-applications-global-forecast-to-2020.html
The Internet of Things (IoT) security market is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 34.4% from 2017 to 2022, owing to the increasing need for security over IoT networks
The IoT security market size is expected to grow from USD 6.62 billion in 2017 to USD 29.02 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 34.4% from 2017 to 2022.The growing instances of ransom are attacks on IoT networks, mandates the critical need for reliable IoT security solutions. IoT security is gaining importance due to increasing IoT deployments and thereby growing vulnerability of the network and devices to various cyber-attacks such as ransom are attacks. Today IoT has managed to be an integral part of day to day life and hence security aspect associated with it is important. Organizations with IoT deployments are implementing optimum security mechanisms to ensure confidentiality of the data. Today IoT security is important not only for data security of enterprises but also for crucial entities such as human lives and national intelligence.
Integration services among the professional services segment is expected to gain maximum traction during the forecast period
Installation and integration services play major role in ensuring security of the IoT network which comprises of numerous IoT devices, sensors and actuators by implementing security measures to system. Integration service providers help commercial clients implement a secure network across the deployed IoT system by integrating and ensuring that IoT security solutions are in line with the business processes.
Network security is estimated to have the largest market size in IoT security market during the forecast period
North America is estimated to have the largest market size and Asia Pacific (APAC)is projected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period
The North American region have witnessed the significant adoption of IoT security services mainly in US and Canada. Enterprises have shown significant interest in deploying IoT technologies in their processes, which helps drive the growth of IoT security market in the region. In 2015, US government invested USD 160 million in smart city initiatives to leverage on big data and analytics to reduce traffic congestion, fight crime, spur economic growth, manage climate change and improve delivery of local services. Also, in 2016,the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a set of principles for securing IoT networks which highlight approaches of IoT security to make responsible and risk-based security decisions. The US government is helping private sector to implement IoT in various businesses, this is evident by the fact that the government of US and ITIF has started working to provide assistance for IoT related issues.
The APAC region is expected to showcase significant growth and is expected to be the fastest-growing region in IoT security market.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Relays: They’re not just for Medium-Voltage anymore!
http://www.csemag.com/media-library/webcasts/2017-webcasts/071317-webcast.html
marketplace today that are driving applications at the low-voltage level
design criteria for a secondary unit substation that will:
Address the desire for arc flash mitigation along with an increase in uptime
Improve the overall protection of the conductors and the transformer
Reduce the footprint of the unit substation
Reduce the lifecycle cost of unit substations
Tomi Engdahl says:
Control at the Edge – SeaConnect 370
http://www.sealevel.com/company/news/connectivity-and-control-at-the-edge-seaconnect-370~150
The new SeaConnect 370 IoT edge device allows users to monitor and control real-world processes and trigger actions with SeaCloud, a cloud-based, built-in event engine. Ideal for a variety of applications including asset management, data acquisition, environmental monitoring and facility management, the SeaConnect 370 offers an all-inclusive IoT solution that successfully enhances existing systems.
The SeaConnect 370 features two Form C relays, four digital inputs (wet or dry contact), two 12-bit A/D converters, a 1-Wire® bus interface and a TI SimpleLink™ CC3200 ARM Cortex-M4 microcontroller unit. An optional QuickStart Demonstration Kit is available for demonstration and testing purposes.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Elisa’s IoT solution has been chosen for the intelligent factory to be built in Aachen Technical University. Elisa IoT Smart Factory is used to improve the production of e.Go electric car factory through artificial intelligence and 3D visualization.
“The Industry 4.0 model for the future has been spoken for a long time. Our aim is to take digitality, real-time information, intelligent logistics and optimization of the industrial internet as the foundation for every stage of production so that we can achieve a whole new level of productivity and product development speed, “says Rupert Deger, E4TC Project Manager.
Finnish Elisa has been selected as a project partner to provide tools for optimizing production and visualization with the Elisa IoT Smart Factory solution. It utilizes artificial intelligence to optimize the quality and efficiency of individual production processes and to identify bottlenecks occurring throughout production.
Source: https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/07/03/elisa-paasi-tehdaspilottiin/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Big Data Makes Big Waves
Efforts expand tools and data sets
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331733&_mc=RSS_EET_EDT
Big Data Algorithms, Languages Expand
Companies follow Stanford in DeepDive
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331735&_mc=RSS_EET_EDT
Tomi Engdahl says:
Big Data, Little Devices
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1330223&_mc=RSS_EET_EDT
lthough big data does mean big opportunity to make money, when you clear out the puffery, we are still not at the starting gate.
The mantra echoes from classrooms to boardrooms. The topics range from health policy and healthcare transformation to the Panama papers—“it is all about the data.” Unprecedented proliferation of data particularly by ways of mobile and cellular technologies creates business opportunities every day. Single automobiles for instance are expected to generate gigabytes of data every second; auto manufacturers are increasingly attempting to tackle this growth in demand for internet of things—data transmission, storage, and processing capacity.
These datawaves are the new cyberstead—real estate for the taking on an opening cyber frontier. Here vendors scramble for a piece of the action, name and rename stuff for sales and marketing purposes. Big Data—Clouds, Lakes—the entire landscape with Peaks and Valleys probably looming on the horizon, all designed to convince buyers that existing skills and technologies cannot handle the Yodabytes deluge. The race is on to manipulate market forces and differentiate product offerings to attempt to ensure competitive advantage and survival. The carnival barkers promise the holy grail of push-button system solutions and cradle-to-grave data capture, storage, structuring, integration, security, maintenance, and good-looking reports—for a modest fee!
Beyond the hype and noise is very little meat, said Abhay Parasnis, Adobe Systems’ chief technology officer, at the company‘s annual Data Science Symposium in San Jose at Adobe’s offices in May. There is power in these data assets, he said, and along with the multipoint mobile world and the cloud, they represent a paradigm shift and a disruption in all industries. Data science—previously known as statistics—provides the skills required to capitalize on these assets, to clean them and cluster.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Max Willens / Digiday:
Publishers including CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, Scripps, and Time Inc. announce video-centric skills for Amazon’s Echo Show
Amazon’s new video device, Echo Show, is getting publisher attention
https://digiday.com/media/amazon-echo-show-publishers/
The Amazon Echo Show, the $230 audio and video device launched in early May, is years away from being a niche product. But large digital publishers are already crowding onto its small screen. On Wednesday, a group of them, including CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, Scripps and Time Inc., all announced video-centric skills for it.
The adoption rate of voice-enabled assistants and devices like the Echo Dot and Google Home surpassed early expectations, but the Show will have to climb a steep hill to succeed. One early estimate, courtesy of Business Insider Intelligence, suggests 9 million Shows could be sold in the next 12 months in the U.S., although that survey also found 72 percent of respondents either “probably wouldn’t” buy it or “don’t see the point” of the device at all.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Service design into IoT implementations
Etteplan extends its service design expertise to strongly new types of IoT implementations. The operations focus on Etteplan’s own brand Okey, which the company acquired last year. Soycha from Jyväskylä has expanded its operations and opened a new office in Vallila, Helsinki.
The integration of design into customer business intelligence and end-user perspective opens up new possibilities for developing digital solutions and services for industry, according to Etteplan.
“The union of service design and engineering know-how enables better solutions and helps to ensure our customers’ success,” explains Kari Liuska , embedded systems and IoT business leader Etteplan.
Service design enables the company to focus on the essentials and build solutions that are technically functional, easy to use, and suitable for business.
“For example, in user interface design for industrial equipment suppliers, we need to make sure that solutions work effectively in all circumstances, both for the employee and the customer’s business,” says Anssi Kuoppala, Business Manager at Soikea.
Source: https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/07/04/palvelumuotoilu-osaksi-iot-toteutuksia/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sensitive Cable Sensor for IoT applications – a Finnish company
Emfit extends its sensor technology for IoT applications by introducing a new virtual piezoelectric coaxial cable sensor. The novelty can be used, for example, as a road monitor or for checking structures or condition.
Emfit has long been known for its slim electromechanical membrane sensors, sensor systems, and its QS unit monitors based on its own IoT platform. Now the company is expanding its operations into new IoT applications.
“Emfit is now able to offer new IoT-based measurement solutions using a C-Series cable sensor combined with wireless embedded electronics and real-time server over the Internet,” says entrepreneur and CEO Heikki Räisänen.
The Emfit C Series coaxial cable sensor can be used, for example, under the road surface mounted for the classification and weighing of mobile vehicles.
The new sensor can also be utilized in real or hidden ground to detect intrusion, acoustic vibration measurement, and underwater hydrophones.
The cable can be connected with the most common coaxial connectors. It is manufactured in many different lengths. The standard length is 50 meters.
Source: https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/07/04/herkka-kaapelianturi-iot-sovelluksiin-suomalaisyritykselta/
More: https://www.emfit.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
13 Views of Sensors Expo 2017
Portable radar runs on a smartphone
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331965
Tomi Engdahl says:
13 Views of Sensors Expo 2017
LPWA v. cellular in wireless IoT
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331965&page_number=4
Microchip showed a startup’s electronic mousetrap embedded with its LoRa module (above) as well as the ATA8520 module for the Sigfox network (below) it acquired with Atmel. In the next booth, STMicroelectronics showed Murata boards for LoRa and Sigfox networks powered by its silicon.
The exhibits showed vendors are still spreading out their bets in the low power wide area (LPWA) sector. Volumes are said to still be low — in the low thousands — but interest is high in the emerging field, with tire kickers talking about plans to deploy millions. Indeed, a Sigfox rep at the STM booth said it has 19 million bookings but would not comment on actual deployments.
The Sigfox network claims lower interference and thus higher capacity than LoRa, the Sigfox rep said. In addition, its broadcast model is also more robust than LoRa’s approach that depends on point-to-point links.
For its part, LoRa claims a bigger ecosystem and more open business model with several network providers deploying the technology. With Sigfox operating as a managed network it’s a classic cellular vs. Wi-Fi kind of battle.
Speaking of cellular, a Verizon rep here said the operator has deployed thousands of LTE-M modules so far. Module prices are closing in on the “high teens.” The follow-on Narrowband IoT modules it hopes to start serving in late 2018 could fall to the low teens, just above the $10 LoRa/Sigfox modules.
Cellular operators are being aggressive on data pricing, too,
A tech executive from Orange that is deploying LoRa nets in France and elsewhere agreed
Tomi Engdahl says:
Timothy W. Martin / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Samsung is developing a voice-activated smart speaker powered by its digital assistant Bixby, internally code-named Vega
Samsung Is Developing a Bixby-Powered Smart Speaker
Competition would include Amazon’s Echo, Alphabet’s Google Home and coming entries from Apple and Microsoft
https://www.wsj.com/articles/samsung-is-developing-a-voice-activated-speaker-1499153890
Tomi Engdahl says:
Connectivity’s value is almost erased by the costs it can impose
The internet made information flow on the cheap, but making it anti-fragile will cost plenty
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/13/mark_pesce_column/
The great advantage of a browser-based programming environment is that nothing gets lost – it’s all saved to the cloud as you type it in. But what happens when the link dies, or the cloud chokes?
Thankfully, my code reappeared within a few minutes. But my faith was shaken, and I’ve since taken to saving my Glitch programs into a text file on my local machine – once burned, twice shy.
Which got me thinking about the increasingly fragile nature of our connected culture.
Twenty-five years ago almost nothing was connected to the Internet. Today, many things are – at least some of the time – and it’s only when connected that they realise their full capacity. A smartphone shorn of network access cannot be an object of fascination. The network activates, piping intelligence into our toys, making them irresistible.
That intelligence comes with some costs; the most obvious is our increasing dependency on that connection. People get lost on hikes as they fall out of mobile range and lose the mapping apps that keep them oriented. We’ve come to expect intelligence with us all the time. Losing connectivity is coming to feel like losing a bit of our mind.
Another cost – and the bigger worry – is that this connected intelligence isn’t entirely benevolent. Every connection is a way into a device that may have something of value – credit card numbers, or passwords, or Bitcoins. The same intelligence that activates can also try to harvest that information, or even poison those devices, turning them against their owners.
We’ve reached a very delicate point, where the value of connected intelligence is almost entirely countered by the costs it can impose. If things become just a little more hostile out there (with four billion people using the Internet, that’s pretty much assured) the scales could tip in favour of disconnection, isolation, and a descent into a kind of stupidity we haven’t seen in many years.
There’s no easy answers for any of this. It’s unreasonable to expect that businesses will turn the clock back on the productivity gains made from connectivity, but it’s equally unreasonable to assume any of those businesses are prepared for an onslaught of connected hostility.
In this sort of high-pressure environment, where the wrong decision quickly becomes a fatal one, we have no choice but to evolve our responses, rapidly. It feels as though we got the benefits of connected intelligence for free; it’s only just now that we can see that bill is being presented – and it’s a whopper.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel laying off 140 in California and Ireland
Think of it as your independence day
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/07/05/intel_laying_off_140_in_california_and_ireland/
Intel is shedding nearly 140 staff from Internet of Things business lines.
The layoffs were probably inevitable, since during June, Intel discontinued three of its IoT product lines – the Joule, Edison and Galileo compute modules and boards.
Those three boards were once the flagships for Chipzilla’s pitch to the wearable and maker markets.
The Silicon Valley Business Journal says 100 of the layoffs will be in Santa Clara.
Another 40 staff will be cut in the company’s office in Leixlip, Ireland.
The IoT division turned in US$721 million in Q1 revenue this year, up 11 percent year-on-year, but overall that’s less than 5 percent of Intel’s sales.
The Irish facility, known as the Quark group, handled the Galileo, while Joule and Edison were emitted out of Santa Clara
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung Reportedly Developing a Voice-Controlled Speaker To Compete With Amazon Echo
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/07/04/1750233/samsung-reportedly-developing-a-voice-controlled-speaker-to-compete-with-amazon-echo?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot%2Fto+%28%28Title%29Slashdot+%28rdf%29%29
A new report from The Wall Street Journal claims Samsung is working on its own voice-controlled home speaker to compete with the likes of the Amazon Echo, Google Home, and other devices that will be launched over the next few months and years. Details about Samsung’s speaker and when we might expect to see it on the market are scant, but The Wall Street Journal does say that the device will be powered by Bixby. Bixby — Samsung’s answer to Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri — is available in South Korea
Samsung is reportedly developing a voice-controlled speaker to compete with Amazon Echo
https://www.geekwire.com/2017/samsung-reportedly-developing-voice-controlled-speaker-compete-amazon-echo/
Another day, another tech titan developing a smart speaker.
A new report from The Wall Street Journal claims Samsung is working on its own voice-controlled home speaker to compete with the likes
The Wall Street Journal does say that the device will be powered by Bixby.
Bixby — Samsung’s answer to Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri — is available in South Korea, where the company is based, but the English-language version is still in the works.
Meanwhile, other tech companies like Alibaba, Apple, and Microsoft are developing their own smart speakers to compete with Amazon and Alphabet.
Microsoft made a deal with Harman International to develop the voice-controlled technology for the Redmond software company’s forthcoming smart speaker. Samsung subsequently acquired Harman.
Competition is heating up as each tech giant makes a play to become the voice-controlled operating system of homes, cars, and the other Internet of Things-powered spaces of the future.
Tomi Engdahl says:
EVPR: Electric Variable Pitch Rotor
An electrically actuated variable pitch rotor with a wireless interface
https://hackaday.io/project/20473-evpr-electric-variable-pitch-rotor
The Electric Variable Pitch Rotor (EVPR) is a variable pitch rotor that is electrically actuated. The design is self contained, eliminating the need for heavy mechanical linkages or costly slip rings. An on-board controller, the ESP32, receives commands via wireless data and controls the blade pitch via servos placed inside of the rotor hub.
The primary power source for the on-board electronics will be a 3-phase axial flux generator, rectified to DC. The frequency of the alternator will be used to measure the rotor speed (RPM).
The EVPR could enable new multi-rotor vehicle designs, enhance current multi-rotor designs and potentially even be applied to small conventional aircraft.
The design files are open-source under the GPLv3 License.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Ticketmaster unveils ticketing app that uses Lisnr tech to send data over audio between devices, for ticket-less check-ins and tracking locations of users — Ticketmaster will soon be able to admit you to live events and track your movement using nothing more than a discrete digital audio broadcast from your smartphone.
Ticketmaster will soon admit you to events using audio data transmitted from your phone
https://venturebeat.com/2017/07/04/ticketmaster-will-soon-admit-you-to-events-using-audio-data-transmitted-from-your-smartphone/
icketmaster will soon be able to admit you to live events and track your movement using nothing more than a discrete digital audio broadcast from your smartphone.
The ticketing giant has teamed up with Lisnr, a data-over-audio company that uses an ultrasonic sound technology it calls “smart tones” to transmit information between devices.
There are myriad use-cases for Lisnr’s technology — for example, it recently partnered with Jaguar Land Rover to enable vehicles to communicate with mobile devices, other cars, and potentially the broader environment, where smart tone technology is enabled. This could be used to replace a key fob with a smartphone to unlock the door or to personalize seat settings, including placement and climate control.
http://lisnr.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Verification And The IoT
https://semiengineering.com/verification-and-the-iot-3/
Experts at the Table, part 3: Shifting left, extending right; using machine learning and data mining to find new bugs and open up new usage options.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Choosing a Network to Support IIoT
Here are some guidelines for choosing an effective network to support the industrial internet of things.
https://www.designnews.com/automation-motion-control/choosing-network-support-iiot/25529869257021?cid=nl.x.dn14.edt.aud.dn.20170629.tst004t
The first step in deploying an effective network of industrial connectivity is determining the nature of the network itself.
“To benefit from an automated system, you have to create a connectivity strategy. You need to start with a IIoT roadmap.”
To begin the process, you have to choose the appropriate type of network for collecting, receiving, and disseminating data. “You have to determine your connectivity strategy,” said Kiefer. “There are three choices, a single network for facility, a plant and office network controlled by a mediator, or an air-gapped plant and office that does not connect to the outside world. The third one is common in nuclear facilities, where security is the primary objective.”
The Single Network for the Plant
When the plant is on a single network that is not intertwined with the office network or managed by a mediator, the system is managed by the plant for the plant. “The benefits of a single network for the facility is the easy communications between PCs, servers, and industrial equipment on the network,” said Kiefer. “It’s faster to set up networked applications, and there is no permission required from an IT departments before applications can be added.”
Network Controlled by a Mediator
A network fully integrated with the office network and managed by a mediator can boost security and inadvertent exposure to malicious files. “It allows required communication between plant and office networks,” said Kiefer. “The industrial networks are secure from unauthorized intrusions as well as office network traffic. Plus, it limits application access to PLCs and equipment.”
The downside of combined plant and office network with a mediator, is that plant managers have to get permission before adding new devices or applications.
The Air-Gapped Plant and Office Networks
Air-gapped networks do not connect to the outside world, which greatly reduces the likelihood of intrusive threats. “With air-gapped plant and office networks, the system is secure. There is no way to gain access to the plant network without being present at the plant,” said Kiefer. “The downside is that the security results in the inability to exchange information digitally between the office and the plant.”
Kiefer also notes that it is important for plant managers to create a recovery plan in the event of an attack. “How well you recover for an attack is directly related to how prepared you are for an attack,” said Kiefer. “Outlining your plan will add long-term value to your organization.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Open-source EdgeX Foundry seeks to standardize Internet of Things
Fifty companies have joined up to unify Internet of Things edge-computing programming
http://www.zdnet.com/article/open-source-edgex-foundry-seeks-to-standardize-internet-of-things/
The new initiative has a common goal: The simplification and standardization of Industrial IoT edge computing, while still allowing room for vendors to add their own value-add features.
True, IoT is already booming as a business, but widespread fragmentation and the lack of a common IoT solution framework are hindering its broad adoption and stalling market growth. In addition, crooks are already breaking into IoT devices with cracking tools such as the Metasploit hacking kit.
This complexity and IoT’s wide variety of components is creating paralysis. EdgeX will attempt to solve this by making it easy to quickly create IoT edge solutions that have the flexibility to adapt to changing business needs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart burglars will ride the surf of inter-connected hackability
Let’s invent a dustbin that throws itself away
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/23/smart_burglars_will_ride_the_surf_of_interconnected_hackability/
Of course, if the burglar (or the cat) notices the device when breaking in, he could always unplug it from the mains and take it home with the rest of the swag, SD card and all.
God forbid that the burglar thinks of wearing a mask to disguise his identity. What next? Gloves?
But all of this is academic. A nifty burglar will hack into your home security device through a chain of infection, starting from a humble e-cig. Malicious code will then flow though your connected junk of unnecessary gadgetry, via your smart lampshades, robotically enhanced cutlery and intelligent toilet seats, and simply put your security camera in sleep mode.
On the way, it will change the timer on your boiler, unlock your autonomous vehicle and reprogram the skills in Alexa. You’ll come home to find the only warm place in the house is the fridge, your car has driven itself to Devon for the weekend and Amazon has delivered 4,000 bananas.
So beware: it’s through the small things that we’ll get targeted. Hang on, I’ve just thought of a really good use for Baryl.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Power of IoT Devices
http://www.electronicdesign.com/power/power-iot-devices?NL=ED-003&Issue=ED-003_20170621_ED-003_479&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=11689&utm_medium=email&elq2=c917795a4b024200ade4e553d0b9fecd
Multiple function integration in power management integrated circuits is maximizing the battery life of Internet of Things devices.
According to IC Insights total semiconductor sales for Internet of Things (IoT) systems are expected to reach $31.1 billion in 2020, with the IoT semiconductor market for wearable systems expected to show a CAGR of 17.1%. This proliferation of devices is also creating future growth in the power management IC (PMIC) market.
Designers of IoT solutions are relying on power management solutions to efficiently handle the power needed to energize a wide range of IoT devices, as maintenance and battery replacement are not cost-effective approaches. There are many power management solutions currently in the market, and depending of their characteristics, one power management solution can work better for a specific application depending on power conversion and power control options.
PMICs can now reduce power consumption of the batteries prolonging the power in IoT devices while also minimizing PCB size. PMICs are now achieving lower quiescent currents that helps to increase battery life. Maxim Integrated’s new MAX20310, for instance, is a power management solution that operates with battery voltages down to 0.7V for use with single-cell zinc air, silver oxide, and alkaline batteries.
Some other PMICs come with integrated cold-start functionality that help to ensure the operation of the device even with low sources of ambient energy, like the ones use when harvesting energy from ambient sources
The AEM10940 harvests the available input power from 1 μW to 50 mW. It integrates an ultra-low-power boost converter to charge a storage element, such as a rechargeable battery, a capacitor, or a supercapacitor.
As energy harvesting applications gain traction, the number of semiconductor companies offering evaluation kits or demo boards to explore the performance of PMICs functions built for energy harvesting applications continues to grow.
IoT designers are now able to find more power management integrated circuit options for their designs in a wide range of applications spanning the automotive, consumer, and industrial markets.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Global IoT Growing Rapidly in Aerospace and Defense
A research report projects strong growth for IoT devices in global military and aerospace markets in 2017 and through 2022.
http://www.mwrf.com/defense/global-iot-growing-rapidly-aerospace-and-defense?NL=MWRF-001&Issue=MWRF-001_20170620_MWRF-001_55&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_2_b&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=11663&utm_medium=email&elq2=133ed91204f14136a81454bcf9b54e36
Tomi Engdahl says:
Trump’s Infrastructure Plan: A Turning Point for the Smart-City Movement?
http://www.electronicdesign.com/power/trump-s-infrastructure-plan-turning-point-smart-city-movement?NL=ED-003&Issue=ED-003_20170705_ED-003_967&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=11854&utm_medium=email&elq2=221b5003a7194cd1931525af846f0981
President Trump’s plan to invest more than $1 trillion to modernize America’s infrastructure might bring business opportunities to the smart-city movement.
In a 2017 Infrastructure Report Card done by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), America’s Infrastructure scores a D+ . The country’s entire infrastructure is in poor condition, with many elements approaching the end of their service life. For example, the energy system (which also scores D+) is described as follows: “Most electric transmission and distribution lines were constructed in the 1950s and 1960s with a 50-year life expectancy, and the more than 640,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in the lower 48 states’ power grids are at full capacity.”
As we can see, there are very good reasons to implement an infrastructure plan. But details are still unknown, as there is not yet an official White House document addressing the plan.
The use of smart or digital technologies has proven successful in many smart-city projects around the globe, which should be taken into account when planning the enhancement of the American infrastructure. “Many have agreed that digital technologies and more precisely information and communications technology (ICT) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are the backbone of the cities of the future. It is true that without them, urban transformation would be impossible,” says Ugo Valenti, director of Smart City Expo World Congress. (To learn more about successful smart city projects in cities like New York City, read “What exactly is a smart city?”)
One of the technologies driving smart cities is the smart sensor. These sensors, which are the workhorses of the IoT, provide a high volume of information in real-time. If the data is well analyzed, the resulting information can be used to help cities function more efficiently. Infrastructure issues like major power outages, traffic congestion, and monitoring structurally deficient bridges (to name a few) can be fixed with the use of embedded sensors in repaired or renewed infrastructure.
Such infrastructure applications represent a definite opportunity for chip companies.
Through research and development, universities also keep advancing sensor technologies.
These are just some examples showing how the demand for sensors has increased as IoT applications are gaining more users. If smart technologies can be part of the modernization of the American infrastructure, the smart-city movement will proliferate faster while directly aiding the American citizens.
Tomi Engdahl says:
What Exactly is a Smart City?
http://www.electronicdesign.com/iot/what-exactly-smart-city
According to the United Nations, two-thirds of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050, leading many—from engineers to political leaders—to concentrate on developing smart-city initiatives.
The goal of smart cities is to improve the quality of life for its citizens through technological means, ultimately creating more sustainable cities. It is a team effort that requires many sectors of a society to safely and strategically integrate technology, information, and data solutions.
The vision of a smart city might differ for citizens living in different geographical locations, because every city has its own challenges and needs. Some of these diverse challenges include density of the population, infrastructure, topography, transportation systems, waste-management programs, or even the disposition of the local government and private business of investing money to create smart-city initiatives.
Smart cities are based on intelligent sensors. Data from those sensors is pulled and processed to create innovative programs or solutions associated with everyday aspects of city life, such as energy, utilities, urban mobility, public safety, air quality, waste management, education, healthcare, etc. Smart sensors can be found in utility poles, water lines, buses, traffic lights, etc.
Copenhagen Leading the Way
Smart cities are emerging around the world, with the Danish capital of Copenhagen considered at the forefront because of its excellent urban-planning projects. Copenhagen has the ambition of becoming the first carbon-neutral capital by 2025. In fact, it has successfully started to apply sustainable city solutions to face climate changes.
What Comprises a Smart City?
As many cities around the world seek to become smart cities, how can we define and even rank a smart city? What are the indicators? Several smart city indexes (e.g., A.T. Kearney Global Cities, the Global Power City Index (GPCI), etc.) help make those determinations.
Let’s take a look at the smart cities index prepared by the IESE Center for Globalization and Strategy, called “The Cities in Motion Index” (CIMI). CIMI takes into account 10 categories: economy, technology, human capital, social cohesion, international outreach, environment, mobility and transportation, urban planning, public management, and governance.
The fact that New York City ranks first on the overall ranking doesn’t mean that there’s no room for improvement, though.
The city is trying to improve those areas through different initiatives, which include:
• Smart Indoor Lighting: The city of New York created the Accelerated Conservation and Efficiency (ACE) program to help decrease New York City’s energy bill and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in city agencies.
The DCUs forward the information directly to the utility through Ethernet connections to the city’s NYCWiN wireless system.
• Wireless Water Meters: New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has installed an advanced Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) system comprising more than 800,000 water sensors distributed throughout the five boroughs
• Responsive Traffic Management: The NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) established “Midtown in Motion,” a smart-city approach to traffic management. Midtown in Motion uses microwave sensors, traffic video cameras, and E-ZPass readers to measure traffic speeds and spot congestion to remotely adjust traffic-signal patterns in the Midtown area of Manhattan, which covers an area of 270 blocks approximately. The data from the sensors and cameras is transmitted wirelessly in real time to the Traffic Management Center (TMC) in Long Island City, where engineers make constant adjustments to traffic signals.
• Smart Waste Management: The Department of Sanitation collects more than 10,500 tons of residential and institutional garbage and 1760 tons of recyclables every day.
• The Lowline: The goal of this unique project is to build an underground park using innovative solar technology to illuminate a historic trolley terminal
• ShotSpotter: The New York Police Department has started using a detection system that pinpoints the location of gunfire and sends the information to law enforcement. The system, called ShotSpotter, uses acoustics sensors.
• LinkNYC: This free communications network will replace over 7,500 pay phones across the five boroughs with new structures called Links. Each Link will provide fast, free public Wi-Fi, phone calls, device charging, and a tablet for access to city services, maps, and directions.
Next year, NYC also will welcome an event that’s an offshoot of the Smart City Expo World Congress: Smart Cities NYC ’17.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless Solutions for Virtually Every IoT Design
Multiple standards cover the range of requirements for the myriad applications targeting the burgeoning Internet of Things.
http://www.electronicdesign.com/iot/wireless-solutions-virtually-every-iot-design
Tomi Engdahl says:
Software Breaks Down IoT Barriers
http://www.electronicdesign.com/dev-tools/software-breaks-down-iot-barriers
Most tech companies are experimenting with new products for smart homes, giving everything from thermostats to light bulbs the ability to share information, like the machines in an automated assembly line. But there are problems lurking beneath home automation. Without a simple way for these devices to communicate, smart homes might have trouble being very smart.
That is the idea behind the Allseen Alliance, an organization that maintains open-source software for devices within the Internet of Things (IoT). The software is designed to get devices talking with each other regardless of operating system, wireless technology, or platform. It breaks down the barriers between private clouds, allowing products from different brands to work together.
Tomi Engdahl says:
E-Meters Offer Multiple Ways to Combat Electricity Theft and Tampering
Sponsored by: Texas Instruments Various innovative techniques are being employed to stop thieves from magnetically tampering with smart meters in efforts to steal electricity.
http://www.electronicdesign.com/meters/e-meters-offer-multiple-ways-combat-electricity-theft-and-tampering
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon confirms Voicebot’s analysis: Alexa has over 15K skills, up from 10K in February; Voicebot says Google Home has 378 voice apps and Cortana has 65 — Amazon’s Alexa voice platform has now passed 15,000 skills — the voice-powered apps that run on
Amazon’s Alexa passes 15,000 skills, up from 10,000 in February
https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/03/amazons-alexa-passes-15000-skills-up-from-10000-in-february/
Amazon’s Alexa voice platform has now passed 15,000 skills — the voice-powered apps that run on devices like the Echo speaker, Echo Dot, newer Echo Show and others. The figure is up from the 10,000 skills Amazon officially announced back in February, which had then represented a 3x increase from September.
Flash Briefings are still one of the most popular categories of skills
Because they’re one of the easiest skills to develop, Flash Briefings have grown to account for around 20 percent of the available skills.
Amazon is currently the leader in voice-powered devices, where it’s expected to control 70 percent of the market this year — well ahead of Google Home, Lenovo, LG and others. If anything, its success played a role in Apple releasing its own Siri-powered device, the HomePod. Apple’s entrant aims to capture a portion of the market by attracting those who care more about the speaker’s quality than the virtual assistant that ships with it. But one thing Apple is not talking about –– yet — is whether third-party developers will be able to create HomePod-compatible apps.
In the meantime, Amazon’s Alexa is surging ahead, building out an entire voice app ecosystem so quickly that it hasn’t even been able to implement the usual safeguards
In the long run, Amazon’s focus on growth over app ecosystem infrastructure could catch up with it.
In addition, Google Home has just 378 voice apps available as of June 30, Voicebot notes. Microsoft’s Cortana has only 65.
While there’s been some criticism that many of Amazon’s skills are low-quality, there’s also something to be said for being able to build out an app store’s long tail.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Baidu acquires Seattle-based natural language startup Kitt.ai, which helps build and power chatbots and voice-based apps across multiple platforms and devices
Baidu acquires natural language startup Kitt.ai, maker of chatbot engine ChatFlow
https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/05/baidu-acquires-natural-language-startup-kitt-ai-maker-of-chatbot-engine-chatflow/
China’s search giant Baidu has made another acquisition to continue its push into artificial intelligence, and specifically to help it carve out a place for itself as a platform for developers who want to create chatbots and other services based on natural language technology.
Baidu has acquired Kitt.ai, a profitable startup based out of Seattle that has developed a framework to build and power chatbots and voice-based applications across multiple platforms and devices (presumably named after this Kitt).
It was also announced on stage at Baidu’s developer event in Beijing, confirmed in a blog post from Kitt.ai
The company had released three products, all of which will remain operational as before: Snowboy (“a customizable hotword detection engine”), NLU (“a multilingual natural language understanding engine”), and ChatFlow (a multi-turn conversation engine that we covered here), and appeared to be built as a cross-platform service, improving its ubiquity.
http://kitt.ai/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Verifying SmartMesh IP Data Reliability for Industrial IoT Applications
http://www.techonline.com/electrical-engineers/education-training/tech-papers/4458352/Verifying-SmartMesh-IP-Data-Reliability-for-Industrial-IoT-Applications
The Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) requires industrial wireless sensor networks (WSNs) with stringent reliability and security. Since such networks must operate reliably more than ten years without intervention, industrial WSNs must cope with severely changing environmental conditions over time. In addition, they must also be scalable and flexible so that the networks can support growing business needs and data traffic over a significant period of time. Linear Technology’s SmartMesh networks deliver >99.999% data reliability in rigorous end-to-end testing and in the field. Over 50,000 SmartMesh networks have been deployed worldwide in demanding applications such as data centers, factories, power utilities, fenceline security, outdoor environmental monitoring, agricultural applications, mining and tunnels, and industrial process.