The installed capacity of solar power in the U.S. now exceeds all other forms of power generation.Generating solar power at scale with thousands of panels requires new approaches to monitoring and management. Since 2004, SunPower has designed, constructed, managed and supplied high performance solar power plants around the world. More than 3 gigawatts of solar plants rely on SunPower technology today. How does SunPower monitor thousands of solar panels across hundreds of power plants? How are performance issues remotely diagnosed and troubleshot in real-time? How are false alerts distinguished from real ones? To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Can rent-to-buy plans make IoT devices affordable for thousands who need them, but can't afford to buy one?Solar panels can help African farmers with lighting and power, but are often out of reach. How can the purchase price be split into small installment payments that are manageable. How can IoT enable such a business model? How can low-cost devices communicate when both cellular and radio based transmitters aren't viable? How are such devices distributed and payments collected across a vast continent?Angaza’s approach combines IoT devices enabled with SMS based installment payments. BackgroundAround 1.2 billion people live without access to electricity. Off-grid energy appliances and services can address this issue, especially in developing countries. The Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA) expects the off-grid energy and appliance market to be a $50 billion per year opportunity.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
It’s 2020, and the Internet of Things (IoT) is in decline. What happened? People whisper that it started in 2017 when net neutrality was killed.In the spirit of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, here’s what may unfold if net neutrality becomes "pay to play."Loss of net neutrality: The beginning
The regulations were changed with the promise of providing "better" internet access. Internet carriers were given free rein to charge what they liked for traffic on their networks. “Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty carriers are free to rule at last,” exclaimed Bill Paider, a fictional carrier executive paraphrasing Martin Luther King Jr. "We've even published a Carrier Code of Conduct to guide our improved public service!"To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Many industrial IoT systems have open doors that create unintended vulnerabilities. What information could be exposed by open communications protocols? How do hackers identify vulnerable systems? What security resources are available? How do IoT firewalls protect against such threats?TCP Port 502 vulnerabilities
Many industrial systems use TCP Port 502, which allows two hosts to establish a connection and exchange streams of data. TCP guarantees delivery of data and that packets will be delivered on port 502 in the same order in which they were sent. This creates the risk of remote attackers to install arbitrary firmware updates via a MODBUS 125 function code to TCP port 502. Scans from services such as Shodan identify systems that have an open TCP port 502 that could be vulnerable.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Many industrial IoT systems have open doors that create unintended vulnerabilities. What information could be exposed by open communications protocols? How do hackers identify vulnerable systems? What security resources are available? How do IoT firewalls protect against such threats?TCP Port 502 vulnerabilities
Many industrial systems use TCP Port 502, which allows two hosts to establish a connection and exchange streams of data. TCP guarantees delivery of data and that packets will be delivered on port 502 in the same order in which they were sent. This creates the risk of remote attackers to install arbitrary firmware updates via a MODBUS 125 function code to TCP port 502. Scans from services such as Shodan identify systems that have an open TCP port 502 that could be vulnerable.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
What could go wrong with IoT devices? A lot when it comes to dozens of such devices working close to one another if not tested for interoperability first. Is the connected thermostat interfering with the smart TV? Or has the IoT-enabled door lock been hacked through the security camera?How do you to test if the smart appliances from different vendors work with your smart home ecosystem? Is one compromising the security of another? How do consumers really use their IoT devices?Underwriters Laboratories (UL) uses a real home fitted with IoT appliances and devices as a testing lab to find out.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The global seafood industry is over $190 billion. Millions of fishers take to the oceans each day to feed local communities and a growing global appetite for seafood.How can the demand for fish be met while maintaining healthy oceans? A new IoT-based solution holds promise.Background: The challenge of monitoring fishing boats
Over half of the world’s seafood is exported from developing countries. Much of the catch is from small fishing boats, which are difficult to monitor and protect. Commercial fishing in developing regions typically occurs within 30 miles from land. Establishing a communication channel that can support hundreds of fishing boats spread out over a large area is a challenge. Boats are small and lack dependable power. Devices have to be both affordable and rugged.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The global seafood industry is over $190 billion. Millions of fishers take to the oceans each day to feed local communities and a growing global appetite for seafood.How can the demand for fish be met while maintaining healthy oceans? A new IoT-based solution holds promise.Background: The challenge of monitoring fishing boats
Over half of the world’s seafood is exported from developing countries. Much of the catch is from small fishing boats, which are difficult to monitor and protect. Commercial fishing in developing regions typically occurs within 30 miles from land. Establishing a communication channel that can support hundreds of fishing boats spread out over a large area is a challenge. Boats are small and lack dependable power. Devices have to be both affordable and rugged.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Did you resolve to workout more this year? If you're like many, that resolution didn't last.One way to improve and strengthen your resolve is to track your workouts. But manually tracking sessions is messy. How many drills were done? What weights were used? How well did you perform the exercises? Should any adjustments be made?To help, PureCarbon has created IoT-enabled Delta Gloves. They help you keep your exercise resolutions and improve your workouts.The Delta Gloves
The challenge with monitoring exercise workouts is that they require small sensors with low power requirements and the ability to work without connectivity. PureCarbon’s Delta Gloves use piezoresistive sensors, Bluetooth and advanced data analytics to track weights lifted, exercises performed and the number of reps performed.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
San Francisco depends on a thousand miles of sewers to keep the city running smoothly.The city collects up to 500 million gallons of waste water in a day when it rains. This waste water is transported to one of three treatment plants where pollutants are removed before being discharged into San Francisco Bay.Processing sewage is challenging in San Francisco because the city has the Pacific Ocean on three sides of it. During storm conditions, groundwater and storm water can overload the sewage system. Physical, chemical and biological processes remove contaminants from the waste water. This produces environmentally safe water and sewage sludge as a byproduct.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A homeowner reports a robbery. His IoT-enabled pacemaker doesn’t indicate any change in heart rate during the robbery? Can investigators obtain that information from the service provider? Should they?+ Also on Network World: Cops use pacemaker data to charge homeowner with arson, insurance fraud +
Issues of privacy increase as IoT sensors collect more information about us. What rights do individuals have over the information collected about them? Can the accuracy of sensor data be trusted?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A homeowner reports a robbery. His IoT-enabled pacemaker doesn’t indicate any change in heart rate during the robbery? Can investigators obtain that information from the service provider? Should they?+ Also on Network World: Cops use pacemaker data to charge homeowner with arson, insurance fraud +
Issues of privacy increase as IoT sensors collect more information about us. What rights do individuals have over the information collected about them? Can the accuracy of sensor data be trusted?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered people of Japanese descent, many American citizens, to be relocated to internment camps. Even those with as little as one-sixteenth Japanese blood were interned. Over 110,000 Japanese Americans from California, Oregon, Washington and Arizona were affected. Many had just six days to sell all their possessions before being interned!President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act in 1988, which apologized for the internment on behalf of the U.S. government. The legislation admitted that government actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Power grids were bombed in World War II to cripple industrial output. Today, attacks against Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure causes even broader disruptions—without bombs.The danger is real. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently published guidelines to “provide a strategic focus on security and enhance the trust framework that underpins the IoT ecosystem.” The report explains why security has to be a combined effort.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Power grids were bombed in World War II to cripple industrial output. Today, attacks against Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure causes even broader disruptions—without bombs.The danger is real. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently published guidelines to “provide a strategic focus on security and enhance the trust framework that underpins the IoT ecosystem.” The report explains why security has to be a combined effort.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
“Whoever makes two ears of corn, or two blades of grass to grow where only one grew before, deserves better of mankind, and does more essential service to his country than the whole race of politicians put together”.Steven Valenscin, the founder of Growers exemplifies this 400-year-old quote by Jonathan Swift.Steven grew up working on his family farm in Washington State. After serving in the US Navy, He started North Carolina’s first private soil testing laboratory and then combined his passion for soil fertility and farming to found Growers. Steven aims to simplify the complex world of agronomy into precise farm management decisions.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Surfers conduct scientific research while surfing. Seriously. And it’s a valuable contribution.Coastal communities are most affected by climate change. The problem is strong waves make it difficult to install sensors close to coastlines to monitor near-shore conditions. Surfers, however, flock to big waves. Is it possible to use surfers to cost-effectively gather near-shore data around the globe—to turn them into citizen scientists? Researchers in the Smartfin project say yes. Background of the Smartfin project
Smartfin is the brain child of Dr. Andrew Stern at The Lost Bird Project. It is engineered by Benjamin Thompson of BoardFormula. Surfrider Foundation provides logistical and outreach support for the distribution of fins to its network of surfers worldwide. And researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, one of the world’s leading institutions for oceanographic research, validate the scientific application of Smartfin in the surf zone.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Sometimes you really are on your own. And calling for directions isn’t feasible.It’s the same with many IoT systems. Centrally processing large volumes of sensor data slows decision making and increases bandwidth demand. Many decisions are better made close to the source.Which decisions should be made close to the network edge and which centrally? Where are the trade-offs? Which applications are best suited for local decision making? Three fog computing experts share some insights.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Are you listening to streaming music right now?Spotify, SoundCloud or Pandora?You’re not alone. Streaming is the most popular way to listen to music. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reports that music streaming services are its biggest source of revenue—ahead of digital downloads and CDs.The streaming music trend is a challenge and opportunity for the music industry. D+M Group (also often referred to as Denon + Marantz Electronics), with over 100 years of audio heritage, is no stranger to changing trends. It designs, manufactures and sells consumer and professional audio, video and media equipment. Its amplifiers and speakers and multi-room audio are used around the globe.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The San Francisco 49ers are my home football team. They aren't doing too well in the NFC West standings these days. On the plus side, though, they do have a great stadium.Levi's Stadium is about 40 miles south of San Francisco in Santa Clara, California. It seats more than 65,000 spectators in two bowl-like structures. The logistics are daunting for a stadium that big. Consider the issues involved with getting thousands of fans to their seats quickly and securely in time to enjoy the game.
Parking—Purchasing parking passes digitally and providing turn-by-turn directions to the visitor's assigned lot
Navigation—Helping fans quickly and easily find their seats
Security—Mitigating risks and enabling fans to be the eyes and ears of the stadium and report any security issues that may occur.
Refreshments—Ensuring fans get the food and beverages they want, when they want them.
Beacons, IoT sensors and sophisticated mobile apps have elevated the experience for 49ers fans and changed the game for venue operators.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Deepak Puri