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!
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.
MIT’s Technology Review blog features an article about our tide level application. Along with a few ioBridge customers, we setup tide monitoring sites in Cape Cod that measure tide levels and environmental data in real-time. The data collected is used to alert people in the area of rising or falling tide levels, so you know when to bring your boat back to the dock. The sites are part of our growing sensor and control network all over the world built on top of the ioBridge platform.
The technology behind the tide monitoring sites is based around the ioBridge platform. We will be releasing our Pro hardware and web services soon available for commercial products and services. The tide alerts site is just one example of the new things we have in store.
We collect the data on our demo site for everyone to take a look at and sign up for email/SMS alerts. We will be opening up the feeds for others to build applications. Visit tidealerts.com to check it out.
Rogier Honselaar is a tech consultant in Germany. He wanted to be able to control a cat door remotely and also be notified when his cat came home.
"Gonzo" loves his automated cat door
As with most projects, Rogier started searching the Internet and found some interesting projects. He got the idea to combine some of his favorite projects and make a remotely controlled cat door and alert system for his cat, “Gonzo”.
When the idea was there, the execution was very easy using the IObridge module and components.
Rogier installed a Cat Mate Cat Door in his basement. The cat door opens when the electromagnet senses a magnet in the cat’s collar. By running the sensor and switch over the the ioBridge IO-204, Rogier can be open and close the door remotely. He is also able to monitor when the cat comes in and out of the door. The messages get pushed to Ping.fm via the IO-204 and ioBridge web service. Rogier and his neighbor follows his cat on Twitter @fellnasegonzo to make sure Gonzo is home safe and sound.
Cat Mate Automated Cat Door
Cat Door Switch and Sensor
At ioBridge.com, Rogier created a few control and monitor widgets. With some help from a friend, he controls and reads the widgets via a net-connected Windows Mobile app on his cellphone and can open and close the cat door on his Windows Home Server.
Windows Mobile Cat Door Control App
Windows Home Server Interface
Thanks for sending us the project details – we are happy to share. You combined some very interesting things together and created a very useful project. We wish you and Gonzo well and hope you enjoy the new cat door! Who let the cat out? Meow.
Over 2000 people came to the first annual Maker Faire North Carolina in Durham, NC. There were makers from all over. It was a blast!
We had on display web-enabled robots, toys, and interactive projects created by the ioBridge community. Some of those projects included, an iPhone and Twitter controlled Donkey Kong, X10 controlled lamp, streaming temperature sensor, and a remote controlled dog treat dispenser.
While we were there, we captured some footage of our projects on display and exhibits that we were able to see. There were so many great projects and so little time. We made a quick YouTube video and posted pictures to the ioBridge Flickr group.
Thanks to all of the volunteers, exhibitors, and sponsors who made the Maker Faire NC such a success.
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
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)
ioBridge offers a web-based platform for interfacing the physical world. You can connect sensors, switches, and controls to the IO-204 module and send email, update your Facebook status, or let your friends know what your power usage is on your blog without touching a single line of code. If you can click, you can create.
The IO-204 connects to your network and establishes a link to the ioBridge web services in the “cloud”. From there you can control, monitor, and share by using a point-and-click design interface or through open APIs.
We have released a new firmware called C4.0 which allows you to go beyond the cloud. C4.0 is an explosion of new features. You can create projects and products that work with the network cable unplugged. Using the ioBridge.com interface, you design rules and synchronize those rules to the module. Now, with or without the Internet connection, the module can make on-board decisions, turn fans on, control your lights, and sound buzzers.
The C4.0 firmware also includes high-frequency pulse counting. You may be asking yourself, “Why does pulse counting matter?” Well, pulse counting allows you to track inputs that are going on/off, around, or up and down. You can count the revolutions of your power meter. If you know how many times it spins around, you know how much power you have used. You can count the revolutions of a windmill to calculate wind speed. This feature keeps counting even if your network connection is not available.
Here’s more great news…If you already have the IO-204, you can upgrade your module to the new firmware by clicking upgrade on the module section of the ioBridge.com interface. All new orders ship loaded with C4.0 so you get all of the new features right out of the gate.
Details regarding the new firmware are available in the ioBridge Wiki. We are excited to see what you come up with!
A number of ioBridge users created some amazing ioBridge-based projects for this Halloween. We were impressed with the diversity and how they interacted with the IO-204. From using some new offline features of ioBridge to using social networks to poke fun at their Halloween prey.
We have a steam powered steampunk pumpkin that blows smoke out if it’s ears. We have a spider dropping on it’s victim and snapping a photo and posting to Twitter via TwitPic. We also have a motion sensing, talking skull that scares co-workers in the owner’s cubicle. Check them out!
From the “My Electronics Notepad” blog, Noel Portugal created a tracking webcam using passive infrared (PIR) sensors, a webcam mounted on a servo, and the IO-204 monitor and control module.
PIR Sensors, Webcam, and ioBridge IO-204 Module
Noel was able to pull this off with using the ioBridge Actions. An action is logic created through the ioBridge interface that allows automated events to occur. For example, an action can cause a servo to move to preset position, send an email, update your Facebook status, etc. In Noel’s case, he use the output of the PIR sensor to cause the servo to move to a set position. The output of the PIR is digital – “high” means motion detected and “low” means no motion.
Using two PIRs covering two regions, he was able to detect motion in two regions. If motion is sensed in one area, the webcam points in that direction and if motion is detected in the other area, the servo moves the camera to cover the other region. Very clever.
The PIR sensor has been the subject of a recent Adafruit tutorial – it’s available on the Adafruit store and even your local Radio Shack (of all places). For more information about this ioBridge project and other projects Noel dreams up, visit his blog.
Thanks to Oprah, Twitter is a household name. You can’t avoid it. But, Twitter uses are starting to flourish thanks to an API and dedicated developers. Matt Morey has developed a two-way, home automation application using Twitter to control lights and LCDs and monitor temperature and light sensors. His app interfaces Twitter with the ioBridge IO-204 by using the PHP Widget Control API.
Follow MattsOffice on Twitter
Matt’s Twitter application allows him to make updates to his Twitter feed and send commands to his IO-204 to turn on lights, send messages to his serial LCD screen, and get temperatures and light sensor readings. He also has a nifty extension that allows you to see a view from his office by sending him a tweet, which takes a snap shot from a digital camera and posts it on TwitPic.
