Atmosphere sensor partnership programme launched.

Anaren has announced that it has launched a new Atmosphere Sensors Partnership Program that introduces a suite of proven sensor technologies and tools into Anaren’s wireless connectivity ecosystem. A key feature of the initiative is a new sensors element library, available within the Anaren Atmosphere  tool, which allows non-RF and non-software savvy customers to develop wirelessly connected products and, now, to easily incorporate sensors and sensors assets such as drivers and algorithms into their wirelessly connected IoT projects.

The inaugural member and primary sensor provider to the project is STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications and leading supplier of sensor technologies. Anaren’s Sensors Expo (June 2015) booth will host demos of the company’s expanding line up of Broadcom-based AIR for WICED™ modules, the Anaren Atmosphere online development tool, and Anaren’s new Cellular Machines family of remote monitoring solutions.

“Since the introduction of our first AIR modules – which were all about helping customers ‘go wireless’ without being RF experts -- Anaren has been totally committed to giving our customers all the tools they need to do the job on their own,” said Mark Bowyer, Anaren’s Director of Wireless Business Development. “This new Sensor Network Partnership Program continues this progression, by enabling customers to easily incorporate sensing functions into their products…whether their goal is to transmit the resulting sensor data to a mobile device or all the way to the cloud."

Bowyer added that partnering with ST, a powerhouse sensor provider, was the logical and right approach: “This way, we focus on our RF competency, ST focuses on their sensing solutions, and our shared customers see the benefit of both worlds…all within the easy-to-use Atmosphere development environment.”
           
For its part, ST also sees opportunities in helping Anaren provide OEMs with a streamlined path for connecting their sensor-generated data to the IoT via Anaren’s wireless tools.

“ST’s complete portfolio of sensors capable of monitoring motion, the environment, sound and light, and proximity and the sensor hubs and sensor-fusion tools to simplify integration puts us in a strong position to contribute to helping Anaren’s customers realize huge benefit from the Internet of Things,” said Marco Angelici, Volume MEMS & Analog Division Director, STMicroelectronics. “ST can also add value through its full range of low-power, high-performance STM32 32-bit microcontrollers, and secure ST microcontrollers. They each provide secure communications, analysis, processing, and data protection. STM32 families also offer ultra-efficient power-conversion, -monitoring and -control technologies that simplify power design and ensure power conservation.”

Urban environmental monitoring!

Libelium has completed its Smart Cities platform. A new sensor board measures noise pollution, dust quantities, structural health and garbage levels. This board may be combined in a network with previously available sensor boards - for gas monitoring, radiation detection and Smart Parking - thus offering a comprehensive range of sensors for urban use. System integrators can now create a comprehensive range of services based on the Smart Cities platform.

Today’s city councils face many challenges requiring effective monitoring. Noise pollution is a common environmental problem affecting both the quality of life and health. Atmospheric pollution - whether in the form of gases such as CO2 and NO2 or dust - is a threat to the health of urban dwellers by causing respiratory diseases. With many of the largest structures - including buildings, bridges and roads - located in cities, ensuring that such structures are sound is critical for public safety. Last, but not least, traffic management is a major challenge with the need to minimise emissions and avoid unnecessary journeys. Until now, some of these challenges have been addressed separately with separate vertical solutions; but city councils cannot afford to deploy one sensor network for each type of problem.

“Urban monitoring - whether relating to noise pollution, traffic management or structural health - can be addressed cost-effectively by wireless sensor networks”, says Alicia Asín, Libelium’s CEO. She explains, “Libelium is now able to provide system integrators with a complete technology for deploying all the services a Smart City needs using the same modular platform”.

The new sensor board includes four new sensors:
• A noise sensor detected sound pressure level (dBSPL). This sensor can be used to detect noise from traffic and people. It is suitable for creating a real-time noise map of a city.
• A particulate matter (dust) sensor for measuring PM-10 concentrations. The sensor is capable of measuring concentrations down to 0.1 micrograms per cubic metre.
• A crack sensor for measuring cracks in public structures such as buildings and bridges. It can detect displacements as small as 10 micrometres as well as oscillations and dilations. This sensor is applicable to Structural Health Monitoring.
• An ultrasound sensor capable of measuring garbage levels in bins. This can enable waste management services to empty rubbish only from bins that are sufficiently full thus saving time and fuel.

The board also includes temperature, light and humidity sensors.

The Smart Cities platform enables system integrators to deploy a heterogeneous wireless sensor network with a combination of sensor boards for city councils. The platform is based on Libelium’s modular Waspmote wireless sensing technology.

System integrators can exploit Waspmote’s modularity and open source software to create custom solutions for a particular city. Motes or nodes in the network communicate with their gateway using ZigBee radio links. The over the air (OTA) programming capability ensures that sensors can be updated without requiring physical access. The platform’s outstanding low power performance ensures that Smart City networks have minimal battery requirements or can work from solar power.

Libelium recently won the Best of Sensors Expo award in the category of data acquisition at the 2011 Sensors Expo for their radiation sensor board.