TechBlog

The concept of wireless sensing is a fascinating and promising area. The potential for industrial, commercial and consumer uses boggles the mind and in some cases sounds like something from a futuristic movie.

Because of the vastness of potential applications, the hype at the introductory stages of this technology to some degree exceeds the level of technology available now in the real world. While some manufacturers have ventured forth with solutions for specific industrial applications, other organizations (including sensor manufacturers, the government and academia) are doing research and development on the bleeding edge of the vision for wireless sensor networks.

Wireless sensors are used in a variety of industrial and commercial applications such as machine condition monitoring, structural health monitoring, process control/discrete manufacturing control, biomedical, heating and ventilation air conditioning (HVAC) controls, logistics and agriculture. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it demonstrates the already wide array of uses being investigated for wireless technology.

While the scope of uses is fairly broad, penetration into vertical markets is quite minimal. Frost & Sullivan has estimated the North American market for wireless sensors in selected industrial applications at $24 million in 2001. However, a strong double-digit growth rate is expected to send this to more than $100 million by 2008. These numbers represent sensors only, exclusive of other network components such as receivers, computers, etc.

Today’s industrial wireless sensor technologies are represented by companies such as Wilcoxon Research in Gaithersburg, Md., and Microstrain in Williston, Vt. Building on their wired sensor expertise and deep knowledge of the condition monitoring/process control vertical markets, Wilcoxon is one of the first traditional sensors companies to introduce a wireless product. It has chosen Bluetooth as the communications protocol and is marketing its BlueLynx BLM model as a wireless solution for 4-20mA signals. Used largely with accelerometers, this and future models will incorporate different types of temperature sensors, strain gauges and more.

Microstrain, an example of a young company focused on wireless, has chosen to use a mixture of proprietary and 802.11b communications protocols with its sensor products. The sensors include microprocessors that facilitate two-way communication, among other capabilities such as self-diagnostics and control functions. It has successfully marketed products in the structural health monitoring and biomedical industries.

Emerging applications

The sensors mentioned above are exciting and groundbreaking in this market, even though they are, for the most part, single units or small numbers of units being used in limited applications.

Where the vision becomes more glamorous is in the future. Some of the applications and concepts in research and development include:

. Sensor dust - tiny sensors the size of grains of sand that can be dispersed by the thousands to detect environmental parameters - such as humidity, chemical composition, temperature, etc. - or movements of people or equipment across a landscape, which would be a potential military application.

. The University of California-Los Angeles is pioneering a number of initiatives, including microclimate monitoring, triggered imaging (tiny wireless sensors and cameras triggered to photograph under specific conditions), contaminant transport (monitoring movement of effluent runoffs, for example) and marine microorganisms (algal blooms).

. UC-Berkeley has been a key developer of motes, the sensors that hold the promise of dust networking. Academia is a key player in the R&D for wireless sensors, with many universities across the nation, including the University of Maryland and University of Connecticut, fielding programs working on wireless sensors and networks.

. “Critters on a Chip”, developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), which are bioluminescent bioreporter integrated circuits.

. Wearable technology, in which wireless sensors will be woven into fabric to enable the wearer to communicate with other sensors in a surrounding area. This has many potential applications, including security, entertainment and office productivity, to name a few.

. Sensors that have built-in wireless Web enablement, with the capability of communicating directly to the Internet.

Most of these applications are in R&D only at this time. Time to market is a question that is constantly asked of developers, and one that they tend to hedge when answering because there are so many variables that can affect development and commercialization. However, most industry experts agree that we may start seeing these types of wireless sensor applications as soon as five years from now.

Challenges

Wireless sensors have the potential to change our society in profound ways. What are some of the challenges that wireless sensor manufacturers are facing in bringing this technology into widespread use? A few of them are:

. Overcoming the perceived risk of failure - largely based on the communications aspect of the sensors - many potential users have as a mind-set.

. Educating the market as to the benefits and uses of wireless sensor technology, which will be an imperative in addressing the first challenge.

. Getting price points of sensors and other network components low enough so that networking using masses of sensors is economically feasible.

. Overcoming some specific technology limitations including powering (battery life, harvesting, etc.) and reliability of communications signals.

We are at the beginning of a potential revolution not just in sensing but in the way we live. While many applications are still five to 10 years out, the array of companies, universities and government entities working on wireless sensor R&D promises to drive the development of this technology strongly in the near future.

Laurel Donoho is a senior consulting analyst with Frost & Sullivan. She can be reached at ldonoho@frost.com.