Cloudwash — designed by the folks at Berg — is a prototype washing machine (based on a standard Zanussi model) connected to a web platform. The team created the futuristic device to explore how the ever-growing Internet of Things would change the appliances most commonly found in our homes, and to discover what new, innovative features would be made possible.
With the smart machine, users would be able to remotely program wash loads and even purchase detergent, for instance, all through the touch of a button using its simple companion mobile app. In order to make this a reality, the team modded a Zanussi and intercepted both its connection and system controls by inserting an Arduino Mega (ATmega1280). This would then enable the megaAVR based board to read and write the serial data that was passing to and fro.
This reverse engineering provided essential infrastructural information on the machine, which through logging, allowed the Berg crew to gather intel on how the interface system instructs the control system to begin or end a wash, and the manner in which it relays data back to update the view on the interface.
“Given this knowledge, we used a custom PCB and our own Devshields to give the Zanussi a web API via the Berg platform. Using this API we could (a) listen for wash instructions from the machine; and (b) send commands to trigger washes and update the interface, all from a regular website.”
The communication network was built around Node.js and MySQL, serving as a virtual database of each connected machine’s programed state. Initiated events are updated in the database and subsequently sent to a paired iOS device via push notification.
Currently, Cloudwash offers three basic customizable options, which can be configured using the smartphone app. The control system is capable of presetting washes, timing cycles, and pushing notifications/e-commerce.
What if you never had to run out to the corner store again? What if you no longer had to be yelled at by your significant other for forgetting to remind them that the detergent was empty? Imagine a day when simply pressing one of a washing machine’s buttons results in either a reminder to the user to buy detergent, or even more convenient, directly alerting a vendor to purchase the soap.
While the device is merely a prototype, it does offer both the industry and masses a glimpse into how the Internet of Things (IoT) is capable of significantly changing our daily routine.
Most recently, our friends at EDN explored Berg’s IoT prototyping case study, which “makes [an] interesting reading for those considering or involved in IoT development, especially if they are updating a product to make it Internet ready.” (You can read that resourceful piece here.)
Indeed, the IoT comprises a combination of multiple market segments, tens of thousands of OEMs and hundreds of thousands of products. To be sure, the IoT is seen by many as the next wave of dramatic market growth for semiconductors and is expected to be worth trillions of dollars for a wide range of industries.
As this market takes shape, you’ll find Atmel continue to power the edge nodes that form the link between individual devices (like washing machines) and the gateways that connect to the cloud. From embedded processing and connectivity to sensors, security, and software, we’re connecting each of the IoT’s building blocks with a rich ecosystem of design tools and development partners.
According to MIT Media Lab researcher David Rose, the term “enchanted object” is used to describe any everyday object with extraordinary functions. “We are now standing at the precipice of the next transformative development: the Internet of Things. Soon, connected technology will be embedded in hundreds of everyday objects we already use: our cars, wallets, watches, umbrellas, even our trash cans. These objects will respond to our needs, come to know us, and learn to think on our behalf,” Rose notes in his latest book.
Entitled “Enchanted Objects: Design, Human Desire, and the Internet of Things,” the book depicts the blueprint for a better (or shall we say ‘smarter’) future, where efficient solutions come hand in hand with technology that delights our sense. Not only are these innovative things fun and alluring, they may hold the key to better satisfying our needs and improving our lives. “The big lesson here for companies is that they need to embrace and start designing for this world of enchanted objects,” Rose said in a recent BI:Tech interview. “It will mean a key change for how we interact with technology, and it’s a great opportunity for all of these traditional product companies.”
Rose believes that the IoT will be fully realized in the near future. To prepare for it at this moment, he is developing technology that analyzes photographs. The die-hard Maker emphasizes that cameras will soon be everywhere, capturing photos of everything. “We’re already seeing this materializing. DropCam allows people to stream videos of their homes and the Narrative camera records everything you do in a day. The photos recorded by these devices are not attractive or artistic, but the meta-data within them is stunning,” he told Fast Company.
As we prepare for this embedded future — where versatile microcontrollers will give once-ordinary objects super “powers” — let’s explore some of the coolest, most enchanted objects currently in our world today. From a pill bottle that can alert you when you’ve skipped your medication to an umbrella that says whether it’ll rain, these objects provide us with a glimpse into smarter society — one where fairy tales actually become reality.
Always seem to forget to take that pill in the morning or before bed? This smart cap will remind you to take your medications by lighting up, making chirping sounds, and eventually sending you a text message. You can share your medication data with a remote loved one, a professional caregiver, and even your pharmacy. No more calling to refill those prescriptions!
Created at the MIT Media Lab, the Google Latitude Doorbell chimes a tune when a family member is approaching the house. Each family member has their own tune. Have some fun with it: Imagine setting it to play “Master of the House” from Les Misérables as you approached the door, or the Jaws theme song for your mother-in-law.
When you think of David Rose and ambient object, this “magical” orb is often times the first thing that pops into mind. This device tracks real-time data for the stock market, pollen count, traffic congestion, and more, and glows specific colors to let you know if the data looks good or bad.
Feel like you’re walking on sunshine? This small will let you know whether you’re actually taking in enough bright light during your day, in order to help you improve your energy levels, sleep cycle, mood, and so much more.
Let’s face it, energy bills are the worst — especially those living in extremely cold climates in the winter and warm in the summer. To better help you save a buck or two, the Energy Joule can track energy costs by glowing red if prices are high, yellow if prices are average, and green if prices are low.
“Like!” Developed at the MIT Media Lab, this incredibly social-savvy coffee table listens to your conversations and displays photos from your Facebook page whenever they are appropriate to the conversation. Think Mark Zuckerberg meets Minority Report.
Never quite sure as to which outfit to buy? Ladies, you’re in luck. This smart mirror records the outfits you try on, so you can compare them and decide what to buy or wear. Never have to go back and forth again.
Amazon Trash Can
Forget to replace the toilet paper? Run out of milk? Need laundry detergent? This trash can can now scans any object you’re disposing and automatically reorder it from Amazon.
Created at the MIT Media Lab, the chair plays various music based on your level of incline. Envision the possibilities: Sit back, relax and enjoy the tunes of the caribbean. Or, sit upright, intensely focus on your work while listening to some “Eye of the Tiger.”
As our days get too busy, it can quickly become too difficult to manage our liquid intake. Luckily, a smart cup can do that for you — it knows what kind of fluid you’re drinking and track how many calories and how much sugar, fat, protein, sodium, and caffeine are in that beverage.
Tired of always having to grab the computer, flip it open and sign into Skype? Thanks to this recent creation from MIT Media Lab, all you have to do is simply open a wooden door and connect to a friend or loved one via Skype. No more setup, bad lighting, or those irritating headphones.
NOTHING, we repeat NOTHING is worse than losing your luggage while traveling. This smart luggage tracker can slide right inside your suitcase and inform you of its whereabouts using its companion app, which connects to the tracking device.
Are the culprit in your household’s excessive energy consumption? This innovative clock shares real-time feedback on the amount of energy your home is using. It learns your consumption habits, then offers some subtle feedback on how you’re tracking against yourself.
As we inch closer to a Jetsons-like future, of course there will be smart locks! Easily lock and unlock your door with your smartphone, after snapping pictures of visitors at your door and automatically sending real-time picture alerts to your device.
Yes, this is exactly what it looks like: a WiFi-enabled rabbit. Unlike Peter Cottontail, this device tells you the time, a recap of the week, RSS news feeds, a report on the air quality or traffic, an MP3 alarm clock, a weather forecast, a stock ticker, and even e-mail alerts.
IoT’s Impact on Human-Tech Relationship
In a recent interview with O’Reilly Radar, Rose explored technology and its implications by first focusing on user needs. He stated, “I am confident that enchanted objects will change how we live. They will change health. They will change transportation. They will change housing. They will change how we understand our own habits around energy and resource conservation, and they will even help us with creativity and expression. I’m confident there’s a promising future in terms of this new way of interacting and positioning ourselves relative to technology. I think one of the biggest challenges is to not think about this as computing. I don’t think there is a ‘future of computing.’”
As O’Reilly Radar’s Mary Treseler notes, designers and entrepreneurs alike must focus on creating products and services that focus on human desires and needs — omniscience, telepathy, safekeeping, immortality, teleportation, expression, many of which mentioned above.
“If you can invent things that resonate with people’s existing drives, desires, fantasies — the ones that we’ve had for a millennium that are revealed through fairy tales and through folklore and through pop culture — you’re much more likely to succeed,” Rose adds. (You can listen to the entire interview here.)
Evident from the ambient objects above, a connected future is well on its way. From lighting to energy, a new generation of smart products set to increasingly power our lives calls for smarter chips. Internet and wireless enabled devices embedded with microcontrollers will give these once-ordinary “things” new science fiction-like future. Evident by the aforementioned examples, David Rose’s concept serves as a blueprint for our next-generational world, one in which is equipped with countless sensors, data and real-time interaction.
Another year, another couple of spots on EDN’s Hot 100 Products list! Just announced, the industry publication has chosen both the newly-unveiled Arduino Wi-Fi Shield 101 and the Atmel | SMART SAM G family among this 2014’s hottest boards and development tools helping to enable key trends like the Internet of Things, wearables and security, as well emerging technologies such as 3D printing and wireless power.
“Of the many thousands of products announced during the past year, the EDN Hot 100 are the products that especially caught the attention of our editors and readers. We are pleased to share the tradition of showcasing these technologies as we celebrate the 21st anniversary of this program,” said Rich Pell, EDN’s Executive and Chief Technical Editor.
The SAM G ARM Cortex-M4-based MCU lineup integrates high-performance and ultra-low power in a small form factor, and is ideal for a wide-range of sensor hub and battery-operated consumer applications, including healthcare, gateways, bridges and audio devices.
Optimized for ultra-low power, high-performance applications, Atmel’s SAM G MCU family can be found in products shipping from Tier 1 OEMs around the world from wearables to sensor hub management solutions in smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. The family is based on an ARM Cortex-M4 core for unparalleled efficiency, and optimized with a highly efficient set of serial peripherals including a 12-bit ADC, DMA, a good SRAM-to-flash ratio and an optional floating point unit (FPU).
In the rapidly growing market for smart, connected devices in the Internet of Things (IoT) era, there is a demand for MCUs with ultra-small form factors, rich features, high performance and lower power. As a result, Atmel’s new SAM G51 and SAM G53 series meet all these requirements with 3x3mm packaging, high-performance frequency at 48MHz, ultra-low power consumption down to 100µA/MHz in active mode, 7µA in sleep with SRAM retention and down to 3µs wake-up time.
“This recognition further validates Atmel as a leading provider of smart, connected solutions for the booming IoT market,” explained Vince Murdica, Atmel Senior Director of Sensor Centric Systems Business Unit. “Atmel is committed to providing best-in-class MCU, touch, connectivity and security solutions for IoT applications. Our SAM G family sets the bar for wearables and sensor hub processing capabilities, affirmed by EDN’s selection. We’re thrilled EDN readers and editors have awarded Atmel’s SAM G family in EDN’s Hot 100 Products for 2014.”
Meanwhile, the ongoing collaboration between both Arduino and Atmel has produced a new Arduino Wi-Fi Shield 101 which made its debut at the World Maker Faire back in September. The shield looks to facilitate rapid prototyping of IoT applications on the highly-popular open-source platform.
The cost-effective, secure Arduino Wi-Fi Shield 101 is an easy-to-use extension that can seamlessly be connected to any Arduino board enabling high-performance Wi-Fi connectivity. This new device gives the design community more opportunities to securely connect applications, ranging from consumer goods to wearables, robotics, high-tech devices and more.
The Arduino Wi-Fi Shield 101 is powered by Atmel’s wireless network controller — part of the Atmel SmartConnect family — and also includes the CryptoAuthentication device which allows users to easily incorporate hardware authentication capability in their design.
Makers can now sync the shield to any modern Arduino R3 board, thereby enabling connectivity to the Internet using any traditional Wi-Fi access points. It is based on the WINC1500 802.11b/g/n network controller which features an integrated TCP/IP stack, TLS security and SoftAP for seamless provisioning. The Atmel authentication security device can be used for keys, passwords or secret data.
“In this increasingly connected world, the Arduino Wi-Fi Shield 101 will help drive more inventions in the IoT market,” explained Arduino Co-Founder Massimo Banzi. “Expanding our portfolio of Arduino extensions, this new shield can flawlessly connect to any modern Arduino board giving our community more options for connectivity, along with added security elements to their creative projects.”
With IoT, low power and security among EDN’s annual trends, it’s no wonder both the Wi-Fi Shield 101 and SAM G family have been named to the list. Want to read the entire press release? You can do so here.
In what may have been the most highly-anticipated Android Wear smartwatch to date, the Moto 360 is equipped with a bold round face, heart rate monitor, and comes in both black and grey metal finishes. During a recent teardown from the Adafruit crew, Limor Fried even referred to it as a “jam-packed watch [that’s] kind of intense. [They] basically crammed a phone into a watch.”
Upon dissecting the device, Fried reveals an MXT112S capacitive controller embedded within the watch, thereby confirming that the device is indeed powered by Atmel. “This is not a TI chip, this is from Atmel. Reason why they didn’t go with a TI chip is because TI doesn’t have a chip that does this,” she adds.
The wearable boasts a 1.56-inch, 320×290 display with a backlit LCD touchscreen. The Moto 360’s body comes in at a diameter of 46mm and height of 11.5mm, while the leather band model weighs 49g – essentially, the same weight as your everyday wristwatch. Enhancing its durability, the attractive display is protected by a Gorilla Glass 3 covering.
Like all Android Wear devices, the Moto 360 features a wake-on-wrist-flick and automatic voice response via the “Ok Google” trigger, which allows a wearer to send texts, set reminders and such. It is compatible with any Android phone or tablet running Android 4.3 or higher, and has IP67 water resistance with submersion of up to 1 meter for 30 minutes. What this means: Shower, good. Swimming, not so much.
The Moto 360′s 320mAh battery should get you about a day of mixed usage. Additionally, the smartwatch comes with a pretty standard 4GB of internal storage and 512MB of RAM, in addition to the vibration motor included for notifications. Like other smartwatches, the Motorola accessory can be connected to your mobile device using Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy.
Interested in learning more about the brains of this wearable gadget? Watch the entire teardown from Adafruit below!
50% of those considering buying a smart wristband will choose a smartwatch instead, says Gartner.
According to Gartner’s most recent report, smart wristbands will decrease in popularity over the next year as consumers will migrate to more all-purpose smartwatch devices. However, the market for smart wristbands and other fitness monitors will experience a resurgence come 2016 because of versatile designs with lower-cost displays, as well as the arrival of smart garments.
While smart wristbands are expected to dip a bit from 70 million units in 2014 to 68.1 million devices in 2015, Gartner suggests this temporary decline in sales will be a result of an overlap in functionality between the bands, fitness monitors and smartwatches.
“Smartwatches having retail prices of $149 or more will typically have the capability to track activity and have accelerometers and gyroscopes similar to their smart wristband cousins. The smartwatches differ from smart wristbands in that smartwatches need to display the time and have a user interface oriented around communication. However, some smart wristbands have the ability to display and send text messages,” explained Angela McIntyre, Gartner Research Director.
While these wrist-adorned devices will carry on, Gartner believes the emergence of less invasive devices, particularly smart garments, will potentially disrupt the wearables space. So much so that embedded clothing shipments are projected to rise from a mere 0.1 million units in 2014 to 26 million units in 2016.
For those unfamiliar with the territory, smart garments typically refer to items ranging from t-shirts with bio-sensing circuitry woven into its fibers — which may be able to monitor vital signs more accurately given its larger body surface area — to sensor-laden athletic shoes.
The research firm believes that this product category has the greatest potential for growth going forward because “the category is emerging from the testing phase and smart shirts are available to athletes and coaches of professional teams.” Take for instance, Ralph Lauren’s Polo Tech smart apparel collection which made quite the ‘racket’ at this year’s U.S. Open. In collaboration with OMSignal, the shirt was equipped with embedded sensors, including an accelerometer, a gyroscope and a heart rate monitor.
Aside from Polo’s latest breakthrough, Adidas miCoach and Under Armour’s E39 compression shirts, e-textiles have the ability to revolutionize the manner in which data is tracked and measured in healthcare, fitness, military and industrial settings. Writing for Forbes, Robert J. Szczerba recently highlighted an array of smart garment products that are either already or will soon be available:
1) AiQ Smart Clothing Company produces a line of smart apparel, including conductive gloves for smudge-free touchscreen use, clothes that light up, clothes that give off evenly distributed heat, and even metal mesh clothing that shields the wearer from radiation.
2) Designer Pauline Van Dongen offers a wearable solar clothing collection. Her coats and dresses integrate solar cells that can charge your smartphone, but be obscured with fabric when not in use.
3) SmartSox help prevent amputations in diabetes patients who have lost sensation in their feet. They incorporate fiber optics and sensors to monitor temperature, pressure, and the angles of joints in the feet, and alert the wearer or caregiver of any developing problems.
4) Exmobaby is smart clothing designed for newborn and infants. Sensors monitor vital signs and movement, and send this information to 3G and Bluetooth components that can issue appropriate alerts.
5) Researchers at Universidad Carlos III in Madrid, Spain have developed an intelligent hospital gown that wirelessly measures body temperature, heart rate, patient location, and whether the patient is sitting, standing, lying down, walking, or running.
“Smart garments is the newest market out there. In 2014 there really are very few of these on the market. They’re more like betas, the few that are actually being sold. But that’s why we see such large growth,” McIntyre added.
This doesn’t take into account the countless number of soft electronics DIY projects either. Inspired to create their very own smart textiles, Makers have embraced various Atmel powered platforms specifically designed for wearable applications, including the Arduino Lilypad (ATmega328) and Adafruit’s FLORA (ATmega32U4), which can be easily daisy chained with various sensors for GPS, motion and light.
One protocol, and its descendants, drove the success of the World Wide Web. IP, or Internet Protocol, is the basis of every browser connection and the backbone of IT data centers. Some assumed that the Internet of Things would follow suit, with the thought that having an IP address would be a sufficient condition to connect.
The problem on the IoT isn’t IP – the problem is all the stuff layered on top of it. Running protocols such as HTTP, SSL, and XML requires significant compute power and memory space. The average PC, smartphone, or tablet has enough horsepower today to do that, but the average sensor running on a smaller microcontroller does not. (ARM Cortex-M7 notwithstanding.)
To combat that, the industry has spawned a huge list of alternative, mostly non-interoperable IoT protocols. A partial list: 6LoWPAN, AllJoyn, AMQP, ANT+, Bluetooth, CoAP, DASH7, DDS, INSTEON, KNX, MQTT, NFC, RFID, STOMP, Thread, Weightless, XMPP, ZigBee, and Z-Wave. New consortia are popping up weekly with more ideas.
Searching for an IoT “god protocol”, one unifying end-to-end protocol serving all things, is silly. At one end, sensors have different requirements such as range, RF spectrum, security, topology, and power consumption. At the other, any successful IoT strategy will ultimately need to integrate with an IP-based cloud in some form. Greenfields of any scale rarely exist. IoT applications need to connect and exchange data.
The answer is building a multi-protocol bridge between sensors and actuators, mobile devices, and the cloud. Ideally, code would be open source, and would provide scalability to span a wide range of devices in large numbers. Additionally, transport would be reliable, surviving brief intermittency in wireless connections.
More and more organizations are embracing MQTT as part of the bridge. MQTT offers a full-up version running over TCP/IP, and a slimmed down version MQTT-SN for non-IP devices. Its publish/subscribe model allows topologies to scale while retaining real-time characteristics and configurable quality of service.
IBM started the whole MQTT movement as a message broker for mainframes and servers, with integration into WebSphere for web services. They then opened it up for embedded use in a release to OASIS and the Eclipse Foundation.
A big piece of IBM Bluemix is the IoT Foundation, a cloud-based instance of MQTT with predefined topic structures and message formats. Mobile apps are already using MQTT, with applications such as Facebook Messenger and Salesforce.com. IBM also has an e-book on MQTT in mobile.
Other recent developments to consider:
ARM’s mbed device server seeks to replace a generic web server with one tailored for the IoT. Built from technology in the Sensinode acquisition, ARM has brought HTTP, CoAP, and MQTT together in one platform.
2lemetry has taken that a step further with ThingFabric, integrating protocol actors including MQTT, CoAP, and STOMP, along with extensibility.
PubNub has taken a websocket connections approach running over MQTT, focusing on low latency, reliable delivery from a cloud implementation. There is a good PubNub guest post on Atmel Bits & Pieces describing the approach.
Open source motivates many folks, and one of the more interesting individual projects out there is a bridge for AllJoyn to MQTT. If successful, the implications could be significant, such as controlling home entertainment devices directly from Facebook on a mobile device.
Again, I don’t think there is a “god protocol” that will take over the IoT once and for all, satisfying each and every use case. The winners are going to integrate multi-protocol bridges to serve as wide a range of use cases as possible. The ability of MQTT to connect sensors and mobile devices to big data systems in real time is drawing more participants in.
This post has been republished with permission from SemiWiki.com, where Don Dingee is a featured blogger. It first appeared there on November 5, 2014.
While ARM TechCon 2014 may be a thing of the past, product releases, discussions and trends from the show floor continue to make their way forward. Case in point, Design World’s Aimee Kalnoskas recently sat down with our very own Kaivan Karimi to discuss the building blocks of the ever-growing Internet of Things in a candid post-TechCon interview. During the conversation, the Atmel VP and GM of Wireless Solutions shares his insights and adds flavor and some color to this ‘thing’ commonly referred to as IoT. You can read the entire interview — which was brought to our attention by our friends at ARM and whose original article can be found here — in its entirety below.
AK: What do you think the IoT infrastructure looks like? How does it compare to the current communications infrastructure?
KK: The first thing we must do is to define the IoT industry infrastructure properly – what kinds of devices are connected and how are they connected. We then define the infrastructure of IoT services to determine what the weak points within this infrastructure and how do we resolve them.
First, let us define the weak points. For a while, the cellular operators where the ones claiming that IoT was all about cellular “telemetry-like” services. In IoT, most “things” will be battery operated, requiring long battery lives. But if you assume a cellphone tower is making the connections through an LTE modem with less than two days of battery life, then you can see why edge nodes of IoT have practically nothing to do with cellular. Additionally, IoT is all about secure low data rate command- and control- type of communications, but cellular generally is not. The fact is that by the time IoT services role out, cellular pipes will only carry about five to 10 percent of the WAN traffic. There are many reasons why cellular is the wrong pipe.
IoT communications infrastructure would be based on a “smart” box inside of the home or premise –hierarchical gateways – but not the access points of today. Today’s access points only switch, route and collect information upstream or retrieve it from downstream. For IoT, there will be a new generation of smart gateways that will have intelligence on board to process the information, make decisions, and disperse that information. This “smart gateway” functionality could be an add-on to the existing access points or set-top boxes, or could be a standalone box, but the bottom line is that the “intelligence” will move to the customer premises versus only in the cloud today.
A smart gateway accesses the cloud using various WAN communication technologies, which would be different than BAN/PAN/LAN connectivity technologies used inside the home or on premise. Due to the variety of end segments IoT covers, the smart gateway can be installed anywhere, depending on the use case and application within a given IoT segment.
For example in a smart-highway use case, the gateway is inside a shiny cabinet on the side of a bridge, communicating with tiny seismic sensors (microphones) positioned on the bridge. In the Western world, we have an aging infrastructure, with multiple incidents of collapsing bridges in the past few years. Each of these inexpensive seismic sensors can generate a ping every 30 seconds measuring the integrity of the bridge every 30 minutes or so, and ensure against future bridge collapses.
In this case, communication from the sensor to the gateway or the box is short-range. That can be one of the many 802.15.4 (mesh) technologies such as ZigBee, 6LowPAN, Wireless Hart, etc. Communication through the gateway to the cloud, on the other hand, is WAN connectivity such as Fiber/Ethernet through local networks, cellular, satellite, PLM/PLC, or the next generation of IoT pipes in sub-GHz bands such as SigFox, Weightless, etc.
AK: What’s the role of the smart gateway with regards to provisioning a service?
KK: Think about how you create value as a service provider. It’s this idea of service provision. You need to be concerned not only about connecting the widget but the service delivery frameworks that sit on top of that connection and manage the overall system ensuring quality of service, as well as security of the service.
Smart gateways are key drivers for IoT communications. For instance, a smart gateway in a home could involve communication between thermostats to the gateway box but there is little value in simply connecting these widgets. You need to create a tangible value – the box needs to provision the IoT service. Also note that not everyone is technology savvy enough to program these connections….something we usually lose sight of in Silicon Valley. It needs to become foolproof so that a non-techy can use it just as easily. Again, service providers will play a key role in that.
There is a belief that the IoT edge nodes will generate massive amounts of data and this will all go to the cloud, so you need a lot of bandwidth, a lot of storage space, and data management in the cloud. This is a big fallacy advertised by the people who make money from big bandwidth or cloud storage.
Let’s illustrate what we mean here: For example, consider a thermostat in your home set between 73 and 75 degrees F. A sensor comes on every few seconds and notes what the temperature is. The gateway box gets that information and registers it but it doesn’t need to send it to the cloud because that’s not necessary (not a “cloud-worthy” event). The gateway captures the event from a certain time span and simply registers it – say from 1:25PM to 1:45PM it was 74 degrees F. Now, if the sensor communicates to the box that the temperature has gone to 76 degrees F, then the box activates the air conditioner (actuates). But it still doesn’t need to go to the cloud.
At some point, the thermostat might reach 90 degrees in a couple of readings and then, two intervals later, 110 degrees. The box determines that this is not a false reading but, perhaps, an event and alerts the smoke detector to the event. Smoke sensed by the device confirms the event.
The gateway then communicates this information to the cloud and an emergency call is triggered to the fire department. Test have shown that in a scenario like this, when the sensor device (i.e. thermostat) and gateway are involved, you shave about 15 to 18 minutes of police or EMT-response time off of an otherwise manual 911 call. This event is an exception that goes to the cloud right away. Think about how often someone’s house catches on fire, and you see that indeed this is an exception and not the rule.
In a mobile health (mHealth) application, you could monitor heart rate or check other biometrics with the gateway box perhaps every five minutes. The sensor simply delivers the information to the box as opposed to the scenario where a healthcare worker checks in with a patient every few hours and spends less than three seconds checking vitals. If you are monitoring a potential heart attack patient and the vitals are within range, then the box records the event as satisfactory. But if the patient is having a heart attack, that is an exception to the event and the box calls the hospital.
The bottom line is that it is not necessary to be continuously communicating to the cloud. Because you upload metadata and not all the data at scheduled intervals, you consume far less bandwidth and power.
AK: What are the real or perceived challenges with adding connectivity to devices for IoT?
KK: The reason the industry has challenges is that most wireless-device connectivity technologies (i.e. Wi-Fi, BT) traditionally have been designed for cellular, enterprise, and data communications. In these applications, the device is always on so the off state is not a consideration. These are also data-intensive applications that demand bandwidth to carry the data. However, IoT devices such as the tiny sensors in thermostats, smoke detectors, or entries to a house, or those sensors on the bridges, or moister sensors in a farm, for example, are almost all battery-operated devices and spend most of their time in sleep or off condition.
If you architect it the traditional way then, yes, you will have power-consumption issues. In IoT, the total cost of ownership is extremely important, due to the large number of devices that will be deployed. Hence, it is not cost effective to send technicians out into the field to change batteries on these devices every four to six months. In consumer applications, the batteries need to last between four and five years, and in industrial anywhere from eight-12 years. What we need for IoT communication devices is a new generation of wireless connectivity solutions, built from the ground up for IoT applications and battery operation. Implementing Wi-Fi in an IoT application cannot be about simply retrofitting from another market where power consumption is far less of a consideration and using it now for IoT, which most vendors are doing today.
Connectivity in IoT is a new way of doing things, hence you need to enable additional modes of operation (including deep-sleep modes) from a software and device-architecture perspective. You also need to enable very fast shut down and wake-up time, as well as partial memory retention to bring the device back to a known state of connection with the least leakage current possible.
One size does not fit all in IoT connectivity and a broad portfolio is required. If a vendor does not have multiple wireless technology capabilities, they cannot offer a complete solution. Simply because you don’t have expertise in a technology or IP, does not mean that the technology is not applicable. Even in 802.15.4, you use ZigBee for lighting and use 6lowPAN for home automation, but you may also need Bluetooth Smart and/or NFC for secure pairing in a multimode solution.
AK: What role do microcontrollers play in this market?
KK: From an architecture perspective, IoT devices are smart devices and what makes them smart is the tiny MCU. All IoT edge nodes include an MCU or MPU, connectivity, sensors and sensing platforms, and an energy source. About 85 percent of IoT devices use MCUs, and the rest will use MPUs. Design an MCU into a toaster oven with a user interface and you can control it in a more predictable and systematic manner. It now has become a “smart” toaster. Add the appropriate connectivity and you can now communicate and control that smart toaster remotely. And because these devices are sleeping most of the time, they benefit from the nonvolatile memory (FLASH) in many MCUs. When the power is off, the device’s memory retains the content.
That’s why thousands of application developers are turning to MCUs. Maker movements are the perfect example of how MCUs in the hand of smaller players are fueling the innovations on the edge node side of IoT. There were nearly 17 billion MCUs sold in 2013 alone and approximately 170 to 200 billion over the past 10 year. Most of these were never connected wirelessly or networked in the traditional sense of “networking”. Suddenly, MCUs are becoming even more popular because they are the intelligence behind IoT devices. They will go into the sensors which connect to gateways which connect to the cloud, yet a lot of MCU developers don’t necessarily have the expertise in connectivity, networking, and security.
AK: How will the industry address the learning curve of designers who must transform a previously non-IoT device into an IoT device?
KK:It’s true that many of the current MCU developers are not security and connectivity experts and that is a challenge. Remember that the majority of IoT – about 95 percent – is industrial IoT which is a wide application spread out among thousands of small- to medium-sized companies. These SMEs aren’t in a position to hire another couple of dozen people simply for connectivity and security expertise. As an MCU supplier, you need to understand MCU designers and the fact they are using products without the full expertise needed to optimally use connectivity and security.
At Atmel, we have over 40,000 MCU customers. With that many customers, we have had to learn how to sell in a no-touch fashion, leveraging our tools and development environment. I believe we will measure success in the IoT market by how well you can get to the point with mass market MCU developers where they can “consume” connectivity and security in a no-touch fashion without needing to become experts at it.
AK: What types of companies stand to benefit the most from IoT and why do you feel the Maker community is a key component to success?
KK: There are two sets of players in the IoT market: the traditional MCU companies who have the channels and reach into the mass market, and the traditional wireless connectivity companies whom I call “elephant hunters” since they have traditionally been focused on tens – not thousands – of customers. Most traditional MCU companies don’t have the level of connectivity expertise or the IP required, or their understanding of “things” is elementary. On the other hand, connectivity companies while they have rich connectivity know-how, don’t have the channels and mass market reach or expertise – an absolute must have for this market. Loyalty in channels takes years to develop, and is not an overnight situation into which you can buy your way.
Based on the dynamics of the edge nodes where billions of devices are to be developed, I believe it is the MCU guys who are at the center of IoT-device development. The MCU player that can provide a broad range of MCUs and MPUs, and simultaneously a full portfolio of connectivity solutions (including Wi-Fi which is the toughest nut to crack between all short-range connectivity technologies), will be the winner and capture this market.
Just as in nearly any other market, the majority of innovation in electronics came from small players. Because IoT is so wide and has so many different segments involved, there is the potential for thousands of starts ups to innovate.
Importantly for IoT, smaller players heavily equates to the Maker community. There are over 1.3 million Arduino users, and of course our partnership with them has made our MCUs prominent on Arduino platforms. You simply can’t establish these this kind of community, allegiances, customers, or critical channels overnight. It’s a 10- to 15-year investment. As an example we have 680,000+ AVR freaks in our community. How long do you think it will take for a newcomer to develop a technology community of that size?
Atmel is committed to becoming the number one fully-integrated edge node provider in the world through an expanded MCU and MPU portfolio, sensing platforms, full IoT communications technologies built from the grounds up for battery operations, integrated security, and a whole host of software offerings related to service delivery and provisioning. Along with this we are establishing a robust ecosystem of partners that can jointly provide full IoT system solutions from the tiniest edge nodes to the service providers in the cloud seamlessly.
At each step along the way, we are bringing innovation, ease-of-use, and integrated solutions to conserve power, extend battery life, ensure data security, and conform to wireless standards in the next big connected design. It’s our way of powering the possibilities of next-generation ideas. Get started today enabling a smarter world of tomorrow!
Authentication may just be the “sine qua non” of the Internet of Things.
Let’s just come out and say it: Not using the most robust security to protect your digital ID, passwords, secret keys and other important items is a really, really bad idea. That is particularly true with the coming explosion of the Internet of Things (IoT).
The identity (i.e. “ID”) of an IoT node must be authenticated and trusted if the IoT is ever to become widely adopted. Simply stated, the IoT without authenticated ID is just not smart. This is what we mean when we say don’t be an ID-IoT.
It seems that every day new and increasingly dangerous viruses are infecting digital systems. Viruses — such as Heartbleed, Shellshock, Poodle, and Bad USB — have put innocent people at risk in 2014 and beyond. A perfect case in point is that Russian Cyber gangs (a.k.a. “CyberVor”) have exposed over a billion user passwords and IDs — so far. What’s scary is that the attacks are targeted at the very security mechanisms that are meant to provide protection.
If you think about it, that is somewhat analogous to how the HIV/AIDS virus attacks the very immune system that is supposed to protect the host organism. Because the digital protection mechanisms themselves have become targets, they must be hardened. This has become increasingly important now that the digital universe is going through its own Big Bang with the explosion of the IoT. This trend of constant connectivity will result in billions of little sensing and communicating processors being distributed over the earth, like dust. According to Gartner, processing, communicating and sensing semiconductors (which comprise the IoT) will grow at a rate of over 36% in 2015, dwarfing the overall semiconductor market growth of 5.7%. Big Bang. Big growth. Big opportunity.
The IoT will multiply the number of points for infection that hackers can attack by many orders of magnitude. It is not hard to see that trust in the data communicated via an ubiquitous (and nosey) IoT will be necessary for it to be widely adopted. Without trust, the IoT will fail to launch. It’s as simple as that. In fact, the recognized inventor of the Internet, Vint Cerf, completely agrees saying that the Internet of Things requires strong authentication. In other words, no security? No IoT for you!
There is much more to the story behind why the IoT needs strong security. Because the world has become hyper-connected, financial and other sensitive transactions have become almost exclusively electronic. For example, physical checks don’t need to be collected and cancelled any more — just a scanned electronic picture does the job. Indeed, the September 11th terror attacks on the U.S. that froze air travel and the delivery of paper checks accelerated the move to using images to clear checks to keep the economy moving.
Money now is simply electronic data, so everyone and every company are at risk of financial losses stemming directly from data breaches. See? Data banks are where the money is now kept, so data is what criminals attack. While breaches are, in fact, being publicized, there has not been much open talk about their leading to significant corporate financial liability. That liability, however, is real and growing. CEOs should not be the least bit surprised when they start to be challenged by significant shareholder and class action lawsuits stemming from security breaches.
Although inadvertent, companies are exposing identities and sensitive financial information of millions of customers, and unfortunately, may not be taking all the necessary measures to ensure the security and safety of their products, data, and systems. Both exposure of personal data and risk of product cloning can translate to financial damages. Damages translate to legal action.
The logic of tort and securities lawyers is that if proven methods to secure against hacking and cloning already exist, then it is the fiduciary duty of the leaders of corporations (i.e. the C-suite occupants) to embrace such protection mechanisms (like hardware-based key storage), and more importantly, not doing so could possibly be argued as being negligent. Agree or not, that line of argumentation is viable, logical, and likely.
A few CEOs have already started to equip their systems and products with strong hardware-based security devices… but they are doing it quietly and not telling their competitors. This also gives them a competitive edge, besides protecting against litigation.
Software, Hardware, and Hackers
Why is it that hackers are able to penetrate systems and steal passwords, digital IDs, intellectual property, financial data, and other secrets? It’s because until now, only software has been used to protect software from hackers. Hackers love software. It is where they live.
The problem is that rogue software can see into system memory, so it is not a great place to store important things such as passwords, digital IDs, security keys, and other valuable things. The bottom line is that all software is vulnerable because software has bugs despite the best efforts of developers to eliminate them. So, what about storing important things in hardware?
Hardware is better, but standard integrated circuits can be physically probed to read what is on the circuit. Also, power analysis can quickly extract secrets from hardware. Fortunately, there is something that can be done.
Several generations of hardware key storage devices have already been deployed to protect keys with physical barriers and cryptographic countermeasures that ward off even the most aggressive attacks. Once keys are securely locked away in protected hardware, attackers cannot see them and they cannot attack what they cannot see. Secure hardware key storage devices — most notably Atmel CryptoAuthentication — employ both cryptographic algorithms and a tamper-hardened hardware boundary to keep attackers from getting at the cryptographic keys and other sensitive data.
The basic idea behind such protection is that cryptographic security depends on how securely the cryptographic keys are stored. But, of course it is of no use if the keys are simply locked away. There needs to be a mechanism to use the keys without exposing them — that is the other part of the CryptoAuthentication equation, namely crypto engines that run cryptographic processes and algorithms. A simple way to access the secret key without exposing it is by using challenges (usually random numbers), secret keys, and cryptographic algorithms to create unique and irreversible signatures that provide security without anyone being able to see the protected secret key.
Crypto engines make running complex mathematical functions easy while at the same time keeping secret keys secret inside robust, protected hardware. The hardware key storage + crypto engine combination is the formula to keeping secrets, while being easy-to-use, available, ultra-secure, tiny, and inexpensive.
As seen at the Atmel Maker Faire, Embedded World and most recently, Electronica booths, former AVR Hero Pamungkas Prawisuda Sumasta, Ralf Smit and their team have successfully completed a Kickstarter campaign for their all-in-one Arduino-compatible prototyping gadget, Phoenard.
While its form-factor is rather convenient, its hackability and wide-range of applications is where the Phoenard truly sets itself apart. The gadget, which is powered by an ATmega2560, not only sits perfectly in your hand but can slide quite easily into your pocket. The 11.8 x 6.1 x 1.1 cm device boasts a full-color touchscreen display and an on-board battery, and is even equipped with its own operating environment. Given its incredible versatility, the self-programmed Phoenard is bound to make every true Maker’s dream a reality.
As its creators note, the prototyping platform can be used as the ‘brain’ of any DIY Project. Unlike an Arduino, Phoenard encompasses several features built entirely into a single unit, which can also serve as your daily mobile device. Sure, you can buy a smartphone, but wouldn’t it be even more awesome to devise your own?
Aside from being 100% Arduino-compatible, the megaAVR powered device’s on-board course is a perfect choice for Makers looking to start their first creations. As the team shares, “[There’s] no need to have programming skills or have a computer with you, as the Phoenard itself can guide you.” This curriculum is a compilation of tutorials that provide step-by-step breakdowns on how to prototype and tinker around with electronics.
With Phoenard, Makers will no longer need to abandon their prototyping tools either; instead, the gadget can become your day-to-day device to carry out tasks such as calling, texting and storing contacts, serving as an MP3 player, and controlling wearable devices. Whether you want to play multi-player games with friends via Bluetooth or make a mini drum kit using Bare Conductive’s Electric Paint, countless ideas that can now be brought to life with Phoenard.
“Well, asking what can you do with Phoenard is more [or] less the same as asking what can you do with computer or smartphone. The functionality of the devices are defined by the software running on top of it.
Designed for Makers of all levels, ranging from students and educators, Phoenard is essentially for “everyone who is passionate about making and/or for those who is looking for a great tools to get started in electronics and programming.”
To complement Phoenard’s mobility, portability and self-sufficiency, the team has also introduced the Phoenard Operating Environment, which will enable a user to store thousands upon thousands of Arduino sketches right on-board. “Similar to developing apps for your smartphone, but instead for your Arduino,” the team writes.
Recently, we had chance to experience the latest rendition of Phoenard first-hand inside of our Electronica booth. Not only does the bootloader sit on the AVR, each of the applications – ranging from a GSM phone to an MP3 player – live on a microSD card. As we learned, Makers can now mod, add and draw icons right on the handed gadget, while the SD card remains in the socket. This allows a user to share his or her sketches without the need for any additional cables or computers, as they can now be transferred wirelessly between two Bluetooth-enabled Phoenards.
The team notes that they are also in the process of developing a way to wireless programming a Phoenard from a computer. Pretty sweet, right?
Currently, the gadget is equipped with both external (‘Phoenex’) and on-board (‘Phoenon’) extensions. The Phoenex — which comes in three variations — can easily be connected to a project. Meanwhile, the Phoenon is capable of being affixed to the Phoenard and connected to the main board through the 12-pin FPC connector, thereby allowing Makers to add innovative features to the everyday gadget ranging from an IR thermometer and capacitive touch to Wi-Fi and NFC.
Plugging one of these modules into the back of the device can add those functionalities, while switching between projects is as easy as docking it onto one of the extensions and selecting the appropriate sketch. “Each extension board can be dedicated for a specific project, so there is no need to struggle around the next time you want to run that project.”
So, what if you wanted to recreate the same functionality as Phoenard using Arduino? Sure, it’s possible. However, it will consist of an Arduino Mega, five Arduino shields, three modules, and will likely be five times the size and double the cost of the handheld gadget.
The team has already been the recipient of numerous honors, ranging from our recent AVR Hero Design Contest to Maker Faire Merit Awards in San Mateo and Rome. Add crowdfunding success to the list, too! Fresh off its Kickstarter debut, Phoenard well exceeded its original goal of €20,000, having garnered over €35,000. After being released during the Hackaday Prize Party in Munich, the team had attained its funding goal in just a matter of days.
Interested in learning more or ordering an all-in-one device? Head on over to its official Kickstarter page here. If all goes to plan, the initial batch of devices are expected to be shipped in March 2015.
We have just announced the extension of our partnership with IAR Systems have to include over 1,400 new example projects in IAR Systems’ development tools to support Atmel’s entire portfolio of world-class MCUs and MPUs.
Designers using both Atmel AVR and Atmel | SMART family can now leverage IAR Embedded Workbench, the leading C/C++ compiler and debugger toolchain, with new example projects to bring their products faster to market. With all the information available to a developer at the start of a project, including over 1,400 new examples from the Atmel Software Framework (ASF) for reference designs across a broad range of applications and Atmel’s Xplained Pro family of evaluation boards, this significantly increases developers’ productivity.
ASF is a large library of free source code for Atmel | SMART ARM and highly-popular AVR devices. This framework minimizes much of the low-level configuration and design required for projects to get off the ground, by providing hardware abstraction with consistent APIs, as well as high-value middleware components designed for evaluation, prototyping, design, and production phases.
“We are committed to providing simple, yet sophisticated tools for our designers’ complex development,” said Steve Pancoast, Atmel Vice President of Development Software and Tools. “Since the introduction of our AVRs in the early 90s, IAR Systems has always been an important partner for us, providing world class tools to our most demanding users. The integration of our reference application examples into IAR Embedded Workbench will reduce overall time-to-market for developers, enabling them to bring products faster to market.”
“High-performance development tools are critical for success in today’s advanced embedded systems designs, specifically for the Internet of Things and connectivity markets,” added Stefan Skarin, IAR Systems CEO. “IAR Systems’ position is unique in that we are the only commercial vendor able to provide this, as well as our world class support, across Atmel’s entire range of microcontroller architectures.”
