IoT technologies and their applications.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a concept that defines the connection between physical objects with the user and the internet.

It uses smart sensors and software to collect and transmit data through the network. The main purpose of the Internet of Things is to connect everyday objects to the Internet, giving them a broader functionality, with more intelligence and greater capacity to integrate with other sources of information.

There are indispensable factors that enable the functioning of this technology:

• Network: the means of communication, such as Wi-Fi, 4G, 5G, LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network), among others;
• Devices: objects that will be connected, and they must be equipped with items that enable the connection to the network; and
• Control systems: used for capturing and processing all data, being also responsible for new connections from them.

ABINC (Brazilian Association of Internet of Things) estimates that in 2050 there will be 50 billion connected objects.

Sabesp adopts smart water meters

The smart water meter project, implemented in five years, arose from Sabesp‘s need to improve the quality of measurement in its largest consumers, with more accurate water meters added to low cost telemetry, providing greater transparency to the final customer and allowing control of consumption even before the closing of the account cycle.

The individualized and daily metering in water and light utilities saves on-site reading costs and reduces fraud losses. As the data traffic is small, the Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) connects millions of “things” with lower added value, with better coverage, lower connection cost and lower battery consumption, offering a good cost-benefit ratio for that type of application.

Sabesp’s daring project promoted a first bidding for 100,000 smart meters, due to the concentration of billing in the metropolitan division of Sabesp. It also brought a new business modality, launching a performance contract with the Metrolink consortium, where LAAGER Tecnologias Sustentáveis Ltda is the responsible company for the development and production of the smart meter management and telemetry technology. Laager is specialized in devices to control water, gas and energy consumption for installation in small, medium, and large facilities.

Laager replaced Sabesp’s old water meters with state-of-the-art ultrasonic meters. IoT telemetering technology and the use of a data management platform for monitoring consumption were added to them. The excellent result of the project contributed to the opening of another bidding to supply for new points.

Laager and Zilia Partnership

Laager used the Zilia communication module within its device. A product fully developed in Brazil, from the design phase to manufacturing, which brought numerous competitive advantages, both in logistics and in relation to costs, with LoRaWAN® technology.

This module is based on wireless communication technology, capable of transmitting and receiving point-to-point information over long distances with low power consumption and that is used in many Internet of Things (IoT) networks around the world, allowing a variety of IoT applications designed to solve challenges such as energy management, natural resource control, pollution control, infrastructure efficiency, disaster prevention, among others.

Performance and consumption economy are the great differentials of the radio that is embedded within the Laager device. “Efficiency, delivery speed, professionalism, support and teamwork towards the improvement of the module were decisive factors in choosing Zilia”, emphasizes Felipe Duque Estrada, Founder and CEO of LAAGER.

Zilia and the Smart Cities and Smart Homes with IoT modules

The IoT will be decisive for the development of Smart Cities. Technologies such as sensor networks, cameras, monitors and loudspeakers will capture information that will be used by municipal operations centers responsible for managing the services and infrastructure of cities. Applications will be countless, such as sensors attached to vehicles or integrated into smartphones that will be able to transmit information about traffic such as lane conditions, traffic jams, among others, with greater precision than fixed sensors.

In Smart Homes, houses and apartments will be equipped with a series of smart devices and sensors such as smartphones, laptops, PCs, TVs, speakers, monitoring cameras, automatic windows, thermostats and meters. The integration of these equipments with communication technologies makes room for the development of a series of applications and home automation systems, mostly controlled through the INternet.

According to Rogério Moreira, Senior New Business Development Manager at Zilia, following the trends of the coming years to provide a series of facilities in the daily lives of a large number of people worldwide, the company intends to achieve new projects such as: intelligent lighting telemanagement to reduce costs and improve the efficiency of public lighting; tracking and monitoring of people, animals or any type of asset, in order to ensure greater control and 24-hour security; and monitoring alarms, providing security for people and assets.