- Target applications for Comcast’s MachineQ technology are in pharmaceuticals or life sciences, restaurants and food services, and hospitality.
- The system employs LoRaWAN and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices to track conditions and then analyzes and displays results in its cloud-based software.
Telecom company Comcast’s IoT company MachineQ has launched a power monitoring solution that provides access to energy consumption, and management, for facilities and their operators.
Bryan Witkowski, MachineQ’s head of product and strategy, said the solution can help boost operational efficiencies and manage costs, as well as enabling proactive maintenance and sustainability efforts. It does so by tracking and analyzing the amount of energy in use for each piece of equipment, as well as other sensor data as well as tracking asset operation or utilization rates.
The MachineQ solution is being pitched to industries that would benefit from power monitoring systems due to the large power draw from their operations or equipment. With advances in IoT technologies, the company reported that the return on investment (ROI) for these companies makes sense.
Companies who will be deploying the technology include food service providers and laboratories as well as hotels and other companies that don’t have access to remote energy management. A large pharmaceutical company is among the early adopters, the company reported.
Sensors on Equipment
According the MachineQ officials, the solution aims at those companies that consume large amounts of energy and would benefit from bringing greater control to that energy consumption. One such example is food service providers. MachineQ quotes an Energy Star report that fast food restaurants and convenience stores consume nearly 900 BTU (thermal units) of energy per square foot of space— which is 2.5 times the amount of energy used by other commercial buildings.
To address energy use, the IoT solution can monitor power consumption for each piece of equipment at a restaurant or store, for instance. One of the products the company is offering is known as the MQpower CT—a LoRaWAN-enabled wireless, current transformer that can be clamped to electrical conductors at the breaker, or asset level, to measure real-time current consumption.
Another— the MQpower SP—is a smart-plug load device that enables businesses to plug in equipment and assets, at the outlet, to identify daily energy usage, real time current, voltage and power factor. Both devices transmit energy data to the cloud via LoRaWAN technology.
The sensors can send data via both LoRaWAN or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) when a larger amount of data is being sent, or when shorter range transmissions are more appropriate.
Expanding from Bedbug Management
MachineQ started in 2016, and in the past five years has been offering an IoT network connectivity platform. In that time, the company has been building solutions leveraging a scalable platform for multiple verticals, including hospitality.
It has been adding on complementary sensor solutions including leak detection, indoor air quality, HVAC control, mold, vape and smoke detection. The company then began working with Spotta to add a pest control solution for tracking bedbugs in hotels.
In the past year or so, MachineQ has been identifying value in power monitoring control.
The company’s solutions can leverage sensor data such as vibration and occupancy, to gain further context about what is taking place at a specific site.
Restaurants Track Appliance Uses
Restaurants, especially chain food service companies, have unique challenges related to the operation of the equipment that keeps its products fresh, or cooks them according to consumer needs, Witkowski said.
With the MachineQ solution, everything from freezers and ice machines to toaster ovens and fryers could be tracked with one of the company’s sensors. The system can be connected to the machine’s own on-off switch to turn the machine off automatically at certain times, such as when they haven’t been in use, or at the end of the day.
The software processes sensor data and can feed the results directly into a restaurant’s enterprise management system so that they can access information about each of multiple restaurants or storefronts for energy-use analytics. For instance, a freezer that is running outside of its usual energy parameters could indicate the unit requires maintenance.
Laboratories and Pharmaceutical Companies
The large pharmaceutical company is using the technology for management of its own energy consumption. It has found that it can capture information about the use of equipment that processes or cools highly sensitive materials.
“By understanding when and how equipment such as centrifuges are used, and how frequently,” said Witkowski, the laboratories can better determine which assets, and how many, need to be onsite, and where.
Additionally, Witkowski said the solution can help aid in predictive maintenance for critical equipment, such as an ultra-low temperature freezer. “By detecting anomalies in power consumption, which often indicate equipment issues, lab managers can proactively service or replace units before they fail,” he said.
Understanding Asset Use
The system can also help managers understand how equipment is utilized. The pharmaceutical company reported it tracked pieces of equipment including centrifuges on a workbench and how often they were used. On some benches, the centrifuge was located on the left hand side, and on the others, it was on the right.
Data found that scientists were opting to use workbenches where the centrifuge was located on the left-hand side, leading to over-utilization of those pieces of equipment, and under-utilization of the right-hand, placed devices. Utilization rates impact maintenance and calibration requirements, so by moving all centrifuges to the left side of work benches, the asset use and maintenance requirements were made even.
MachineQ offers its technology as a software as a service (SaaS) model providing the sensors and access to the software at a monthly rate typically for a three to five year term.
The company provides its solutions to many of Comcast Business existing clients, as well as other companies that could become Comcast customers for their connectivity networks.
“We’re promoting [this solution] to our existing clients and looking to expand our reach with new markets and customers ahead,” Witkowski said.