Mobile is not the same as IoT but it is closely related because that screen tends to be the user interface to the things we are connecting. Even in industry, the mobile device becomes the tool to connect to the thing with its data or in-built diagnostics, from giant transformers to pumps or whatever. So we can skip building a unique user interface for most products because the mobile device offers a ubiquitous alternative. All we need is an app, which will be considerably richer than anything we could economically build into the product.”
Big Data and analytics are the key components of a big shift, Curry believes. “We have had lots of data for decades but most of it was locked away in proprietary silos. Now we can start to join up and store and analyse the information we hold. But in the IoT, there is an analytical challenge in very large volumes of data at rest but also and increasingly in multiple streams of data. It very often makes a huge difference in value if you can capture something in real time.”
We are working with Cork city and county councils on better ways of managing the water networks. Minimising and controlling leaks of drinking water is one side but control of waste water is also very important, with technology to rapidly find and report blockages, Dr John Barrett, Nimbus
CIT
It will surprise some readers that a great deal of research work has been going on in Ireland in this broad area for a number of years. In Cork Institute of Technology the story goes back to about 2000 with a number of separate research strands that were brought together in the €18 million purpose-built Nimbus Centre in 2007. This is Ireland’s only research centre devoted to networked embedded electronic systems, effectively what we call today the Internet of Things, with a current staff level of 70 researchers.
“The early work was about smart environments which a small number of us were working on with HEA research funding,” recalls Dr John Barrett, Nimbus director and head of academic studies. “We have always worked with whole systems solutions, rather than individual components or ‘gadgets,’ because the value is in integrating everything comprehensively from the electronics up to the data management and analysis. With the IoT, most of the users will not be technologists or even specialists in the area of application. We also have a dedicated group which works only with industry, currently nearly 80 companies, helping to ensure that all of our work is towards real world solutions.”
“One of our biggest areas, for example, is the smart built environment. That ranges from individual buildings up to towns and cities with energy efficiency as one of our areas of expertise. That includes the challenges of energy control in older buildings and retrofitting of wireless sensor networks,” Dr Barrett says. “Other areas of current work include smart vehicle systems, from Wi-Fi in the car on the move to location systems that might in turn link with traffic management solutions. The indoor location and tracking of people is another expert area. We recently did a massive demonstration in Faro airport in Portugal, involving people, vehicles and planes to show how it can work to control safety and security of all moving objects in a complex and critical built environment. This is part of a large FP7 project for the EU.”
A topical area of research Dr Barrett points to is smart water management. “We are working with Cork city and county councils on better ways of managing the water networks. Minimising and controlling leaks of drinking water is one side but control of waste water is also very important, with technology to rapidly find and report blockages.”
Last word has to be about Nimbus and ‘the smart cow’. This is a project involving smart collars for prize dairy cattle to track movements, grazing habits, vital signs and everything that might contribute to better management of these valuable assets.
Subscribers 0
Fans 0
Followers 0
Followers