Sensors are usually perceived as simple building blocks. However, when all constraints are taken into account it becomes more complex. How do you master this complexity and the involved risks? The case of sensor development for smart metering will show how to apply these methods in practice.

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Template presentation Innovation Day 2016CONFIDENTIAL
TRACK 3: EVOLVING ARCHITECTURES
Rudy Van Raemdonck
Coordinator EmbeddedLab
rudy.vanraemdonck@verhaert.com
SIMPLE SENSORS
CASE ‘SMART METERING’

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A SIMPLE CAR PARKING SENSOR ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkvy0GtJE2E

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CONTENT
Case: GecoSense
Challenges in sensor development
Evolving architectures and sensor development
Conclusions and food for thought

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CASE: GecoSense
A retrofittable energy measuring sensor

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BOXX - ENGIE’S SMART THERMOSTAT SOLUTION
https://www.engie-electrabel.be/nl/particulier/boxx-besparen-energie-verbruik-thermostaat

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GECOSENSE – SYSTEM OVERVIEW
Retrofittable energy meter sensor
Interface box (existing)Wireless link
BOXX intelligent thermostat

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• Count disk revolutions of installed energy meters
(Ferraris type)
• In both directions (energy consumption and
production)
• Without intrusion of the meter cabinet (sealed)
• And fully removable
• That interfaces to the BOXX thermostat
• Consumes less than 1W
• Is low cost (including installation)
• And can be launched within a period of 9 months
GECOSENSE - BASIC REQUIREMENTS

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CHALLENGES IN SENSOR DEVELOPMENT
Why is sensor development complexity underestimated?

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SENSORS ARE EVERYWHERE …

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... ON (IN) OUR BODY

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... IN OUR HOMES/WORKING PLACES

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... IN OUR CITIES

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A MYRIAD OF SENSORS
Source : IBM Canada

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… AND NOWHERE!

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CAR SENSORS - WHERE ARE THEY?

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CAR SENSORS – TYPICAL LIST
Engine Coolant Temperature
Fuel Pressure (Gauge)
Intake Manifold Absolute Pressure
Engine RPM
Vehicle Speed Sensor
Ignition Timing Advance for #1 Cylinder
Intake Air Temperature
Air Flow Rate from Mass Airflow Sensor
Absolute Throttle Position
Oxygen Sensor 1 Bank 1
Oxygen Sensor 2 Bank 1
Oxygen Sensor 3 Bank 1
Oxygen Sensor 4 Bank 1
Oxygen Sensor 1 Bank 2
Oxygen Sensor 2 Bank 2
Oxygen Sensor 3 Bank 2
Oxygen Sensor 4 Bank 2
Distance Traveled
Fuel Rail Pressure Relative to Vacuum
Fuel Rail Pressure
Fuel Level Input
EVAP System Vapor Pressure
Control Module Voltage
Catalyst Temperature Bank 1 Sensor 1
Catalyst Temperature Bank 2 Sensor 1
Catalyst Temperature Bank 1 Sensor 2
Catalyst Temperature Bank 2 Sensor 2
Absolute Load Value
Relative Throttle Position
Ambient Air Temperature
Accelerator Pedal Position D
Accelerator Pedal Position E
Accelerator Pedal Position F
Road condition sensor
Magnetic sensor
Vehicle distance sensor
Forward obstacle sensor
Blind spot monitoring camera
Drive recorder
Side obstacle sensor
Oil level
Door open/close sensor
Booth open/close sensor
Passenger seat sensor
Rear obstacle sensor
GPS sensor
Airbag sensor
Rear view camera
Driver monitoring sensor
Steering angle sensor
Fire sensor
Vehicle speed sensor
Collision detection sensor
Pedestrian collision sensor
Cabin air pollution sensor
Tyre pressure sensor
Intrusion alarm detection
Ambient light sensor
...
Sensors are invisible assets!

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GECOSENSE – ENERGY MONITORING
Did you see the energy monitoring sensor in the promotional video?

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PERCEIVED VALUE OF SENSORS
DEPENDABILITY/CRITICALITY
Wisdom
What we decide
to do with it
VISIBILITYPERCEIVEDVALUE
Knowledge
Data analytics, models
Information
Context
Data
Sensors

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THE PACE OF DATA FLOW
A reflection of the fast society we are living in

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Wisdom
What we decide
to do with it
Knowledge
Data analytics, models
Information
Context
Data
Sensors
THE DATA HIGHWAY
On-demanddataContinuousdatafeed
Off-lineOn-line
DeferredprocessingInstantprocessing

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THE SHIFT TO ‘OPEN’ SENSORS
Dealing with future (not yet known) features

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TESLA – AUTOMATIC DRIVING

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SMARTPHONE – FALL DETECTION
Sensor
Accelerometer
Platform
Smartphone
Intentional
application
Portrait or landscape
detection

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SMARTPHONE – FALL DETECTION
Sensor
Accelerometer
Platform
Smartphone
New (unintentional)
application
Fall detection

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IT ALL ADDS UP!

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HIGH IMPLIED DEMANDS VERSUS LOW PERCEIVED VALUE
Sensor requirements
• Connected
• Small
• Autonomous
• Low-cost
• (Re)configurable
• Reliable
• Performant
UBIQUITOUS
INVISIBLE
OPEN
PACE
LOW VALUE PERCEPTION
Complex!

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HIGH IMPLIED DEMANDS VERSUS LOW PERCEIVED VALUE
Sensor requirements
• Connected
• Small
• Autonomous
• Low-cost
• (Re)configurable
• Reliable
• Performant
UBIQUITOUS
INVISIBLE
OPEN
PACE
LOW VALUE PERCEPTION
Complex!
• On one hand, sensors are so ‘common’ they are
taken for granted and not seen as valuable assets
(low perceived value)
• On the other hand, our whole information society
heavily depends on sensor data which implies
they must be able to communicate reliable
information in real-time, hence turning them
into complex systems
• This puts the design process of sensors under
a lot of pressure

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EVOLVING ARCHITECTURES
AND SENSOR DEVELOPMENT
6 hints to tackle the challenge

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• What to measure (register or disk rotation)?
• How to detect disk rotation/direction? How to read register?
• What is the maximum speed of the disk?
• What is the required accuracy?
• What are the power requirements?
• How and what must be communicated to BOXX?
• Are all the meters the same (disk surface, disk-sensor
distance)?
• What are the environmental conditions (ambient light,
temperature)?
• Who will install the sensor?
• What is allowed as interface to the existing cabinet?
• How long should installation take?
• What about visibility of the register after the sensor is
mounted?
• What is the maximum cost (sensor + installation)?
• What are the expected volumes?
GECOSENSE - COUNTING PULSES… SIMPLE?
TECHNICALUSERBUSINESS

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#1 - HOLISTIC APPROACH
• Should be applied throughout the complete development cycle
• Requires a multi-disciplinary team with an inter-disciplinary collaboration
• Engineering cost
• Product cost, TCO
• Minimal Viable Product
• Funding
• Technology selection
• Technology integration
• Development
• Testing, verification, validation,
certification
• Use cases
• Usability
• Features
• Perceived value
• Stakeholders

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GECOSENSE – THE PROJECT TEAM
Project
Coordination
Project
Management
Sales
Management
Software
Engineering
Hardware
Engineering
Optical
Engineering
System
Engineering
Lambda-X
Mechanical
Engineering
Industrialization
Contract manuf.
Management
External
consultants
Multi-disciplinary
project team with
inter-disciplinary
collaboration!

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#2 – UNDERSTAND THE PHYSICS
• Understanding the physics helps you in selecting the right measurement technology
• Must be done early in the development process!
• Get or acquire domain knowledge
• Literature, papers, patent survey
• Start measuring!
• Use simulation tools
• Determine correlations
• Consider influencing factors
(environment, time, …)

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GECOSENSE – OPTICAL SYSTEM MODELLING

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#3 – SENSOR AS A PLATFORM (EXAMPLES)
Possibilities
• MCU family (footprint
compatible devices,
reprogrammable)
• FPGA (reconfigurable)
• Software library
(modular)
• Communication protocol
(e.g. HART)
• Standard mechanical
format / interface
• Overdesign for current
application (performance,
features)
• Variable assembly
• Bus architecture
• Extension connector

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#3 – SENSOR AS A PLATFORM (RATIONALE)
Properties of platforms
• Flexible
• Reconfigurable
• Modular
• Scalable
• Generic
• Re-usable
• Standardization (open standards,
interchangeable)
• Portable (hardware independent)
• Platforms enable the implementation of an evolving architecture
• This can be realized on different levels (mechanical, hardware, software) and in
different project stages
Advantages for
sensor development
• Design flexibility (agility!)
• Earlier start of development
• Lower cost of change (re-use)
• Risk mitigation
• New features can be added after
go2market (future proof, sustainability,
longevity)

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GECOSENSE – PLATFORM DESIGN (MECHANICAL)
Optical subsystem
Attachment/alignment
Signal processing
Cover/protection
Interface (BOXX)

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GENERIC – PLATFORM DESIGN (HARDWARE)
Naked sensor
Sensor interface
Platform
management
Processing
Communication i/f
Storage

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MCU
(PIC32MX)
GECOSENSE – PLATFORM DESIGN (HARDWARE)
Meter disk
Optical transmitter
(2x)
Transmitter driver
(2x)
Optical receiver
(2x)
Analog to Digital
Convertor
Power supply
EMC filtering
Level shifting
UART
Meter interface module
RAM
FLASH
Watch-
dog

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GECOSENSE – PLATFORM DESIGN (HARDWARE)

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GENERIC – PLATFORM DESIGN (SOFTWARE)
Hardware Abstraction Layer
Sensor i/f and Pre-processing
Communication
protocol
Signal Processing (algorithm)
Sensor Platform Management

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GECOSENSE – PLATFORM DESIGN (SOFTWARE)
Bootloader Initialization
Auto
Calibration
I/O driver
(LEDs)
I2S handling
(ADC)
Send/receive
Pulse
generation
Signal
sampling
Protocol driver
Band pass
filter
Envelope
detection
Normalization
Dip detection
Direction
detection
Dip counting
(cons + prod)
Task scheduling Power management

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#4 – START WITH A WIDE ‘FIELD OF VIEW’
• Start with a broad view
• Evolve project focus as you learn (staged approach)
• Iterate
Explore
• Problem
understanding
• Risk identification
• Use cases
• Learn fast / fail fast
• Generate options
• Conceptual design
• Trade-off
Design
• Evaluation
• Verification
• User feedback
• Pre-certification
Optimize
• Performance
• Size/weight
• Cost
• Integration
• Visual design
• Validation
• Certification
Sensor
Proof of Concept
Preliminar functional
sensor
Optimized
sensor

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GECOSENSE - PROJECT APPROACH
Explore Design Optimize

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#5 – STREAMLINE YOUR TOOLCHAIN
• Use the right tools at the right moment
• Organize for portability (reuse) of intermediate development results throughout
the project stages
Explore
• Target = PC (or
similar)
• Rapid prototyping
(bread boarding, 3D
printing)
• Simulation
• Technology scouting
• Starter kits
• Algorithm modeling
tools
Design
• Target = functional
proto
• Functional
decomposition and
(re)grouping
• Design tools (EDA,
mechanical design)
• Review checklists
• Debugging tools
• Model translation
tools (code
generation)
Optimize
• Target =
• final sensor
• Configuration
management tools
(features, bugs,
version)
• Calibrated test bench
• (Automated) test
procedure
• Model optimization
tools (code
optimization)

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GECOSENSE – USE OF TOOLS
Office tools (Excel, Word, Powerpoint)
Matlab (physical simulation and modelling)
Python (protocol simulation)
MPLab (C compiler for embedded software development)
SVN (software version control)
Bugzilla (bug reporting and follow-up)
Creo (mechanical design)
Altium designer (electronic design)
Zemax OpticStudio (optical modelling and design)
LTspice (electronic simulation)
Starter kits / breadboards Functional model / 3D prints Full sensor / Molded parts Final product / Test bench

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#6 – EXPLOIT THE FULL SYSTEM
• Sensor fusion
 IMU : accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer
• Distributed computing
 determine where to compute what
 optimize technical resources, communication bandwidth, autonomy
 Example: sensor, hub, backend
• Inclusion of context
 Example : GPS  lock to road, day/night mode

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GECOSENSE – EXPLOITING THE SYSTEM
Exploited features
• Temperature sensor and temperature
compensation
• Auto calibration
• Redundant meter disk monitoring (using two
measuring channels)
• Totalize energy consumption and production
on sensor
• No conversion to kWh, no trending
Advantages for GecoSense
• Improved reliability over temperature
• Compensation for sensor degradation (long
term stability),; autonomous operation
• Disk direction detection
Improved reliability
• Possibility for BOXX to recover from
communication drop out
• Minimize sensor resources (cost reduction)

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GECOSENSE – READY FOR MARKET LAUNCH!

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GECOSENSE – FUTURE IDEAS
• Retrofit on meter itself for PV applications (solar cells)
 shorter distance to meter disk!
 measurement of both energy consumption and production
• Retrofit for meters with LED instead of disk
• Exchange more parameters with BOXX (signal quality, settings)
• All these ideas can be implemented with minimal effort, thanks to the evolving
architecture of the GecoSense sensor

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CONCLUSION
Click to insert subtitle

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REDUCING THE PRESSURE FROM SENSOR DEVELOPMENT
Sensor development
UBIQUITOUS
INVISIBLE
OPEN
PACE
LOW VALUE PERCEPTION

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Sensor development
UBIQUITOUS
INVISIBLE
OPEN
PACE
LOW VALUE PERCEPTION
REDUCING THE PRESSURE FROM SENSOR DEVELOPMENT
Evolving
architecture
#1
Holistic
approach
#2
Understand
the physics
#3
Sensor as a Platform #4
Wide ‘angle
of view’
#5
Streamline
toolchain
#6
Exploit full system

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IS THIS A SIMPLE CAR PARKING SENSOR?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkvy0GtJE2E

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...YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED!
Signal processing (master)
Wireless communication (voice/ears)
Sensors (stereoscopic sight + hearing)
Signal processing (slave)
Wireless communication (beak)
Sensors (stereoscopic camera)
Signal processing (slave)
Wireless communication (ears)
Sensors (movement)
THEDRIVER
(sensorplatform#1)
THECHICK
(sensorplatform#2)
THEDOG
(sensorplatform#3)

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the umbrella brand of the Verhaert Group which aims
to connect, train and accelerate professional innovators.
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