Powerful and Energy-Efficient IIoT and IoT Sensor Nodes

Sensors play a key role in the "Internet of Things" (IoT) and "Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). However, in order to keep up with the dynamic development in this area, these IIoT and IoT sensor nodes must become even more powerful and less expensive in the future, and they must be able to get by with little energy or even operate energy-autonomously. 

In order to integrate sensor nodes into a hierarchical network topology, Fraunhofer EMFT researchers are developing new concepts and verifying them experimentally. For this purpose, approaches ranging from the acquisition of physical parameters to AI-supported processing of data locally in the sensor node - or on premise or in the cloud - are being investigated.

An essential point is the networking of these sensors. Especially for the networking of sensor nodes in IIoT applications, it has to be considered whether and which wireless technologies can be used. An interesting approach for a wireless solution is the meshed network approach, where the network nodes can also work as relay stations. For instance, this can extend the range of the BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) technology of the sensor nodes and make them suitable for use in sensor networks.

These competences in the area of IoT / IIoT sensor nodes are available at Fraunhofer EMFT for your application topics. We look forward to hearing from you!