Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1053050
28 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2018 Botos: We started 10 years ago from an indus- trial control background surrounding any type of motors—valves, pressure, temperature, etc. We do not use a programmable logic control- ler (PLC), but we can design a PLC and do the electronics and the firmware for a controller to make it work. After starting this way, we expanded into a few automotive projects, and medical more recently, which means another set of troubles and challenges. Besides these three main paths, we are very interested in wearables, which you might call our fourth industry. I believe it's the next big thing to come because on the industrial side right now—even automotive and medical—we ride the IoT wave where everything gets con- nected. Every node brings data into the cloud. We have a collection of information that we can peruse, digest, and make a decision based on. This is the current trend, and I hope we can still ride that wave for a while. However, it will die down, like anything else, because every- thing has a beginning and an end. After IoT goes down, I hope IoB will come up and propel us forward further. IoB is a similar concept to IoT, but right now, we have a sensor attached to the body of the person, which will be the new wave. First, it was the PC, and then it was cellular, dot com, etc. Now it's IoT. What's the next trend? We think it will be IoB. Johnson: Do you have customers coming to you with IoT projects at this point? Botos: IoT is the thing now, and it's huge. We have project after project going into the cloud right now. There are two types of customers: startups that want to make the next little gad- get that collects some data, and then other types of enterprises and businesses that have been established for years that do pumps or controls, but were never in or reported to the cloud before. There is a shift in the business. Customers try to change their positioning so that they charge for the service as much as possible. For exam- ple, for reading temperature or pressure, they may even think to give a sensor, including the transducer, electronics, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi. All of those options can be used for free and guar- anteed to work for five years, but every time anyone accesses your pressure, you come to our cloud or web portal and are charged 0.00 something. With IoT, everything is connected to the cloud. It's a huge amount of data that can be used afterward to find trends and con- vey messages to see what happens. Johnson: How do you see IoB and medical merging in the future? Botos: They are very closely related because they all touch the body. IoB and medical sense what happened to the body—primary signals. They pull up signals and send what happens to the body, such as heart rate. For me, IoB is beyond wearables like the Fit- bit. All due respect for Fitbit—there is nothing wrong with them—but there are many other medical devices right now that get attached to your wrist or placed in your ear that can tell you things besides the heartbeat. Some wear- ables can even tell you about your stress level. Right now, my stress level might be off the Titu Botos