Smart Industry 2/2018

Integrated Roadways
Smart Road Products Installed in Colorado
This summer, Kansas startup Integrated
Roadways installed its first
“smart pavement” set to an intersection
in an industrial corner of Denver.
The installation consists of four
slabs of concrete embedded with
sensors at an intersection between
a PepsiCo bottling plant and two
parking lots. This pilot test is carried
out in cooperation with the Colorado
Department of Transportation. The
technology can detect crashes when
they occur, and automatically notify
emergency responders. A piece of
concrete manufactured as a slab has
an integrated three-axis accelerometer
that measures vibrations to
predict vehicle paths. A fiber-optic
cable detects strain in the pavement
and a magnetometer gauges the
width of cars’ axles to help figure out
what kind of car is currently passing
over the slab. An additional gyroscope
records the position of the slab, determining
whether the road has shifted
out of place. Data is sent through a
Power-over-Ethernet connection to
control centers along the road. If this
pilot project goes well, Integrated
Roadways plans to replace 500 meters
of pavement along a dangerous curve
just south of Denver in early 2019.
Philips
Start Your Day:
Look in the Smart Mirror
Philips now comes to the only room the company has
not entered so far with its product line of smart lights
by the name of Hue. The new Hue Adore range was
designed especially for use in bathrooms. Signify – the
new brand for Philips lighting – launched the new
collection in Europe and the United States this summer.
The Hue Adore range consists of a mirror light, a single
spotlight, a double spotlight, a triple spotlight, a ceiling
triple spotlight, a ceiling panel, and a lighted vanity
mirror. The whole range is splash-proof and is certified
for use in bathrooms in Europe and North America.
Pricing for the collection ranges from €80 to €250. The
light color as well as the brightness of all products can
be controlled through a dimmer switch or the Hue app.
Vorwerk
Smart Tea with Vorwerk’s Temial
Until a few years ago, Vorwerk was best known for vacuum
cleaners. Then the German company developed
the smart cooking machine Thermomix, that revolutionized
the kitchen. And now they are going for tea, with
the Temial tea-maker. The product was developed by a
startup group within the company. The tea-maker is the
centerpiece of a system that makes the preparation of
individual tea varieties possible with the help of a code
scanner and an accompanying app. The Temial comes
with a range of ten different loose-leaf organic varieties
of teas – and an extensive portfolio of accessories. After
scanning the barcode that is printed on each bag of tea,
the Temial will automatically provide the perfect treatment
of that special variety of tea. With the help of the
app, individual treatments for different kinds of tea can
be configured individually. A water filter and a boiler are
integrated in the stylish machine that can be ordered
directly from Vorwerk at a price of €600.
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