ePanorama.net » IoT

Friday fun: Watch concrete dry

Tomi Engdahl — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 18:29:59 +0000

“Like watching paint dry”
A new 24-hour television broadcast will let viewers in Finland watch concrete dry in real time. The concept combines construction science and slow television. A concrete slab has been cast with embedded moisture and temperature sensors.

Betonilive joins a growing list of popular livestreams in Finland, such as Pentulive (puppy cam) and Norppalive (Saimaa ringed seal cam), but brings a new industrial angle. Betonilive, launched on 3 April at 17:00 and will continue streaming until the concrete is fully dry.

The slow-paced livestream will be available online at Digita.fi/betonilive and on terrestrial TV channel 38.

Watch at: https://www.digita.fi/betonilive/

Sources:
https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/finland/finland-news/domestic/26463-concrete-drying-goes-live-on-finnish-tv-with-betonilive.html
https://www.iltalehti.fi/tv-ja-leffat/a/0c142a3d-c54a-44e9-8b48-4e4a05c4bd3d
https://www.markkinointiuutiset.fi/artikkelit/betoni-kuivuu-livena—myos-digitan-aprillilta-kuulostava-uutinen-pitaa-paikkansa
https://www.digita.fi/ajankohtaista/suorassa-lahetyksessa-seurataan-nyt-betonin-kuivumista-betonilive-alkaa-3-4-suomessa/
https://www.iltalehti.fi/tv-ja-leffat/a/0c142a3d-c54a-44e9-8b48-4e4a05c4bd3d
https://www.digita.fi/betonilive/

A Peek into the Future of Industrial Communications

Tomi Engdahl — Tue, 28 May 2024 20:07:47 +0000

A Peek into the Future of Industrial Communications
https://www.mwrf.com/technologies/systems/article/21244901/a-peek-into-the-future-of-industrial-communications?utm_source=RF+MWRF+Today&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS220624087&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

This article provides an overview of the most promising network technologies and innovations, such as time-sensitive networking, and looks at how they’re revolutionizing industrial communications.

Here are some links to some other related articles:

https://www.electronicdesign.com/blogs/altembedded/article/21240842/electronic-design-the-evolution-of-ethernet

Time for Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN)
Synchronization of clocks across the network is being standardized
https://www.electronicdesign.com/magazine/51099?utm_source=EG+ED+Auto+Electronics&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS220627006&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

https://www.electronicdesign.com/industrial-automation/article/21241056/electronic-design-nxp-upgrades-industrialgrade-mcu-with-tsn-ethernet

https://www.electronicdesign.com/industrial-automation/article/21154669/electronic-design-switch-chips-bring-timesensitive-networking-to-factory-floors

What’s the Difference: Serial Communications 101
June 1, 2021
Communication is the hallmark of IoT and computer systems in general. Here are some of the basics.
https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/communications/whitepaper/21127800/whats-the-difference-serial-communications-101?utm_source=EG+ED+Auto+Electronics&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS220627012&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

The History of IoT Security

Tomi Engdahl — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 16:27:21 +0000

There’s a significant danger that the rapid pace of IoT advancement is potentially outstripping the development of the IoT security infrastructure. The Internet of Things may sound like a recent phenomenon but its roots can be traced back to the 19th Century. In fact, the concept of connected devices dates back to 1832. Read more at

The History of IoT Security
https://www.psacertified.org/blog/a-history-of-iot-security/

Karhu Active Pulse teardown

Tomi Engdahl — Sun, 05 Sep 2021 17:03:53 +0000

Karhu Active Pulse (W311) was a fitness tracker product that was sold cheaply few years ago. It was quite comfortable on the wrist the UFit application running on Android was just fine (not very good or bad).

Most functions go on by pressing that white circle (pulse, sleep monitoring) for about three seconds. You can scroll through the functions by pressing the white circle. The bracelet has that picture of the sun and the moon. When you press the button on the wristband for about 3 seconds, the night mode switches on and sleep monitoring starts. In the morning change the mode back to the day ..

The product was very light and quite comfortable on the hand. It used a custom charging cable for charging. The mechanical construction could have been better, it broke down quite easily: did not properly charge and the clear plastic over the display fell off causing some other damage to inside electronics.

Let’s look inside the device.

The main components inside device are nRF51822 Bluetooth Low Energy and 2.4 GHz SoC, display and LiPo battery.

The nRF51822 is a general purpose, ultra-low power SoC ideally suited for Bluetooth® Low Energy and 2.4 GHz proprietary wireless applications. It is built around the 32-bit ARM® Cortex™-M0 CPU with 256/128 KB flash and 32/16 KB RAM. The flexible 2.4 GHz radio supports Bluetooth Low Energy and 2.4 GHz proprietary protocols, such as Gazell.

Links:

Karhu Pulse W311
https://www.juoksufoorumi.fi/topic/33401-karhu-pulse-aktiivisuusranneke/

https://keskustelu.suomi24.fi/t/15220762/karhu-active-pulse-aktiivisuusranneke-(w311)

HKL Bluetooth beacons and API

Tomi Engdahl — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 20:46:44 +0000

I have wondered what the mysterious candy-box-like boxes that have appeared on bus stop signs in Helsinki Finland. HSL has installed at a total of about 1700 of this kind of boxes to bus and tram stops, as well as on buses and trams. They are also coming to metro stations.

These small boxed are digital Bluetooth beacons. They are installed to those locations allow HKL offer a wide range of planned real-time services location based to a smart phone in the future. HSL’s beacons are responsible for connecting the public transport user’s smartphone via a Bluetooth wireless connection to an application that he has downloaded to his phone.

The plan is that if you are waiting for a bus and have downloaded the HSL research application to your phone, you may in the future receive information particular this bus stop or the route you are using. The plan is to to be able to inform for example if
to notify your phone if a frequent shift is late. Beacons can also help with passenger counts and to survey the mobility habits of public transport users.

The location data on those beacons is made public and available for use by third parties in their own applications. Restaurants, gyms and florists alike can advertise their offerings to users of their own apps as they travel past the store that is near bus stop.

The open HSL Bluetooth Beacon API can be used to retrieve a list of Bluetooth beacons installed at stops and vehicles in the HSL area. The API is a simple REST interface that returns data in JSON format. Bluetooth beacon data can be combined with route guide interface and real-time interface data, for example, to identify which vehicle the user is on board.

How about the security and privacy issues? The Bluetooth beacons don’t collect any information about the passengers, just broadcast their ID to the users. Another thing is what information the apps collect from their users.

Sources:

https://www.hsl.fi/hsl/uutiset/uutinen/2019/08/hsl-asentaa-majakoita-matkan-varrelle

https://www.mikrobitti.fi/uutiset/hsl-asentaa-liikennevalineisiin-bluetooth-majakoita-emme-koske-asiakastietoihin/37f29c06-bbde-49d6-a0d5-73cdf7ee3229

https://tekniikanmaailma.fi/mita-ovat-bussipysakeille-ilmestyneet-karamellirasian-nakoiset-majakat-nain-hsl-selittaa/

https://www.maanmittauslaitos.fi/positio/2020-4/helsingin-seudun-liikenne-tietaa-missa-bussit-liikkuvat

API info:

https://hri.fi/data/dataset/hsl-bluetooth-majakat-api

https://hsldevcom.github.io/beacon_api/

https://www.avoindata.fi/data/fi/dataset/hsl-bluetooth-majakat-api

Digital transformation 2021

Tomi Engdahl — Mon, 24 May 2021 17:51:28 +0000

Top 10 Digital Transformation Trends For 2021
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2020/09/21/top-10-digital-transformation-trends-for-2021/

Predictions 2021: Technology diversity drives IoT growth
Enterprises, consumers, and different stakeholders will continue to drive demand for new internet-of-things (IoT) applications, technologies, and solutions in 2021 across verticals and geographies.

Here are Forrester’s five major IoT predictions for 2021.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/predictions-2021-technology-diversity-drives-iot-growth/

Matter IoT Alliance

Tomi Engdahl — Fri, 14 May 2021 18:46:06 +0000

Silicon Labs has provided the first circuit and board solutions to support the new Matter-IoT standard. In addition to circuit manufacturers, the new IoT standard will be supported by Apple, Huawei, Google and Amazon. The Finnish-Swedish lock company Asso Abloy is also bringing Matter technology into its products.

The launch of the Matter project also marks the end of the Zigbee Alliance. In addition to Silicon Labs, NXP, TI and STMicroelectronics-style component makers,Apple and Huawei, as well as online players Google and Amazon, will be involved in the new CSA community. Their Alexa, HomeKit and Google solutions will also be supported.

WiFi location

Tomi Engdahl — Tue, 04 May 2021 18:56:20 +0000

In three years or so, the Wi-Fi specification is scheduled to get an upgrade that will turn wireless devices into sensors capable of gathering data about the people and objects bathed in their signals. In this WiFi is following the footsteps of Bluetooth that got location features already some years ago.

“When 802.11bf will be finalized and introduced as an IEEE standard in September 2024, Wi-Fi will cease to be a communication-only standard and will legitimately become a full-fledged sensing paradigm,” explains Francesco Restuccia, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Northeastern University, in a paper summarizing the state of the Wi-Fi Sensing project (SENS) currently being developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

For some more information read the following article:

Wi-Fi devices set to become object sensors by 2024 under planned 802.11bf standard
Security and privacy still left to fix, preferably before launch
https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/31/wifi_devices_monitoring/

I have myself written about Bletooth location features:
https://www.epanorama.net/blog/2019/01/30/bluetooth-enhances-support-for-location-services-with-new-direction-finding-feature/
https://www.epanorama.net/blog/2019/05/27/bluetooth-5-1-location-technology-demo/

Legacy systems issues

Tomi Engdahl — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 20:08:46 +0000

The IT systems that governments and businesses depend on are often decades old and prone to failure. Why do they cost trillions to maintain but are so hard to modernize?

Water treatment plants, telephone exchanges, power grids, and air traffic control are just a few of the systems controlled by antiquated code.

Does everybody agree on what legacy IT is? What counts as legacy? It seems that there is not even a standard definition. About the closest that we come to is that it’s a system that does not meet the business need for some reason.

Many organizations find it difficult to modernize their legacy systems in a way that enables them to create an IT strategy that supports the quick adoption of newer technologies such as cloud, big data, IoT, and mobile.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the debilitating consequences of relying on antiquated IT systems for essential services. Unfortunately, that dependence, along with legacy IT’s enormous and increasing costs, will still be with us long after the pandemic has ended.

The problems associated with legacy systems will only worsen as the Internet of Things. Now imagine a not-too-distant future where hundreds of millions or even billions of legacy IoT devices are deeply embedded into government and commercial offices, schools, hospitals, factories, homes, and even people.

Here are some articles on the issues around those legacy systems:

Legacy system
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_system

Inside the Hidden World of Legacy IT Systems
How and why we spend trillions to keep old software going
https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/it/inside-hidden-world-legacy-it-systems

The Problem of Old Code and Older Coders
Legacy IT systems are everywhere—and they need help
https://spectrum.ieee.org/podcast/computing/it/the-problem-of-old-code-and-older-coders

Why Software Fails
https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/software/why-software-fails

No Internet of Things without strong cyber security
https://www.datarespons.com/cybersecurity/

ETSI IoT security standard

Tomi Engdahl — Sun, 04 Oct 2020 14:22:30 +0000

Security standard for consumer IoT emerges. ETSI approved and published its standard ETSI EN 303 645 V2.1.1 (2020-06) – Cyber Security for Consumer Internet of Things: Baseline Requirements in June 2020. This puts it on track for final approval and release later this year. The standard specifies the high-level security and data protection provisions that consumer IoT devices and their interaction with associated services should provide.

For some more details read this article:
https://www.edn.com/security-standard-for-consumer-iot-emerges/?utm_content=buffer625da&utm_medium=social&utm_source=edn_facebook&utm_campaign=buffer

ETSI approved and published its standard ETSI EN 303 645 V2.1.1 (2020-06) – Cyber Security for Consumer Internet of Things: Baseline Requirements in June 2020. This puts it on track for final approval and release later this year.
https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_en/303600_303699/303645/02.01.01_60/en_303645v020101p.pdf