Sierra Monitor Announces Suite of IIoT Connectivity Products
Sierra Monitor, which makes Internet of Things connectivity products for the industrial-automation and process-control sector, has unveiled a suite of new products designed to enable manufacturers of heating and cooling equipment to better understand the performance of their boilers, chillers and air conditioners. The company will demonstrate the new offerings, known as the IIoT On-Ramp Suite, at the AHR (Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating) Expo, to be held in Orlando, Fla., on January 25-27, 2016. The suite includes the FieldPoP device cloud, the FieldPoP analytics integration service, the ProtoAir wireless gateway and an application engine with pre-packaged applications.
The FieldPoP device cloud is cloud-based software offered as a subscription service, and is designed to help original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) register and manage their fleet of gateways and routers, manage user credentials, manage cloud-based notifications, and securely access and manage applications running on gateways and routers deployed remotely. Sierra Monitor says it will begin best testing FieldPop with select OEM customers during the second quarter of this year, with general availability expected midyear.
The FieldPoP device cloud can also be used to connect cloud-based third-party applications and analytics platforms from various companies, including Salesforce, PTC/ThingWorx, SAP, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and the Oracle Cloud. Through this integration, data-in-use gathered via Sierra Monitor’s FieldPoP device cloud can be fed into visualization and analytics services from those third parties.
The ProtoAir wireless gateway is Sierra Monitor’s first wireless product in its FieldServer protocol gateway and router family (the incumbent routers and gateways connect to a user’s network via Ethernet). The ProtoAir wireless gateway translates native wired protocols into standard automation protocols, such as BACnet MS/TP, BACnet/IP, Modbus and LonWorks, connecting over the air to management systems or to the cloud. ProtoAir beta tests are slated to begin late in the second quarter of 2016, and Sierra Monitor expects to begin shipping the system to customers during the second half of the year.
The four distinct product offerings can be used individually or in combination with each other.
Brink’s Digital Deadlock Connects via Wi-Fi
Hampton Products International, a California-based manufacturer of residential security products, introduced the Brink’s Home Security Array digital deadbolt this week at the International Builders Show, in Las Vegas. The Array lock contains a Wi-Fi radio that a homeowner can connect to a home wireless network to enable wireless control via a smartphone app available for iOS or Android devices. The lock also offers two alternate forms of entry: a touchpad and a traditional metal key. The Wi-Fi radio is powered by a replacable lithium ion battery, which is recharged through an integrated solar panel made by SunCore. The company has not released a specific expected lifecycle for the battery, saying only that it should last for “mulitple years.”
According to the company, the Array lock, its corresponding app and the cloud-based Array server use encryption keys to secure data sent over the air. The door lock requires two-step authentication to configure and connect to a home network.
Users will also be able to provide access remotely by creating and sending single-use codes to third parties via email, using the Array website. They can also utilize the site to remotely check whether the door is closed and locked.
The Array digital deadbolt will be compatible with the Apple HomeKit smart home platform, as well as with Nest products. Pricing has not yet been released.
Zebra and Atmel Collaborate on IoT-based Refrigeration Demo
Zebra Technologies, which sells real-time location systems and hardware to a wide range of industries, and chipmaker Atmel this week demonstrated a smart refrigeration reference design, using IoT technology, at the National Retail Federation expo in New York City. The design integrates ARM‘s IEEE 802.15.4-compliant chips and mbed operating system for IoT devices with Zebra’s Zatar device-management application. The companies are looking to interest retailers, manufacturers and logistics firms in a technology solution built on the design, which would enable them to better monitor and react to temperature changes that could impact the quality or freshness of perishable foods, while also easing compliance with food-safety requirements, such as those mandated by the Food Safety Modernization Act.
Study Foresees Big Spending on Industrial IoT
By 2019, spending on IoT technology in the industrial and manufacturing sectors could more than quadruple, according to a new study conducted by Innovative Research and Products (iRAP), a research firm based in Stamford, Conn. The report evaluates IoT cloud-platform spending by the manufacturing sectors in North America, China, Europe, Japan and other markets, and looks specifically at what firms spent in 2014 on five core components of IoT cloud architecture: hardware, software, telecommunication, services and analytic solutions.
The report shows market data for 2013 and estimates for 2019, and analyzes growth patterns in targeted core areas. It finds that spending on IoT cloud platforms specific to these targeted areas of industry could reach $358 billion by 2019, from up $80 billion in 2014, with a CAGR of 35 percent. The 108-page report is available for purchase from iRAP here.
Brother Introduces Two NFC-Enabled Printing Products
Brother, a manufacturer of printing and images systems for small and midsize businesses, has announced two new products:, the Brother HL-L6300DW printer and the MFC-L6800DW printer-scanner-copier, that include Near Field Communication (NFC) radios. These NFC modules allow users equipped with NFC-enabled mobile devices, running the Android OS 4.0 or later, to connect wirelessly and send print or scan commands using the Brother iPrint&Scan application. Both products can print up to 48 pages per minute, while the MFC-L6800DW can scan, in monochrome, up to 50 images per minute in one-sided scanning, or 100 images per minute using two-sided scanning. With the addition of extra paper trays, they can have a 1,601-page capacity and support a toner cartridge with a 12,000-page capacity.
CDC Research Arm Issues RFI on Sensor Systems
The NIOSH Center for Direct Reading and Sensor Technologies, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention established in May 2014 to support the research and development of sensors and wireless technology for use in occupational safety and health applications, has issued a request for information and comment. The center is making the request in order to inform its current research into and evaluation of current and future sensor technologies used during emergency response. More specifically, the RFI is being made to collect data regarding the “availability, capability, suitability, barriers, limitations, and opportunities for current or future direct reading devices and sensor technologies that can be utilized for emergency response.”
Electronic or written comments must be submitted on or before Mar. 21, 2016. For more information and submission requirements, see the full request at the Office of the Federal Register’s website.