Intel, Partners Show Off Range of Chip Maker’s IoT Technologies

by Jeffrey Burt

Intel officials announce the Edison development board—which system makers and developers can use to quickly create wearable and IoT prototypes, and which can be powered by an Atom or Quark chip. (Photo by Intel)

Diane Bryant, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s Data Center Group, announces Analytics for Wearables, or A-Wear, a development kit for software makers that includes tools from Intel and management technology from Cloudera. It will be free to developers. (Photo by Intel)

SteadyServ Technologies is using an Atom-based gateway in its iKeg system, which bars can use to track the level of beer in kegs and alert bartenders when a keg is about to run out. In addition, the iKeg software can let bartenders know how many more glasses of beer are left in the keg.

The names on the taps of the iKeg display at IDF stayed true to the themes of the show. The beer was good, too.

An Intel engineer who was able to create a connected RFID reader using a Quark-based Galileo development board in less than a week said he wanted to show developers how easy it was to build such a system with Intel technology.

Intel’s Connected Wheelchair Program, which is still in beta, was created by interns who wanted to make life easier for those with disabilities. The motorized wheelchair is outfitted with a Galileo-based gateway. The effort has been endorsed by astrophysicist Stephen Hawking.

The connected wheelchair also is armed with a tablet that not only can map out routes around the city for wheelchairs, but also monitors such user data as heart rate, skin temperature and posture.

Intel engineers showed off how an Intel-based IoT gateway by Advantech can manage systems in a building that can control everything from elevators and lighting to tinting on windows and the direction solar panels are facing.

On the show floor at IDF, Advantech showed off its UTX-3115 system, an Atom-based IoT gateway in a palm-sized form factor.

Intel is running pilot projects in Ireland and San Jose, Calif., designed to use IoT technology to improve the lives of residents and operations of the city by using sensors to monitor air and soil quality, and enabling city officials to more quickly develop action plans based on the data.

In another proof-of-concept, Intel is using sensors based on its Galileo Gen 2 board (powered by a Quark SoC) to monitor pipelines, sending out alerts, location and other data when a problem like a leak occurs. This is a model of the pipeline project.

As part of the pipeline monitoring project, a drone helicopter—which is modeled here—is sent to where the leak is and sends photos and other data back to engineers to let them better understand what is happening.

Intel engineers use this interactive table display to show attendees what the Internet of things can encompass and what it can do.

Dell has been working with Intel and HealthNetConnect to develop ways for doctors and patients to use the IoT to make health care more responsive and immediate. For example, the case on the right can hold the medications a patient must take, and a doctor can monitor the case remotely to see whether the patient is taking his or her pills.

Dell’s Wyse 3290 is currently considered an Intel-based thin client, but a Dell official said Intel is in the process of certifying it as an IoT gateway, and it will be the first in a family of Dell IoT gateways once certified.

Congatec’s Qseven module is powered by an Intel “Bay Trail” chip and is certified for use in Intel’s “Moon Island” IoT Gateway Solutions portfolio.

Nexcom had several Intel-based IoT solutions on display, including—from left—the Quark-based NIO 100 IoT gateway, the ESI 100 Quark-based PHY controller and the NCk-251 intelligent camera.