This year also saw the traditional summit of the IQRF Alliance, which brings together manufacturers and integrators in the field of Internet of Things (IoT). The goal of the Alliance is to share experiences, know-how and increase the pressure to use a common protocol. All members can participate in the development of technologies. In addition, the Alliance brings the advantage of interoperability between manufacturers, which benefits everyone, including end customers.
The conference showcased innovations in the areas of easier implementation of wireless communication into end products in the areas of control and regulation, Industry 4.0, and the possibilities of using IQRF technology in healthcare. An example of the latest innovation is the use of the technology in the storage of medicines in refrigeration facilities at the General University Hospital in Prague.
The success of the alliance can also be seen in the implementation of the technology in poultry farms in South Africa. The technology enables the early detection of the spread of viral diseases and thus prevents the major damage they would cause. Other possible applications include monitoring slope movements around railways in the UK. The technology literally saves lives by alerting to landslides before a train passes through the area and could derail.
The capabilities of the IQRF technology have been confirmed by the interest of academia. Among the speakers at the summit were two major universities: the University of Wroclaw in Poland and the VŠB – Technical University in Ostrava. It is the VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava that is using IQRF technology in real projects, for example in the field of monitoring bridge structures, methane concentration, slope movements, etc. Interestingly, among other things, there is the possibility of using the device in operation with a declared lifetime of 10 years of battery operation, which means that battery power is no longer the biggest problem. Rather, it is the lifetime of the various sensors that deliver skewed or inaccurate data after 10 years or more.
The talks mentioned technologies such as LoRaWAN, NB-IoT and Sigfox, which although they look like direct competition for IQRF, are actually more like complements to it Each of them is suited to a different purpose. Among other things, the summit showcased a gateway that even combines IQRF and LoRaWAN technologies.
For the industry, a major step forward is the development of a gateway that allows IQRF technology to be integrated into an existing solution based on M-Bus, which is essentially an industry standard. This opens up a new category, as wireless sensors based on IQRF technology pretend to be virtual M-Bus nodes to the point where an M-Bus-only counterparty can use these sensors.
This year’s IQRF Summit was a breathtaking showcase of innovations and futuristic solutions. The IQRF Alliance is a growing alliance, coming up with a wide range of innovations every year, and the Summit is a great opportunity to learn about these innovations. We are already looking forward to next year’s event, which will no doubt be at least as interesting as this year’s.