Here are some IoT trends for year 2019 to watch:
More device: There are four times as many devices connected to the Internet as there are people in the world, and the number of devices is increasing rapidly. There are computers, smart phones and many different kind of connected devices. Gartner forecasts that 14.2 billion connected things will be in use in 2019, and that the total will reach 25 billion by 2021,
Voice: The integration of voice into IoT devices creates an user experience that many consumers seem to enjoy. The next few years will see voice automation take over many aspects of our lives. The current major players in the IoT voice world are Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Google Assistant. Microsoft’s Cortana seems to have already lost in the game as Satya Nadella says Cortana won’t challenge Alexa and Google Assistant directly; Microsoft will focus on making it a skill on other voice platforms instead. Voice won’t change everything but it will be one part of a movement that heralds a new way to think about our relationship with devices and data. Consider voice as a type of user interface to be added to the existing list of UI technologies. Voice will not kill brands, it won’t hurt keyboard sales or touchscreen devices — it will become an additional way to do stuff; it is incremental. We need to learn to design around it.Deloitte expects the sales of 164 million smart speakers at an average price of $43 in 2019. The smart speaker market will be worth more than $7 billion next year, increasing 63% from 2018’s $4.3 billion.
Automobiles: Automobiles are leading the way in IoT adoption. Gartner predicts that one in five cars will be connected by 2020. Both Google and Apple have tools that allow drivers to control calls, listen to messages and control apps using voice.
IoT clouds: Developing for the Internet of Things is a complex endeavor, and nobody wants to do it from scratch. IoT data platforms offer a jumping-off point by combining many of the tools needed to manage a deployment from device management to data prediction and insights into one service. There are many IoT cloud platforms to choose from. All cloud platforms have their own distinctive areas of pros and cons. Ultimately the project needs and cost-effectiveness determine whom to choose. Utilizing cloud services also brings new potential risks that are good to understand already at the beginning of the project. I wrote on article to Uusiteknologia.fi magazine issue 2/2018 on IoT cloud platforms.
Digital Twins: Digital twin tech, or a virtual representation of a product, is a critical concept in IoT that’s still being sorted out. Digital twin refers to a digital replica of physical assets (physical twin), processes, people, places, systems and devices that can be used for various purposes. Definitions of digital twin technology emphasize two important characteristics: connection from the physical model to the corresponding virtual model and this connection is established by generating real time data using sensors. Physical objects and twin models interact. Digital twins applications typically integrate internet of things, artificial intelligence, machine learning and software analytics with spatial network graphs to create living digital simulation models that update and change as their physical counterparts change. In various industrial sectors, twins are being used to optimize the operation and maintenance of physical assets, systems and manufacturing processes.
Edge computing: The shift from centralized and cloud to edge architectures is well under way in the IoT space. In the future, computing the edge of the network will become an increasingly important way of processing data from networked devices and sensor networks. Compared to traditional centralized cloud computing, the new edge computing brings computing servers closer to the edge of the communications network. Compared to cloud centered IoT solutions, edge computing allow for lower delays and more reliable operation with respect to cloud services. At the same time, it promises improved security as not all potentially sensitive information needs to be transferred from the site to cloud. However, this is not the end point because the neat set of layers associated with edge architecture will evolve to a more unstructured architecture comprising of a wide range of “things” and services connected in a dynamic mesh. In thins kind of system data processing can be done on almost all network devices from IoT modules to gateways and in the future to 5G base stations. Relevant standardizing organizations on this field are Edge Computing Consortium Europe, OpenFog Consortium and Industrial Internet Consortium.
5G: 5G networks start to arrive. The standards for 5G will be defined in large part by the direct integration of Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial IoT (IIoT) devices into global networks and devices. 5G networks are expected to be 10 to 100 times faster than current LTE technology. If you are in need for very high speed, your application resides inside the small 5G test networks coverage areas and your IoT device is allowed to consume considerable amount of power (more than 4G solutions), then you might be able to consider 5G. For all other cases I don’t see 5G would offer much for IoT applications in 2019. There is not yet ready 5G standards specifically designed for IoT applications. So for 2019 IoT and IIoT will need to be pretty much stick to 4G technologies like NB-IoT and LTE-M. For 5G to shape industrial computing application in larger scale than just some small tests we will have to wait till 2020. Addressing the issues behind Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices and 5G is important in next few years. Qualcomm, the largest supplier of modem chips used in smartphones, has introduced the X50 modem to give IIoT devices the ability to communicate over 5G networks. Beware of “fake 5G” marketing in 2019. The promise is that 5G will enable the future enterprise technologies everyone is predicting and waiting for: fleets of self-driving delivery trucks, virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR), and a world of enterprise Internet of Things (IoT) deployments — systems that will define an era that the World Economic Forum termed the “Fourth Industrial Revolution.” Those promises will take years to realize, you will not see most of them in real use in 2019.
AI: Number one in Gartner’s predictions, no surprise, is artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence and machine learning will be talked a lot with bold claims that AI goes from expert-only to everywhere. I would not expect it to be everywhere in 2019. Gartner, said in a statement, “AI will be applied to a wide range of IoT information, including video, still images, speech, network traffic activity, and sensor data.” At the moment many neural network systems are power hungry when implemented with traditional computer hardware. “For example, the performance of deep neural networks (DNNs) is often limited by memory bandwidth, rather than processing power.” By 2023, it’s expected that new special-purpose chips will reduce the power consumption required to run a DNN, enabling new edge architectures and embedded DNN functions in low-power IoT endpoints.
IIoT: The concept of a Smart Factory is composed of many different physical and informational subsystems, such as actuators and sensors, control systems, product management systems and manufacturing systems that all work together. This is a very complex system. It is critical to understand differing operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) priorities to achieve collaboration and integration. Without this, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and control projects will fail. Also finding the right Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) vendor partner is crucial to success. OPC Foundation has on initiative to extend OPC UA out to field devices to provide vendor-neutral, end-to-end interoperability beyond the plant. Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) network works well for OPC UA applications.
Value chain: IoT as an umbrella term will diminish. There are strong views that “Internet of things is not valuable in and of itself” so the conversation is going to shift away from an ambiguous buzzword to the actual use of technology. For product designers this means that when we design our connected world, we need to pull ourselves away from the cool technology that we are building and look at the system through our customers’ eyes. The sales pitch will be more like “It’s about the use cases, it’s about the solutions, it’s about the applications, managing and monitoring assets, performance management solutions, different kinds of solutions coming together to solve a problem—that’s really what the value proposition is.”
IoT platforms: IoT vendors will compete to be the destination for IoT platforms. The IoT supply chain has been moving toward more collaboration to provide development and design kits designed for specific use cases and industries. IoT development kits are sold more and more with bundled IoT could service offer. IoT cloud service providers offer and recommend hardware that is tested to work well with their platforms. IoT platform vendors will be narrowing their scope in 2019, honing in on specific use cases. Business professionals aren’t looking for one industrial IoT platform to manage every process going on at their company, they are instead looking for platforms that specialize in specific tasks.
New development kits: A new breed of development kits is incorporating the three tenets of IoT design — ease of use, security, and business value. The promise is that the design engineers don’t need to have specialized expertise in several areas like networking protocols or security-related tasks, enabling a much faster development time. One way to simplifying design work is by intelligently reusing the fundamental building blocks.
Security: Wireless IoT devices are considered a major threat to the security of industrial networks. A growing number of embedded systems are open to security threats as a result of increasing connectivity and IoT device adoption. And it’s costing OEMs a lot in terms of money and reputation. A 2018 Gartner Inc. survey found that nearly 20% of organizations surveyed experienced at least one IoT-based attack in the past three years. IoT security is already a 1.5 billion dollar market. The market research firm Garnet expects that global spending on IoT security will rise to $3.1 billion in 2021, up from $1.5 billion in 2018. It is not about the spending on IoT security products. Already “a significant portion of OEMs’ existing in-house labor cost is already dedicated to addressing security” and is rising faster than development costs. VDC pegs the worldwide embedded engineering labor spend related to security at $11.6 billion in 2017, representing nearly 8% of the overall cost of embedded engineering labor. There will be different kind of certification marks for IoT product cyber security – some mandated with laws on some countries and some voluntary. 5G is going to increase security risks. Do we understand the 5G security threats to come? Most probably not because we don’t seem to understand well even that 5G really is.
eSIM: The embedded SIM card has been spoken for a long time, and even the first smartphones in which the SIM card has been implemented with an integrated circuit have already been introduced to the market. Infineon has presented the world’s first industrially qualified eSIM. Of course, eSIM shares opinions. Many operators do not like it.
Infonomics and Data Broking: Last year’s Gartner survey of IoT projects showed 35 percent of respondents were selling or planning to sell data collected by their products and services.“Data is the fuel that powers the IoT and the organization’s ability to derive meaning from it will define their long term success,” This brings us to Social, Legal and Ethical IoT because“ Successful deployment of an IoT solution demands that it’s not just technically effective but also socially acceptable,” It is possible tha tIoT Firms Face a ‘Tidal Wave’ of Lawsuits.
IoT Governance: As the IoT continues to expand, the need for a governance framework that ensures appropriate behavior in the creation, storage, use and deletion of information related to IoT projects will become increasingly important. We also need to manage IoT devices to keep them secure and make sure that they do what they are supposed to do. A market for IoT managed services will develop to help manage and operate fragmented IoT assets. “The idea of managing the ongoing end-to-end life cycle of a connected product is becoming more important, and ultimately this managed service opportunity is going to need momentum in the coming year,”
New Wireless Technologies: IoT networking involves balancing a set of competing requirements, such as endpoint cost, power consumption, bandwidth, latency, connection density, operating cost, quality of service, and range. No single networking technology optimizes all of these.
Trusted Hardware and Operating System: Gartner surveys invariably show that security is the most significant area of technical concern for organizations deploying IoT systems. Today organizations often don’t have control over the source and nature of the software and hardware being utilised in IoT initiatives. “However, by 2023, we expect to see the deployment of hardware and software combinations that together create more trustworthy and secure IoT systems.
Home automation: Arm predicts that the intelligent home goes mainstream. In survey results they published two-thirds of respondents said technology became “more a part of my life” during 2018. Cisco Systems is saying connected homes will be a big driver for the Internet of Things. “Connected home applications, such as home automation, home security and video surveillance, connected white goods, and tracking applications, will represent 48%, or nearly half, of the total M2M connections by 2022, showing the pervasiveness of M2M in our lives,” Cisco states in its new white paper, Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Trends, 2017-2022. The market is starting slowly. Bundled IoT services will try to motivate a slow consumer market.
Smart cities: Cities are becoming smarter and smarter in an effort to improve efficiency in operations. Smart cities bring in both benefits and risks. Between smart lighting, traffic controls, and public transportation, smart cities are bringing in a whole new family of threat vectors. Cybercriminals will target smart cities with ransomware attacks. Smart cities need to take precautions.
Silicon Chip Innovation: “Currently, most IoT endpoint devices use conventional processor chips, with low-power ARM architectures being particularly popular. However, traditional instruction sets and memory architectures aren’t well-suited to all the tasks that endpoints need to perform,” New special-purpose chips will reduce the power consumption required to run a DNN. Very low power circuit designs are important in many applications. Battery-powered designs require complex optimizations for power in the context of area, performance and functionality. Devices that work without battery and gather operating power from environment are maybe even more challenging. Clearly, sensors are a big part of any connected device, and there is a lot of innovation occurring in this market that delivers new features — think AI — all housed in smaller packaging.
Open source: 2019 Will Be the Year of Open Source in IoT and embedded systems applications. From software and even hardware, we saw more activity in open source than ever before in 2018. And the momentum isn’t likely to slow down in 2019. Arduino is pushing strongly to IoT markets with MKR1000 series of IoT boards. Raspberry Pi is very widely used in IoT systems, especially on prototyping and small scale deployments
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Links to other articles for IoT trends for 2019:
Internet of Things in 2019: Five predictions
Kymmenen tulevaisuuden kuluttajatrendiä ja ilmiötä
Deloitte’s 9 tech predictions for 2019
New Chip Architectures, Sensors and Trust in Top 10 IoT Trends (Gartner presented its top 10 strategic IoT technology trends)
Week In Review: IoT, Security, Auto (predictions from Arm, Deloitte and Juniper Research)
Predictions 2019: The Internet Of Things
Gartner Identifies Top 10 Strategic IoT Technologies and Trends
1,284 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Electronics Meets Textiles in an Array of Innovative Guises
https://www.electronicdesign.com/industrial-automation/electronics-meets-textiles-array-innovative-guises?NL=ED-003&Issue=ED-003_20190123_ED-003_499&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=22838&utm_medium=email&elq2=3821ce56c49f4430a3000ffd44680178
Textiles and electronics are forming mutually beneficial relationships, with components and functions such as optical devices and flexible sensors embedded in fabric.
Researchers are exploiting the many ways that fabrics can support or exploit electronic circuits, as demonstrated by a range of projects. It’s a broad opportunity, obviously, because fabrics and clothes are so ubiquitous.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The IoT Ushers in a Healthcare Industry Revolution
https://www.electronicdesign.com/embedded-revolution/iot-ushers-healthcare-industry-revolution
Introducing IoT as a platform and concept has redefined the machine-to-human (M2H) interaction for efficient healthcare facilities—and increased the vulnerability to hackers.
When we talk about IoT, people often get confused with the term machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. M2M communication and IoT is essentially based on the same concept, i.e., communicating or exchanging data with another machine/device without any human intervention/interfacing. Technically, though, IoT and M2M are two different concepts.
The most important element that the companies should focus on before implementing IoT or M2M concerns their business model, specifically the need to provide add-on value to its customer. Before investing in any such technologies, the companies should think about its effectiveness in its business model and return on investment (ROI).
The rate of IoT implementation is growing exponentially. Based on the estimates from Intel research, it’s expected that nearly 200 billion devices will be connected by 2020, up from 15 billion in 2015—nearly a 1233% increase.
Cognitive IoT: The Next Leap for the Healthcare Industry
What is cognitive computing?
The term cognitive is essentially defined as “thinking.” Of course, we’re aware of the fact that computers/machines don’t yet have the capability to think like human being. However, in this case, we’re referring to three terms—understanding, reasoning, and learning.
What’s the significance of cognitive computing in IoT?
Applying machine learning is important for scaling the data derived from the connected devices/machine. The huge amount of data generated from these connected devices can easily overwhelm a human’s ability to analyze and derive patterns out of it.
This enables us to move beyond machine interface paradigms, which requires a human to learn specialized interface programs to interact with the device/machine. Cognitive computing enables humans to interact with the IoT using its natural language.
Integration of multiple data sources and types.
Tomi Engdahl says:
EU Approves $2 Billion for IoT, Connected Car Research
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1334197
The European Commission has cleared the use of €1.75 billion (about $2 billion) in public funds from France, Germany, Italy, and the U.K. to support an integrated project for joint research and innovation in microelectronics addressing the internet of things and connected or driverless cars.
Participants and their partners will focus their work on five different technology areas:
(1) Energy-efficient chips: developing new solutions to improve the energy efficiency of chips. These will, for example, reduce the overall energy consumption of electronic devices, including those installed in cars.
(2) Power semiconductors: developing new component technologies for smart appliances as well as for electric and hybrid vehicles to increase the reliability of semiconductor devices.
(3) Smart sensors: working on the development of new optical, motion, or magnetic field sensors with improved performance and enhanced accuracy. Smart sensors will help improve car safety through more reliable and timely reaction to allow a car to change lanes or avoid an obstacle.
(4) Advanced optical equipment: developing more effective technologies for future high-end chips.
(5) Compound materials: developing new compound materials (instead of silicon) and devices suitable for more advanced chips.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Planning For 5G And The Edge
https://semiengineering.com/planning-for-5g-and-the-edge/
Experts at the Table, part 2: Understanding 5G’s benefits, limitations and design challenges.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2019/01/28/tekoaly-tulee-sahkoverkkoihin/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Industrial controller selection: Look beyond the basics
https://www.controleng.com/articles/industrial-controller-selection-look-beyond-the-basics/
Factory automation controllers: When specifying controllers for industrial automation applications, consider capabilities such as data handling, communications, and high-speed control.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Improving industrial network communications
Selecting a Profinet interface may enhance industrial network communication for devices.
https://www.controleng.com/articles/improving-industrial-network-communications/
Real-time requirements
IEEE 802.3- Standard for Ethernet is designed to ensure problem-free communication between Profinet automation devices and among Profinet automation devices and other standard Ethernet devices. For applications with stringent real-time requirements, Profinet offers mechanisms that enable standard and real-time communication to coexist in parallel. Communication with Profinet can be scaled using three performance levels that build on each other:
The transmission of engineering data and non-time-critical data occurs over transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP). This standard communication is possible between all automation devices.
The real-time (RT) channel is available for the transmission of process data.
For isochronous applications like motion control, isochronous real-time (IRT) communication is used. This enables a clock rate of < 1 ms and a jitter of < 1 μs.
The IRT capability is based on hardware support in the device, which means special application-specific integrated circuit (ASICs), microcontrollers, and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) must be used for this purpose.
The key functions of the three conformance classes and their advantages are described below:
CC-A: Using the infrastructure of an existing Ethernet network, including integration of basic Profinet functions. All information technology (IT) services can be used without restriction. Typical application examples are found in building automation and process automation.
CC-B: The functional scope of CC-B comprises the functions of CC-A, plus it supports user-friendly device replacement without needing an engineering tool. Simple network management protocol (SNMP) supports extended device diagnostics of network functions such as port status messages. To increase data reliability, a performance-adapted media redundancy protocol is available as an option. All IT services can be used without restriction. Typical applications can be found in automation systems with higher-level machine control with a deterministic, but not isochronous, data cycle. The vast majority of Profinet devices fall into this category.
CC-C: The functional scope of CC-C comprises all the functions of CC-B. It also supports high precision and deterministic data transmission, including isochronous applications. The integrated optional media redundancy enables smooth switchover of the I/O data traffic if a fault occurs. All IT services can be used without restriction. Typical applications are in the field of motion control.
Time-sensitive networking (TSN) and Profinet
Time-sensitive networking (TSN) is a promising technology and offers a lot of potential for Profinet. TSN aims to combine the wide range of IT networks with the robustness and determinism of automation networks. In short: hard real-time via standard IT networks. This doesn’t signal a revolution for Profinet. Rather, it represents a visionary architecture upon which Profinet is building.
TSN offers Profinet a new layer 2 in the ISO/OSI model. It corresponds to today’s RT and IRT technologies. This makes it clear TSN will not replace RT or IRT in the coming years. It’s an additional option with a number of potential benefits. Today’s manufacturers that are providing solutions with RT and IRT will be able to continue providing them in the future. Users employing RT or IRT to operate their systems can be sure that they are using a sustainable technology.
TSN offers the possibility to also achieve this with standard chip-sets because TSN is based on open standards, which is supported by many semiconductor vendors. Everything else about Profinet remains unchanged–especially services such as diagnosis, configuration, alarms, etc. This will make it easy for users and device manufacturers to use TSN in the future. They can build on existing knowledge and continue using the applications they have developed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cloud-based software solutions for industrial applications
https://www.controleng.com/articles/cloud-based-software-solutions-for-industrial-applications/
Cover Story: Choosing cloud-based software or a combined approach with an on-site strategy may result in cost savings, improved operational efficiencies, and enhanced security.
Tomi Engdahl says:
5 IoT Deployment Flaws to Avoid
https://www.designnews.com/automation-motion-control/5-iot-deployment-flaws-avoid/108475889260045?ADTRK=UBM&elq_mid=7214&elq_cid=876648
When we design our connected world, we need to pull ourselves away from the cool technology that we are building and look at the system through our customers’ eyes.
Flaw #1 – Not Automatically Setting Device Time and Using It Wisely
An Internet-connected system should be able to go out onto the Internet and retrieve the current time. That time can easily then be sent to each sensor node in the network, so that time is synchronized throughout the system. Time information can be useful to determine whether it is an appropriate time to signal the user that there is a problem with the system.
Flaw #2 – Audible Alarms that Are Confusing
As designers, we need to make sure that the audible alarms our devices produce are distinct and easily recognizable. Having a CO2 sensor that trips with a sound that is recognized as a low battery indicator has some very serious potential safety consequences.
Flaw #3 – Not Tracking When Assets Need to Be Replaced
As designers and companies, if there is a usable shelf life for our products or even for batteries that need to be replaced, we need to track:
When the device was manufactured
When it was installed
When it needs to be replaced
This allows service technicians to be proactive in maintaining these devices in the field. If you know that you are servicing client A, and client B needs to have their system maintained in a month but you’ll be in the area, scheduling the two together can dramatically save travel time and costs. This not only maximizes the number of clients serviced, income, etc., but also keeps customers happy and, more importantly, safe.
Flaw #4 – Not Assigning Understandable Location and Device Information
What is interesting about the system I have is that, despite a really cool application that I can use to check the status of the system, the location and device information is sorely lacking.
Flaw #5 – Reactive, not Proactive, Customer Service
As engineers, we probably don’t give the customer experience much thought. That’s something that the marketing and sales team should be worried about and can relay to us developers. The fact, though, is that at the end of the day, the customer experience is what will determine whether our company is successful. For that reason, I believe customer service should be proactive. Despite my home system being actively monitored, I did not hear a single peep. The alarms were actually tamper alarms; shouldn’t that signal to someone that something isn’t right?
At the end of the day, it turned out that the CO2 detectors had actually expired and were triggering a tamper detection signal.
Tomi Engdahl says:
5 Technologies Embedded System Engineers Should Master in 2019
https://www.designnews.com/electronics-test/5-technologies-embedded-system-engineers-should-master-2019/53720324260073?ADTRK=UBM&elq_mid=7214&elq_cid=876648
Here are the technologies that have the greatest impact on the way we design and develop embedded systems.
Technology #1 – Defect Management
In 2018, I spent a lot of time talking about debugging techniques that developers can use to minimize the defects that are in their systems. The fact is, debugging techniques are the last resort to remove defects from an embedded system. The processes that are put in place during the design and development are far more important in minimizing defects. There have been several advances in the last few years that many embedded developers have not been taking advantage of. These include:
Continuous integration servers
Hardware-in-loop testing
Unit testing
Automated testing
Technology #2 – Cloud Connectivity
Many “traditional” embedded systems are, or were, disconnected systems that had no access to the Internet. With the big push for the IoT, many systems are now adding wireless or wired connectivity and streaming loads of data up to the cloud for processing and storage. The traditional embedded software developer in general doesn’t have much experience with setting up cloud services, working with MQTT, or the many other technologies that are required for use with the cloud. There are several activities that developers should put into their calendars this year in order to become more familiar with cloud connectivity. These activities include:
Setting up a cloud service provider such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, etc
Set up private and public keys along with a device certificate.
Write a device policy for devices connecting to the cloud service
Connect an embedded system to the cloud service
Transmit and receive information to the cloud
Build a basic dashboard to examine data in the cloud and control the devi
Technology #3 – Security
With many devices now connecting to the cloud, a major concern facing developers is how to secure their systems.
These technologies vary from using security processors, Arm TrustZone, and multi-core microcontrollers to partition secure and non-secure application code. While there are several hardware technology sets available, the available software solutions have been expanding at an extraordinary rate.
Technology #4 – Machine Learning
A major theme that we are going to hear about nearly non-stop in 2019 is about moving machine learning from the cloud to the edge. Machine learning has been a force to reckon with in the cloud and the ability to move machine learning to microcontroller-based systems is going to be a game changer.
Technology #5 – Low Power Design
Embedded designers have always had to contend with battery operated devices but with more IoT connected devices and sensor nodes, low power design is becoming a crucial design criteria that can dramatically affect the operating costs of a company.
Developers working with battery operated devices need to stay up to date in several key areas:
Wireless radio technologies
Hardware energy monitoring
Software energy consumption monitoring
Battery architectures
Power regulators
Tomi Engdahl says:
AI + IoT = AIoT — What Lies Behind the Buzzwords?
https://www.eeweb.com/profile/innoch/articles/ai-iot-aiot-what-lies-behind-the-buzzwords
There is still a lot of hype around the AIoT, so it’s important to be able to separate what is currently feasible from what still lies in the future
Buzzwords such as the internet of things (IoT), edge computing, and artificial intelligence (AI) have been circulating for quite some time. They tend to be thrown around quite liberally and can come across as somewhat nebulous to the average reader.
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/8843-teollisella-internetilla-vauhtia-mro-prosesseihin
Teollista internetiä (IIoT) käyttämällä voidaan parantaa ei-tuotannollisiin hankintoihin liittyviä MRO-prosesseja (Maintenance, Repair, Operating) eurooppalaisen Teollisuus 4.0 -ohjelman määrittämissä raameissa. Artikkelissa luodaan katsaus eräisiin IIoT-teknologioihin ja sovelluksiin, jotka ovat avainasemassa tässä murroksessa.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Convergence of 5G, AI and IoT
https://t3chfest.uc3m.es/2018/static/resources/events_slides/2018-03-01_T3chfest_-_The_Convergence_of_5G_AI_and_IoT_v4.pdf?q=1519913894
Tomi Engdahl says:
The practical IoT
https://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/print/volume-27/issue-1/features/fiber-optics/the-practical-iot.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cim_data_center_newsletter_2019-01-21&pwhid=6b9badc08db25d04d04ee00b499089ffc280910702f8ef99951bdbdad3175f54dcae8b7ad9fa2c1f5697ffa19d05535df56b8dc1e6f75b7b6f6f8c7461ce0b24&eid=289644432&bid=2348650
Planning and designing for the arrival of the Internet of Things.
This quantifies what will be asked of IT networking and systems integrators to help attach these devices to various networks, their potential impact, and developing planning guidelines. In the balance of this article, we’ll focus on what’s important to networking professionals as our business customers ask us to add IoT devices to the infrastructure landscape.
For any IoT usage, there are a few common infrastructure questions to consider:
What are the network requirements?
Is it “mission critical” to the business?
Who manages it?
What’s the correct security posture?
Network requirements
There is a significant number of network technologies supported by IoT vendors. IoT vendors will offer the best network technology for their systems, ranging from an Ethernet cable down to wireless low-power wide area (LPWA) service. Since IoT devices ultimately connect to an application, the data traffic from the IoT devices will travel over an IP network, either private or the Internet, to servers in the enterprise data center or in a cloud service like Amazon AWS or Microsoft Azure.
Network design considerations:
Wired Ethernet could require separate Ethernet switches if the IoT devices are unmanaged or connect to an external cloud service.
WiFi could require a different SSID and authentication method than what is presently in use.
WiFi engineering assessment for more access points may be required to increase network coverage.
Cellular coverage assessment on IoT device’s service provider/frequency band throughout the enterprise may be necessary to insure network coverage.
Cellular IoT checks coverage and that the installed base station supporting indoor signal supports the NB-IoT protocol.
Attempt LPWA network trial connection to insure LPWA network availability before installation.
Mission critical
Industrial IoT applications in manufacturing and distribution centers are considered mission critical. In both of these application areas, the interest in replacing wired cable to robots, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), and other networked manufacturing equipment with wireless services is very high.
Management
In the industrial cases just mentioned, IoT is managed by the enterprise. In other applications, the enterprise has IoT devices distributed across the enterprise that connect to a cloud service that the enterprise can log into. In these cases, there is no management responsibility for the service, but there is a requirement to ensure there is adequate network coverage to support IoT devices anywhere they operate in the enterprise.
Security posture
Unmanaged IoT can pose a threat to enterprises where they use the enterprise network to connect to their supporting cloud service.
Examples for your consideration:
Over 100,000 refrigerators were hacked to form a bot-army in 2014 (Source: The Hacker News).
140,000 security cameras and DVRs were hacked to form a bot-army in 2016 (Source: Security Ledger).
All these devices were behind DSL modems, but they were still hacked.
Mission-critical IoT applications will be built and operated by the line of business due to their importance and will open new career opportunities for enterprise IT people. It is a “ground-floor opportunity” to join the transformation. u
Tomi Engdahl says:
Get Ready for Intelligent Real-Time Systems
https://www.designnews.com/electronics-test/get-ready-intelligent-real-time-systems/17528569560076?ADTRK=UBM&elq_mid=7283&elq_cid=876648
Intelligence is quickly making its way from the cloud to the edge. Now is the time to start understanding Intelligent Real-Time Systems.
Intelligent Real-time Systems (IRS). Intelligent Real-time Systems are microcontroller-based devices that have the ability to learn to use data by running a resident, artificial intelligence algorithm (AI).
There have always been two different ways that teams could leverage artificial intelligence in their products. The first, and the most realistic for the last decade, has been to execute the AI algorithms in the cloud. The cloud has provided a unique platform where processing power seems limitless when compared to the processing available on a microcontroller. Machine learning (ML) algorithms could be provided with data and trained to recognize patterns that would otherwise have been nearly impossible for a developer to program (think handwriting character recognition).
Systems that use machine learning in the cloud can still use a real-time embedded system to collect data, but that data is then sent to the cloud for processing and any return-response then would be relayed back to the embedded system. As the reader can imagine, this is hardly a real-time or deterministic operation. Using the cloud, though, has worked and will continue to work in applications for the foreseeable future.
The second approach, which has generally been out of reach for most systems, is to process the data and execute the machine learning algorithm on the microcontroller. This is a far more interesting solution because it removes latency that would otherwise exist if the data needs to be processed in the cloud. The potential for businesses here is huge for several different reasons such as:
No longer requiring an internet connection which could reduce bill of material (BOM) costs and system complexity
Decrease in operating costs for cloud services and data processing plans
Offline product differentiation
Reduction in processing latencies and energy consumption
Improved product reliability and potentially security
The use of machine learning in deterministic, real-time systems
First, ARM has released CMSIS-NN, which is a C library designed for running low-level, optimized neural network algorithms on a Cortex-M processor. This allows developers to design and train their high-level machine learning algorithms and then deploy them onto a microcontroller. This can be considered the required foundation in order to run machine learning in an efficient manner, locally without the cloud.
A great example is the OpenMV which is a camera module based on the STM32 and provides local processing for capabilities such as”
Face detection
Eye detection
Color tracking
Video recording
Etc
Machine vision is a leading intelligence capability that many real-time embedded systems will require.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart Manufacturing Expert Says It’s Time to Embrace Fuzziness
https://www.designnews.com/electronics-test/smart-manufacturing-expert-says-it-s-time-embrace-fuzziness/122615293060120?ADTRK=UBM&elq_mid=7283&elq_cid=876648
Combining fuzzy sensing technologies with artificial intelligence, manufacturers can learn more about their enterprise for less cost.
Too often, manufacturers don’t understand that, and mistakenly commit to costly, time-consuming measures that produce poor results, Loren said. Those measures include shutting down production machinery to install multiple probes and on-board sensors. The resulting downtime can often result in millions of dollars of lost productivity, Loren added. Worse, such efforts may not even be successful, especially when they fail to capture the real causes behind machinery that’s not working.
“Ninety-five percent of the time, the machine isn’t working because a fixture is broken or a tool is missing or the person who knows how to do the setup isn’t available,” Loren said. “It’s all these other things around the machine that may not be captured by an on-board sensor.”
To combat that, manufacturers need to employ fuzzy sensing technologies, Loren said. Fuzzy sensing technologies include inexpensive sensors that attach to the outside of machinery to measure vibration, electrical current, and electromagnetic field fluctuations. They also include nearby infrared temperature sensors and computer vision systems that can capture activity that on-board probes can’t. Such sensing systems won’t provide five-decimal-place precision, but they will offer a bigger picture of the surrounding enterprise, Loren said.
For many engineers, the idea of fuzzy sensing is counter-intuitive, Loren added. Their training often leads them to believe that higher precision is better.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why the Linux Foundation’s New Project May Prove Transformative
https://www.cbronline.com/news/lf-edge
Could this be the interoperable “Android” that the edge needs?
Plenty of people have talked about bringing common order and interoperability to the fragmented and insecure ecosystem that is the internet’s edge. They’ve dreamed of introducing a common architecture to a heterogeneous, distributed technical landscape of automotive computers and smart fridges; telecoms base stations and wind farm diagnostics tools: all chattering away to their owners and vendors over a disconcerting array of industry-specific legacy connectors and recently introduced wireless protocols
The Linux Foundation (LF) this week took a large step towards making this aspiration a reality with the launch of LF Edge; an ambitious umbrella project dedicated to creating an interoperable open framework for edge computing. LF Edge – to be compatible with any hardware, silicon, cloud, or Operating System (OS) – has attracted more big-name sponsors than you could shake a stick at; from Arm to AT&T, via Dell, Ericsson, HPE, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Juniper Networks; Qualcomm, Red Hat, Samsung, and many more.
an open architecture that decouples applications and the infrastructure they’ll run on in order to allow development of cloud-native apps for a sweeping range of both consumer and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices.
LF Edge: 60 Founding Members, 5 Projects, 1 Goal
Project 1: Project EVE (Edge Virtualization Engine) is essentially an Operating System for the IIoT edge
Project 2: Akraino Edge Stack is an OSS stack for cloud services optimised at the edge running in VMs or containers.
Project 3: EdgeX Foundry is a common edge microservices layer.
Project 4: Home Edge Project, with seed code contributed by Samsung Electronics, is a consumer edge computing services platform, for devices from smartphones to fridges.
Project 5: An Open Glossary of Edge Computing provides a concise collection of terms related to the field of edge computing.
Open Glossary of Edge Computing
https://www.stateoftheedge.com/glossary
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch:
Waze expands its open-source Bluetooth beacons to NYC to mitigate poor GPS signal in tunnels and offers the service to third parties for $28.50 per unit — Drivers in New York City will soon be able to use Waze — and other navigation apps — in places like tunnels or bridges where it’s common to lose a GPS signal.
Waze expands its Bluetooth beacons to New York City to end GPS signal blackouts
https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/29/waze-expands-its-bluetooth-beacons-to-new-york-city-to-end-gps-signal-blackouts/
Drivers in New York City will soon be able to use Waze — and other navigation apps — in places like tunnels or bridges where it’s common to lose a GPS signal.
The new capability is courtesy of small open-source puck-like devices called Waze Beacons that were invented in-house by Gil Disatnik, an engineer who now heads up the beacons program.
These battery-powered beacons broadcast an open standard signal via Bluetooth, which takes over for GPS to provide location data when a car passes through a tunnel. The beacons, which are powered by Eddystone beacon technology, can transmit messages directly to a smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Implementing an IoT Edge Device While Minimizing NRE
https://www.mentor.com/tannereda/resources/overview/implementing-an-iot-edge-device-while-minimizing-nre-486621a5-f399-4641-8e3a-5a92a7ec9258?uuid=486621a5-f399-4641-8e3a-5a92a7ec9258&clp=1&contactid=1&PC=L&c=2019_01_29_ic_tanner_iotedge_device_nre_w
One designer in a garage, a small startup, small to mid-size companies, and even small groups within large companies with a “startup attitude” are designing IoT edge devices. These designers need to keep non-recurring expense (NRE) down by using affordable design tools that are easy to use to quickly produce results and by minimizing IP and fabrication costs. Their goal is to deliver a functioning device to their stakeholders while spending as little money as
possible to get there.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Quartet of LPWAN Players
https://blog.paessler.com/the-quartet-of-lpwan-players?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Burda-Blog-Global&utm_content=lpwanquartet&hsa_grp=23843368083300129&hsa_cam=23843368083210129&hsa_net=facebook&hsa_ver=3&hsa_acc=2004489912909367&hsa_ad=23843368091930129&hsa_src=fb
What Are the Differences Between Sigfox, MIOTY, LoRA, NB IoT And LTE-M?
The best LPWAN technology that is suitable for all purposes and industries does not exist. Sigfox, MIOTY, LoRa and NB IoT each have different applications where they can demonstrate their strengths.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT connectivity: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are winning
https://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/5g-waves/4461504/IoT-connectivity-Wi-Fi-and-Bluetooth-are-winning?utm_source=Aspencore&utm_medium=EDN&utm_campaign=social
Tomi Engdahl says:
MIT Creates Antennas for Wearables That Harvest Energy From Wi-Fi Signals
https://blog.hackster.io/mit-creates-antennas-for-wearables-that-harvest-energy-from-wifi-signals-150995b4bfca
http://news.mit.edu/2019/converting-wi-fi-signals-electricity-0128
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2019/01/31/kaapataan-energiaa-mems-piireilla-ja-fraktaaliantenneilla/
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/9015-uusia-keinoja-energiankeruuseen
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/tekniset-artikkelit/9013-vaihtelevat-automaatiotarpeet-vaativat-joustoa-antureilta
Tomi Engdahl says:
5 Predictions of Tech Disruptions in the Next Decade
https://www.designnews.com/electronics-test/5-predictions-tech-disruptions-next-decade/41229686960138?ADTRK=UBM&elq_mid=7296&elq_cid=876648
This year brings us one step closer to a decade that will be full of disruptions. Here are five big predictions for 2020 and beyond.
So, with that in mind, here are five major disruptions to watch (and watch out) for in the next decade:
1.) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Will Reflect the Worst of Us
2.) Connected Cars Will Create Safer Highways and Less Construction
3.) Healthcare Will Embrace Gene Editing
4.) The IoT Will Finally Work
5.) We’ll Get Cybersecurity Figured Out
Tomi Engdahl says:
LoRa Claims Another Milestone
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1334256
The word “fragmented” is often used when people talk about the adoption of the internet of things (IoT), despite estimates of around 7 billion active IoT connections in 2018. That’s probably because of the proliferation of technologies and the lack of standardization and wider ecosystems to support them across multiple vendors.
As the various network technologies jostle for position, analog and mixed-signal semiconductor firm Semtech this week announced growth in demand for its LoRa devices with the cumulative deployment of approximately 80 million LoRa-enabled end nodes at the end of 2018, a 60% year-over-year increase. Semtech expects to ship hundreds of thousands of LoRa-based gateways, too, by early 2019.
Semtech’s disclosure comes hot on the heels of the recent LoRa Alliance announcement of 100 networks now operating around the world.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Motorized Smart Curtains – DIY or Buy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrUu21NXrx0
Stepper motor controlled MQTT curtains – Home Assistant Integrated
https://github.com/thehookup/MQTT_Motorized_Curtains
Tomi Engdahl says:
Isolation—An Integral Component in Robotics Motion Control
https://www.electronicdesign.com/industrial-automation/isolation-integral-component-robotics-motion-control?NL=ED-003&Issue=ED-003_20190128_ED-003_659&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=22965&utm_medium=email&elq2=ef6184faacda44fabd51db8ec1b2278c
Sponsored by Digi-Key and Analog Devices: To prevent the propagation of dc and unwanted ac currents between input and output, while passing the desired signal, isolation is needed. Here are some ways to ease its integration into motor-control design.
The transition to Industry 4.0 has accelerated the adoption of robots, cobots (cooperative robots that interact with humans in a common workspace), and other advanced machines on the factory floor to generate higher levels of productivity. In addition, new energy standards are demanding ever-increasing levels of power efficiency.
Together, these new requirements drive new design challenges in several areas, including networked communications, distributed sensing, and precision motion control.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Synopsys’ Taylor Armerding takes a look at what the next year holds for open source, from changes in license terms to the impact of GDPR and a broader coalition dealing with security issues.
The future of open source software: More of everything
Posted by Taylor Armerding on January 24, 2019
https://www.synopsys.com/blogs/software-security/future-of-open-source-predictions/
The past decade charts the reach of open source into every industry. But what does the future of open source hold? Here are some open source predictions.
More mergers and acquisitions following on the megadeals of IBM buying Red Hat and Microsoft buying GitHub. More organizations using more of it. More vulnerabilities, corresponding with more efforts by hackers to take advantage of those vulnerabilities. More licensing squabbles and lawsuits. More Linux everywhere, present in the cloud, the IoT, AI, big data, DevOps and blockchain.
Indeed, the 2018 Synopsys OSSRA (Open Source Security and Risk Analysis) report found that of more than 1,100 codebases audited, 77% of IoT codebases had open source components with an average of 677 vulnerabilities per application. Of all the codebases scanned, 74% had open source components with license conflicts.
From a governance perspective, 2018 was the year of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
Future of open source in democracy
On our end, we recently became an open source voting machine manufacturer—at least for a little bit. We are incubating VotingWorks, which aims to be a completely open source—software, hardware, docs via CC—voting systems manufacturer. This is similar to Los Angeles County’s VSAP (Voting Systems for All People) project, which has already produced a voting machine and intends to make it completely open.
More industries, better compliance, but mixed maturity
Tomi Engdahl says:
SOLAR-POWERED OPENWRT ROUTER FOR MOBILE PRIVACY
https://hackaday.com/2019/01/24/solar-powered-openwrt-router-for-mobile-privacy/
http://blog.prototypecreations.net/2017/05/17/tp-link-tl-mr3020-portable-openvpn-router/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Monitoring Heart Health, One Toilet Seat at a Time
https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/devices/monitoring-heart-health-one-toilet-seat-at-a-time
Time and again, studies show that people are not good at consistently taking medication, following health care plans, or regularly recording health information, even when our doctor tells us to.
And that’s a big problem in health care. In fact, the World Health Organization says that getting people to adhere to medical interventions could have a greater impact on world health than any specific medical treatment.
Sensors in a new battery-powered, cloud-connected toilet seat track blood pressure, blood oxygen levels, and other heart data as accurately as hospital-grade monitoring equipment in a small group of patients, according to a study in the January issue of the journal JMIR mHealth and uHealth.
Regular visits to the RIT-developed seat—which involve no more time or effort than a usual trip to the commode—could indicate if a patient’s heart health is worsening and they need to see a doctor, though that claim will need to be tested in a clinical trial. If the monitoring system works as expected, the device could help catch early signs of heart decline and decrease the number of hospitalizations for heart patients.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Introducing the Helium Blockchain
https://blog.helium.com/introducing-the-helium-blockchain-dc2f8997083c
The challenges of a centralized trust model for IoT
Fast forward to today, and with the IoT, we’re trying to extend the Internet, with all its naive trust in the network, to tiny devices with little RAM and a very thin pipe back to the internet. The big problem of Internet security doesn’t fit well on a microcontroller.
One way of solving this is to introduce a trusted party that the devices look to for instructions and relay all their traffic through. By necessity these systems are a centralization point, everyone has to agree to use them, or they have to be federated. IoT’s track record on federation at this point is abysmal. Almost every IoT system to date requires customers to delegate trust to a service offered by the vendor. Additionally, in many of these systems, the gateway device (that bridges the wireless protocol and the internet protocol) also occupies a trusted position, or at least is not an open-access routing device (meaning it only works for devices using the same trusted party).
This is fine, but it’s not how the internet works. The internet, for all its flaws, is still a decentralized system. You can operate on the Internet with very little dependence on a trusted party.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IEEE is Fueling the Fourth Industrial Resoluution
https://innovate.ieee.org/innovation-spotlight-ieee-fueling-fourth-industrial-revolution/?LT=FB_SCL_Q1.2019_LM_4IR_Robotics_Ad
Experts predict a number of changes to come with 4IR. Over 7 million jobs will be affected over the next five years in the world’s largest economies, as technological progress in 3D printing and robotics starts to disrupt manufacturing and other industries.
Preparing for 4IR Begins with Education
Education is key for adapting to the changes 4IR technologies will bring. The employment landscape will undergo a massive shift, making advanced skills increasingly important.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Here’s why Amazon’s Super Bowl ad won’t trigger Alexa
https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/31/heres-why-amazons-super-bowl-ad-wont-trigger-alexa/?sr_share=facebook&utm_source=tcfbpage
South Park famously annoyed the world by triggering Echo and Google Home devices with familiar wake words. When Amazon’s at the wheel, however, the company is able to ensure that Alexa stays quiet using a method called acoustic fingerprinting.
In the lead-up to the Super Bowl, the company’s offered a (relatively) easy-to-understand breakdown of why its celebrity-laden ads won’t wake up Alexa during the big game. With its own ads, the company adds a fingerprint of the audio, which is stored on-device.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mycroft Mark II: The Open Voice Assistant
https://www.arrow.com/en/indiegogo/2336257/mycroft-mark-ii-the-open-voice-assistant
The open answer to Amazon Echo, Mycroft brings you the power of voice while maintaining your privacy
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/9042-kaupunkiymparistotalossa-kerataan-dataa-jo-rakennusaikana
Tomi Engdahl says:
The significance of industrial networking for the IIoT
https://www.controleng.com/articles/the-significance-of-industrial-networking-for-the-iiot/
The Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) focuses on the role of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) in industrial networking.
Industrial networking connects devices and systems and is critical to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Application and deployment considerations—along with existing and emerging technology options—adds complexity to network planning and technology selection according to the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) white paper “Industrial Networking Enabling IIoT Communication.”
When trying to understand and resolve networking issues, consider:
Future IIoT scenarios high-level descriptions of requirements and design considerations can vary by industry.
Various standards can apply and help.
The IIC is developing a technical document, the Industrial Internet Networking Framework (IINF). The core element of the document will be a conceptual toolbox designed to provide guidance for selecting the appropriate network infrastructure
The Networking Task Group (NTG), a sub-group under the IIC’s Technology Working Group, is responsible for the three lower layers of the Industrial Internet Communication Stack as defined in the Industrial Internet Connectivity Framework (IICF), which are identical to the lower three layers of the OSI model: Physical layer, (data) link layer, and network layer.
In industrial automation, these layers are impacted by the transition from traditional field buses to Ethernet-based protocols. Such industrial Ethernet technologies are defined by international user groups such as Profibus Profinet International, ODVA (Ethernet/IP), the EtherCAT Technology Group, the Ethernet Powerlink Standardization Group and the CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA). Some technologies use standard Ethernet without modifications to layers 1 and 2 of the foundational IEEE 802.3 standard, whereas others define deviations in the data link layer.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The future of IIoT software in manufacturing
https://www.controleng.com/articles/the-future-of-iiot-software-in-manufacturing/
A guide to understanding and using data distribution service (DDS), time-sensitive networking (TSN), and OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) for advanced manufacturing applications.
The top Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) connectivity framework standards are OPC Foundation’s OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) and Object Management Group’s (OMG’s) Data Distribution Service (DDS). Both are gaining widespread adoption in industrial systems, though not the same sectors.
Why designs are changing
The traditional PLC and HMI design served well for the last three decades. However, it may not survive the next one. Why? Processor speeds and easy interconnectivity offer more capable compute resources. The PLC-centric workcell design can build reliable systems that endlessly repeat an operation. They aren’t truly “smart,” though. They don’t adapt well to change. They can’t take advantage of the explosion in compute and networking capacity. In short, they don’t provide a path to intelligent, but more complex, software.
The IIoT has the potential to transform industrial systems. To do that, it must share data across the workcell, factory, and front office. Of course, it’s not that simple. Pervasive data use requires a new architecture and new approach to connectivity.
OPC UA and DDS solve entirely different problems. Hardware engineers use OPC UA because it makes device connections simple. System architects use DDS because it spans system layers with a consistent model. DDS and OPC UA are different, but it’s not a matter of choosing the right one; they do not compete.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Software helps industrial network communications
https://www.controleng.com/articles/software-helps-industrial-network-communications/
Industrial network stacks and other industrial connectivity software work to enhance connectivity among devices and systems. OPC UA, MTConnect, EtherNet/IP, and CC-Link are among software that organizations provide. Middleware also provides connectivity between the plant floor and other systems.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Four areas where the IIoT is revolutionizing the food and beverage industry
https://www.controleng.com/articles/four-areas-where-the-iiot-is-revolutionizing-the-food-and-beverage-industry/
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is changing how food and beverage manufacturers approach safety, product quality, packaging, and how personnel work in their day-to-day operations.
There are four main areas of a food plant, in particular, where IIoT technology is having a major impact:
1. Food safety
2. Product quality
3. Packaging
4. Personnel
The future of internet-connected food plants
IIoT technology has empowered food processing facilities with unprecedented access to real-time data. However, many food manufacturers are still learning about these capabilities and what they can do with all of this new data. Many customers are still learning what is possible and how they can harness this data to meet their goals.
The adoption of IIoT technology is starting, but there is still a long way to go before it is ubiquitous. There is a lot of potential for how this technology will impact the food manufacturing industry, but widespread adoption will take time.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Robotic vision electronics design for industry and space
https://www.edn.com/design/analog/4461459/Robotic-vision-electronics-design-for-industry-and-space?utm_source=Aspencore&utm_medium=EDN&utm_campaign=social
18 years into the new millennium, there are a number of exciting and evolving electronic innovations taking place. Among them is the development of ‘intelligent’ robots for industry, especially in smart factories (see The role of Sensors in the Industrial IoT (IIoT)).
The advent of 5G communications will enable factories to take data from the production floor that will improve quality and enable increased automation. 5G low latency with accelerated edge computing, coupled with fast sampling capability, will give rise to higher speeds in manufacturing and enable closed-loop inline inspection of manufactured components
Hewlett-Packard Enterprises says, “Edge computing is a distributed, open IT architecture that features decentralized processing power, enabling mobile computing and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. In edge computing, the device processes data itself, or by local computer or server, rather than being transmitted to a data center”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Logmore
https://www.logmore.com
Introducing the World’s first QR data logger
Decrease your data logging costs by 99%
Smarter data logging: Based on a dynamic QR code, Logmore works with any iOS or Android smartphone. The full history data is synced to the cloud within a second.
No more need for cumbersome USB data loggers – simply scan the Logmore QR tag and access the logged data instantly in the cloud.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Non-Toxic Thermoelectric Generator for Wearable Tech
https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/environment/a-thermoelectric-generator-for-wearable-tech
A new way to harvest electricity from body heat could inspire new wearable devices that never need to be plugged in. The millivolts of electricity this thermoelectric technology produces mandates slim power usage from any electronics plugged in to its feed. However, the developers say there already are fitness trackers and medical monitors today that could work within their device’s power envelope.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Silicon Valley Puts the ‘Con’ in Consent
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/02/opinion/internet-facebook-google-consent.html
If no one reads the terms and conditions, how can they continue to be the legal backbone of the internet?
Tomi Engdahl says:
THE AGE OF SURVEILLANCE CAPITALISM, HOW COMPANIES UNDERMINE YOUR SOVEREIGNTY FOR PROFIT
https://innovationorigins.com/the-age-of-surveillance-capitalism-how-companies-undermine-your-sovereignty-for-profit/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
Imagine it, a smart city, full of sensors and connected technology. Rules are not necessary, because the city controls itself. Garbage is collected when the bins are full, traffic lights set to give way to pedestrians – or a fast flow of cars during rush hour. Residents ask permission for an event to the rest of the residents via crowdsourcing. It may seem a bit far-fetched, but this is exactly what Sidewalks Labs, a subsidiary of Google, is going to build for $50 million in Toronto, Canada.
“This is a dry run for a Google-city where democracy is a thing of the past. Who owns the data? And do users have anything to say about this? Do we want a society in which everything is automated?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Chip-scale air-quality monitoring: Better gas detection means cleaner, safer air
https://www.edn.com/design/analog/4461514/Chip-scale-air-quality-monitoring–Better-gas-detection-means-cleaner–safer-air?utm_source=Aspencore&utm_medium=EDN&utm_campaign=social
Tomi Engdahl says:
A MEMS Device Harvests Vibrations to Power the IoT
https://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/energy/renewables/a-mems-vibration-energy-harvester-for-the-iot
Vibration-based energy harvesting has long promised to provide perpetual power for small electronic components such as tiny sensors used in monitoring systems. If this potential can be realized, external energy sources such as batteries would no longer be needed to power these components.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Report: Voice assistants in use to triple to 8 billion by 2023
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/12/report-voice-assistants-in-use-to-triple-to-8-billion-by-2023/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
The use of voice assistants is set to triple over the next few years, according to a new forecast from the U.K.-based analysts at Juniper Research. The firm estimates there will be 8 billion digital voice assistants in use by 2023, up from the 2.5 billion assistants in use at the end of 2018.
Tomi Engdahl says:
An Update on Android Things
https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2019/02/an-update-on-android-things.html?m=1
Over the past year, Google has worked closely with partners to create consumer products powered by Android Things with the Google Assistant built-in. Given the successes we have seen with our partners in smart speakers and smart displays, we are refocusing Android Things as a platform for OEM partners to build devices in those categories moving forward. Therefore, support for production System on Modules (SoMs) based on NXP, Qualcomm, and MediaTek hardware will not be made available through the public developer platform at this time.