The Internet of Things With Green Devices
The Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming everyday experiences into an information ecosystem via millions of smart objects. Energy supply is a core issue in IoT. EKOOR promotes the use of green energy to power IoT devices. Their latest iBeacon and eddystone compatible proximity Beacons are fully powered from indoor light and needs very little light to operate. EKOOR is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to gather the necessary funds to help produce their Beacons.
Markham, Canada, January 6, 2016 (Newswire.com) - According to Gartner, by 2020, there would be around 21 billion connected devices globally. Most of these devices will be mobile and will need batteries to function.
But what most people don’t realize is that a good majority of these devices send/receive data only for several times a day. Therefore the overall power consumption is low and make them ideal candidates to harness energy from alternative power sources than just batteries. Such opportunities come with environmental benefits too. Imagine just how ‘green’ will our future be with this staggering number of IoT smart devices powered from energy around them.
In a few years, consumers and industries alike will need to acknowledge that the environmental and economic costs of replacing and maintaining batteries will be excessive in many IOT verticals. New technologies that harness ambient sources of energy are coming into the forefront to replace the batteries in some areas.
There are already a few IoT devices that are powered from alternative energy sources. A classic example of this is EKOOR, which is a green energy IOT eco-system promoter. EKOOR’s first product, proximity beacons embrace an eco-friendly design, with beacons that are exclusively powered by ambient indoor light.
EKOOR beacons are able to function under nominal indoor lighting conditions – they start functioning when indoor lighting is > 250 Lux. To put that in context, average indoor lighting condition at a retail environment is > 450 Lux, and outdoor average sunlight ranges from 32,000 – 100,000 Lux. Basically, EKOOR beacons will be able to function with even the most basic light. EKOOR beacons also have a backup battery that is automatically switched on under low light conditions.
The beacons also have a built-in smart power capability that is able to adjust its own operational parameters to harness light conditions effectively.
Since the beacons are powered by ambient light, and do not rely on batteries, they require close to zero maintenance for up to 10+ years! That means no more hassle of locating hundreds of beacons, opening them up, replacing batteries and making sure they work, which is a time-consuming, expensive and a tedious task.
Light Powered Proximity Beacons are EKOOR’s first product while there are number of other initiatives underway to address different IOT verticals. EKOOR is also developing an IOT cloud platform to enable end-to-end connectivity and application development with any IOT device. Furthermore the company is also looking in to building precise indoor positioning technologies as well.
EKOOR is currently running a kickstarter campaign to raise funds to help its Beacon production efforts and also lay the foundation for future Green IOT initiatives.
Their Kickstarter campaign is up now and can be found at http://kck.st/1JXf1Yh . Please help share and fund their campaign.
