M2M : Machine 2 Machine

Came across this startup that provides Wireless M2M solutions. There are targeting some niche markets such as Bottle Recyling plants etc.

More about the company
Waleli is an independent high-tech company that look for ways to apply the latest technologies in innovative products that (a) meet consumer’s real needs, and (b) are easy to understand and use. The company develops and markets products under its own brand; and also works in partnership with larger electronics and telecoms firms in the identification and ‘fast-tracking’ of their new product innovations.

Waleli was formed in 2002, and is based in central Amsterdam. It completed its second round of financing in June 2006. Shell is a shareholder, along with venture capital groups and individuals.

http://www.waleli.com/

Snippet from the ZigBee newsletter

The Alliance has seen strong interest from electric utilities around the globe in using ZigBee to help their consumers be more energy efficient. Several utilities are now in active development of customer programs which will make use of ZigBee enabled electric meters being installed at homes throughout the territory. Utilities leading this market development include utilities from California and Texas as well as Canada and Australia. Other utilities beginning to explore the use of ZigBee for their customers include utilities in California, Connecticut, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Virginia along with Scandinavia, France and Japan. The key for utilities in developing robust customer programs for energy efficiency is using open standards like ZigBee. ZigBee enables utility owned devices, such as electric meters to communicate with consumer owned devices, such as thermostats, appliances, lighting system, etc. This communication network is known as the Home Area Network (HAN). With a standards-based HAN able to communicate with the electric meter, home owners can receive information about real-time energy prices, up-to-date energy consumption and other information direct from devices in their home without waiting for the monthly bill to telling them what happened last month. In May, Texas became the first state to require utilities to include HANs as part of their upgrade plans, if the utility wishes to seek cost recovery from the public. Currently, several other legislative bodies are considering similar approaches for utilities in their state or country.

http://www.zigbee.org/en/newsletters/2007_08-Newsletter/0807-external.asp#newsletter

The Minnesota Bridge collapse brings back to mind the question of why don’t we start using the available technology to monitor and extend the life of our aging bridges / assets. There are sensors and networks available that can monitor stress and load on buildings on a 24 / 7 basis. The real time data that is collected can be analyzed and monitored to detect variances and predict critical stress points and notify users of potential problems.

The challenge here is convincing the powers that be that this process if effective. As with any new technology / process there is a great deal of skepticism on how much of this is vapor ware versus reality. In my opinion there are not many companies that have the expertise to offer and end to end solution that solves this problem and therein lies the challenge. Users/ Customers are looking for experts who can walk in and provide an end to end solution that provides the value that is promised – as opposed to the piece meal approach of modules/ connectivity / analytics and applications.

One bridge saved / a few lives saved is all that is required to pay of the cost of getting this implemented.

Some companies that are making strides in structural monitoring

http://www.lifespantechnologies.com/

Came across this article that points out the current state of wireless M2M implementations. It provides insight into the challenging environment in which adopters of M2M systems have to work.

Here is a snippet

It’s almost a cliché to say that everything is going wireless. And I suppose that’s true enough if you’re talking about person-to-person communication—or applications that are in the direct service of human beings such as wireless PC peripherals and hands-free headsets and entertainment systems.

True machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, on the other hand, is still in its infancy. It’s been there, crawling around in diapers more or less, for quite some time.

The basic technologies are available. The problem seems to lie in the value proposition for companies that want to implement a wireless system.

The wireless module is probably the easiest part—just drop it into the system, box, or vehicle. But then comes the hard part. How do you develop the application? How do you upgrade and maintain the hardware and the application? How do you get information from the end point—let’s say it’s a vending machine that is out of Diet Coke—onto the transport network and into a database? How do you act on the vending machine’s request in a cost-efficient fashion?

Truth be known, that takes a lot of expertise from maybe a half-dozen knowledge domains. Clearly, a job for a system integrator—as long as you have multiple millions of dollars to invest.

Numerex a provider of wireless services focused on the M2M market as a MVNO has now acquired Orbit One which is also a MVNO but primarily provides Satellite based communication systems. This now allows Numerex to offer a full suite of M2M connectivity options for its customers.

Numerex Corp., an Atlanta, Ga.-based wireless telemetry provider, expanded its M2M network services platform by acquiring Orbit One Communications Inc., Bozeman, Mont., a specialist in tracking and monitoring applications using satellite technology, for approximately $6 million.

Numerex’s offerings includes a vending management system called Vendview.

Numerex and Orbit One have very similar and complementary business models. Both companies are M2M MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators), which means they provide network connectivity through partnerships with network operators and also offer application services that are specific to transmitting data from physical assets.

In the case of Orbit One, its solution portfolio includes hardware, software, data management, installation, and maintenance — on top of satellite network service provisioning. Numerex, meanwhile, provides many of the same services but with a primary focus on cellular connectivity. By acquiring Orbit One, Numerex broadens its platform to include proficiency in satellite communications, particularly in the government sector where Orbit One does much of its business.