On Problems, Products and IoT

Dr. Tej Pochiraju, 9th January 2016

micrograce

Brief Bio● Wireless hardware + applications since 2004● >150 SMEs + some LEs (Cadbury, Texon, Rockwool)● ~40 product developments

○ Some successes, many failures○ Livestock RFID (Scotland/France)○ Wave energy sensor network (currently off coast of NY)○ Passive RFID Pressure Sensor (England)○ Wireless Smart Grid Sensors (Italy)○ Wireless Tyre Pressure Sensor (Northern Ireland)○ Trailer Monitoring (sold to Ministry of Defence, UK)○ Very, very keen to work on environmental challenges in India

Ignore your idea

Definitely ignore your technology

Focus on the problem

Problem Driven Approach to Product Development

● What is the problem?● Who is affected by this problem?● Why is this problem worth solving? aka Return on

Investment● When is the problem worth solving?● When will the solution be commoditised? Can you wait?● Who is willing to pay for the solution?● Is it a product?

Remote Monitoring of Wave Energy Generators

Remote Monitoring of Wave Energy Generators● NEED: Generator can be damaged if not shut down during strong waves

resulting in loss of ~$1M to equipment owner

● Idea: Remotely monitor waves and automatically shut generator down

during ‘events’

● Technology: Wave sensors in wireless mesh network for remote

monitoring from up to 12 km

● ROI: Sensor Deployment costs about $300,000 and lasts 10+ years [Think

Insurance]

Remote Monitoring of Electric Grid: Similar Story

Livestock RFID: Before

Livestock RFID: After

Microwave Wood Drying!

Touchscreen Sphygmomanometer in 2007!

What is IoT?● Really old concept

● Overused phrase

● Lots of data but NOT Big Data

○ Most processes being measured are well understood physically or need relatively simple

statistical models

○ Big Data Analytics are great at understanding stochastic/random processes

● Quite useful, in the right context

What is IoT good for?● Consumer goods - extremely difficult to predict (+ no personal experience)

● Industrial:○ Where cost of failure is high

■ Asset tracking, predictive maintenance

○ Where process is not completely understood or influenced by uncontrolled parameters

■ Agriculture

■ Chocolate/Alcohol making (haven’t changed for 100+ years!)

■ But beware questions on ROI and who pays!

○ Where there is an advantage to aggregating data from multiple installations

■ Aircrafts (practising data sharing for 60+ years)

■ Traffic monitoring

What I have learnt● The best technology is one that solves the problem effectively and will solve it

for the lifetime of deployment

● Lifetime determined by first component to fail expensively:○ Sensor

○ Data logger

○ Communications network (what if 2G disappears?)

● The best way to develop hardware is by eliminating as much hardware as

possible

● If you can implement something in software (and cloud), DO IT!○ Total Harmonic Distortion calculation on cloud vs in hardware

Common Startup Failures● Not understanding/picking the right problem

○ Secondary research is not good enough. Get out there and research the problem

● Solving everything○ Solve one problem really well

■ Kickass cloud db+viz+analytics >> ‘Full-stack’ data logger+cloud :-(

● Lack of Focus○ Pick a problem that is worth solving, solve it, sell it○ Do nothing else until 1st sale then whore yourself to investors to scale○ Set a time limit on when to stop (12-18 months)

● Reinventing the wheel○ Use open source, use proprietary, use what exists if it meets your needs○ Replace when worth replacing (almost never will be)

Ignore your idea

Definitely ignore your technology

Focus on the problem