Category: IOT

Indoor Tracking using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and SOS Alerts

Client: A US-based client in the hospitality space. 

Problem: The client needed a system that helped them track the indoor location of their staff on premises, in case of emergencies. Here we are looking at an IoT implementation that allows the client to track staff in case of emergencies, to quickly alert them of the situation, allowing faster response time and increasing visibility in such cases. 

VT’s Solution: We setup and deployed a cloud service to form the backbone of the IoT service. We set up BLE beacons and gateways which collected location data of the staff on premises, and IoT buttons that sent out SOS alerts to the IoT service and the client when pressed. We developed a web portal and mobile applications to monitor the IoT devices, alert all systems when SOS is triggered and provide location of staff members or guests who triggered the SOS alert. We can see the solution made up of three parts:

  1. SOS Alerts: Allows the staff to click a button to send SOS alerts on the central dashboard and relevant stakeholders for immediate action.
  2. Indoor location tracking: Beacons combined with the SOS button track the real time location of the staff that pressed the SOS button and sends the indoor location to the security guards and other people with access so help can be sent immediately to the location needed.
  3. Web and Mobile App: Helps to configure the system for every client. Allows to real time monitor the status of system and view alerts.

Key points:

  • Achieved client’s business objectives by providing an end to end IoT solution that kept track of staff while they were on premises, so that they can be tracked in case of emergency and alerted about the situation. 
  • Deployed IoT services that track staff using BLE and IoT buttons which allow staff to call for help in case of emergencies. 
  • Developed web and mobile applications providing client view alerts and monitor emergency situations in real time, allowing them to inform other staff and guests. 
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Improve performance of product through IoT and Analytics

Client: A US-based multinational company that produces products and services for the oil and gas industry. 

Problem: The client wanted to help their customers better manage the oil and gas wells by introducing IoT solutions into their products. This would allow better performance from our client’s products, increasing the yield for their customers. This required our solution to predict, identify and mitigate any performance issues by filtering real time noisy data, finetuning all the assets and performing predictive analytics to determine maintenance and replacement periods. Another issue was the connectivity issues that were prevalent in some remote oil fields. 

VT’s Solution: We provided an end to end IoT solution that provides real time analysis of the collected data, allowing better performance and creating a stable and reliable operating environment for our client’s customers.  The solution included the deployment of an edgeBOX with custom analytical software, that collected data from sensors, processed this data, performing data filtering and data massaging, and transmitting this data to the cloud as per the client’s requirements. We provided a way for further personalization by creating an application to configure the edge device as per the needs of the user. There was also a local site solution set up to visualize data received from edgeBOX. 

We also deployed a cloud to host the analytical data, providing dashboards, reports and visualizations for our client, while also allowing the user to process raw data as per their needs.   

Key Points:

  • Achieved Client’s business objectives by implementing an end to end IoT solution that provided real time insights, predicted maintenance times, and increased the performance of their product. 
  • Deployed cloud to access raw and processed data, to allow the user to see the real time data with custom analytics and also allow them to utilize the processed data to create their own reports. 
  • Installed edgeBOX with custom analytics as per the users needs, to allow the user to view real-time data and analyzed information at the local site. 
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Manage multiple devices installed at multiple customer locations

Client: A US-based multinational company manufacturing technical products. 

Problem:  The client needed to connect their product with the cloud using IoT to allow their product to be remotely managed, to gain insights on the use of the device and allow the product to be upgraded via over the air update (OTA). The goal was to reduce operating costs, increase device up­time & enhance device security through this remote connection.

VT’s Solution: We developed a system that deployed content dynamically on any device, allowing the client to manage their devices and device settings from anywhere in the world. This solution can be thought of having three distinct yet connected components.

  1. Device Management: Provides complete control over your devices, allowing you to lock the interface and open ports down to help prevent tampering.
  2. Dashboard: Provides a real time, easy to understand graphical presentation of key device metrics and data. Users can see CPU activity and analytics as a measure of general device health, as well as a listing of all high priority alerts and notifications.
  3. OS Management: From Operating System (OS) upgrades and security patches to driver updates, new hardware controls and many more operating system level updates, all can be applied remotely with ease.

By utilizing the solution, we were able to reduce operating costs, increase device up time, enhance device security, allowed customers to leverage existing investments in mobile and web assets, and introduced a modular and scalable system which integrates with existing content management system platforms & MDM tools. 

Key Points:

  • Achieved client’s business objectives, by implementing an IoT system on top of client’s in-house systems, to allow them to connect, monitor and upgrade their devices remotely.  
  • Created an IoT system that allowed the user to remotely control multiple devices from anywhere in the world, allowing dynamic content to be pushed, or to upgrade device OS.  
  • Provided real time metrics and data through dashboards and visualizations to monitor device health, and measure device usage. 
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Modernizing Medical Machine Management and Maintenance

Client: One of the largest original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of medical, industrial and security X-ray machines in India.

Problem: The client needed methods for their customers to monitor and manage their X-ray machines, while also providing accurate measures for vacuum tube replacement in the machines. Another issue is the damage that a faulty X-ray machine can cause if it is not identified. The problem as such had three parts:

  1. Asset tracking: Hospitals and diagnostic centers with large deployment of X­ray machines often have issues in accurately tracking usage, availability and location of these machines.
  2. Machine fault monitoring: Exposure to large and uncontrolled doses of X-rays can cause serious cell damage. Machine faults, if not rectified, can expose patients and/or operators to large and uncontrolled X-rays.
  3. Predictive maintenance for vacuum tubes: Vacuum tubes used in X-­ray machines have a limited life and need to be replaced after a certain number of X-ray photos have been taken. High level of human interaction in data collection & maintenance inevitably leads to inaccurate and unreliable data.

VT’s Solution: A hardware unit with a GSM module was installed within the X-ray control panel, this component utilized the machine serial number to generate a geotag for the device. Pushing information regarding the x-ray machine to the cloud, we also implemented a system that sent text messages to the client and client’s customers to indicate the current functioning of the machine. The cloud services provide analytical processing of the data, where prediction models were used to power predictive maintenance for the vacuum tubes. The client and the client’s customers can also view the performance and functioning of the machine through the custom web application, displaying easy to understand dashboards and visualizations. 

Key Points:

  • Achieved client’s business objectives by introducing IoT services with cloud and analytical systems, allowing the client to monitor the health of their device, and predict maintenance. 
  • Installed IoT devices to monitor location and condition of X-ray machines, providing real-time data about the functioning of the machine. 
  • Deployed Cloud to perform advanced analytics on the data from each machine, performing predictive analytics to forecast maintenance.
  • Built easy to understand dashboards and visualizations for quick actions to be taken in cases of faulty functioning or replacement of vacuum tubes. 
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Introduce Asset Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance in Your Business

Client: A US-based multinational company in industrial manufacturing. 

Problem: The client is one of the largest suppliers of industrial and environmental machinery to multiple other industries. One of their major products are pumps that are utilized in power, oil, gas, chemical and other industries. They require a way to help their customers manage the performance of their pumps. We can think of this issue having three parts:

  1. Transforming the nature of maintenance at the client’s customer’s factories, moving from a reactive approach of maintenance to a proactive approach. 
  2. Increasing the visibility of real-time processes and therefore allowing active monitoring and predictive monitoring. 
  3. Creating analytical systems that utilize past trends and historical events to predict maintenance requirements before they become an issue. 

VT’s Solution: We combined our IoT (Internet of Things) solution and implemented it with analytical systems. In doing so, we set up and deployed the cloud services to form the backbone of the project. Installed sensors to monitor the pumps, and built analytical models and systems personalized for the maintenance prediction of the client’s pumps. Integrated the solution with the OSI PI system.

We utilized Enhanced Condition Data Point Monitoring (eCDPM) which combines 24/7 equipment monitoring (via sensors) with traditional route based condition data point monitoring. Full spectrum vibration analysis reports provided maintenance and reliability teams with improvement recommendations that increase mean time between failure (MTBF) & process efficiency while reducing total cost of ownership.

This helps give a clear understanding of your equipment’s remaining life, most likely failure modes and recommended actions so you can respond to adverse equipment conditions before they impact your organization.

Key Points:

  • Achieved client’s business requirements by introducing technologies that monitor their assets and predict maintenance before major issues arise. 
  • Built an end-to-end implementation to monitor the processes as per client’s needs, deploying cloud connected IoT sensors for assets, building the cloud framework to support it gaining real-time visibility for the assets, and created analytical models to provide predictive maintenance capabilities.
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