Software AG’s Cumulocity IoT platform is to be retro-fitted to 5,000 London buses by 2021, as part of plans by the Greater London Authority to reduce carbon emissions from its public transport services. The German software company’s platform has also been added to Spanish operator Telefónica’s IoT portfolio.
Industrial telemetry provider STW will integrate the Cumulocity platform into its telematics GPS controllers, which will be retro-fitted to buses operated by Transport for London in the period to 2021. STW has been appointed by HJS Emission Technology to provide its ‘selective catalytic reduction technology’ (SCRT), scheduled to be fitted to over 5,000 TfL buses.
Cumulocity, rebranded as ‘STW machines.cloud’, will help HJS collect and manage data on a computer or mobile device, from STW’s TC1 and TC3G telematics modules fitted to TfL buses.
Michael Schmitt, chief executive of STW, said: “HJS can use the big data to detect patterns alerting them to problems in either their system or the bus engines. Implementing algorithms in the telematics modules evolves the big data into smart data, reduces the amount of data transmitted and enables predictive maintenance which ensures they can avoid unnecessary preventive actions and breakdowns.”
As well as engine emissions, the STW devices will track technical data, faults, routes, locations and fuel consumption. Data can be visualised using SCADA widgets in real time, and provide live diagnostics, updates and calibration.
Meanwhile, Telefónica has added Software AG’s Cumulocity platform to its own branded offering. The pair have said they will collaborate further on enterprise IoT services in Spain. Javier Magdalena Pinilla, director of digital business at Telefónica Spain, said the addition will enable Telefónica to “increase its pace of innovation and reduce the time to deploy IoT services” globally.
He added: “We are working and innovating on numerous projects to build the foundation for digital transformation with many other companies in the information and technology market; for us, it is all about using IoT to have a positive impact on society.”
Alongside device and sensor management, the Cumulocity IoT platform includes a range of pre-packaged solutions, including condition monitoring, predictive maintenance and tracking. Its open nature means third-party products and services can be plugged in, and the variety of data inputs and insights can be expanded.
Bernd Gross, senior vice president for the IoT and cloud at Software AG, said the platform brings together “the worlds of IT and OT.” Cumulocity works with various low-power wide-area (LPWA) technologies, including narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), Lightweight M2M (LWM2M), and LoRaWAN.
Speaking at the 2018 IoT Tech Expo in London last week, Gross suggested 65 per cent of all IoT strategies fail because their authors are too hasty. Software AG has completed hundreds of IIoT projects, he said, and has learned a few things, including three principles for successful industrial IoT projects.
