Big opportunity for M2M technology
By Phil Collins, Telit Wireless Solutions
The concept of M2M (machine to machine) may have been around for many years, yet it is still at the bottom of the growth curve. However, this is changing as GSM/GPRS-based mobile systems meet the rapidly growing data connection needs of a diverse range of industry sectors demanding greater speed, cost savings and accuracy.
Momentum is building at a number of levels, with growing economic, technological and regulatory pressures. And the seemingly relentless growth in data is likely to see such data connectivity rival the number of voice connections over the next two years.
There are several factors which, until recently, came together to restrict M2M’s impact.
Not unusually for a new and radical technology change, there has been a continuing need to educate the market. End-users were comfortable with fixed wire-based modems using the PSTN and, in part, a leap of faith was required to give the confidence to send mission-critical data securely and with certainty over the radio waves.
This resistance was emphasised by the fact the existing technology could be managed easily in-house, whereas wireless technology brought with it a new way of working and a new language to be learned.
Today a point at which the technology is able, cost-effectively, to deliver the speed and quality of data transmission which end-users require has been reached.
This has become increasingly important, for example in crime prevention. The ability to transmit data over a high-speed link from CCTV cameras via a wireless 3G network will significantly improve delivery of high-quality images.
Key markets
Markets offering particular potential for growth fall into two broad categories: the ability to connect machines to other machines, such as in remote production environments; and connecting machines to a central management application.
The latter includes, for example, the future trend of ‘pay as you drive’ for privately owned cars or enabling vending machines to report stock status.
The telematics and security markets have to-date seen the greatest penetration of GSM/GPRS-based systems and there is growing interest in such areas as remote meter reading. These markets in particular are responding strongly as bandwidths increase and the cost of installations and call tariffs come down.
Automated meter reading
Remote meter reading is an area where lower unit costs have created a real market opportunity for M2M.
Historically, although the electronics of the meter itself could be designed and manufactured relatively cheaply, the cost of installing a fixed-wire PSTN line was exorbitantly expensive.
This problem is removed by using a GSM/GPRS-based communications system, which allows constant communication between the smart meter and the central reporting system.
Additional functionality allows energy companies to monitor and analyse customers’ consumption habits. And, looking ahead, the availability of bi-directional communications into the home together with greater energy management will provide further opportunities for vendors to differentiate themselves.
Tracking and tracing
One of the greatest opportunities for M2M technology lies in security. In the area of RFID (radio frequency identification) tracking technology, for example, ID chips attached to pallets or products can be read to monitor progress through the distribution process.
Issues of personal safety and the ability to locate people have also become higher profile in recent years and the availability of pocket-sized, easy-to-use and inexpensive tracking systems allows parents, carers and employers to keep a watch over children, patients and employees.
Partnering with the right provider
Choosing a suitable partner here is especially important. In an environment in which falling unit costs enabled by advances in technology are making M2M available to new markets, it is a given that any system must be price-competitive.
Yet in such a fast-changing market, it is equally important that the supplier can meet tomorrow’s needs with a strong technology roadmap.
Further, with many customers having no previous GSM/GPRS experience and possibly entering their respective markets for the first time, it is critical that customer support is responsive and flexible, both commercially and technically.
The system must be business scalable, with product families enabling integrators to move easily between products without having to re-develop applications in order to address such issues as an increase in mass volume production.
It must also be easy to integrate, with product and service offerings designed to accelerate time to market and improve the overall development experience.
And, equally importantly, the chosen system should shield integrators and M2M adopters from unnecessary revisions of application, for example, due to ever-changing requirements on the wireless M2M device by operators or regulatory bodies.
URL: http://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2007/12/17/42817/big+opportunity+for+m2m+technology.htm
© 2007 Reed Business Information Limited.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Intelligent Service Solution Drives Greater Productivity
Intelligent Service Solution Drives Greater Productivity and Improved Customer Service for Centric Business Systems
MWA Intelligence solutions help Centric Business Systems automate their dispatch and mobile workforce operations within a week
MWA Intelligence, Inc. (MWAi), a leader in remote asset management tools and mobile workforce automation systems and services, today announced the successful deployment of its mobile workforce automation and service management applications, Intelligent Service, at Centric Business Systems.
Intelligent Service module of MWAi’s M2M Enterprise solution suite is being used to manage the entire lifecycle of every single service call on a daily basis. Centric Business Systems technicians are equipped with Blackberry devices processing business-critical information in connected and disconnected modes regardless of wireless carrier selection. Technicians are leveraging leading-edge technologies such as barcode scanning, parts/inventory management and more to improve their efficiencies while focusing what really matters – their customers.
“We are very excited to have the opportunity to add Centric Business Systems to our customer portfolio and help Centric grow its business by leveraging all MWAi technologies for many years to come. The one-week installation and implementation of our feature-rich solution is a testament of how turnkey, scalable and flexible our solutions are.” said Michael T. Stramaglio, CEO and President of MWA Intelligence, Inc.
Our solution will help Centric Business Systems provide greater responsiveness to its customers and will increase the number of service calls closed daily while improving parts, inventory and service expense management.
“Centric Business Systems has chosen MWA Intelligence service automation and management solution to assist us in improving the efficiency and speed with which we handle customer service inquiries,” stated Rick Bastinelli, President of Centric Business Systems. “MWAi’s web-based applications allow our customers to submit and check status of service requests online, in a real-time environment, while allowing Centric Business Systems to optimize its service response with MWAi’s dispatch, service call management, technician routing/reassignment and many other applications.”
MWAi Intelligent Service is a turnkey solution that collects, manages and reports real-time and historical data for service management. In turn, this means efficient and effective management of service operations, which enables better business decisions today and in the future. Built-in scalability accommodates every customer service organization, from a small team of employees to thousands of field personnel. Intelligent Service delivers a modular and flexible implementation approach, allowing maximum response to customers’ unique business needs and the variety of ERP/CRM host systems that they utilize.
About Centric Business Systems, Inc.
For over 40 years, Centric Business Systems, Inc. has earned an award winning reputation for providing the most innovative and reliable office equipment from the world’s finest manufacturers. Starting with a workflow analysis of your current copying and printing systems to output solutions, we combine the best hardware, software and services to provide tailored solutions to your company and improve your document workflow. For more information on Centric, please visit our website at http://www.centricbiz.com/.
About MWA Intelligence, Inc.
MWA Intelligence, Inc. offers leading-edge technologies, world-class customer service and expertise in the office equipment and utilities vertical markets. We deliver comprehensive solutions to companies in need of remote asset management and improved service standards. MWA Intelligence has developed a platformindependent approach to asset, service and mobile workforce management that is flexible and scalable to accommodate company’s unique requirements and grow as your business model evolves. Our solutions drive greater customer satisfaction and profit to the bottom line.
For more information, please visit: http://www.mwaintelligence.com/.
Contact
Rick Bastinelli
President
Centric Business Systems
410.902.3300
rbast@centricbiz.com
http://www.centricbiz.com/
Victoria Satran
VP of Marketing
MWA Intelligence, Inc.
480.538.5929
victoria.satran@mwaintel.com
http://www.mwaintelligence.com/
©2007 MWA Intelligence, Inc.
MWA Intelligence solutions help Centric Business Systems automate their dispatch and mobile workforce operations within a week
MWA Intelligence, Inc. (MWAi), a leader in remote asset management tools and mobile workforce automation systems and services, today announced the successful deployment of its mobile workforce automation and service management applications, Intelligent Service, at Centric Business Systems.
Intelligent Service module of MWAi’s M2M Enterprise solution suite is being used to manage the entire lifecycle of every single service call on a daily basis. Centric Business Systems technicians are equipped with Blackberry devices processing business-critical information in connected and disconnected modes regardless of wireless carrier selection. Technicians are leveraging leading-edge technologies such as barcode scanning, parts/inventory management and more to improve their efficiencies while focusing what really matters – their customers.
“We are very excited to have the opportunity to add Centric Business Systems to our customer portfolio and help Centric grow its business by leveraging all MWAi technologies for many years to come. The one-week installation and implementation of our feature-rich solution is a testament of how turnkey, scalable and flexible our solutions are.” said Michael T. Stramaglio, CEO and President of MWA Intelligence, Inc.
Our solution will help Centric Business Systems provide greater responsiveness to its customers and will increase the number of service calls closed daily while improving parts, inventory and service expense management.
“Centric Business Systems has chosen MWA Intelligence service automation and management solution to assist us in improving the efficiency and speed with which we handle customer service inquiries,” stated Rick Bastinelli, President of Centric Business Systems. “MWAi’s web-based applications allow our customers to submit and check status of service requests online, in a real-time environment, while allowing Centric Business Systems to optimize its service response with MWAi’s dispatch, service call management, technician routing/reassignment and many other applications.”
MWAi Intelligent Service is a turnkey solution that collects, manages and reports real-time and historical data for service management. In turn, this means efficient and effective management of service operations, which enables better business decisions today and in the future. Built-in scalability accommodates every customer service organization, from a small team of employees to thousands of field personnel. Intelligent Service delivers a modular and flexible implementation approach, allowing maximum response to customers’ unique business needs and the variety of ERP/CRM host systems that they utilize.
About Centric Business Systems, Inc.
For over 40 years, Centric Business Systems, Inc. has earned an award winning reputation for providing the most innovative and reliable office equipment from the world’s finest manufacturers. Starting with a workflow analysis of your current copying and printing systems to output solutions, we combine the best hardware, software and services to provide tailored solutions to your company and improve your document workflow. For more information on Centric, please visit our website at http://www.centricbiz.com/.
About MWA Intelligence, Inc.
MWA Intelligence, Inc. offers leading-edge technologies, world-class customer service and expertise in the office equipment and utilities vertical markets. We deliver comprehensive solutions to companies in need of remote asset management and improved service standards. MWA Intelligence has developed a platformindependent approach to asset, service and mobile workforce management that is flexible and scalable to accommodate company’s unique requirements and grow as your business model evolves. Our solutions drive greater customer satisfaction and profit to the bottom line.
For more information, please visit: http://www.mwaintelligence.com/.
Contact
Rick Bastinelli
President
Centric Business Systems
410.902.3300
rbast@centricbiz.com
http://www.centricbiz.com/
Victoria Satran
VP of Marketing
MWA Intelligence, Inc.
480.538.5929
victoria.satran@mwaintel.com
http://www.mwaintelligence.com/
©2007 MWA Intelligence, Inc.
Spinwave Systems Signs Strategic Partnership with Evolve Energy Ltd.
Spinwave Systems Signs Strategic Partnership with Evolve Energy Ltd.
The Two Companies Partner to Deliver Wireless Solutions for Retail Stores and Refrigeration Systems in the UK and France
Westford – Spinwave Systems, a leading provider of wireless sensing products for the commercial building controls and industrial automation markets, announces that it has signed a partnership agreement with Evolve Energy Ltd. to market and sell Spinwave’s wireless sensing products as part of an integrated energy management solution in the UK and France. Evolve Energy is one of the largest independent providers of carbon and energy reduction solutions to commercial customers in the UK.
The Spinwave wireless solutions to be marketed and sold by Evolve include off-the-shelf wireless sensors, receivers, repeaters, gateways and deployment tools as well as customized wireless solutions for retail stores and refrigeration systems.
“This strategic partnership with Evolve is a perfect fit for Spinwave Systems because it will drive development with Evolve’s technology partners thus allowing us to address a wider variety of customer requirements and broaden the market for our wireless mesh sensors and network controls,” said Dave Craven, Spinwave’s Vice President, Sales & Business Development. “Evolve’s impressive customer base, strong market presence and solid reputation within the building controls and EMS markets will allow us to rapidly expand our presence in the UK and France,” he added.
The cost-efficient, ultra-reliable family of Spinwave wireless sensing solutions clearly demonstrates that wireless mesh sensor networks are a superior alternative to wired sensors in retro-fit and new construction projects. Spinwave’s wireless mesh sensor networks provide a non-intrusive, flexible and cost-effective backbone to collect data and support efficient, effective energy retrofit projects that have a positive impact on the bottom line. They also play a key role in continuous commissioning services to keep building performance (comfort, indoor air quality and equipment uptime) at peak levels.
“Spinwave Systems’ wireless sensor technology is far superior to anything we’ve seen on the market today and we are delighted to partner with Spinwave to provide unsurpassed wireless solutions to our customers,” commented David Higgins, Executive Director of Evolve. “Our primary criteria in selecting a wireless mesh networking technology for our customer base included high reliability, low power consumption, and quick and easy deployment. The Spinwave technology is without a doubt the industry’s most reliable and easiest to deploy. In fact, with Spinwave wireless we expect to reduce deployment costs in our projects by 40% and we will now be able to deploy small sites in a single day,” he added.
About Evolve Energy Ltd.
Evolve Energy Ltd., based in Denchworth, Oxfordshire, is a provider of integrated energy management solutions designed to reduce customers’ energy usage, costs and carbon emissions. Within industrial, commercial and retail premises, they provide a full spectrum of supply and demand side energy solutions that assist in not only short-term energy reductions but also long-term, sustainable improvements in energy and environmental performance. The Evolve organization includes Nobb & Jones and Ashdown Controls Ltd., two leading independent controls companies in the UK, as well as Envision Energy, the UK’s leading provider of a full spectrum of supply and demand side energy solutions.
To learn more about Evolve, please visit www.evolveenergy.com.
About Spinwave Systems
Spinwave Systems is a technology rich company focused on developing state-of-the-art wireless sensors and wireless mesh networks for the industrial automation and the commercial building controls markets. Spinwave’s products and systems enable operations personnel to easily generate data about their buildings and processes enabling them to reduce costs and improve productivity. Spinwave’s unique system architecture enables seamless integration of wireless sensors to automation systems from all major manufacturers through its support for LonWorks, BACnet (MSTP and IP) and Modbus (TCP and RTU) protocols.
To learn more about Spinwave, please visit www.spinwavesystems.com.
The Two Companies Partner to Deliver Wireless Solutions for Retail Stores and Refrigeration Systems in the UK and France
Westford – Spinwave Systems, a leading provider of wireless sensing products for the commercial building controls and industrial automation markets, announces that it has signed a partnership agreement with Evolve Energy Ltd. to market and sell Spinwave’s wireless sensing products as part of an integrated energy management solution in the UK and France. Evolve Energy is one of the largest independent providers of carbon and energy reduction solutions to commercial customers in the UK.
The Spinwave wireless solutions to be marketed and sold by Evolve include off-the-shelf wireless sensors, receivers, repeaters, gateways and deployment tools as well as customized wireless solutions for retail stores and refrigeration systems.
“This strategic partnership with Evolve is a perfect fit for Spinwave Systems because it will drive development with Evolve’s technology partners thus allowing us to address a wider variety of customer requirements and broaden the market for our wireless mesh sensors and network controls,” said Dave Craven, Spinwave’s Vice President, Sales & Business Development. “Evolve’s impressive customer base, strong market presence and solid reputation within the building controls and EMS markets will allow us to rapidly expand our presence in the UK and France,” he added.
The cost-efficient, ultra-reliable family of Spinwave wireless sensing solutions clearly demonstrates that wireless mesh sensor networks are a superior alternative to wired sensors in retro-fit and new construction projects. Spinwave’s wireless mesh sensor networks provide a non-intrusive, flexible and cost-effective backbone to collect data and support efficient, effective energy retrofit projects that have a positive impact on the bottom line. They also play a key role in continuous commissioning services to keep building performance (comfort, indoor air quality and equipment uptime) at peak levels.
“Spinwave Systems’ wireless sensor technology is far superior to anything we’ve seen on the market today and we are delighted to partner with Spinwave to provide unsurpassed wireless solutions to our customers,” commented David Higgins, Executive Director of Evolve. “Our primary criteria in selecting a wireless mesh networking technology for our customer base included high reliability, low power consumption, and quick and easy deployment. The Spinwave technology is without a doubt the industry’s most reliable and easiest to deploy. In fact, with Spinwave wireless we expect to reduce deployment costs in our projects by 40% and we will now be able to deploy small sites in a single day,” he added.
About Evolve Energy Ltd.
Evolve Energy Ltd., based in Denchworth, Oxfordshire, is a provider of integrated energy management solutions designed to reduce customers’ energy usage, costs and carbon emissions. Within industrial, commercial and retail premises, they provide a full spectrum of supply and demand side energy solutions that assist in not only short-term energy reductions but also long-term, sustainable improvements in energy and environmental performance. The Evolve organization includes Nobb & Jones and Ashdown Controls Ltd., two leading independent controls companies in the UK, as well as Envision Energy, the UK’s leading provider of a full spectrum of supply and demand side energy solutions.
To learn more about Evolve, please visit www.evolveenergy.com.
About Spinwave Systems
Spinwave Systems is a technology rich company focused on developing state-of-the-art wireless sensors and wireless mesh networks for the industrial automation and the commercial building controls markets. Spinwave’s products and systems enable operations personnel to easily generate data about their buildings and processes enabling them to reduce costs and improve productivity. Spinwave’s unique system architecture enables seamless integration of wireless sensors to automation systems from all major manufacturers through its support for LonWorks, BACnet (MSTP and IP) and Modbus (TCP and RTU) protocols.
To learn more about Spinwave, please visit www.spinwavesystems.com.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
What's so smart about smart metering? An Inverview with Victor Ritchey of ESCO Technologies
What's so smart about smart metering?
By Editor
Cleantech Media LLC
Published December 17, 2007 - 11:55am
Published December 17, 2007 - 11:55am
Victor Richey, chairman, CEO and president of St. Louis, Mo.-based ESCO Technologies (NYSE:
ESE) knows about smart technology.His company, a diversified manufacturer that focuses on filtration and fluid flow, communications, and testing equipment, makes hardware and software to support advanced metering applications.
ESCO Technologies is in the middle of a wave of interest from utilities in building smart grids which can better monitor for power outages, provide accurate, up to date meter readings, and even control demand response systems.
ESCO Technologies' Victor Richey
The company boosted its smart grid offerings earlier this month when it closed its $319 million acquisition of Watertown, Mass.-based Doble Engineering, which makes diagnostic test solutions for the electric utility industry.
But ESCO isn't the only company making deals.
In October, Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric Power (NYSE:
That same month, East Hanover, N.J., energy management solutions provider Comverge (Nasdaq:
And Boston-based EnerNOC (Nasdaq:
In an interview, Richey, who started his career with ESCO in 1985, talks about smart grid technology, and why utilities are so keen on the new systems.
In your opinion, what is driving the growing interest in Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)?
Several factors have combined to raise utility and regulatory interest in these topics. The consensus is now stronger than ever for industry wide deployment of AMI as the electric industry leaders announced at the recent EEI annual meeting. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 required each State regulatory authority to look at AMI. Legislation and regulatory rulings favorable to AMI at both the federal and state levels, and in Europe and Australia are announced daily.
A key driver for this consensus is public policy interest in improving the cost-responsiveness of consumer behavior. Meter systems are needed to provide the hourly cash registers for time-based pricing, which conservatively delivers $25 to $100 resource benefit per meter per year. Compared to other resource options, this is the clear winner: cheaper, cleaner, quicker, and safer.
We are seeing growing evidence that customers can, and will, respond to time varying pricing and that once they experience these prices many customers will prefer them to standard pricing options.
There has also been a near universal acceptance that demand response is essential to mitigating market power and price volatility in competitive wholesale markets. This can reduce the need for new generation capacity, improve reliability, and address climate concerns.
With the decreasing costs associated with AMI deployment and the growing recognition of the operational benefits that utilities can achieve when AMI is effectively integrated into utility operations, the utility marketplace is beginning to recognize the advantages that AMI technologies have to offer.
Improved outage detection, restoration, and management also represent a potentially large benefit stream. AMI systems with two-way communications can be used to “ping” a meter when the system detects an outage or when a customer calls regarding an outage to determine whether or not the outage is on the customer's side of the meter, thereby avoiding a field crew dispatch. In the case of storm related outages, crews can be dispatched to the outage location or site of the problem as opposed to searching for the problem.
The combination of efficiency and demand response, operational benefits, improved outage detection and management, improvements in transmission and distribution planning, and cost savings and improvements in customer service and billing are all tangible benefits that ESCO Technologies is bringing to the industry.
The above speaks to activity in North America. What, if any, insight can ESCO provide with relation to the global market space?
Well, much like the North American market, European (in general) and Australian utilities are seeing legislation and regulatory rulings that support deployment of AMI systems.
In developing markets there is more of a push towards AMR to account for non-technical losses and to improve cash collections. Features such as prepayment, tamper detection and remote disconnect are driving forces. As utilities consider the value that an AMR system offers, it is a natural extension to consider the added benefits that a more advanced AMI system will provide with two-way communication capabilities.
The term Advanced Metering Infrastructure is commonly used in the industry, but is often described in different fashions. How does ESCO define AMI?
Automated Meter Reading (AMR) is primarily focused on replacing manually read meter operations. AMI includes not only automated meter reading at a frequency of hourly or less, but also promises a communications network between advanced meters and utility business systems that allows collection and distribution of information to customers, the utility itself, and other parties. It brings together elements of a meter network where data is accessible for direct customer use, as a data source for home or business displays, or “smart” thermostats, controls, and appliances.
As a supplier of AMI products, ESCO offers meter-to-head-end system components, displays and control devices, and meter data management software with analytics to make data meaningful. Meaningful data is required to support utility business processes and to help a utility's customers manage their energy usage and costs. All of this, together, is an AMI solution that achieves the targeted results.
While the term AMI is widely accepted to include the provision of operational benefits and customer information, there are nuances to the term that various regulatory and industry trade organizations have applied in an attempt to provide better definition. For example, concepts on AMI have been articulated through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions (FERC), the Demand Response and Advanced Metering Coalition (DRAM), and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
Through these collective interpretations, we have noted that the term AMI typically involves utilities having the ability to record at least hourly customer consumption and other usage measures, to have that data communicated to a central collection point, and to support two-way communication. In addition to meter data, this type of configuration should be able to offer outage detection, remote connect-disconnect, and power quality or grid monitoring capabilities. It is important that an AMI system support implementation of rate options, critical peak pricing, and hourly pricing for all customers. Customers should have access to personal energy usage data, be provided with education and energy management information, customized billing, and receive improved complaint resolution.
Most recently, the concept of AMI has been expanded to specifically focus on the degree of "openness" of the system architecture. Open architecture, while not yet a released standard, is now recognized as a critical trait in truly advanced metering infrastructure architecture.
Why are utilities and policy makers interested in open connectivity for applications beyond the meter?
Utilities today are very interested in the openness of the system beyond the meter, inside the home or business, to ensure that their investment in advanced metering will allow communications to the consumers, and to provide consumers the ability to choose devices, such as in-home displays, that are competitively priced and are interoperable.
There are many ways to provide better information ranging from improvements in bill content and design, provision of previous day usage data via the internet, and direct connectivity between meters and IHDs (In-Home Displays) or personal computers that can provide real-time usage and cost information. For example, utilities want to ensure that it will be possible for consumers to walk into an electronics store and purchase a plug-and-play In-Home Display, a programmable communicating thermostat (PCT), or a USB device. These devices are simply plugged into an outlet or detected by the home computer network and effortlessly connect to and communicate with the AMI system. Recent pricing experiments have indicated that enabling technologies, such as PCTs, can boost demand response by 50 percent or more for residential customers. These findings have led policymakers to examine new approaches to fostering rapid penetration of enabling technologies and to push utilities to deploy AMI systems that work together with these technologies.
For example, the California Energy Commission is expected to approve a new building standard requiring that thermostats in all new residential and commercial buildings, as well as those installed whenever an HVAC system is replaced, with PCTs. The PCTs should have a port in which a ZigBee (or other protocol) enabled communication chip can be installed. Such a policy would create a situation where, in roughly a decade, a very large share of the total building stock in California will have PCTs that can be used to provide a significant reduction in electricity demand in response to economic signals or when needed for grid system reliability.
ESCO has been a supplier in the demand response marketplace for years. The market is heating up. Technology, utility requirements, driving motives and consumer expectations are all changing. What are the key necessities to maintaining and growing ESCOs prevalence in the DR market space?
Clearly, ESCO needs to simply, and effectively, communicate our existing capabilities to our customers. You may, or may not, be aware that our power line communication business, DCSI, has provided the single largest direct load control system in North America, which is capable of shedding approximately two gigawatts of power in about 60 seconds. That system controls over 900,000 endpoints.
The success of the system lies not only in its ability to shed so much load so quickly, but — and this is critical — in its ability to bring load back on line so that the system remains in "balance." Imagine the demand surge that could occur if, after a critical peak event has ended, 400,000 air conditioners kick on at the same time. The ability to gradually bring load back on line is vital in such instances.
That system has been in place for over 10 years now. Naturally, times have changed and newer technologies are being assessed, such as home area networks that promote consumer participation in demand response. It is important for ESCO, in order to maintain our leadership position in the marketplace, to provide systems that will meet the requirements of these evolving demand response programs. In that regard, we introduced our new home area network, the HANfx, that utilizes a ZigBee protocol, at the most recent AMRA show, along with our new demand response unit that works in conjunction with the HAN. This system enables consumer choice in selecting the level of participation in demand response programs, but also provides direct control to utilities to shed non-essential load, such as water heaters, should emergency load shed be required.
While our current offering uses the ZigBee protocol, we are also prepared to support other protocols, such as Z-Wave. The flexibility of the HAN to communicate with a variety of protocols is an essential element in maintaining and growing our position in the marketplace.
While our current offering uses the ZigBee protocol, we are also prepared to support other protocols, such as Z-Wave. The flexibility of the HAN to communicate with a variety of protocols is an essential element in maintaining and growing our position in the marketplace.
How does ESCO's Nexus Energy unit plan to support the role of the meter data management (MDM) system in managing communications with the home area networks, such as ZigBee under-the-glass, that may be deployed in California?
Nexus offers a unique approach to leveraging HANs. Its MDM suite offers end-to-end support for managing demand-response programs, providing education and enrollment capabilities, alerts for managing events, and analysis of the overall system operations. The MDM's "business process management" capability enables the creation of work flows to manage a demand-response event, including messaging the head-end system — be it an ESCO system or third party — to initiate an action on the HAN. In addition, the Nexus application enables end-users to access the HAN through a remote Internet connection. ESCO is involved with the OpenHAN group, and is participating in relevant IEC committees, to be in a position to rapidly leverage all resulting standards.
How does ESCO plan on integrating its AMI products with the smart grid as it evolves?
ESCO intends to offer a complete and seamless system of communications, to include sensing and monitoring of grid assets. ESCO's acquisition of Doble uniquely positions us to deliver real time analyses on the performance of critical high voltage assets through its Intelligent Diagnostic Devices (IDD). With the IDDs, utility customers can remotely monitor the health of a transformer's insulating oil, detect abnormalities in bushings or current transformers, and sense the presence of moisture or dissolved gases in that equipment. That information is often crucial in maintaining the welfare of the transmission system, and it is our intention to provide the communications infrastructure to deliver that data so that timely operational and maintenance decisions are possible.
Also, we recently introduced our new capacitor bank controller, which has the flexibility of communicating over either of our AMI infrastructures — whether it be powerline or RF. This is our first step towards participating in the broader distribution automation space, which is an area that we expect to further support, to include interactions or exchanges with a utility's existing SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) systems.
Of course, software is a very important part of pulling all of this together and to providing interfaces for the end users. We are fortunate that we have a very talented group of software engineers at Nexus that understand the industry, the needs of the customers, and have the skill to present the information required by the end user in a format that enables them to efficiently assess the large amount of data being provided by the communications infrastructure.
What are your observations regarding the needs driving the gas and water markets versus the electric market with relation to AMI? How is ESCO positioned to address the various market segments?
There's no doubt that one of the driving factors behind water AMI deployments involves the recent droughts, which are driving utilities to monitor water consumption using increased intervals. Drive-by AMR systems are now being replaced with fixed-network AMI systems capable of monitoring water consumption on an hourly basis allowing utilities or municipalities to monitor for leak detection or excessive water usage during times of conversation. Gas AMI, on the other hand, is catching up and as with any energy the need to monitor consumption has increased as operational costs have continued to rise.
Obviously there are different factors that drive the fundamental need for gas and water AMI but, interestingly enough, there are some common factors playing a role as well. Electric, gas, and water utilities are seeking to improve customer service, obtain operational benefits, and address regulatory requirements.
ESCO is uniquely positioned with Hexagram and DCSI to answer the needs of the growing utility market segments with our AMI systems. The ability of ESCO to work with a utility partner to derive a "best-fit" solution is unique and, when coupling this with the value-added solutions of Nexus, leads to an unparalleled multi-utility AMI solution. ESCO has installed millions of meter end points, has demonstrated that our system architectures are scaleable to any size of deployment, and that we offer a mature and proven set of solutions. These time proven multi-utility solutions allow ESCO to provide excellent long and short term benefits to the utility and, ultimately, to the utilities' customers.
How does ESCO Technologies see the adoption of wireless personal area networks (WPANs) functioning with its technologies?
We envision the use of either DCSI's or Hexagram's proprietary backhaul communications as the network backbone, augmented by a WPAN gateway to enable in-home mesh networks and demand response capabilities. In the very near future, a PC-enabled gateway approach should allow in-home energy management, detailed consumption monitoring, in-home messaging, verified account information, and access to third party home network solutions such as our Nexus personalized dashboards.
Using such a dashboard will allow utility customers access to real-time usage and appliance data, immediate energy management feedback, prepay communications, and participation that is more effective during critical peak pricing events.
Using such a dashboard will allow utility customers access to real-time usage and appliance data, immediate energy management feedback, prepay communications, and participation that is more effective during critical peak pricing events.
Our vision of demand response provides utilities with the ability to offer more pricing and service options, tailored to their customers' needs. Demand response reduces price volatility, allows for deferral of capital investments by utilities, increases supply reliability by allowing dispatchers to call demand resources on short notice and finally has the ability to aid environmental impact. California conducted a statewide pilot program from 2003 to 2004 that showed that residential consumers, on average, would reduce energy use during peak periods in response to dynamic price signals. So demand response is real, and we are providing the utility industry with technologies that will allow participants to take full advantage of its potential.
Interviewer Jon Brock is president and COO of Albuquerque, N.M.-based UtiliPoint International, an energy industry research, analysis and consulting firm.
© 2006-2007 Cleantech.com - Cleantech.com is a publication of Cleantech Media LLC.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
M2M Delivers Smart Services
Smart Services: Cooper InVision™ Downtime Reduction System
Revolutionary Wireless Technology Transforms Industrial Remote Service
By Joe Fox, director systems & services, Cooper Bussmann
In February 2007, Cooper Bussmann, Inc., a global supplier of circuit protection
devices, introduced the Cooper InVision™ Downtime Reduction System for
industrial and commercial applications. Built upon revolutionary wireless mesh
connectivity, developed with technology partner RF Monolithics’ (RFM) subsidiary
Cirronet, and Questra Corporation’s Intelligent Device Management (IDM) solution,
the Cooper InVision System substantially reduces downtime and increases
productivity for industrial and commercial companies through continuous
monitoring of fuses and circuit breakers and providing immediate reporting of open
circuits caused by shorts and overloads.
Cooper Bussmann realized that downtime was a major issue faced by their
industrial and commercial customers, so they set out to solve it through the Cooper
InVision Downtime Reduction System. After considering both in-house development
and third-party solutions, Cooper developed their own Intelligent Fuse Monitors
(IFMs) and Intelligent Circuit Monitors (ICMs) — battery-powered devices that
monitor circuits and transmit any change in status to the “set-and-forget” Wireless
Mesh Routers.
Research cited by Cooper Bussmann shows that unscheduled downtime is a problem in
almost every industry. A comprehensive study of manufacturing facilities by AMG
found that, on average, an open circuit results in 41 minutes of downtime, including
11 minutes to notify maintenance and 24 minutes to solve the problem. Other recent
studies by AMG, Advanced Technology Services, Inc., and the Meta Group reveal that
downtime costs range from $300,000 to millions of dollars per hour per site. In
addition to an idle workforce, downtime can cause disruption to an organization’s
integrated supply chain and the loss of work in progress.
Traditional radio and point-to-point communication systems can be unreliable in
interruption-filled production environments as well as difficult and expensive to
install. Working with Cirronet’s wireless mesh technology guaranteed seamless data
transfer at distances of up to six football fields (1,260 feet) by automatically
selecting an alternate signal path if the primary path is blocked.
The Wireless Mesh Routers provide redundant, self-healing connectivity with
99.999% transmission reliability between the IFMs, ICMs, and the Gateway — a
small computer that encrypts data received from the routers and sends it to a
secure Command Center server using a secure Internet connection.
The Command Center displays the status of monitored circuits and enables intuitive
configuration of alert escalation and trending reports. It is the Command Center
that initiates instantaneous phone, e-mail, or fax alerts to maintenance staff.
Cooper Bussmann selected Questra for the backend of the InVision Downtime
Reduction System. Questra’s IDM technology is installed on the InVision Gateway
computer to help monitor not only the IFMs and ICMs, but also the Gateway itself.
This IDM application enables the Cooper InVision System to help manufacturers
monitor and manage their circuit protection devices remotely, moving from a
reactive to a proactive maintenance model.
With Cirronet’s wireless mesh technology and Questra’s IDM applications, the
Cooper InVision Downtime Reduction System saves manufacturers time and money
by continuously monitoring circuits and immediately notifying maintenance staff of
an open circuit’s exact location, the correct replacement fuse (if appropriate), and
the level of personal protective equipment (PPE) required to be in compliance with
OSHA regulations. In addition, the Cooper InVision System helps to identify
recurring problems. The system stores open-circuit alert data from which summary
reports such as Mean Time to Repair statistics and trend analyses are produced to
identify underlying problems that require correction.
One Cooper Bussmann customer, a metal manufacturer, lost up to $20,000 due to
downtime each time a circuit opened. To improve the efficiency and reliability of its
processes, the manufacturer installed the Cooper InVision Downtime Reduction
System on more than 80 processing units. Now, when a circuit opens, the InVision
System immediately notifies an electrician by phone or email. In the first five
months of operation, InVision issued more than 45 circuit-open alerts, expediting
maintenance and saving the manufacturer more than $800,000 in downtime and
scrap costs.
The benefits of remote service to manufacturers such as Cooper Bussmann
industrial and commercial customers cannot be overstated. The Cooper InVision
Downtime Reduction System streamlines maintenance operations, improves
occupational safety, and identifies issues that can adversely affect power supply to
process-critical systems. The InVision System provides management tools for
quantifying performance and cost savings, and optimizing maintenance resources,
as well as IT tools for access to, and control of, data at anytime from anywhere.
Cooper Bussmann customers are using the Cooper InVision System to minimize
downtime, optimize performance, and improve efficiency and productivity. Remote
service offers a transformational advantage in today’s hyper-competitive global
marketplace.
Revolutionary Wireless Technology Transforms Industrial Remote Service
By Joe Fox, director systems & services, Cooper Bussmann
In February 2007, Cooper Bussmann, Inc., a global supplier of circuit protection
devices, introduced the Cooper InVision™ Downtime Reduction System for
industrial and commercial applications. Built upon revolutionary wireless mesh
connectivity, developed with technology partner RF Monolithics’ (RFM) subsidiary
Cirronet, and Questra Corporation’s Intelligent Device Management (IDM) solution,
the Cooper InVision System substantially reduces downtime and increases
productivity for industrial and commercial companies through continuous
monitoring of fuses and circuit breakers and providing immediate reporting of open
circuits caused by shorts and overloads.
Cooper Bussmann realized that downtime was a major issue faced by their
industrial and commercial customers, so they set out to solve it through the Cooper
InVision Downtime Reduction System. After considering both in-house development
and third-party solutions, Cooper developed their own Intelligent Fuse Monitors
(IFMs) and Intelligent Circuit Monitors (ICMs) — battery-powered devices that
monitor circuits and transmit any change in status to the “set-and-forget” Wireless
Mesh Routers.
Research cited by Cooper Bussmann shows that unscheduled downtime is a problem in
almost every industry. A comprehensive study of manufacturing facilities by AMG
found that, on average, an open circuit results in 41 minutes of downtime, including
11 minutes to notify maintenance and 24 minutes to solve the problem. Other recent
studies by AMG, Advanced Technology Services, Inc., and the Meta Group reveal that
downtime costs range from $300,000 to millions of dollars per hour per site. In
addition to an idle workforce, downtime can cause disruption to an organization’s
integrated supply chain and the loss of work in progress.
Traditional radio and point-to-point communication systems can be unreliable in
interruption-filled production environments as well as difficult and expensive to
install. Working with Cirronet’s wireless mesh technology guaranteed seamless data
transfer at distances of up to six football fields (1,260 feet) by automatically
selecting an alternate signal path if the primary path is blocked.
The Wireless Mesh Routers provide redundant, self-healing connectivity with
99.999% transmission reliability between the IFMs, ICMs, and the Gateway — a
small computer that encrypts data received from the routers and sends it to a
secure Command Center server using a secure Internet connection.
The Command Center displays the status of monitored circuits and enables intuitive
configuration of alert escalation and trending reports. It is the Command Center
that initiates instantaneous phone, e-mail, or fax alerts to maintenance staff.
Cooper Bussmann selected Questra for the backend of the InVision Downtime
Reduction System. Questra’s IDM technology is installed on the InVision Gateway
computer to help monitor not only the IFMs and ICMs, but also the Gateway itself.
This IDM application enables the Cooper InVision System to help manufacturers
monitor and manage their circuit protection devices remotely, moving from a
reactive to a proactive maintenance model.
With Cirronet’s wireless mesh technology and Questra’s IDM applications, the
Cooper InVision Downtime Reduction System saves manufacturers time and money
by continuously monitoring circuits and immediately notifying maintenance staff of
an open circuit’s exact location, the correct replacement fuse (if appropriate), and
the level of personal protective equipment (PPE) required to be in compliance with
OSHA regulations. In addition, the Cooper InVision System helps to identify
recurring problems. The system stores open-circuit alert data from which summary
reports such as Mean Time to Repair statistics and trend analyses are produced to
identify underlying problems that require correction.
One Cooper Bussmann customer, a metal manufacturer, lost up to $20,000 due to
downtime each time a circuit opened. To improve the efficiency and reliability of its
processes, the manufacturer installed the Cooper InVision Downtime Reduction
System on more than 80 processing units. Now, when a circuit opens, the InVision
System immediately notifies an electrician by phone or email. In the first five
months of operation, InVision issued more than 45 circuit-open alerts, expediting
maintenance and saving the manufacturer more than $800,000 in downtime and
scrap costs.
The benefits of remote service to manufacturers such as Cooper Bussmann
industrial and commercial customers cannot be overstated. The Cooper InVision
Downtime Reduction System streamlines maintenance operations, improves
occupational safety, and identifies issues that can adversely affect power supply to
process-critical systems. The InVision System provides management tools for
quantifying performance and cost savings, and optimizing maintenance resources,
as well as IT tools for access to, and control of, data at anytime from anywhere.
Cooper Bussmann customers are using the Cooper InVision System to minimize
downtime, optimize performance, and improve efficiency and productivity. Remote
service offers a transformational advantage in today’s hyper-competitive global
marketplace.
Friday, December 14, 2007
The rise and rise of the mobile machines
"Expensive and complex technology once thought of as too futuristic can become economic when the costs of other needs increases or the cost of the technology itself decreases."
The rise and rise of the mobile machines
By: Rob Bamforth
Principal Analyst, Quocirca
Published: 14th December 2007
Shifting the balance of long-term well understood costs has a disturbing effect on any market. The rapid rise in property prices, growth in car ownership and lack of parking in congested capitals such as London led to the recent economic viability of digging out personal underground car elevators. Like something out of ‘Thunderbirds' a single vehicle parking space rises out and sinks back into the ground. Other examples include the current exploitation of the Canadian oil sands—now economic due to high oil prices—or the re-opening of mines in Cornwall in the UK that have been coming viable again due to the high cost of tin.
There are parallels in IT too. Expensive and complex technology once thought of as too futuristic can become economic when the costs of other needs increases or the cost of the technology itself decreases. If both happen at once the case can become overwhelming. One such area is machine to machine or M2M, often a favourite of science fiction writers and filmmakers describing the insidious communication between smart machines. However the Hollywood tinted glasses overstate many things. Far more straightforward commercial value can come from the simple messages shared by pretty dumb systems—sensors, detectors and displays—which replace the need for doing this at greater cost, in person.
This means M2M often crops up in marketing slides with wild, blue-sky-thinking ranging from connecting manufacturers directly to consumers via internet-aware fridges, in-vehicle sensors to networked vending machines. While it presents well, implementation is sometimes a different matter. The ideas often prick the imagination, but are not aligned with business needs. The technical complexity and risk of integrating sensors and devices on disparate networks to existing applications will also tend to phase even the most able of IT departments.
However, this is starting to change.
Wireless networking, in both WiFi and cellular forms, has reduced in unit cost, shrunk in size and power requirements and provides more options for M2M end points than fixed connectivity. In areas where copper or fibre networks are not present, or are not appropriate for environmental, commercial or social infrastructural reasons, wireless M2M creates new opportunities. These range from connecting street furniture, such as road signs, speed cameras and billboards, through to remote access surveillance for maintenance as well as monitoring anti-social behaviour.
There have been attempts to exploit this, but wireless networks bring their own headaches. Coverage needs to spread beyond the footprint of individual operators, and have more focus on where ‘things’ are, rather than the traditional approach of focussing coverage around population centres. Neither do regular operator tariff models fit the usage patterns of potential M2M applications, which also makes it harder to justify investments. Some applications will only require the odd few critical bytes of data sent infrequently, others will stream high volumes of data such as video, which only contain the odd nuggets of valuable data, so high data tariffs are not acceptable.
These problems are largely commercial, with an underlying need to shift the technology focus towards the needs of things rather than people. Some operators themselves have tried to address this area, a notable example being Orange's M2M Connect, but it's difficult to get sufficient focus when there are other significant areas of revenues, such as the huge consumer and regular business use of mobile phones for voice and data access.
As the opportunity grows, specialist connectivity providers have emerged to focus on the specific connectivity needs of M2M. As well as coverage and reach beyond traditional cellular networks, automated systems have different requirements for availability, disconnections and consistency of network addressing that need to be tackled. Good progress is being made in the standards arena, with the evolution to IPv6, which provides the huge uplift in addresses necessary to include all manner of devices, and some enhanced options for mobile.
These are not the most complex of the technical issues, however. All dumb devices connected together as part of a distributed application need a consistent framework of interfaces and services, and this is where the technology starts to collide with the business drivers. A number of organisations have to support and promote a common and open set of services for them to become sufficiently popular for adoption by developers to exploit them for innovative applications. Not for the sake of technology innovation, but business innovation.
It's not like there are no commercial challenges facing many businesses today. There is the escalating cost of deploying people to fix or monitor problems—travel expense, time and environmental impact—and the increasing need for business resilience and flexibility in a global, always-on, marketplace. There are real costs and beneficial values that can be ascribed to these issues. The challenge for the proponents of M2M, where the cost of the raw components and services have now come down to commercially interesting levels, is to demonstrate how easily the novel technology can be integrated into existing systems to deliver real, incremental business value.
This is likely to be more mundane than science fiction's active billboards and robotic intelligence. The economic benefits of using M2M are becoming increasingly apparent and the technology costs of doing so reducing fast. So, if well structured integration can be layered over the lower cost base of M2M technology, those businesses needing to monitor, maintain or manage dumb machines will have some smarter options to pursue, moving M2M from science fantasy to commercial reality.
About the Author:
Rob Bamforth is a Principal Analyst working with Quocirca Ltd, focussing on the areas of service provision and mobility. His experience couples a number of years he has spent in sales and marketing, with an in-depth understanding of technology deployment and service delivery, which together give him an approach that focuses first on the business need, with technology as the supporting service.
From IT-DIRECTOR.COM
URL: http://www.it-director.com/business/content.php?cid=10130
The rise and rise of the mobile machines
By: Rob Bamforth
Principal Analyst, Quocirca
Published: 14th December 2007
Shifting the balance of long-term well understood costs has a disturbing effect on any market. The rapid rise in property prices, growth in car ownership and lack of parking in congested capitals such as London led to the recent economic viability of digging out personal underground car elevators. Like something out of ‘Thunderbirds' a single vehicle parking space rises out and sinks back into the ground. Other examples include the current exploitation of the Canadian oil sands—now economic due to high oil prices—or the re-opening of mines in Cornwall in the UK that have been coming viable again due to the high cost of tin.
There are parallels in IT too. Expensive and complex technology once thought of as too futuristic can become economic when the costs of other needs increases or the cost of the technology itself decreases. If both happen at once the case can become overwhelming. One such area is machine to machine or M2M, often a favourite of science fiction writers and filmmakers describing the insidious communication between smart machines. However the Hollywood tinted glasses overstate many things. Far more straightforward commercial value can come from the simple messages shared by pretty dumb systems—sensors, detectors and displays—which replace the need for doing this at greater cost, in person.
This means M2M often crops up in marketing slides with wild, blue-sky-thinking ranging from connecting manufacturers directly to consumers via internet-aware fridges, in-vehicle sensors to networked vending machines. While it presents well, implementation is sometimes a different matter. The ideas often prick the imagination, but are not aligned with business needs. The technical complexity and risk of integrating sensors and devices on disparate networks to existing applications will also tend to phase even the most able of IT departments.
However, this is starting to change.
Wireless networking, in both WiFi and cellular forms, has reduced in unit cost, shrunk in size and power requirements and provides more options for M2M end points than fixed connectivity. In areas where copper or fibre networks are not present, or are not appropriate for environmental, commercial or social infrastructural reasons, wireless M2M creates new opportunities. These range from connecting street furniture, such as road signs, speed cameras and billboards, through to remote access surveillance for maintenance as well as monitoring anti-social behaviour.
There have been attempts to exploit this, but wireless networks bring their own headaches. Coverage needs to spread beyond the footprint of individual operators, and have more focus on where ‘things’ are, rather than the traditional approach of focussing coverage around population centres. Neither do regular operator tariff models fit the usage patterns of potential M2M applications, which also makes it harder to justify investments. Some applications will only require the odd few critical bytes of data sent infrequently, others will stream high volumes of data such as video, which only contain the odd nuggets of valuable data, so high data tariffs are not acceptable.
These problems are largely commercial, with an underlying need to shift the technology focus towards the needs of things rather than people. Some operators themselves have tried to address this area, a notable example being Orange's M2M Connect, but it's difficult to get sufficient focus when there are other significant areas of revenues, such as the huge consumer and regular business use of mobile phones for voice and data access.
As the opportunity grows, specialist connectivity providers have emerged to focus on the specific connectivity needs of M2M. As well as coverage and reach beyond traditional cellular networks, automated systems have different requirements for availability, disconnections and consistency of network addressing that need to be tackled. Good progress is being made in the standards arena, with the evolution to IPv6, which provides the huge uplift in addresses necessary to include all manner of devices, and some enhanced options for mobile.
These are not the most complex of the technical issues, however. All dumb devices connected together as part of a distributed application need a consistent framework of interfaces and services, and this is where the technology starts to collide with the business drivers. A number of organisations have to support and promote a common and open set of services for them to become sufficiently popular for adoption by developers to exploit them for innovative applications. Not for the sake of technology innovation, but business innovation.
It's not like there are no commercial challenges facing many businesses today. There is the escalating cost of deploying people to fix or monitor problems—travel expense, time and environmental impact—and the increasing need for business resilience and flexibility in a global, always-on, marketplace. There are real costs and beneficial values that can be ascribed to these issues. The challenge for the proponents of M2M, where the cost of the raw components and services have now come down to commercially interesting levels, is to demonstrate how easily the novel technology can be integrated into existing systems to deliver real, incremental business value.
This is likely to be more mundane than science fiction's active billboards and robotic intelligence. The economic benefits of using M2M are becoming increasingly apparent and the technology costs of doing so reducing fast. So, if well structured integration can be layered over the lower cost base of M2M technology, those businesses needing to monitor, maintain or manage dumb machines will have some smarter options to pursue, moving M2M from science fantasy to commercial reality.
About the Author:
Rob Bamforth is a Principal Analyst working with Quocirca Ltd, focussing on the areas of service provision and mobility. His experience couples a number of years he has spent in sales and marketing, with an in-depth understanding of technology deployment and service delivery, which together give him an approach that focuses first on the business need, with technology as the supporting service.
Copyright Quocirca © 2007
From IT-DIRECTOR.COM
URL: http://www.it-director.com/business/content.php?cid=10130
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Automation with No Srings Attached
December 2007
By Gregory Hale
ISA.org
It would be very easy to pigeon hole ISA EXPO 2007 as an event focused on wireless, but when you really look at it, the entire automation industry remained fully represented throughout the six technology exchanges at the crowded Houston show.
As world manufacturing continues to grow, economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector has enjoyed a 72-consecutive-month expansion, according to reports.
With that news and the general upbeat mood of industry practitioners talking shop from one end of the show floor to the other, one of the key technologies on display at EXPO was wireless.
While exhibitors showed their wares, the ISA100 wireless standard committee met and talked about the wireless future.
ISA100 is a standard in the works for wireless automation systems, and one of the working groups for the standard, WG8, continued to ask questions about the final wireless standard. WG8 continues to work on a document called User Requirements for Wireless Networking in Industrial Automation Systems.
Dick Caro, long time networking and communications activist, marshaled the members and participants through several bullets on the agenda having to do with security, privacy, and quality of service the wireless standard would, and should, demand.
The scope of the group’s work is to represent the combined focus for end users in industrial automation for use by the ISA100 committee as it drafts a standard for wireless communications in industrial manufacturing.
The input from the group will augment the areas of coverage represented by the Use Cases coming from members of the User Working Group.
The group and the users’ document hopes to identify those requirements that must be included in a First Release standard. The sentiment from the meeting seemed to be there will be more than one release.
Other issues the committee has built into its list include:
Plant Topology: Industrial manufacturing plants vary in size from small rooms to many hundreds or thousands of acres in size, indoor and outdoor. Despite all sorts of physical impairments or proximity issues a solution for one should not make the solution for another, more expensive.
ISA100 networks must satisfy user expectations of similar performance, cost, and ease of deployment.
Environmental: Plant environments vary from “clean room” to outdoors—arctic to tropical conditions with relative humidity varying from desert-dry to rain forest. The first release should provide instruments and gateways (receivers) with electrical hazardous area certification meeting at least Class 1, Div 1 (Zone 1), and Groups ABCD.
Device power: While many areas of industrial plants have 110/220 single phase power available, wiring of that power to specific, often hazardous locations is expensive. Therefore, devices should consume little power, so they may receive energy from one of a number of alternative sources. As well, an option to use local DC power should exist.
Security and privacy: Isolation of an automation wireless network for purposes of security or privacy is impossible. One must assume attempts to jam the network and/or to intercept message traffic on the network will occur.
The network must continue to work correctly in the presence of such attempts, inform the network owners of these attempts, and take steps necessary to avoid the interference.
Network availability shall be in excess of 99.999% when used for ordinary service (less than five minutes downtime per year).
Availability of 99.9999% shall exist for all critical services (less than 30 seconds downtime per year).
Standards are one thing, but real-life usage is another, and folks in the industry want to use wireless. However, as wireless technology continues its ascent into automation, perceptions of what the technology is or is not remain.
The first word that comes to Ivan Ward’s mind when you say wireless is “expensive.” Ward works at Conoco-Philips in Farmington, N.M. He said since it gets more difficult to deal with cabling when you are adding facilities to one area, his company is “looking into it.”
If they are not using it, people are at least talking about it. Chris Allen with Delta Controls in Surrey, U.K., said it is “definitely something we need to get on top of. It’s all over the show,” he said.
Allen’s company makes pressure transmitters and switches. He said wireless “probably wouldn’t be suitable with pressure switches, but could work well with pressure transmitters. “I’ll be looking at the protocols for industrial standards,” he said. “We don’t want to back the wrong horse.”
Wireless was all over the show, as Peter Fuhr, chief technology officer with Apprion in Moffett Field, Calif., can prove. He had a spectrum analyzer that monitors radio frequency traffic throughout the EXPO. At the ISA100 booth, there was a real-time screen portrayal of wireless use. “The density here is crazy; every booth has antennas.” The screen at the ISA100 booth showed all the radio frequency in real time, specifically in one arena, in 2.4 to 2.5 gigahertz bands. “Why? Because it’s license free, so it’s really popular,” he said. “Even in the presence of all this interference, the wireless sensor signals are still getting through, and this shows how reliable the wireless sensor here is.”
“Overall, wireless is actually becoming more acceptable at its basic level,” said Hesh Kagan, director of technology marketing services at Invensys Process Systems in Foxboro, Mass. “Last year, people were prepared to experiment with wireless. This year, they’re prepared to start implementing solutions,” he said.
“People want to actually solve problems now versus proving wireless will work,” said Steve Lambright, chief executive of Apprion. Instead of “trepidatious pilot projects,” people are using wireless with more confidence and maturity, Kagan said. “You’re starting to see wireless move from a science experiment toward a viable technology. Now that people have gained experience, they’re learning their competitor is using wireless, so they better watch out,” Kagan said.
Catching the wave
Brent McAdams is seeing more manufacturers traditionally concerned with low-data-rate serial radios deciding to go to wireless Ethernet, which is a higher data-rate technology. McAdams is business development manager with FreeWave in Boulder, Colo. “The trend has always been low-data-rate serial radios,” he said. “There’s been a push from end users and manufacturers to high-data-rate Ethernet radios. With serial technology, you could only do one communication at a time. There was a poll (request for data) and a response,” he said. “But with Ethernet, you have more connections at one time, more polls, and more responses.”
While wireless is making its mark technologically, there are still some hurdles to clear when it comes to operations and IT playing together, Kagan said. “In the past, there was a separation between what happened in the control and business world,” he said. “In wireless, radio waves go where they want to, so they have to be managed in a highly integrated manner.”
“It can’t be a free-for-all,” Lambright said. “For the first time, you’re really seeing how this integration forces IT to work with process engineering teams and operations groups.” And that’s when you encounter some challenges, he said. “It can work great, and you can see an opposite extreme.”
Security ties in
End users are still focusing on security with wireless as well, McAdams said. “They’re concerned about encryption, radius control, and authentication.” Looking for higher levels of security, all manufacturers are tailoring their devices with encryption using the advanced encryption standard (AES). “There’s 128 AES and 256 AES,” he said. “The bigger the bits means there’s a bigger area to scramble data. As the encryption key increases, [hackers] would have a hard time [breaking in].”
Also there is the ability to have a MAC address filtering the associated IP address with the physical address of the machine. “If the address is in that table, it will communicate; if it’s not, it won’t,” he said. The MAC address is a hard-coded address in a device. The table resides in the radio. “You plug into the radio with Ethernet. If the IP address is not in the table, it will not allow access.”
McAdams said all major gas producers and chemical refining markets can benefit from using this technology. “It becomes costly to run conduit and wire,” he said. “So with wireless, there’s an immediate payback.”
Next year, wireless will see more integration as applications become deployed, Lambright said. “That will spur more rapid adoption of wireless. The cycle will emerge, networks will deliver the ability to pursue new applications they couldn’t have in the past, especially with condition monitoring and safety applications.”
“Up until now, we’ve been spending time on the technology,” Kagan said. “This time next year, we’ll be focusing more on solutions.”
Continuing on the wireless front, users had the opportunity to take a walking tour. Entitled Wireless Tech Tour: No wires, no hype, Ian McPherson of the ISA100 committee led the 15 or so hoofers to various places to in the giant hall to get exposure to the burgeoning technology.
“There are so many people with wireless wares here, that we can’t cover them all,” said McPherson, an Apprion co-founder and the vice president of network architecture there.
Safe and secure
Wireless was a key element to EXPO, but it was not the only technology on display. Security was another.
Security is a big deal, we know that, but when it comes to securing control systems, the industry needs special security measures for their special needs.
Chris Martin with Industrial Defender was on hand in the Security XPod to give an overview of how these products can help users secure their SCADA and DCS systems and networks. They are specifically engineered for the SCADA and DCS environment. The products are different than other security measures because they “stop at the plant perimeter, and the edge of the process control network,” Martin said. “We don’t sell our solutions into the enterprise. We feel there are unique characteristics and solutions sold on the corporate side that are not applicable for the plant side.”
“It’s important to have security counter measures in an industrial control system, but it’s also important to have those counter measures designed for use in an industrial control system as opposed to using mainstream products, which may or may not be suitable for this application,” said Eric Cosman, engineering solutions architect at Dow Chemical. “If you dump antivirus software for typical IT on a control system, the cure might be worse than the disease.”
Steven Hawkins with ABB in Wickliffe, Ohio, and a member of the ISA99 control system security committee, said it is becoming “more and more important for traditional process control engineers to understand the concept and to be able to develop solutions to provide the necessary security.” In the past, most of the solutions have come from the IT side with IT-specific products. “Those who lived in the IT world knew about firewalls, and the specific security compliance they dealt with,” he said. “In the process control side, we were never connected to corporate networks, and process control network was an island. Now there’s connectivity so they could be vulnerable to viruses and things the IT people have tried to prevent,” Hawkins said.
When talking about security, the next issue a manufacturer can jump to is safety. It is one thing to secure a plant; it is another to ensure it is a safe environment.
During the 2 October keynote address, veteran safety and security risk expert Steve Arendt, vice president of organization performance assurance at ABS Consulting, said, when industrial accidents happen, humans are ultimately to blame. “The Deity doesn’t accept blame.”
Arendt led ABS’ project supporting the Baker Panel’s 2006 inquiry into the tragic March 2005 BP explosion in Texas City, Tex., that killed 15 workers, injured 180 others, and was the worst U.S. industrial accident in more than a decade.
Technology failures, management failures, and human failures all fall to humans who design and build the equipment, processes, and management systems. As a result, organizations’ “culture” toward safety and risk management is key to avoiding tragic incidents, Arndt said.
Speaking to a near-capacity room, the 29-year chemical process safety veteran listed four primary approaches to improving safety and risk management: standards-based (ISA, ANSI, for example); compliance-based; continuous improvement-based; and risk-based (prioritizing potential problems).
Warning “business can get in the way of environmental and security changes,” he emphasized how culture is key. “Culture is the DNA in all of us that makes us want to do the right thing, at the right time, in the right way,” he said.
To achieve that objective, organizations need to establish safety as a core value; provide strong leadership; maintain a sense of vulnerability; establish and enforce high standards of performance; empower individuals to successfully fulfill their safety responsibilities; defer to expertise; ensure open and effective communications; establish a questioning/learning environment; provide continuous monitoring of performance; foster mutual trust; provide timely response to safety issues and concerns; and formalize the safety culture emphasis/approach.
“Put sensors, not censors, at every (organizational) level,” Arendt said.
Utter communication
To eliminate a security issue or a hazardous environment, it all comes down to putting everything in context.
That is where the OpenO&M Initiative comes in. The initiative takes every manufacturing standard out there and makes them interplay, coexist, and communicate with one another. In addition, the domain should include the usual sensor on the plant floor to the boardroom. This is not just collaboration; it goes way beyond that.
“It’s a diverse world, so get over it,” said Alan Johnston, OpenO&M Initiative chair. “People and technology have to work together with owner operators to reach complete systems integration.”
Plant operations is a complex world requiring a diverse community of people, processes, and technology to work together.
OpenO&M is an initiative of multiple industry standards organizations to provide a harmonized set of standards for the exchange of operations and maintenance (O&M) data and associated content.
OpenO&M is an effort composed of diverse groups of relevant organizations and subject matter experts organized in industry specific Joint Working Groups (JWG) focused on enabling O&M application interoperability. The goal of the JWGs is to offer domain end users a harmonized set of data exchange standards while avoiding duplication of work.
“Cooperative effort of standards is the whole point,” said Tom Burke, executive director of the OPC Foundation. “The success is that the standards are useful, used, and adopted, not just standards for the sake of standards.”
The OpenO&M initiative deals with communication all along the manufacturing platform, but one of the problems is there are fewer engineers to communicate with.
Where are all the engineers going to come from?
Dr. James Truchard, National Instruments founder and chief executive, Rimbach lecturer on 3 October, said they are coming from the tech-savvy generation: Today’s third graders.
“We need to have tools in the classrooms that are working in this same tech-savvy way to give them that connection. Otherwise it’s just magic, their gadget just works. And they don’t understand how.”
Making engineering fascinating to these third graders is one way we are going to alleviate the engineering and science crisis. Experienced engineers are reaching retirement age. Take a look, and you will see 23% of chemical engineers are over age 50, Truchard said.
“Our engineering graduation rates peaked in the 1980s. Despite our best efforts to change that, it hasn’t changed. People from China and India are going back home and taking the technology with them. If you look at engineers as a fraction of the labor force, that has been flat for three decades. The reason lies with the energy crisis and changes in environment; we haven’t made investments in society,” he said. “We see we have a major challenge on our hands to take on and continue to be that global supplier of technology from the developed world.”
One way to do that is to expand engineering efficiency by using global communication and collaborating. “The information is available on a global basis. A researcher in China has the same access as you do here in Houston or wherever you are,” he said. “If you are not taking advantage of this new way to get information, you won’t be competitive. If a new technique is found anywhere in world, it needs to be applied as soon as possible. A new marketplace is changing the world.”
Engineer production
How do we go about producing more engineers? ISA has been a big supporter in working with universities to increase the number of engineers that are graduating, Truchard said. “We need the theoretical and practical.
The better we can meld the two, the better we can do. We need a strong focus on hands-on learning. All of us from childhood have experiences that influenced our interest in engineering. I grew up on a farm, and crystal radio was the big thing that led to my career in engineering.”
Truchard said the best way to get kids interested in engineering is to start in Kindergarten and work through graduate research. LEGO has been one of the most successful introductions, he said, using MindStorm as their technology. “Kids are really having a lot of fun with it. This is what we need out there for those third graders to get excited about robotics, science, engineering, and the like.”
The critical methods to use include hands-on experience, collaborative project-based learning, design, creativity, and innovation. “The key thing to get these projects moving is to bring in some design so they get experience with it,” he said. “And keep creativity in it.”
This was compiled from a series of reports written by Ellen Fussell Policastro, Nicholas Sheble, and Jim Strothman.
Copyright of ISA © 1995-2007
By Gregory Hale
ISA.org
It would be very easy to pigeon hole ISA EXPO 2007 as an event focused on wireless, but when you really look at it, the entire automation industry remained fully represented throughout the six technology exchanges at the crowded Houston show.
As world manufacturing continues to grow, economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector has enjoyed a 72-consecutive-month expansion, according to reports.
With that news and the general upbeat mood of industry practitioners talking shop from one end of the show floor to the other, one of the key technologies on display at EXPO was wireless.
While exhibitors showed their wares, the ISA100 wireless standard committee met and talked about the wireless future.
ISA100 is a standard in the works for wireless automation systems, and one of the working groups for the standard, WG8, continued to ask questions about the final wireless standard. WG8 continues to work on a document called User Requirements for Wireless Networking in Industrial Automation Systems.
Dick Caro, long time networking and communications activist, marshaled the members and participants through several bullets on the agenda having to do with security, privacy, and quality of service the wireless standard would, and should, demand.
The scope of the group’s work is to represent the combined focus for end users in industrial automation for use by the ISA100 committee as it drafts a standard for wireless communications in industrial manufacturing.
The input from the group will augment the areas of coverage represented by the Use Cases coming from members of the User Working Group.
The group and the users’ document hopes to identify those requirements that must be included in a First Release standard. The sentiment from the meeting seemed to be there will be more than one release.
Other issues the committee has built into its list include:
Plant Topology: Industrial manufacturing plants vary in size from small rooms to many hundreds or thousands of acres in size, indoor and outdoor. Despite all sorts of physical impairments or proximity issues a solution for one should not make the solution for another, more expensive.
ISA100 networks must satisfy user expectations of similar performance, cost, and ease of deployment.
Environmental: Plant environments vary from “clean room” to outdoors—arctic to tropical conditions with relative humidity varying from desert-dry to rain forest. The first release should provide instruments and gateways (receivers) with electrical hazardous area certification meeting at least Class 1, Div 1 (Zone 1), and Groups ABCD.
Device power: While many areas of industrial plants have 110/220 single phase power available, wiring of that power to specific, often hazardous locations is expensive. Therefore, devices should consume little power, so they may receive energy from one of a number of alternative sources. As well, an option to use local DC power should exist.
Security and privacy: Isolation of an automation wireless network for purposes of security or privacy is impossible. One must assume attempts to jam the network and/or to intercept message traffic on the network will occur.
The network must continue to work correctly in the presence of such attempts, inform the network owners of these attempts, and take steps necessary to avoid the interference.
Network availability shall be in excess of 99.999% when used for ordinary service (less than five minutes downtime per year).
Availability of 99.9999% shall exist for all critical services (less than 30 seconds downtime per year).
Standards are one thing, but real-life usage is another, and folks in the industry want to use wireless. However, as wireless technology continues its ascent into automation, perceptions of what the technology is or is not remain.
The first word that comes to Ivan Ward’s mind when you say wireless is “expensive.” Ward works at Conoco-Philips in Farmington, N.M. He said since it gets more difficult to deal with cabling when you are adding facilities to one area, his company is “looking into it.”
If they are not using it, people are at least talking about it. Chris Allen with Delta Controls in Surrey, U.K., said it is “definitely something we need to get on top of. It’s all over the show,” he said.
Allen’s company makes pressure transmitters and switches. He said wireless “probably wouldn’t be suitable with pressure switches, but could work well with pressure transmitters. “I’ll be looking at the protocols for industrial standards,” he said. “We don’t want to back the wrong horse.”
Wireless was all over the show, as Peter Fuhr, chief technology officer with Apprion in Moffett Field, Calif., can prove. He had a spectrum analyzer that monitors radio frequency traffic throughout the EXPO. At the ISA100 booth, there was a real-time screen portrayal of wireless use. “The density here is crazy; every booth has antennas.” The screen at the ISA100 booth showed all the radio frequency in real time, specifically in one arena, in 2.4 to 2.5 gigahertz bands. “Why? Because it’s license free, so it’s really popular,” he said. “Even in the presence of all this interference, the wireless sensor signals are still getting through, and this shows how reliable the wireless sensor here is.”
“Overall, wireless is actually becoming more acceptable at its basic level,” said Hesh Kagan, director of technology marketing services at Invensys Process Systems in Foxboro, Mass. “Last year, people were prepared to experiment with wireless. This year, they’re prepared to start implementing solutions,” he said.
“People want to actually solve problems now versus proving wireless will work,” said Steve Lambright, chief executive of Apprion. Instead of “trepidatious pilot projects,” people are using wireless with more confidence and maturity, Kagan said. “You’re starting to see wireless move from a science experiment toward a viable technology. Now that people have gained experience, they’re learning their competitor is using wireless, so they better watch out,” Kagan said.
Catching the wave
Brent McAdams is seeing more manufacturers traditionally concerned with low-data-rate serial radios deciding to go to wireless Ethernet, which is a higher data-rate technology. McAdams is business development manager with FreeWave in Boulder, Colo. “The trend has always been low-data-rate serial radios,” he said. “There’s been a push from end users and manufacturers to high-data-rate Ethernet radios. With serial technology, you could only do one communication at a time. There was a poll (request for data) and a response,” he said. “But with Ethernet, you have more connections at one time, more polls, and more responses.”
While wireless is making its mark technologically, there are still some hurdles to clear when it comes to operations and IT playing together, Kagan said. “In the past, there was a separation between what happened in the control and business world,” he said. “In wireless, radio waves go where they want to, so they have to be managed in a highly integrated manner.”
“It can’t be a free-for-all,” Lambright said. “For the first time, you’re really seeing how this integration forces IT to work with process engineering teams and operations groups.” And that’s when you encounter some challenges, he said. “It can work great, and you can see an opposite extreme.”
Security ties in
End users are still focusing on security with wireless as well, McAdams said. “They’re concerned about encryption, radius control, and authentication.” Looking for higher levels of security, all manufacturers are tailoring their devices with encryption using the advanced encryption standard (AES). “There’s 128 AES and 256 AES,” he said. “The bigger the bits means there’s a bigger area to scramble data. As the encryption key increases, [hackers] would have a hard time [breaking in].”
Also there is the ability to have a MAC address filtering the associated IP address with the physical address of the machine. “If the address is in that table, it will communicate; if it’s not, it won’t,” he said. The MAC address is a hard-coded address in a device. The table resides in the radio. “You plug into the radio with Ethernet. If the IP address is not in the table, it will not allow access.”
McAdams said all major gas producers and chemical refining markets can benefit from using this technology. “It becomes costly to run conduit and wire,” he said. “So with wireless, there’s an immediate payback.”
Next year, wireless will see more integration as applications become deployed, Lambright said. “That will spur more rapid adoption of wireless. The cycle will emerge, networks will deliver the ability to pursue new applications they couldn’t have in the past, especially with condition monitoring and safety applications.”
“Up until now, we’ve been spending time on the technology,” Kagan said. “This time next year, we’ll be focusing more on solutions.”
Continuing on the wireless front, users had the opportunity to take a walking tour. Entitled Wireless Tech Tour: No wires, no hype, Ian McPherson of the ISA100 committee led the 15 or so hoofers to various places to in the giant hall to get exposure to the burgeoning technology.
“There are so many people with wireless wares here, that we can’t cover them all,” said McPherson, an Apprion co-founder and the vice president of network architecture there.
Safe and secure
Wireless was a key element to EXPO, but it was not the only technology on display. Security was another.
Security is a big deal, we know that, but when it comes to securing control systems, the industry needs special security measures for their special needs.
Chris Martin with Industrial Defender was on hand in the Security XPod to give an overview of how these products can help users secure their SCADA and DCS systems and networks. They are specifically engineered for the SCADA and DCS environment. The products are different than other security measures because they “stop at the plant perimeter, and the edge of the process control network,” Martin said. “We don’t sell our solutions into the enterprise. We feel there are unique characteristics and solutions sold on the corporate side that are not applicable for the plant side.”
“It’s important to have security counter measures in an industrial control system, but it’s also important to have those counter measures designed for use in an industrial control system as opposed to using mainstream products, which may or may not be suitable for this application,” said Eric Cosman, engineering solutions architect at Dow Chemical. “If you dump antivirus software for typical IT on a control system, the cure might be worse than the disease.”
Steven Hawkins with ABB in Wickliffe, Ohio, and a member of the ISA99 control system security committee, said it is becoming “more and more important for traditional process control engineers to understand the concept and to be able to develop solutions to provide the necessary security.” In the past, most of the solutions have come from the IT side with IT-specific products. “Those who lived in the IT world knew about firewalls, and the specific security compliance they dealt with,” he said. “In the process control side, we were never connected to corporate networks, and process control network was an island. Now there’s connectivity so they could be vulnerable to viruses and things the IT people have tried to prevent,” Hawkins said.
When talking about security, the next issue a manufacturer can jump to is safety. It is one thing to secure a plant; it is another to ensure it is a safe environment.
During the 2 October keynote address, veteran safety and security risk expert Steve Arendt, vice president of organization performance assurance at ABS Consulting, said, when industrial accidents happen, humans are ultimately to blame. “The Deity doesn’t accept blame.”
Arendt led ABS’ project supporting the Baker Panel’s 2006 inquiry into the tragic March 2005 BP explosion in Texas City, Tex., that killed 15 workers, injured 180 others, and was the worst U.S. industrial accident in more than a decade.
Technology failures, management failures, and human failures all fall to humans who design and build the equipment, processes, and management systems. As a result, organizations’ “culture” toward safety and risk management is key to avoiding tragic incidents, Arndt said.
Speaking to a near-capacity room, the 29-year chemical process safety veteran listed four primary approaches to improving safety and risk management: standards-based (ISA, ANSI, for example); compliance-based; continuous improvement-based; and risk-based (prioritizing potential problems).
Warning “business can get in the way of environmental and security changes,” he emphasized how culture is key. “Culture is the DNA in all of us that makes us want to do the right thing, at the right time, in the right way,” he said.
To achieve that objective, organizations need to establish safety as a core value; provide strong leadership; maintain a sense of vulnerability; establish and enforce high standards of performance; empower individuals to successfully fulfill their safety responsibilities; defer to expertise; ensure open and effective communications; establish a questioning/learning environment; provide continuous monitoring of performance; foster mutual trust; provide timely response to safety issues and concerns; and formalize the safety culture emphasis/approach.
“Put sensors, not censors, at every (organizational) level,” Arendt said.
Utter communication
To eliminate a security issue or a hazardous environment, it all comes down to putting everything in context.
That is where the OpenO&M Initiative comes in. The initiative takes every manufacturing standard out there and makes them interplay, coexist, and communicate with one another. In addition, the domain should include the usual sensor on the plant floor to the boardroom. This is not just collaboration; it goes way beyond that.
“It’s a diverse world, so get over it,” said Alan Johnston, OpenO&M Initiative chair. “People and technology have to work together with owner operators to reach complete systems integration.”
Plant operations is a complex world requiring a diverse community of people, processes, and technology to work together.
OpenO&M is an initiative of multiple industry standards organizations to provide a harmonized set of standards for the exchange of operations and maintenance (O&M) data and associated content.
OpenO&M is an effort composed of diverse groups of relevant organizations and subject matter experts organized in industry specific Joint Working Groups (JWG) focused on enabling O&M application interoperability. The goal of the JWGs is to offer domain end users a harmonized set of data exchange standards while avoiding duplication of work.
“Cooperative effort of standards is the whole point,” said Tom Burke, executive director of the OPC Foundation. “The success is that the standards are useful, used, and adopted, not just standards for the sake of standards.”
The OpenO&M initiative deals with communication all along the manufacturing platform, but one of the problems is there are fewer engineers to communicate with.
Where are all the engineers going to come from?
Dr. James Truchard, National Instruments founder and chief executive, Rimbach lecturer on 3 October, said they are coming from the tech-savvy generation: Today’s third graders.
“We need to have tools in the classrooms that are working in this same tech-savvy way to give them that connection. Otherwise it’s just magic, their gadget just works. And they don’t understand how.”
Making engineering fascinating to these third graders is one way we are going to alleviate the engineering and science crisis. Experienced engineers are reaching retirement age. Take a look, and you will see 23% of chemical engineers are over age 50, Truchard said.
“Our engineering graduation rates peaked in the 1980s. Despite our best efforts to change that, it hasn’t changed. People from China and India are going back home and taking the technology with them. If you look at engineers as a fraction of the labor force, that has been flat for three decades. The reason lies with the energy crisis and changes in environment; we haven’t made investments in society,” he said. “We see we have a major challenge on our hands to take on and continue to be that global supplier of technology from the developed world.”
One way to do that is to expand engineering efficiency by using global communication and collaborating. “The information is available on a global basis. A researcher in China has the same access as you do here in Houston or wherever you are,” he said. “If you are not taking advantage of this new way to get information, you won’t be competitive. If a new technique is found anywhere in world, it needs to be applied as soon as possible. A new marketplace is changing the world.”
Engineer production
How do we go about producing more engineers? ISA has been a big supporter in working with universities to increase the number of engineers that are graduating, Truchard said. “We need the theoretical and practical.
The better we can meld the two, the better we can do. We need a strong focus on hands-on learning. All of us from childhood have experiences that influenced our interest in engineering. I grew up on a farm, and crystal radio was the big thing that led to my career in engineering.”
Truchard said the best way to get kids interested in engineering is to start in Kindergarten and work through graduate research. LEGO has been one of the most successful introductions, he said, using MindStorm as their technology. “Kids are really having a lot of fun with it. This is what we need out there for those third graders to get excited about robotics, science, engineering, and the like.”
The critical methods to use include hands-on experience, collaborative project-based learning, design, creativity, and innovation. “The key thing to get these projects moving is to bring in some design so they get experience with it,” he said. “And keep creativity in it.”
This was compiled from a series of reports written by Ellen Fussell Policastro, Nicholas Sheble, and Jim Strothman.
Copyright of ISA © 1995-2007
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Magazine Names 2008 M2M 100
M2M Magazine - The 2008 M2M 100 is a list of the most important and influential machine-to-machine technology providers as determined by the editors of M2M magazine and its editorial advisory board. It is designed to provide a snapshot of the market as it exists today and the companies with the greatest impact on its direction. The M2M 100 is published annually.
Company / Location - Business
7 Layers Inc. Irvine, California - Engineering/Deployment Services
Accenture Ltd. Hamilton, Bermuda (U.K.) - Application Platform/Middleware
Advantech Cincinnati, Ohio - Embedded Hardware
Aeris Communications San Jose, California - Network Connectivity/Services
Airbiquity Seattle, Washington - Application Platform/Middleware
Arcom Control Systems Inc. Overland Park, Kansas - Embedded Hardware
AT&T Inc. San Antonio, Texas - Network Connectivity/Services
Augusta Systems Inc. Morgantown, West Virginia - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking (RFID)
AVIDWireless Irving, Texas - External Hardware
Axeda Corp. Foxboro, Massachusetts - Application Software
BlueTree Wireless Data Inc. Montreal, Quebec - External Hardware
BOX Telematics West Midlands, United Kingdom - External Hardware
CalAmp Corp. Oxnard, California - Embedded Hardware
CETECOM Inc. Milpitas, California - Machine-to-Machine
Comtech Holdings Ltd. Bolton, England (U.K.) - Application Platform/Middleware
Comtrol Corporation Maple Grove, Minnesota - External Hardware
Connect One Ltd. Phoenix, Arizona - Embedded Hardware
Coronis Systems Inc. Montpellier, France - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
CriticalWireless Corp. Austin, Texas - Application Platform/Middleware
Crossbow Technology Inc. San Jose, California - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
CrossBridge Solutions Lincolnshire, Illinois - Network/Application Services
DataOnline LLC Berkeley Heights, New Jersey - External Hardware
DataRemote Inc. Ventura, California - External Hardware
Digi International Minnetonka, Minnesota - External Hardware
DPAC Technologies Corp. Garden Grove, California - Embedded Hardware
Dust Networks Inc. Hayward, California - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
Echelon Corp. San Jose, California - Application Platform/Middleware
eDevice Bordeaux, France - External Hardware
ei3 Montvale, New Jersey - Application Platform/Middleware
Eka Systems Inc. Germantown, Maryland - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking (RFID)
Ember Corp. Boston, Massachusetts - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
EMRT Pittsford, New York - Engineering/Deployment Services
Enfora LP Plano, Texas - Embedded Hardware
Esprida Corp. Mississauga, Ontario - Application Platform/Middleware
Ezurio Ltd. igh Wycombe, United Kingdom - External Hardware
Falcom USA Inc. Northridge, California - Embedded Hardware
General Electric Co. Fairfield, Connecticut - Application Platform/Middleware
Honeywell Intl. Inc. Morristown, New Jersey - External Hardware
IBM rmonk, New York - Application Platform/Middleware
Integ Process Group Inc. Wexford, Pennsylvania - External Hardware
Iridium Satellite LLC Bethesda, Maryland - Network Connectivity/Services
Isochron Inc. Austin, Texas - Application Platform/Middleware
Janus Remote Communications Aurora, Illinois - Embedded Hardware
Jasper Wireless Inc. Sunnyvale, California - Network Connectivity/Services
Kore Telematics Herndon, Virginia - Network Connectivity/Services
Kyocera Wireless Corp. San Diego, California - Embedded Hardware
Lantronix Inc. Irvine, California - Embedded Hardware
M2M Data Corp. Englewood, Colorado - Application Platform/Middleware
MeshNetics Phoenix, Arizona - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking (RFID)
Millennial Net Burlington, Massachusetts - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
Mobile Electron LLC Lutz, Florida - Deployment Services
Moblize Houston, Texas - Application Platform/Middleware
Morey Corp. Woodridge, Illinois - External Hardware
Motorola Shaumburg, Illinois - Embedded Hardware
MOXA Technologies Brea, California - External Hardware
Multi-Tech Systems, Inc. Mounds View, Minnesota - Embedded Hardware
MWA Intelligence Scottsdale, Arizona - Asset Tracking
NexAira Inc. San Diego, California - Engineering/Deployment Services
Numerex Atlanta, Georgia - Network Connectivity/Services
Omnilink Systems Alpharetta, Georgia - Application Platform/Middleware
Opto22 Temecula, California - External Hardware
Orange SA London, England (U.K.) - Network Connectivity/Services
ORBCOMM Dulles, Virginia - Network Connectivity/Services
Pedigree Technologies Fargo, North Dakota - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking (RFID)
Perle Systems Inc. Nashville, Tennessee - External Hardware
Precidia Technologies Inc. Ottawa, Ontario - Application Platform/Middleware
QUALCOMM Wireless Business Solutions San Diego, California - Network Connectivity/Services
Questra Corp. Redwood City, California - Application Platform/Middleware
Raco Wireless Cincinnati, Ohio - Network Connectivity/Services
RF Monolithics Inc. Dallas, Texas - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
Rogers Business Solutions Toronto, Ontario - Network Connectivity/Services
SAP AG Waldorf, Germany - Application Platform/Middleware
Savi Technology Inc. Mountain View, California - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
Sena Technologies Inc. San Jose, California - Embedded Hardware
Sensicast Systems Inc. Needham, Massachusetts - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
SensorLogic Inc. Addison, Texas - Application Platform/Middleware
Shanghai SimCom Ltd. Shanghai, China - Embedded Hardware
Siemens AG Munich, Germany - Embedded Hardware
Sierra Wireless Richmond, British Columbia - Embedded Hardware
Simple Com Tools Tampa, Florida - External Hardware
SmartSignal Corp. Lisle, Illinois - Application Platform/Middleware
Sprint Nextel Corp. Overland Park, Kansas - Network Connectivity/Services
T-Mobile USA Inc. Bellevue, Washington - Network Connectivity/Services
Telit Morrisville, North Carolina - Embedded Hardware
Telus Mobility Edmonton, Alberta - Network Connectivity/Services
Tendril Networks Inc. Boulder, Colorado - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
Texas Instruments Inc. Dallas, Texas - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
Tridium Richmond, Virginia - Application Platform/Middleware
V2 Telecom Sao Paulo, Brazil - Deployment Services
Velocita Wireless Woodbridge, New Jersey - Network Connectivity/Services
Verizon Wireless Bedminster, New Jersey - Network Connectivity/Services
Vianet Ltd Dunfermline, England (U.K.) - Application Platform/Middleware
Vodafone Group PLC Newbury, England (U.K.) - Network Connectivity/Services
Wavecom Cedex, France - Embedded Hardware
WebTech Wireless Inc. Burnaby, British Columbia - Deployment Services
Wind River Systems Inc. Alameda, California - Engineering/Deployment Services
WinSystems Inc. Arlington, Texas - Embedded Hardware
Wyless PLC Uxbridge, England (U.K.) - Network Connectivity/Services
Your Voice SpA Milano, Italy - Application Platform/Middleware
Ziphany LLC North Tonawanda, New York - Application Platform/Middleware
Copyright © Specialty Publishing Co. 2007
URL: http://www.specialtypub.com/m2m/m2m100/listing.asp
Company / Location - Business
7 Layers Inc. Irvine, California - Engineering/Deployment Services
Accenture Ltd. Hamilton, Bermuda (U.K.) - Application Platform/Middleware
Advantech Cincinnati, Ohio - Embedded Hardware
Aeris Communications San Jose, California - Network Connectivity/Services
Airbiquity Seattle, Washington - Application Platform/Middleware
Arcom Control Systems Inc. Overland Park, Kansas - Embedded Hardware
AT&T Inc. San Antonio, Texas - Network Connectivity/Services
Augusta Systems Inc. Morgantown, West Virginia - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking (RFID)
AVIDWireless Irving, Texas - External Hardware
Axeda Corp. Foxboro, Massachusetts - Application Software
BlueTree Wireless Data Inc. Montreal, Quebec - External Hardware
BOX Telematics West Midlands, United Kingdom - External Hardware
CalAmp Corp. Oxnard, California - Embedded Hardware
CETECOM Inc. Milpitas, California - Machine-to-Machine
Comtech Holdings Ltd. Bolton, England (U.K.) - Application Platform/Middleware
Comtrol Corporation Maple Grove, Minnesota - External Hardware
Connect One Ltd. Phoenix, Arizona - Embedded Hardware
Coronis Systems Inc. Montpellier, France - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
CriticalWireless Corp. Austin, Texas - Application Platform/Middleware
Crossbow Technology Inc. San Jose, California - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
CrossBridge Solutions Lincolnshire, Illinois - Network/Application Services
DataOnline LLC Berkeley Heights, New Jersey - External Hardware
DataRemote Inc. Ventura, California - External Hardware
Digi International Minnetonka, Minnesota - External Hardware
DPAC Technologies Corp. Garden Grove, California - Embedded Hardware
Dust Networks Inc. Hayward, California - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
Echelon Corp. San Jose, California - Application Platform/Middleware
eDevice Bordeaux, France - External Hardware
ei3 Montvale, New Jersey - Application Platform/Middleware
Eka Systems Inc. Germantown, Maryland - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking (RFID)
Ember Corp. Boston, Massachusetts - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
EMRT Pittsford, New York - Engineering/Deployment Services
Enfora LP Plano, Texas - Embedded Hardware
Esprida Corp. Mississauga, Ontario - Application Platform/Middleware
Ezurio Ltd. igh Wycombe, United Kingdom - External Hardware
Falcom USA Inc. Northridge, California - Embedded Hardware
General Electric Co. Fairfield, Connecticut - Application Platform/Middleware
Honeywell Intl. Inc. Morristown, New Jersey - External Hardware
IBM rmonk, New York - Application Platform/Middleware
Integ Process Group Inc. Wexford, Pennsylvania - External Hardware
Iridium Satellite LLC Bethesda, Maryland - Network Connectivity/Services
Isochron Inc. Austin, Texas - Application Platform/Middleware
Janus Remote Communications Aurora, Illinois - Embedded Hardware
Jasper Wireless Inc. Sunnyvale, California - Network Connectivity/Services
Kore Telematics Herndon, Virginia - Network Connectivity/Services
Kyocera Wireless Corp. San Diego, California - Embedded Hardware
Lantronix Inc. Irvine, California - Embedded Hardware
M2M Data Corp. Englewood, Colorado - Application Platform/Middleware
MeshNetics Phoenix, Arizona - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking (RFID)
Millennial Net Burlington, Massachusetts - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
Mobile Electron LLC Lutz, Florida - Deployment Services
Moblize Houston, Texas - Application Platform/Middleware
Morey Corp. Woodridge, Illinois - External Hardware
Motorola Shaumburg, Illinois - Embedded Hardware
MOXA Technologies Brea, California - External Hardware
Multi-Tech Systems, Inc. Mounds View, Minnesota - Embedded Hardware
MWA Intelligence Scottsdale, Arizona - Asset Tracking
NexAira Inc. San Diego, California - Engineering/Deployment Services
Numerex Atlanta, Georgia - Network Connectivity/Services
Omnilink Systems Alpharetta, Georgia - Application Platform/Middleware
Opto22 Temecula, California - External Hardware
Orange SA London, England (U.K.) - Network Connectivity/Services
ORBCOMM Dulles, Virginia - Network Connectivity/Services
Pedigree Technologies Fargo, North Dakota - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking (RFID)
Perle Systems Inc. Nashville, Tennessee - External Hardware
Precidia Technologies Inc. Ottawa, Ontario - Application Platform/Middleware
QUALCOMM Wireless Business Solutions San Diego, California - Network Connectivity/Services
Questra Corp. Redwood City, California - Application Platform/Middleware
Raco Wireless Cincinnati, Ohio - Network Connectivity/Services
RF Monolithics Inc. Dallas, Texas - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
Rogers Business Solutions Toronto, Ontario - Network Connectivity/Services
SAP AG Waldorf, Germany - Application Platform/Middleware
Savi Technology Inc. Mountain View, California - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
Sena Technologies Inc. San Jose, California - Embedded Hardware
Sensicast Systems Inc. Needham, Massachusetts - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
SensorLogic Inc. Addison, Texas - Application Platform/Middleware
Shanghai SimCom Ltd. Shanghai, China - Embedded Hardware
Siemens AG Munich, Germany - Embedded Hardware
Sierra Wireless Richmond, British Columbia - Embedded Hardware
Simple Com Tools Tampa, Florida - External Hardware
SmartSignal Corp. Lisle, Illinois - Application Platform/Middleware
Sprint Nextel Corp. Overland Park, Kansas - Network Connectivity/Services
T-Mobile USA Inc. Bellevue, Washington - Network Connectivity/Services
Telit Morrisville, North Carolina - Embedded Hardware
Telus Mobility Edmonton, Alberta - Network Connectivity/Services
Tendril Networks Inc. Boulder, Colorado - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
Texas Instruments Inc. Dallas, Texas - RFID/Wireless Sensor Networking
Tridium Richmond, Virginia - Application Platform/Middleware
V2 Telecom Sao Paulo, Brazil - Deployment Services
Velocita Wireless Woodbridge, New Jersey - Network Connectivity/Services
Verizon Wireless Bedminster, New Jersey - Network Connectivity/Services
Vianet Ltd Dunfermline, England (U.K.) - Application Platform/Middleware
Vodafone Group PLC Newbury, England (U.K.) - Network Connectivity/Services
Wavecom Cedex, France - Embedded Hardware
WebTech Wireless Inc. Burnaby, British Columbia - Deployment Services
Wind River Systems Inc. Alameda, California - Engineering/Deployment Services
WinSystems Inc. Arlington, Texas - Embedded Hardware
Wyless PLC Uxbridge, England (U.K.) - Network Connectivity/Services
Your Voice SpA Milano, Italy - Application Platform/Middleware
Ziphany LLC North Tonawanda, New York - Application Platform/Middleware
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