by Gary Mintchell | Jan 21, 2025 | Internet of Things, Sensors, Wireless
Following the “fieldbus wars” came the “wireless wars.” Bringing the entire automation and control community together for standards seemed to be The Impossible Dream. I predicted that the market would settle things, and it did.
Wireless sensors ushered in the Industrial Internet of Things era. One constant concern for engineers was powering the many sensors—many, or most, requiring batteries.
I didn’t have to attend CES to get news. I preferred the vacation in Australia and New Zealand we took instead of a crowded Las Vegas. This news comes from a company I’ve never heard of (always a joy).
G-Lyte to Introduce Sensitized Solar Cell Technology To Create a Durable Alternative to Disposable Batteries
(Aside: I take about 75 lbs. Of household batteries to recycling from our community every month. This keeps the toxic chemicals out of the landfill. Plus, companies really do recover the chemicals for reuse.)
Every day, consumers discard more than 72 million non-rechargable batteries contributing to high levels of toxicity that pose a serious risk to the environment while also needlessly driving up consumer prices. Recognizing this urgent need for alternative device powering solutions, G-Lyte has perfected their best-in-class, proprietary Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC) technology to create a durable, high-efficiency power source in low light environments that’s eco-friendly and 99%-plus recyclable.
Created as an embedded technology for product integration at the OEM level, G-Lyte is designed to power such products as computer accessories, remote controls, electronic shelf labels (ESLs), smart watches, trackers, sensors and more.
Manufactured for integration into both existing and new electronic devices, G-Lyte’s dynamic team of scientist-inventors work with product manufacturers at every level of the engineering process to evaluate their products’ power requirements and the prevailing lighting conditions in which the device will ultimately operate to first determine if the photovoltaic in-dye solution is, in fact, the best approach before deploying standard or custom sized and shaped products to power the device. G-Lyte also offers the only cell efficient in indoor conditions and stable under prolonged direct sun exposure.
by Gary Mintchell | Oct 28, 2024 | Automation, Edge, Industrial Computers, Networking, Wireless
- Expands the number of Nokia-owned and best-in-class industry applications integrated on the MX Industrial Edge (MXIE) to drive efficiency, productivity and OT security.
- New applications help to improve worker safety and enable responsive video for machine remote control, leading to higher operational efficiency and strengthening OT environment security.
I may not use a Nokia handset any longer, but the company still releases many products for industrial applications.
Nokia announced six new applications deployed on the Nokia MX Industrial Edge (MXIE) to help enterprises improve worker safety, site security, enhance operational efficiency and secure OT environments in manufacturing, mining, ports, and chemical industries.
In line with industry developments, Nokia MXIE on-premises edge solution, part of Nokia’s private wireless offering, supports ecosystem neutrality enabling the deployment of applications to help support growing diverse Industry 4.0 use case needs.
Offered as-a-service, these new applications are Ascom Ofelia, Fogsphere, innovaphone PBX & myApps, Nokia Real-time eXtended Reality Multimedia (RXRM), OneLayer, and Redinent and join our existing portfolio of Nokia, and third-party digitalization applications.
Improving situational awareness to enhance worker safety and site security
Worker safety remains a high priority in industrial settings. The new applications enable digitalization to increase situational awareness, better deal with incidents, and increase the use of real-time data and knowledge which are key to improving worker safety and site security. The new applications include the following:
Ascom Ofelia – Ascom Ofelia helps enterprises shift from separate alarm systems to one unified alarm solution, improving incident management, increasing situational awareness, and ensuring a safer workplace.
Fogsphere – A comprehensive, multi-modal AI platform to enhance workplace safety, security, and operational intelligence, with real-time solutions for PPE compliance, behavioral analysis, emergency management, access control, intrusion detection and vehicle monitoring.
Connecting workers to achieve higher efficiency
Connected worker applications are essential to overcome workforce challenges such as worker shortages, retention issues, and difficulty attracting new talent, which are key to achieving the efficiency and productivity needed to outperform the competition. Applications can give workers real-time information to make their jobs easier and machine tele-operation more efficient. New items include the following:
innovaphone PBX & myApps – Secure, scalable IP telephone system with built-in features like conferencing, voicemail and waiting queues for advanced business communication and smart business applications. Its on-premise MXIE solution ensures full data control and meets ISO27001 standards.
Real-time eXtended Reality Multimedia (RXRM) – Software solution with low latency 360° video and 3D OZO audio capture that helps to improve productivity, employee safety, teleoperations, situational awareness & remote technical support.
Securing OT assets to strengthen the overall security
Asset visibility, zero trust principles and effective vulnerability management in OT environments will be enabled by the new applications including:
OneLayer – Discovers, manages, secures, and classifies all IIoT assets on private networks, including those behind cellular routers. Acting as a zero-trust access broker, it enforces zero-trust security principles within OT environments while delivering zero-touch asset management and operational intelligence.
Redinent – Discovers IIoT assets and helps create inventory, identifies IIoT vulnerabilities and ongoing threats. It informs the security operation center (SOC) about the findings.
by Gary Mintchell | Jun 27, 2024 | Automation, Networking, Wireless
Zebra Technologies has assembled an interesting group of technology companies. Far from its printer days, it promotes wireless infrastructure and worker empowerment often. Seemingly like most technologies, private 5G systems impact on manufacturing plants takes time to reach a critical mass. Relevant press releases come my way more often lately.
This news includes NTT Data announcing a strategic partnership with Zebra Technologies to accelerate innovation in the 5G device ecosystem (the current constraint to growth).
Under this multi-year agreement, NTT DATA and Zebra Technologies will co-innovate to drive the adoption of 5G devices, which is essential for Private 5G adoption. Together, the two companies will enable intelligent asset tracking that allows for real-time monitoring and management of assets in industrial and enterprise deployments, ensuring enhanced visibility, efficiencies, and security capabilities critical to Industry 4.0 supply chain management.
The agreement establishes Zebra Technologies as a strategic partner within NTT DATA’s Device as a Service practice, making it easier for customers to access, upgrade, and simplify 5G device lifecycle management and support.
This news follows NTT DATA’s recent collaboration with Qualcomm, aimed to accelerate the evolution of the 5G device ecosystem. With enterprises accelerating digital transformation, more connectivity is needed to support Industry 4.0 applications and the adoption of AI at the edge.
By leveraging NTT DATA’s Private 5G leadership and Zebra Technologies’ expertise in intelligent data integration, asset management, and frontline coordination, the two companies aim to make the low latency and high-security features of Private 5G enabled devices easily accessible to frontline workers in the automotive, manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics industries.
Actually being used.
NTT DATA is deploying a Private 5G network throughout Hyster-Yale Group’s manufacturing operations. Hyster- Yale Group is also leveraging NTT DATA’s Device as a Service to gain visibility into assets and materials and improve communications within its facilities. This network will work with Zebra Technologies’ handheld mobile computers and tablets to track assets and materials as they enter and exit manufacturing sites, providing critical business intelligence, while also seamlessly connecting engineers, onsite teams, production lines, and materials storage locations. All of this comes together through a cost-effective deployment at scale efficiently managed through NTT DATA’s Device as a Service practice.
Benefits of Device as a Services Model
OK, everyone searches for their “as a Service” model. The benefit to the supplier, of course, is reliable, consistent income. The benefit to the customer is, well, something, I suppose. Maybe no capital cost and easy out?
NTT DATA’s Device as a Service offers customers a comprehensive turnkey solution for managing the entire device lifecycle. It provides expert planning, procurement, configuration, deployment, ongoing support, analytics, repair management, and device retirement, all under the stewardship of a trusted partner. This allows customers to use a cost-effective per-user, per-month program model to consume technology products on a pay-per-user subscription basis instead of purchasing/owning the equipment.
by Gary Mintchell | Jun 18, 2024 | Networking, Wireless
It always appeared to me that 5G and other private wireless networks held promise for many applications within industry. This report from Nokia reveals enterprises are scaling private wireless for additional uses cases and industrial sites.
- 45% of the organizations are leveraging private wireless to support more use cases than planned when first deployed.
- 100% of enterprises expanded private wireless networks use or deployed them within another location and 78% reported positive ROI in six months.
- 65% of respondents stated over 10% improvement in worker safety and 79% reported 10% or more reduction in their emissions.
- 39% of enterprises with a private wireless have since deployed on-premise edge technology, with 52% planning to do so.
This 2024 Industrial Digitalization Report highlights that all 100 interviewed early adopters are using private wireless networks in additional locations or have expanded their use by launching more use cases in existing locations.
The Nokia report and related survey was conducted by GlobalData to gauge industry progress and return on investment (ROI) among private wireless early adopters in the manufacturing, transportation, and energy industries in countries including Australia, France, Japan, UK, and US.
The Report revealed that the top benefits for enterprises deploying private wireless networks include:
- Increase in private wireless uses and locations: In 2022, many enterprises who had deployed private wireless technology were still at the proof of concept (PoC) or pilot stage, usually in a single location or single use case. In 2024, almost half of the enterprises interviewed (45%) are already taking advantage of private wireless networks with plans to do more than initially expected. 100% of the 100 enterprises interviewed have started to roll out private wireless networks to more locations or expanded their use at the original locations for driving wider industrial transformation.
- Quickly achieving ROI: 93% of the respondents achieved ROI within 12 months. In fact, 78% reported that they achieved a positive outcome within six months, and 23% hit their ROI target in just one month. Private wireless solutions have helped businesses achieve such returns by fixing broken processes and reducing the overall cost of doing business.
- Improved worker safety and sustainability: The research found that worker safety is a common challenge private wireless technology is helping to overcome, with 65% stating they realized more than 10% improvement in top use cases to improve worker safety, such as implementing geofencing technology, connected worker and robotics to carry out dangerous work.
- Furthermore, 79% of organizations experienced a significant improvement in their sustainability efforts reporting a 10%, or more, reduction in their emissions after deploying private wireless networks. The enhanced connectivity increased the ability of those surveyed to connect industrial IoT devices and sensors to better track and monitor their carbon emissions. The use of drone technology reduced the number of truck rolls. This shows how private wireless technology is leading organizational transformation, not simply digital transformation, enabling tracking and analytics to meet global sustainability objectives.
- Edge technology underpinning advance use cases: Edge technology is playing a foundational role in enabling new and more advanced low latency use cases that stretch beyond connectivity. 39% of the enterprises that deployed private wireless have since implemented an on-premise edge technology or a new selection of industrial devices to power digitalization and support complimentary technologies such as AI and analytics, with a further 52% planning to do so.
by Gary Mintchell | Apr 23, 2024 | Automation, Sensors, Wireless
Digi International PR has been working overtime sending news to me. This news regards remote monitoring and control.
Digi International introduced Digi Connect Sensor XRT-M designed to deliver reliable and seamless remote monitoring and management. It offers customers both edge and cloud-based control options, with a management platform equipped with an intuitive interface for streamlining data management and enhancing operational efficiency.
Infrastructure monitoring applications include:
- Critical infrastructure and civil engineering projects
- Water/wastewater monitoring and remote management
- Environmental monitoring
- Industrial automation and control
Key Features of Digi Connect Sensor XRT-M include:
- Extended battery life with lightweight cloud connection and dual 14.5 Ah batteries
- Rated for industrial environments with wide temperature range, C1D2 certification with NEMA enclosure
- Device health and sensor data stored in Digi Axess
- Configurable read and report intervals
- Connect to and power multiple sensors
- Compatible with a wide range of industry-standard sensors
- Modbus protocol support
- Global cellular coverage
by Gary Mintchell | Mar 5, 2024 | Automation, Networking, Technology, Wireless
We all know that the Industrial Internet of Things and other wireless devices are straining the wireless spectrum. Spectrum turns out to be a scarce resource. With continually growing communication requirements, both data and voice, this is a problem searching for a solution. (Unlike many things floating around these days that are solutions searching for a problem.)
I am publishing this entire release regarding research into something called metasurfaces that could provide some of the solution to our spectrum strangling problem.
Recent advances in communication systems, such as the increase in mobile phone users, the adoption of Internet-of-Things devices, and the integration of smart sensors in applications ranging from smart homes to manufacturing have given rise to a surge in wireless traffic. Similar to how a roadway becomes congested with vehicles, the rising wireless traffic is resulting in congestion in the available frequency bands. New frequency bands have been introduced to accommodate more communication signals to operate wireless devices without severe interference with each other.
However, supporting a broad spectrum is challenging. There are only a limited number of frequency bands available. Additionally, it increases the complexity of wireless devices and infrastructure. One possible solution for accommodating signals within existing frequency bands is to tune them in a way to further distinguish them.
Now, in a new study published in Nature Communications, a team of researchers from Japan, led by Associate Professor Hiroki Wakatsuchi from Nagoya Institute of Technology, along with co-authors Ashif Aminulloh Fathnan and Associate Professor Shinya Sugiura of the University of Tokyo, has designed a metasurface that can distinguish wireless signals based on their frequency and pulse width.
In simpler words, metasurfaces are engineered surfaces that can manipulate incident electromagnetic waves to achieve specific modifications leading to the generation of different signals. This ensures that signals are separated and do not interfere with each other, reducing the likelihood of congestion-related issues. These materials can be integrated into radio-frequency devices like antennas and filters to accommodate more users and devices within the same frequency spectrum.
The metasurface developed by researchers in this study distinguishes signals more effectively than traditional materials. “Conventionally, when the number of frequencies available was N, electromagnetic waves and related phenomena could be controlled in N manners, which is now markedly extended to the factorial number of N (i.e., N!),” explains Dr. Wakatsuchi.
The developed metasurface consists of several unit cells that respond to specific frequencies. By activating multiple unit cells, it becomes capable of handling signals across multiple frequency bands. The metasurface can be thought of as a filter that selectively transmits signals based on specific frequency sequences. The researchers liken this to frequency-hopping, where devices switch frequencies rapidly to avoid interference. However, in this case, the metasurface can be tuned to alter incoming signals based on their frequencies. This property makes it possible to receive and distinguish a variety of signals of different frequencies from wireless devices.
As a result, with the new metasurface, the number of signals that can be distinguished grows from a linear relationship to a factorial-based one. “If four or five frequencies are available, the number of signals to be distinguished increases from four or five to 24 or 120,” remarks Dr. Wakatsuchi, adding further, “Going ahead, this could help in more wireless communication signals and devices being made available even with limited frequency resources.”
According to the researchers, the number of devices connected to wireless networks per square kilometer is projected to increase from a million in 5G to 10 million in 6G by 2030. This substantial increase will inevitably strain existing frequency bands. However, with their capability to distinguish wireless signals, metasurfaces represent a novel approach to operate numerous Internet-of-Things sensors and communication devices without severe interference.
In the long run, this will be important for next-generation communication services, such as autonomous driving, smart factories, digital twin, cyber-physical systems, and behavior recognition systems!
Dr. Hiroki Wakatsuchi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering at Nagoya Institute of Technology (NITech), Japan. He completed his Ph.D. from The University of Nottingham, UK whereupon he did his postdoctoral research at UC San Diego, USA. His research interests include electromagnetics, electronics, and communications. He has so far published 62 papers (49 papers between 2005 and 2023) with over 800 citations to his credit. Dr. Wakatsuchi was also a part of the Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology (PRESTO) in the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) until March 2023. Currently, he is involved with Fusion Oriented Research for Disruptive Science and Technology (FOREST), another JST program.