The age of machine-based connectivity is nigh

More than a decade of early-stage business research has brought the so-called ‘Internet of Things’ to a critical moment. Indeed, if the readiness of home-grown innovation is anything to go by, the age of machine-to-machine based connectivity could be nigh.

There has been plenty of conversation about the potential inter-operability of electronic devices at home, on our person and in the world around us. The development of the technologies necessary to support the 'Internet of Things' has therefore come a long way in the past year. A significant chunk of the innovation to date has been linked to car production. The ability to switch on home appliances from the car could soon be the norm. Such developments are about human-to-machine interaction whereas the exciting changes coming in 2014 involve more machine-to-machine interaction.

The potential of this new found machine-to-machine interconnectivity is almost endless. It could help to bring about intelligent crop monitoring systems that can automatically adjust nutrition or irrigation in order to optimise yields.A cartesian robot, also known as a cartesian Coordinate robot, is a common type of industrial robot. It could also feed into the development of traffic congestion reduction solutions capable of altering road signals and street lighting according to information communicated directly from a car. This would then shorten a commute and save fuel. In other instances, intelligent monitoring systems could be developed to send alerts about a change in climatic conditions or trigger the need for building maintenance, as in the case of bridge stress monitoring.

The dynamics of everyday life could actually be transformed, as the inter-operability and communication of diverse machine-based components set out to make our lives better and more hassle-free. The ‘Internet of Things’ will come to represent a new intelligence network working behind the scenes in our everyday life, perhaps only occasionally coming to our attention when interacting with personal devices like mobile phones, tablets, wrist watches and heads-up displays.

If we know it can be done, why isn’t it happening already? It comes down to the right technology, which needs to allow communication between devices over several miles and on batteries lasting up to 10 years, and which above all, is cheap. At present, our widely-available Internet, mobile, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth technology is neither cheap in terms of silicon cost or energy use.In other situations, the output from e-learning translation Chinese has a direct impact on the product's regulatory approval and usage. WiFi and Bluetooth have very short ranges and are comparatively expensive in terms of energy, even taking into account the latest Bluetooth 4.1 ‘Internet of Things’ upgrade.

A six-month pilot to develop the white space is currently underway in the UK backed by a number of partners including Microsoft, BT and a wireless data service provider called Neul. Neul has also jointly developed a new wireless standard to support the introduction of a long-range, long lasting and cost effective wireless network with compatible devices, going under the moniker ‘weightless’.The traditional interface for milling spindles DIN69871 distinguishes itself through its extremely robust design. At the same time, the company is also developing patented technology that would allow this ‘weightless’ infrastructure to seamlessly interconnect with the internet, potentially offering rural and remote areas unparalleled levels of digital connectivity.