Sensor telemetry uses sensor devices, two-way wireless communications and data management technologies to gather fine-grained information from products, people and places.

In a northern California vineyard, sensors continuously monitor air and soil moisture and temperature in real time, to maximize the production of grapes. In St. Louis, sensors attached to a municipal bus emit information that will predictively monitor equipment failure before it happens. Elsewhere, a cargo-monitoring prototype aims to address the threat posed by millions of shipping containers that pass unchecked through the world's ports.

These are all examples of the emerging technology known as sensor telemetry, which uses sensor devices, two-way wireless communications and data management technologies to gather fine-grained information from products, people and places. Combined with context-relevant processing at one or both ends of a wireless network, this data is transformed into meaningful, insightful intelligence that can be delivered remotely, in real time.

We began to chart the course of sensor telemetry more than seven years ago, predicting the budding importance of radio frequency identification (RFID), a precursor to sensor telemetry. These and other developments cross industries such as transportation, manufacturing, energy, medical equipment, agriculture and environmental protection. They represent steps toward a vision of what we call “reality online”: a world where objects sense, reason, communicate and act remotely.

Applications go beyond the corporate world. Whether installed in an urban environment or in a wild area frequented by poachers, sensors can help distinguish a gunshot from other sounds. Sensors on a chip can execute 14 different tests on the quality of drinking water. Similar sensors can track the likelihood of future forest fires breaking out.

The Right Time
Today, various factors are converging to make this the right time for the adoption of sensor technologies and two-way wireless communications. They include:
 ·  The falling cost of the technology With sensor and wireless costs dropping and connectivity and coverage capabilities expanding, it has become easier and more affordable to obtain data remotely or while on the move.
 ·  Technological advances   The scope and precision of sensory capabilities have been broadened by the adoption of RFID, new types of sensors and emerging sensor networks, and new technologies that support broader wireless applications, along with software enabling enterprise integration, business intelligence and Web services.
 ·  A growing need for and understanding of the type of insights that can be delivered  Consumers continue to demand faster, better and cheaper products and services. As a result, enterprises have begun to see the benefit in getting more detailed, real-time views that will enable them to respond faster and predict incidents before they occur. This allows them to improve operational effectiveness, enhance customer relationships, create new services and generate keener business insights.

Growing Grapes
Certain areas of Pickberry Vineyard in northern California are very sensitive to even small environmental changes. As a result, sensor-based applications that monitor soil and air temperature, humidity and water on 30 acres of vineyards are helping to maximize the efficiency of the vineyard's utilization of water and labor and improve crop quality.

The vineyard can make calculated decisions—almost vine-by-vine—thanks to the granular level of the data obtained in near-real time. For example, Pickberry can use the data to adjust watering schedules for a specific area.

Sensor telemetry allows Pickberry to combine vineyard data with other data sources. This enables it to manage operations and resources, such as water usage, more scientifically. Live data on soil moisture and air humidity can be correlated with weather forecast data to match estimated water demand with well supply.

The use of the data also provides the insight needed to detect early on potentially devastating events such as frost, disease and pests. Armed with this intelligence, Pickberry can take immediate action. These capabilities lead to more effective crop management, lowering costs while raising product quality.

Pre-empting Equipment Failures
Predictive monitoring, a type of sensor telemetry, is being tested on municipal buses that are part of the Metro St. Louis system. It collects historical and real-time data from sensors and then uses sophisticated analytic models to model and predict future operation. The technology has application for monitoring any type of engine—airplane, bus, truck or trains—as well as for equipment used in other industries, such as power generation, utilities and continuous flow production processes (chemical plants, for example).

Most equipment maintenance is done reactively, after a breakdown occurs, or routinely on a schedule, whether or not it's necessary. But by analyzing real-time sensor and enterprise data, researchers can pre-empt equipment failures before they occur.

This can reduce equipment maintenance costs and improve maintenance-related business processes.

The Promise of Greater Security
Millions of containers, pre-packed at factories, are shipped every year through the world's ports, revolutionizing the cost and transportation of goods. Yet, in a world that lives under the constant threat of terrorism, only 3 to 6 percent of these containers are ever inspected.

To help shore up the vulnerabilities that exist in shipping networks, sensor telemetry technology has been used to create a prototype that uses a small percentage of “smart” containers with sensors to provide incremental levels of security for their “dumb” (i.e., uninstrumented) container counterparts.

This provides incremental intelligence that allows ports to use their limited inspection capabilities more wisely. It's a low-cost and practical way to address the security dilemma.

These smart containers are outfitted with radiation sensors and mesh network technologies that are capable of communicating any detected threats, not just on the containers on which they are mounted, but on dumb containers in the vicinity. When a threat is present—even in a dumb container—the sensors in a nearby smart container can detect something and flag all containers within their range as potential threats. Those flags are then communicated to a security application.

As the threatened container makes its way to its destination, it's likely to trigger and be flagged by other smart container sensors. Thus, any containers that collect multiple threat flags along their journey can then be inspected with greater diligence.

Sensor telemetry offers growing opportunities today in a range of different industries, turning data into intelligent, relevant insight. Already, it has been used to provide a cohesive, integrated view of the environment; enhance the management of buses or trains; give drivers more control and manufacturers better insight into their equipment; and track the location, temperature and weight of rail cars in transit. Chances are if it doesn't already, it will have an application that will soon be coming to your business.