With the Internet of Things fast becoming the Internet of Trillions how does Lime fit within the ecosystem of automated autonomous data sensing devices?
Built from the ground up to integrate with electronic tags, sensors and platforms, Lime asset tracking middleware has a central role to play in the acquisition of data to tell you where your assets are, what state they are in, who is using them and how efficiently are they being utilised. Lime is able to blend data acquired from many different sources, present it in a normalised way and in turn feed it through to specialist enterprise, manufacturing and asset management systems. Keeping up with the latest technological advances is a challenge, but Codegate has invested heavily in developing new integrations where they have been customer led to meet a wider generic requirement. Here are some examples of new developments and alliances helping to make the Internet of Things a practical reality for asset tracking.
Wiliot Integration
Pioneering IOT platform provider Wiliot has ambitions to massively increase the prevalence of low cost sensors in everyday things. Its sensors, known as 'Pixels', are a variation of a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tag that has no battery and can be mass produced at low cost by the same companies who make super-low cost passive UHF RFID tags. To keep the cost down there are only a few sensors built into the tag, but by globally passing tag reads back to Wiliot's AI platform, additional sensing can be derived and passed on to subscribing users. All readers, anywhere in the world, irrespective of ownership, pass data back to the AI platform, so sensing data calculations can be 'learned' from multiple sources. Data relating to specific tags is however kept very private through multiple encryptions so that only tag owners can access individual asset details. In addition to the enhanced sensing data that can be derived from the system, subscribers benefit from a much wider global reader infrastructure - wherever there's a device reading a Wiliot pixel your associated asset can be tracked.
Codegate has developed a Wiliot integration to Lime, allowing this very new technology to be used where appropriate as part of a wider blended solution of different tracking technologies.
For a further discussion on how Wiliot might apply to your asset tracking requirements please contact Codegate.
Lime infrastructure sharing
Lime is also expanding its reach across the internet. Individual customers purchase Lime to meet specific asset tracking requirements within their business. In large organisations there could be more than one instance of Lime tracking different asset types, for example tools, transport items and work in progress components. In supply chains there could be multiple suppliers tracking components at different stages in production, also when in transit.
Codegate is currently testing and developing a new Lime - Lime integration enhancement that effectively brings together the asset tracking infrastructures of all participating companies, such that it can be used to track assets well beyond the bounds of each individual Lime instance. This can potentially offer global coverage to companies needing asset visibility beyond the bounds of their own facilities and asset tracking infrastructure. This is particularly powerful when integrated with other IoT platforms as described above with Wiliot.
For a further discussion on how Lime infrastructure sharing might benefit your asset tracking requirements please contact Codegate.
Emerging passive sensor technologies
A whole new industry is developing to bring very low cost passive IoT sensors to market. Instead of sensors costing $100+ and requiring a power connection or frequent battery chargers, low value items can not only be tracked with with a low cost sensor, but additional information can be collected about the surrounding environment, for example temperature, humidity and strain. This can be invaluable in industries where maintaining a correct storage temperature is critical for example.
Codegate is already working on developments with suppliers of both passive UHF and battery-less BLE tags capable of sensing temperature, humidity, strain, light, current or voltage. Being passive, these sensors are capable of operating maintenance free for tens of years, and could be embedded into concrete and other structures. If you have a requirement that might benefit from passive sensors please contact us for further discussion.