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March 29, 2004 – While sensors have countless uses within devices, Millennial Net Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., is looking at the bigger picture as it gets hundreds of sensors to self-organize into wireless networks. Together, they serve as commercial and environmental nervous systems. For small tech sensor makers such as Nanomix Inc. or Kionix Inc., such systems could be a way to plug into a vast new market. ON World, a San Diego-based research firm, predicts that by 2010, more than 500 million wireless sensing points will ship in a $7 billion annual market. Such radio-connected sensor nets, also being commercialized by Ember Corp. in Boston and Dust Inc. (News, Web) in Berkeley, Calif., are intended to serve as easy and inexpensive methods of controlling building environments, safeguarding sites and optimizing all kinds of industrial processes and business operations. Millennial's i-Bean nodes, slightly larger than a thumbnail, integrate a computer chip, memory, radio transceiver and power supply that can be plugged into multiple sensors through standard interconnects. The company's routers and gateways funnel data wherever it needs to go. Ian Barkin, managing director of The FocalPoint Group, noted that even simply switching off lights and turning down heat or air conditioning in buildings throughout a university campus or skyscraper can offer real cost savings. While demand for such systems across the full spectrum of business is potentially huge, Barkin notes, "price is still perceived to be the greatest obstacle even as people become more sophisticated about the cost/benefit" equation of data collection and operations monitoring. He estimates the cost of installing, operating and maintaining wireless networks at about $100 per node. Tod Riedel, Millennial Net's co-founder and vice president of business development, said that the company's wireless networks can help with everyday business information challenges, such as knowing where the empty spaces in a shopping mall parking garage are, or which vending machines in a large building need refilling. Wireless sensor nets are particularly useful in remote or mobile environments, such as tracking goods in transit or making measurements in places like agricultural fields, rural areas and locations with extreme environments. Sensors inside moving components such as tires are another logical market. Riedel also reports that Millennial's wireless sensor nodes are small enough to serve as wearable devices. This type of "human" sensing could chart patients' vital signs and feed them to doctors' or nurses' PDAs. After a patient is sent home, the devices could relay medical metrics tracked over time. Riedel said Millennial wants to help businesses set up nodes in a matter of minutes or hours. He said about 80 percent of the company's intellectual property is in the software that enables nodes to automatically connect and configure with one another, and for nodes to be added or dropped seamlessly. He said that the combination of compact hardware and smart software allow an i-Bean sensing point to run on a coin-cell battery (like those in watches) for as long as 10 years, transmitting data about once every minute-and-a-half. In applications where data must be transmitted more frequently, battery life would be significantly shorter. Indeed, battery life is a key challenge. Having to replace or recharge hundreds or thousands of sensors every year or two would typically not be worth the trouble for most companies. According to Mareca Hatler, On World's director of research, "Millennial Net's i-Bean technology is hard to beat" when it comes to power conservation. Hatler pointed out that the company has a novel solution for powering sensor nodes without a battery. Millennial Net is partnering with Ferro Solutions Inc. to offer a nonbattery power source about 2 inches in diameter that translates environmental vibrations, such as those from a heating vent or vehicle movement, into enough power to run a sensor node indefinitely. Ferro Solutions reports that it has the first device to generate milliwatts of power from such tiny vibrations in a device the size of a pack of gum. About ON World: Media Contact: Back
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