Water Pressure and Quality Monitoring with ioBridge

June 2, 2011 By

Elad Salomons of OptiWater noticed that his house water pressure was 9 bars. Ever since he made that discovery, Elad dug deeper to discover some answers. In his research, Elad discovered the ioBridge IO-204 Monitor and Control Module and connected sensors to the web for more analysis. He used ioBridge and ThingSpeak charting services for the visualization of data.

Water Pressure Gauge Showing 9 bars

Water Pressure Gauge Showing 9 bars

ioBridge Connected to Sensors

ioBridge IO-204 Module Connected to Sensors

Elad says this is his first step into the Internet of Things and learned a lot before he goes full-scale. “This operation, of connection stuff to the web is called Internet Of Things (IOT). The thing can be any device, even a toaster like this guy did connecting his toaster to Twitter (also done with an IO-204 module).”

Elad also wanted to share the discovery process and hold a contest. Elad’s contest is open to anyone that can correlate the data presented on his Water Simulation blog. You have until June 30, 2011 to figure it out. Visit Elad’s blog for more information or look him up on Twitter.

[via Water Simulation]

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ioBridge Growth Press Release

July 21, 2010 By

We are happy to announce that we have landed multiple commercial contracts to develop and integrate with consumer products and professional applications. This rapid growth also allowed us to bring on board two new people to the ioBridge team. ioBridge would like to welcome aboard Robert Mawrey and Hans Scharler!

Here is the official press release via eRelease:

ioBridge Announces Funding and Commercial Contracts to Develop New Web-enabled Products and Services

MARLBOROUGH, MA – July 21, 2010 – ioBridge, Inc. (www.iobridge.com) sees rapid growth and announces series seed funding and multiple commercial contracts. ioBridge is the developer of Web-enabled hardware and cloud-based services and was recognized as providing one of the Top 10 Internet of Things Products for 2009 by ReadWriteWeb. ioBridge’s technology platform enables almost any device or thing to be monitored or controlled via the Internet.  The user base has grown very quickly, finding new applications for the flagship product, known as the ioBridge IO-204 monitor and control module. Users place the IO-204 on their network without setup and anything connected to the IO-204 is accessible securely via the Internet.

Users from around the world have created projects based on the IO-204 at their homes to remotely monitor fish tanks, open garage doors via a mobile phone, and report home energy use to social networks. Top technology magazines and Web sites, such as Popular Science, IEEE Spectrum, MIT’s Technology Review, and MAKE Magazine, featured ioBridge projects. The success of these projects attracted companies looking to use ioBridge hardware and engineering services to create new commercial products and use the technology for professional applications.

“Our inbox is filled with email from schools, businesses, and hobbyists alike looking to use our devices for their applications,” said Jason Winters, ioBridge’s President, Technology. “I am thrilled with the response.”

Over the past six months, ioBridge secured seed funding and landed commercial contracts for new consumer products and for a large scale environmental monitoring and control project. To support the growth, ioBridge added Robert Mawrey, Ph.D. as Chief Executive Officer and Hans Scharler as President, Software.

Robert Mawrey is the former Chief Information Officer of American Tower and brings with him twenty years of experience in electronic engineering, information technology, and strategic leadership. Robert holds a Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering from the University of Natal, Durban, South Africa.

Hans Scharler was formerly with TESSCO Technologies, where he designed and secured SCADA and Smart Grid networks for utilities. Prior to TESSCO, Hans released data management Web applications to manage learning programs and emergency response planning and reporting. Scharler is the co-author of “IP-based Physical Security” and holds lectures on network security and IP-based services.

ioBridge will be announcing the release of the ioBridge Professional Platform. The new platform includes hardware and Web services that will be available off-the-shelf to ease integration with consumer products and professional applications.

About ioBridge, Inc.

ioBridge, Inc. (www.iobridge.com) offers technology and services that enable almost anything to be Web-enabled and monitored and controlled over the Internet. ioBridge’s technology includes a Web services platform that customers can use to extend the technology for many applications.  ioBridge provides OEM and commercial integration services and licensing of core, patent-pending technologies.

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A Doorbell Joins the ‘Internet of Things’

June 3, 2010 By

Here’s a scenario seemingly from the future. Imagine a world of connected things, lets call it the Internet of Things. There are lots of useful data around us in our environment. There are lots of useful things we may want to know about and may want to interactive with remotely (in a different space and time). If every thing had a voice, there would be a lot of data to collect and to make meaningful. If we can do it, we would be connected to our environments.

This is not as far off as it sounds. The ioBridge Platform was created to make it easy to connect anything to the web, store data from sensors, relay data to other networks, and present the data on websites. People are already creating very interesting projects, products, and services on top of the platform. And everyday we are surprised by the diversity of the projects.

The Internet Doorbell

The Internet Doorbell

Now joining the Internet of Things…The Doorbell. The Internet Doorbell project is by Jason Garland. He created a super easy project that connects his doorbell live to Twitter or really any social network via Ping.fm and ioBridge push services. The instant someone presses his doorbell, the doorbell updates the input status on the ioBridge IO-204 and pushes the message to ioBridge and Ping.fm which updates Twitter (@jgarland79). This is a first step, just think of where it could take you. One day your doorbell gets pressed, you get notified, and you start up a voice-over-IP session with your intercom system. You could interact with (or annoy) your visitor from anywhere in the world.

Check out Jason’s blog for more details on the Twittering Doorbell and other very interesting projects. We also noticed a web-enabled water meter updating water usage.

On a related project, one of our Maker Faire projects this year was the “transcontinental doorbell” – involving two IO-204s linked together. When the doorbell button at one site is pressed it rings a doorbell 2000 miles away in less than 300ms.

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Solar Hot Water Monitoring System

January 11, 2010 By

Eric Edwards of EJESolar.com created a system that takes solar energy and heats water for his home. He uses Sun Strip Solar panels to heat the water. With a single solar panel Eric is able to heat a 60 gallon tank to temperatures beyond 160°F. He uses the ioBridge IO-204 to data log and actively monitors the water heating system by getting alerts and updates on his mobile phone.

Water Tank and ioBridge IO-204

Water Tank and ioBridge IO-204

ioBridge IO-204 with Temperature Sensors

ioBridge IO-204 with Temperature Sensors

Eric monitors and data logs the temperatures of the the hot water storage tank, the collectors, and the outside temperature in real-time using the ioBridge IO-204 and temperature sensors. This data allows Eric to calculate BTUs collected per day and translate into a dollar figure to track savings. He has surrounded himself with the data to make sure there is no system damage, freezing, etc., by creating a web site to view the data, setting ioBridge message alerts, and using a Google Gadget to display the temperatures collected by the IO-204.

Visit EJESolar.com to see a live view of the data collected by the solar hot water system as well as some more details behind this solar hot water heating system. Ingenious!

Screen Shot of Solar Array and Collected Data (EJESolar.com)

Screen Shot of Solar Array and Collected Data (EJESolar.com)

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Data Logging Your Water Usage

May 11, 2009 By

Jason has released a new ioBridge project that monitors water usage for his whole house in real-time. The system uses a water meter, an IO-204, and ioBridge data logging services. His first system monitored power usage, sunlight, and temperature which included a live demo mash-up with Google Charts.

Water UsageOn one channel of the IO-204, the water meter is connected to the digital input. On a digital state change, the module sends that data to the ioBridge servers. Included with the free user account is the ability to log two data feeds from your module. In this case, the type of log is a Digital Input Counting Log. Evey count is the equivalent to one gallon of water used. The project is rather interesting and the next step in conservation. Knowing water usage and finding your high water use times will help curb use in the long run. Details on the water meter project can be found on Jason’s blog and Instructables.


Web Based Water Metering with ioBridge

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