MONTREAL — It was a science fair atmosphere at the École de technologie supérieure on Wednesday as the Open Sky Laboratory for Smart Life showed off some of the progress it has made since it was formed last year.
The project, an open-air smart-living lab, was set up as a partnership between ETS, Montreal’s Quartier de l’innovation, Videotron and Ericsson to give students and entrepreneurs a way to develop and test new technologies in a real-life environment.
It’s still early in the process, so the developments are more incremental than revolutionary, but it takes both small and large steps to advance technologically, explained Vidéotron CEO Manon Brouillette.
The projects so far are focused on connectivity, which is a prerequisite for future projects. “It’s not very sexy, but it takes connectivity,” Brouillette said. “I wouldn’t be surprised in a year or two to see elements that really leap-frog and that take a jump ahead.”
Among the projects on display, some of which have already been publicized to the world at industry conferences but all of which will be used in a real-life environment in the lab:
- LiFi, a communication system that uses regular LED light bulbs instead of Wi-Fi antennas. Through a controller installed in each light fixture, the light bulb is turned on and off millions of times a second, like an incredibly fast Morse code, to communicate with a device equipped with a light sensor, which can talk back using infrared light or some other frequency. The developers envision it being used for localization (each light fixture communicates with a unique identifier), for use in hospitals and other areas where Wi-Fi can cause problems, and in areas like banks where security is important, since a light beam can be blocked much more easily than a WiFi signal. Deploying connectivity through light also has more aesthetic benefits, said Brouillette, replacing an unsightly Wi-Fi router with a light bulb that’s being used anyway.
- HomeBeaver homebeaver.com, a water maintenance system. Physically, the HomeBeaver is a simple valve and flow detector to be installed on the water pipe leading into a residence. But with well calibrated software, the system can detect abnormal water flows and automatically close the valve, protecting a home, a business or an institution from damage caused by leaks. Additionally, water flow information can be analyzed statistically to understand how much water fixtures like toilets are being used and know when to schedule maintenance. The technology is being installed at ETS next month.
- The picocell, a low-power cellular transceiver. The device, about the size of a toaster, can be installed in office buildings or large apartment blocks where cellular penetration is poor, and connects to wireless service providers via the regular Internet through a virtual private network. With a price about $4,000 and a coverage area around 30,000 square feet, it’s a low-cost way to boost signals in difficult environments, and could be used in places like mines or remote villages where existing cellular networks don’t go.
- A Wi-Fi self-organizing network where a central system controls WiFi routers and automatically pushes devices from one router to another as they move, or routers from one frequency to another as noise increases on a frequency.
- AppIoT, Ericsson’s Internet-of-things management platform, that allows data analysis of smart objects.
The goal of this lab, however, is not to create a specific technology for a specific use. The partners expect that ideas will form not just for the new technology being developed, but for new ways to use it once it is.
“We don’t want to go into this innovation project with a preconceived idea of what it is and what it does,” explained Jacobus du Plooy, Ericsson’s chief technology officer. “University students come up with things that companies might not. We are not creating technology for a specific use case, we’re creating technology so flexible you can do anything with it.”
The next step in the process is to open up the laboratory to outsiders. Starting this fall, a project submission website will allow businesses, researchers and individuals to submit ideas and projects to be evaluated by a selection committee.
