Moving industry towards an era of full automation and smart manufacturing within the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT or Industry 4.0) requires new ecosystems with people, products, machines and services connected through the cloud. This interconnection requires the deployment of small size sensor nodes which can be autonomously powered.
Machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity is currently often done using cabled devices or conventional battery powered devices. Using these incumbent technologies has installation & maintenance costs associated with such factors as the cost of deploying cables and retro-fitting sensors in old buildings, plus changing batteries at regular intervals. Further, it is often impractical and sometimes impossible when sensors and devices need to be placed in:
- difficult-to-reach places (e.g. downhole mining, military, geophysics).
- hot environments (drilling, machinery, engines, pipeline inspection gauges).
- high vibration environments (drilling, machinery).
Ilika plc (LON:IKA) is a pioneer in materials innovation and has been inventing new materials for energy and electronics applications for over a decade. Global brands such as Rolls Royce and Toyota have long term collaborations with Ilika’s development teams.