Need to know how much power that flows through a specific power cord, and see the information directly on your smartphone? That's exactly what the
Contiki-based winner of the IPSO 2013 challenge does. Just clip on the sensor on cord and see the data from anywhere in the world – the sensor sends the measurements wirelessly and securely across the Internet. Best of all: no batteries need to be replaced, ever, as the sensor is completely self-powered.
The wireless power sensor, developed by Redwire Consulting, Boston, MA, won the
IPSO 2013 Challenge last week. Aside the fame and recognition, winning the competition also included a $10000 USD check.
The sensor that is clipped-on to an power cord measures the current flowing through the wire and sends the data wirelessly to a cloud server, hosted at
lowpan.com. By using Contiki and its IPv6 stack, the sensor can send its readings directly to the cloud, without having any protocol translator boxes involved.
IPSO 2013 Challenge chairman Nick Ashworth said "The innovation, simplicity and end-to-end utilization of IP technology made this entry stand out to the judges."
The Redwire system was not the only Contiki-based system to compete in the IPSO 2013 challenge. The full list of entries can be found
here.
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