Nov/Dec 2005

How do you test the performance of construction materials used in an existing building? Normally you'd probably send engineers or surveyors to the site, and they would have to take numerous readings over a period of time.

Now, like many such activities, this task can be automated, and BOX Telematics has come up with a smart way to tackle the job, using many of the ingredients of a mobile computing solution (notably GPRS data transmission).

The difference, however, is that there is no human at the remote end of the communications link; this is what M2M, or machine-to-machine, communications are all about.

In simple terms, a number of small sensor devices are installed at key points around the building, measuring things such as temperature or stress. These communicate with each other in what is known as an ad-hoc mesh network, using MeshNetics' ZigBee Stack software. The data is pooled in a "master node" and transmitted back to base over a GPRS link, where it is monitored by the company's server.

 

Reports are then made available on any Internet-enabled PC. The whole process is completely automated.

Other components in the package include software by Luxoft Labs and BOX Telematics' BOXgateway wireless gateway.

According to Charles Joel, project leader at BOX Telematics: "Wireless m2m technology is the future of remote measurement."