Devices working their way from industry into innovations in homes

02:55 PM CDT on Sunday, April 6, 2008
By ANDREW D. SMITH / The Dallas Morning News
asmith@dallasnews.com

The device doesn't look like much – a gray plastic casing that holds a temperature sensor, a low-power radio and a couple of AA batteries. Only the Microsoft Research logo suggests there's anything revolutionary about it.

But its creator says that pioneers have already used similar gizmos to transform the world. Over the next few years, he predicts, dozens of these bland boxes will change the way you live.

"These boxes will do more for you than your car," said Feng Zhao, a Microsoft Corp. researcher who has devoted much of his life to a technology that most people haven't even heard of – yet.

Researchers at the San Diego-based consultancy ON World estimate that users have deployed several million networked sensors around the globe for nearly every conceivable purpose.

Sensor sales have been growing "well over 50 percent a year" for three years, ON World says, and will keep growing at least that fast for the next few years.

By 2012, ON World projects, sales of wireless sensor networking equipment in just four areas – industrial, commercial building, advanced metering infrastructure and residential applications – will total $14 billion.

Already, scientists have deployed sensors to measure water quality, wind speed, temperature and precipitation levels. Those networks have improved climate models and taught researchers how toxins spread.

Farms use water sensor networks to give each group of crops the exact amount of water it needs at exactly the time it needs it. Crops grow better, and the farms use less water.

Perfect produce

Food wholesalers use sensor networks to make sure they keep produce in exactly the right climate from the moment it leaves the farm till it hits the supermarket. Spoilage plummets. Consumers get better produce.

Automated factories represent another big market.

"Companies traditionally spot equipment problems by sending someone to walk around every few weeks and look for signs of wear. This technology lets us stick vibration sensors on each machine," said Joe Andrulis, senior vice president of the wireless solutions group at RF Monolithics in Dallas.

"The sensors instantly report any unusual vibrations, which are usually the first sign of trouble, so factory owners can prevent breakdowns and extend machine life by years."

A Carrollton-based company called EYESthere thinks sensor networks will transform the security industry.

In addition to hooking customers up with standard burglar alarms, the company sells Web cameras with motion detectors. Those cameras let customers use the Internet to see what's happening inside their homes and businesses whenever something trips an alarm or sets off a motion sensor.

Customers can instantly warn police away from a false alarm or urge them on to a real burglary.

As EYESthere works to market that use of wireless sensors, other companies are testing one that could cut energy bills for Dallas customers.

The people in the test let power company computers automatically reduce their energy usage by doing things like adjusting their thermostats or turning off pool pumps whenever total demand spikes so high that the companies have trouble keeping up.

Turn off the lights

Better technology will make it easy for users to save even more.

Current technology could easily support a network that combined a GPS-enabled cellphone and a thermostat with all the lights and window blinds in your house.

The moment you drove out of the garage, your cellphone would report your departure to the network, which would turn off all the lights, turn the thermostat down and close all the blinds to insulate your house against the summer heat.

The moment you left work, the phone would tell the network to set the thermostat back the way you like it so the house would be the right temperature when you arrived. When you enter the garage, the system would open the blinds, turn on some lights and maybe crank up a favorite song on the stereo.

With existing technology, you could also lock and unlock your home over the Internet. When a repairman arrives, you could open the door from your desk at work and monitor the visit via Web cam.

"The technology is already there, and it's about to do some very tangible things to make life easier for people," said Steve Parks, director of marketing for analog technology at Texas Instruments Inc.

Currently, wireless sensor network technology accounts for a tiny portion of TI sales.

The Dallas company expects speedy growth now that industry groups have adopted standards that will let sensors from different companies talk to one another.

Even with common standards, obstacles such as high sensor costs could hinder widespread use of the technology.

Manufacturers said they'll have to cut sensor costs from about $200 apiece today to about $20 apiece before ordinary consumers will snap them up and build their own networks.

Some predict it will take several years to develop such cheap units.

Dr. Zhao and his team at Microsoft think otherwise.

"This doesn't just look like a product you could mass-produce on the cheap at some factory," Dr. Zhao said. "It actually is something you can mass-produce on the cheap. That is why it is beautiful despite being ugly."

Updated Mon 4.7.08