Internet of Things (IoT) startup Helium announces a custom-built sensor network design featuring IoT-optimised wireless technology and a software platform designed for enterprise customers.
Described as nothing less than "the Android of the IoT," the system promises to be both powerful and flexible, while allowing customers to easily implement IoT networks without need to build embedded device software from scratch.
Thus the reprogrammable Helium sensors contains multiple sensing inputs, secure networking and a low-power processor within a single, compact form factor. The sensors promise monitoring both sophisticated and simple, with secure, over the air upgrades and deployments reaching up to a year of battery life from 2 standard AA batteries.
Sensors communicate with each other and the cloud via 802.154 wireless on the 2.4GHz and 900MHz, thus avoiding wifi and Bluetooth congestion. Dubbed the Helium Network, the technology enables low power, long-range communications within a system scalable from 10 to 10000 sensors. Users can add sensors measuring different inputs, such as ambient light, humidity and movement, to the same netowrk, with data usable by multiple solutions.
On the management side Helium offers the Helium Cloud-- a cloud-based sensor platform. Designed to manage real-time and historical data flows at scale, the platform features numerous prebuilt alerts, the ability to easily add alert rules over large sets of equipment and dynamic abnormal behaviour monitoring. The infrastructure also stores every sensor reading on the cloud, allowing for both historical and real-time access.
“Helium is transforming the enterprise IoT market by removing complexity and introducing a smart sensor platform that can improve companies’ bottom lines through powerful and actionable insights and a simple, elegant user experience,” the company says. “There is immense potential in giving physical things the power of perception to provide businesses with the tools they need to make highly informed decisions. Helium’s platform is an end-to-end solution that moves at the speed of software so your insights grow along with your business.”
