Climate change, loss of arable land, ever scarcer resources and a growing world population. There are more and more challenges in food production. New approaches are being sought to meet these challenges. One of them is smart farming.

With our WE line of FeatherWings you can rapidly prototype your own smart farming application. With the help of the Sensor FeatherWing you can measure data points such as temperature and humidity to check if the plants are feeling most comfortable.

This created data can be sent into any cloud using the Calypso Wi-Fi FeatherWing. On GitHub, we are providing quickstarts and examplecode to get data into Microsoft and Amazon IoT platforms. Here, the data can be displayed, stored and analyzed to optimize plant output.

Benefits

Actuators can now be controlled manually or automatically via RPC.

• Turn on water pump to water the soil if the moisture is too low.
• Automatically fertilize the soil.
• Change the color and brightness of the LED depending on the time of day and the development of the plant.

The interconnection of power tools offers various advantages and applications. Especially with battery-powered tools there is no longer a connection between the tools, which does not allow a synchronized function.

With the help of Bluetooth networking, the various tools can be operated in coordination with each other. For example, a vacuum cleaner starts as soon as the drill is started. Ideally, the various functions can be controlled with the help of an app.

Via a mobile device, it is possible to download the usage and wear data, and as a result to optimally plan the maintenance cycles or, in the case of a rental device, to settle the accounts on the basis of actual usage.

Benefits

• Access to device data at any time.
• Wireless data access prevents penetration of dust and water.
• Opportunity to install further systems, e.g. for localization of tool or sensors for drop detection.
• Data can be extracted, e.g. via a mobile app.

Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGV) or Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) are vitally important for flexible intralogistics concepts. While GNSS can be used for navigation outdoors, robots in factories and warehouses need different orientation techniques.

Key factors for the navigation of AMRs are wireless communication and acceleration sensors for inertial navigation. Würth Electronic does not only offer sensor and radio modules but also supports various communication protocols. Orientation via anchor point antennas distributed on the factory or warehouse floor as well as transmission of orders and status updates can be realized, e.g. with Bluetooth, Wirepas Massive Routing Mesh, or WE-ProWare Flooding Mesh.

Benefits

Autonomous Mobile Robots – autonomous but well connected

• Communication with intralogistics vehicles can be realized over a variety of protocols - even proprietary solutions might prove to be a good solution.
• With wireless communication, all kinds of information can be shared, e.g.battery charge status, transport weight, or condition of wear parts.

Runway firing requires the highest reliable synchronized lighting. Reducing the wiring lowers installation costs and improves the degree of scalability.

Easy integration of new windmills into the existing park requires a reliable and secure bidirectional radio communication to increase Green Energy sector.

Würth Elektronik offers a variaty of GNSS Moduls not only for localization but also for time synchronization. In combination with globally accepted radio standards like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, WE-ProWare, NB-Iot and LTE Cat. M the far distance management of machines, meaning remote monitoring and controlling, gives you dependend on the application either worldwide or locally enclosed access to your devices. In both cases highest security requirements can be fulfilled.

Predictive and curative maintenance can be triggered by intelligent digital sensors giving you the status of the environmental conditions in- and outside the housing and provides protection against natural destruction and exceptional failures.

Data can be made acessable through secure cloud connectivity.

Benefits

• Save kilometers of wiring
• Easy installation and extension
• Scalability
• Individual lights control
• Microsecond accuracy synchronization

Older houses often have many weak points and are particularly vulnerable to burglary. However, retrofitting wired security devices is expensive and laborious. Manufacturers should therefore also offer radio-based alarm systems.

The development of retrofittable alarm systems with wireless technology depends on the right combination of radio technologies. For the control system, a connection to the Internet or to the mobile network is required. For connecting the sensors, radio frequencies in the sub-GHz and the 2.4 GHz range can be used, whereas both short and longer distances have to be bridged. Due to security reasons, the use of a long-established but not publicly known radio protocol, such as WE-ProWare by Würth Elektronik, is very advantageous. Intelligent sensor technology can detect the opening of windows or doors by measuring the change in barometric pressure, temperature or humidity and trigger a silent alarm.

Benefits

Proprietary radio protocol – a security advantage

• By intelligent combination and utilization of highly sensitive Würth Elektronik sensors, the opening of windows and doors can be detected without equipping the doors themselves with sensors.
• A wide range of Würth Elektronik radio modules allows variants for different spatial conditions.
• Arming and disarming of the alarm system can be executed via mobile devices if an internet connection via Wi-Fi or cellular module is established.

Smart homes need smart washing machines. Only a washing machine which is connected to the Internet of Things can be controlled remotely and switched on, for example, when there is a surplus of energy from the house's solar panels. Really smart machines come with excellent sensors.

Manufacturers who make their washing machines "intelligent" are opening up completely new business models. Machines that receive commands and provide feedback wirelessly can be sold as components of smart home concepts. If absolute pressure, differential pressure, temperature, and acceleration sensors are used to monitor the correct operation of a washing machine, leasing models can be developed, in which the customer only pays for actual use, for example in a laundromat or communal laundry. At the same time, the machine automatically reports the need for maintenance, for example, when its vibration behavior changes the material.

Benefits

Laundry becomes more sustainable

• Do not own, just use. Smart IoT machines are perfectly maintained machines – leasing becomes an attractive option for customers as well as for manufacturers.
• Robust and durable sensors from Würth Elektronik for longlasting smart machines.
• Intelligent sensors, such as the differential pressure sensor, detect blocked filters.
• Personalized washing programs via mobile app and Bluetooth control.

Rotary switches on control units were a sensible solution for a long time. Furthermore, there was always the risk of unauthorized use. The more modern and secure approach: make the control unit addressable via radio. Or even make it an IoT device.

The ubiquity of smartphones and the widespread use of Wi-Fi networks open up the possibility of dispensing with rarely used switches on control units. With the slim Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi modules from Würth Elektronik, you can make your control unit capable of wireless communication. The big advantage: Access can be restricted by secure authentication. And where a connection already exists, it can also be used to update the control unit, or for management via the Internet.

Benefits

Use your phone to activate the switch

• Avoid external changes of the control unit.
• Authentication necessary for changes.
• Mobile device can update the control unit’s main functions.
• Wi-Fi: Cloud connectivity for status information, changes of settings from anywhere in the world etc..

A green garden is the jewel of any private or public building. But irrigation should be managed wisely. Especially in times of water scarcity, only as much water as necessary should be fed into the sprinkler system. With connectivity and sensors, sprinkler systems become intelligent.

A smart water pump detects when it is the right time to water the garden – based on wirelessly connected soil moisture sensors, the time of day, and maybe even from data about the availability of water resources like a cistern. By using several intelligent water pumps, gardens or parks can also be partially irrigated. Developers of irrigation systems should consider using humidity sensors and connectivity solutions like WE-ProWare Flooding Mesh or Wirepas Massive Routing Mesh to offer smart solutions which help their customers to save water.

Benefits

Mesh networks to control sprinklers

• An internet connection and cloud service can further enhance the benefits of a smart irrigation system.
• The user can analyze statistics on water consumption and watering times via a smartphone.

Equipping public buildings such as schools with air filtration devices to prevent infection, has burdened facility managers with an additional maintenance task. Manufacturers of such equipment would do well to simplify maintenance and operation – only a properly working air filter will protect.

The more air filters are in use, the more important remote maintenance becomes. Differential pressure and humidity sensors can be used to monitor the status of the filters. An internet gateway and a cloud application make remote maintenance convenient. Wi-Fi modules can be integrated to connect the devices to the gateway. A particularly flexible solution is an 868 MHz radio module with the proprietary radio protocol WE-ProWare. Additionally, this allows the bridging of longer distances than with Wi-Fi, if necessary.

Benefits

Proprietary network for remote maintenance

• WE-ProWare offers the possibility to customize functions by using simple commands.
• Unlike other sub-GHz standards, there are no license fees involved.

Even during the pandamic, there were more than 150 Million containers shipped during 2021. It has never been as important to know, where your containers are, as it is at the moment! Due to shortages of materials, the bottle necks on asian harbors and during an pandemic, it is crucial to be aware of what happens with your products and where they are.

With the Wirepas Mesh Network communication protocol every device can be used as wireless router and can act as a repeater for other nodes. With WE sensors it's possible to monitor the environmental conditions of your parts just in time, any time. The GNSS modules allow to follow the tracked container and give you an excat location of your parts. A network out of thousands of nodes, i.e. containers, increases the scale of the whole network and following the distance to bridge. Wirepas Massive offers a so called Positioning engine which is helpful to locate containers even inhouse.

Benefits

• Localization with GNSS
• Monitor the conditions with environmental sensors
• Build up a mesh Network with wirepas modules

Road side safety barriers ensure safety of pedestrians 
and traffic during construction and in case of accicdents. 
Often these cones get displaced posing a threat to human 
life. Retrofitting these barriers with sensors ensures early 
detection of displacement thereby saving human lives.

An acceleration sensor can be used to detect a fall of a safety barrier and 
a positioning system accurately determines the position and timing of the 
barrier. This data can be transmitted via cellular link to a data platform. A 
cloud platform can be further used to analyse and notify the operator to 
take corrective action when necessary.

Benefits

• Using highly integrated intelligent sensors from WE, it is possible to 
  accurately detect falls.
• The highly accurate GNSS modules can detect slightest change in 
  position of the barrier.
• Cellular module ensure cost effective connectivity from anywhere.
• Mesh networking between the barriers opens up a lot of possibilities for lighting control, traffic management and active signaling.

As e-mobility will be more and more a key for sustainable transportation, future charging infrastructure has to be both, smart and easy to use and also future proof and connected.

specially the connection between different charging stations with each other and also the charged devices have to be able to communicate with the infrastructure directly. Additionally there is a third party in here – the human wishing to be able to communicate with the infrastructure and expressing his plans and wishes. All that can be achieved with clever communication possibilities: Connecting the charging stations with each other could be reached with clever mesh solutions, so that there is no additional wiring needed. Communicating with the cars themselves could be done via cellular communication. The direct communication to the user could be implemented either also via celluar or with direct Bluetooth or WiFi Interface. With smart MEMS sensors, a bunch of information could be generated to know as much as possible of the device. For Payment cases there could also be the need of widespread communication standards as wM-Bus gives the possibilty to communicate standardized to Smart Meter Gateway (SMGW).

Benefits

• Empowering the infrastructure
• Easy installation and extension
• Scalability
• Increasing peoples consent because of easy usage

With raising technologie possibilities also the housekeeping gets more and more automated, intelligent and more comfortable. To do so, a lot of sensors and connectivity functions are needed. All data has to be sent via WiFi through the internet to userfriendly server applications.

In smart cleaning devices a lot of physical values are of interest. Temperatures have to be monitored, pressures, esp. for vacuums, have to be checked. You have to be sure, no humidity attacking your device. And lot more.

With Würth Elektronik digital MEMS Sensors there is a bunch of possibilities to collect data. Data of course is only useful if you know how to use it. Therefore a communication to the device itself but also to the controlling user or cloud systems above is important. With Bluetooth a communication directly to a smart device is easy and a taking into operation is possible without problems. WiFi enables to sent the data into a cloud and then to send back again to the user. And also brand new technologies like Matter can be integrated with radio modules.

Benefits

• Easy collecting data
• Standard connection to users
• Increase comfort level 

With more and more renewable energies in the public power grid also the need of information about the produced energy, as well as the needed power, has to be increased significantly. Only with data the energy transformation could be managed.

With energy meters it is possible to detect energy consumptions as it is done for years. But as there are more and more decentralized energy providers producing green energy, more information is needed to transport the energy and also to use the grid securely. The measured power flows, that‘s where it all begins. This information has to be collected efficiently, as the enery meters should not have a high energy consumption for themselves. The very different use cases also need very different solutions.

In areas, where a lot of energy meters are installed, you should collect data from all of them and bring it into a superordinate system at one point. Predictive and curative maintenance can be triggered by intelligent digital sensors giving you the status of the environmental conditions in- and outside the housing and provides protection against natural destruction and exceptional failures.

Data can be made acessable through secure cloud connectivity.

Benefits

• Easy connecting of dozens of meters without wiring effort
• Easy installation and extension
• Scalability

In solar farms a permanently maintenance is required. This means to check the condition of the solar panels and inverters or to do some updates.

Würth Elektronik offers with the NB-Iot and LTE Cat. M connectivity the far distance management of the inverters, meaning remote monitoring and controlling, gives you either worldwide or locally enclosed access to your devices. In both cases highest security requirements can be fulfilled. If there is an firmware update for the inverter needed, this could be transfered via cellular too or via an service staff with Bluetooth in front of the inverter.

Benefits

• Wireless configuration of the inverter
• Easy installation and extension
• Save costs for condition monitoring
• Easy firmware updates

A CPAP machine is a machine that uses mild air pressure to keep breathing airways open while you sleep. The documentation process is very easy, if a wireless connection is established. Many people rely on such a machine and need medical support when evaluating the data. The current option of remote data transfer is a blessing, especially in rural areas with a low density of doctors.

With the well known radio standards like WiFi, NB-Iot and LTE Cat. M data can be simply transferred into a cloud system. Might this be a private solution or even a Cloud of a medical association with the highest security standards. Using the short range transfer capability of Bluetooth offers the patient the opportunity to evaluate the last night sleep on its own mobile device immediately in the morning.

For a digital spirometer in a handheld device size it is now possible to train the lung very well controlled at home. Expanding your lungs, strengthening your lungs, keeping your lungs inflated and clearing mucus and other secretions from your chest and lungs… all processes are precisely performed due to an App on your mobile device and a direct connection via Bluetooh. A well documented training progress is an added value as well.

Benefits

• Performing precise & well documented medical nurture
• Taking care of your health at home
• Use of the latest technologies by older people thanks to simple mobile apps

New and better materials make it possible to produce increasingly robust, lighter and more durable prostheses and implants. The manufacturing und processing of these materials makes new processing methods necessary again and again

All moving machines like mills, lathes and CNC need an exact position and movement feedback. This could be realized with 6-Axis MEMS-Sensors from Würth Elektronik.

Pneumatic controlls need to be measured with high accuracy, i.e. with differential Pressure Sensors based on MEMS principles. These sensors are very accurate, temperature compensated and factory calibrated.

To get access to working machines without stopping automised processes, the service technican could connect wirelessly via Bluetooth or WiFi to the machine to read out running hours or fill levels or for calibrating the machine.

Benefits

• Save complex wiring
• Easy service interface Accurate sensing
• Temperature compensation Factory calibrated sensors