Overcoming The Skill Gap Between IoT Developers And Designers
A conversation with Ongan Mordeniz, COO, Octonion
Octonion’s founders noticed a “skill gap” in the marketplace between developers and integrators who accommodate IoT connectivity (but can’t design devices) and designers who create IoT devices but can’t facilitate their connectivity in the field. In this Q&A, Octonion COO Ongan Mordeniz discusses that “skill gap” and what Octonion did to overcome it.
Q: Can you walk us through how Brainium Core interacts with SmartEdge Agile IoT and Microsoft Azure IoT Central?
Mordeniz: We’re at the cusp of what’s being called the “Deep Tech IOT” decade. Brainium Core is the three-layer software for the SmartEdge Agile sensor device. The Brainium Core software delivers fundamental IoT features, such as device management capabilities; advanced, customized dashboarding; and Smart rules, to kickstart IOT projects and add an industrial element from the start.
The solution brings two key differentiators to the “edge” of an IoT solution. Those are machine learning (ML) automation, which accommodates industrial use cases through the solution’s AI Studio tool; and secured, industry-standard connectivity from 2.4GHZ to sub-gig range (LPWA – low power, wide area).
Our adoption of Microsoft’s new IoT Plug and Play enables Brainium to integrate the SmartEdge Agile device with the Microsoft Azure IoT Central platform. That means IoT Central users will be able to take advantage of Brainium’s core features from SmartEdge Agile in their IoT projects. This allows integrators to facilitate elements such as preprocessed telemetry data, managed security at-the-edge, and expansion packs for customization. In addition, thanks to the hardware’s modular architecture, all updates will be fully operational right out of the box when using the Brainium Core software.
Q: What kinds of IoT projects can this combination of technologies address that perhaps weren't possible before or, at least, were more difficult to deploy?
Mordeniz: Brainium currently targets two key areas. One is the monitoring of devices in IoT environments via a “retrofit” approach. We offer what we call a discovery portal that users can leverage to access extensive features and widgets to build customized solutions in existing environments. This includes the Brainium AI Studio tool, a “no-coding,” machine learning tool that delivers advanced intelligence to IoT devices. It allows developers to rapidly understand the challenges involved in their IoT projects and produce an MVP, or minimum value product solution, in record time for this industry.
The Brainium/Smart Agile solution also addresses predictive maintenance, or PdM, in IIoT. This includes functions such as condition monitoring and vibration analysis, to be conducted on equipment utilized for Industry 4.0. Machinery data, no matter its nature, can be analyzed in a short period using advancing ML tooling and the SmartEdge Agile devices, predicting the beginning of mechanical problems for users by way of alerts and anomaly types.
Q: What is the chief significance of adopting Microsoft’s IoT Plug and Play?
Mordeniz: One of the objectives in adopting IoT Plug and Play was to help integrators bring an industrial device to market—and to Microsoft users—rather than a software development “devkit.” End-customers are looking for ready-to-use, scalable, in-production devices with evolutive features. Today, the challenge is to fill the gap between creating an IoT-capable device and connecting that device to the cloud.
The integration required to connect that IoT solution and make it function in the real world is the true challenge to IoT adoption. This is essentially what the Brainium Core provides with its offering. The Brainium core platform and SmartEdge Agile help to significantly streamline this path to market, letting end users and developers deploy their IoT projects at scale. What might take months or years to integrate can now be accomplished in weeks by using this out-of-the-box IoT solution.
Q: What does this mean for software integrators and developers?
Mordeniz: SmartEdge Agile brings significant value to software integrators and developers. Through its modular approach and extensive sensors, developers can leverage the platform to create an out-of-the-box integration experience. Unlike the typical SDK devkit, the Smart Agile device is ready-certified industrial and scalable, meaning it can be produced in large volumes with customization if required. The solution’s Azure integration was available for telemetry purposes upon the launch of Microsoft’s IoT Plug and Play. All data is secured, and device authority is managed from end-to-end through x509 ECC-based certificates. We are working closely with Microsoft to bring more intelligent data, such as vibration analysis and motion analysis in the industrial workplace or on the manufacturing floor to the edge so that users can incorporate them into their applications and business logic. Meanwhile, many of these versatile features and customizable solutions are ready to be deployed and put into operation.
About Octonion
Octonion is an IoT Intelligent Edge software platform that meets today’s complete IoT requirements from the embedded layer to the cloud-based services. Octonion’s team has built an unprecedented AI framework and developed an edge computing architecture. Octonion’s expertise allows clients to deploy a connected project in 6 months as opposed to the 18 to 24 months currently needed with most other platforms.