Press release: Innovation and future in focus for Embedded Technology – Stockholm hosts Nordic conference on future area

Embedded Technology is the term for so-called intelligent electronic systems that are built into various products. The impact has been great in recent years and today the technology is found almost everywhere in society.
“This is smart electronics that contains a variety of functions that we use every day in our mobile phones, cars, computers, home electronics and other products,” says Johan Nordin, chairman of the Embedded Technology section of the Swedish Electronics Association. This is technology that we don't see but constantly benefit from, and which gives products more and more functions.

With Embedded Conference Scandinavia, the industry wants to focus on innovation and future issues. Over two days, a series of interesting seminars will be held with speakers from both the Nordic region and the rest of the world. One of the highlights of the conference will be when the industry's major innovation prize – the Swedish Embedded Award – is awarded. This will take place at the industry party held on the evening of October 2nd and the purpose is to highlight the year's top innovations in the field.
– The jury has just finished its work and nominated a total of eleven entries for the prize, which is awarded in three different categories, Johan Nordin continues. Since we want to get more young people to apply to our field, we have a separate student prize, which is often the most exciting. In addition, we award a company prize – Enterprise – and a prize for best innovation in the area of nano/micro.

About the Swedish Embedded Award and Embedded Conference Scandinavia
The Swedish Embedded Award is presented to the year's best designs in embedded technology. The designs span everything from industrial applications to communications and medical electronics. The requirement is that the entries must contain built-in intelligence and be commercially interesting.

Behind the Swedish Embedded Award is the Swedish Electronics Industry Organization – with the Embedded Technology section, the magazine Elektronik i Norden and Mälardalen University.
The organizers of Embedded Conference Scandinavia are the Swedish Electronics Industry Organization – with the Embedded Technology section, the magazine Elektronik i Norden and Stockholmsmässan.

For further information:

Lena Norder, CEO of the Swedish Electronics Industry Association email: lena.norder@branschkansliet.se tel: 08 508 938 15
Johan Nordin, chairman of the Embedded section within Swedish Electronics, chairman of the jury email: johan.nordin@recab.com

Read more at:
www.embeddedpriset.nu
http://www.embeddedconference.se

Swedish Embedded Award 2012

Category Enterprise

Competing entry: EL-Internet on Things
Competitor: Lintech Embedded AB
Contact person: Jerry Lindblom, jerry@lintech-embedded.se, 070-595 20 48
Remote control of electrical products is a rapidly growing area, not least to save energy. A good starting point is to use remote-controlled fuses to control phases and groups in a standard electrical switchboard, but there is a patent (since 1994) that is difficult to get around. Lintech Embedded AB has access to this patent and has based it on developing an Internet-based sensor network with almost unlimited control options. Remote control is done wirelessly via ZigBee and further out onto the Internet via a ZigBee gateway.

Competing entry: HELIO L4A
Competitor: Heliospectra AB
Contact person: Staffan Hillberg, staffan@heliospectra.com, 0708-36 59 44
Anthony Gilley, anthony@heliospectra.com, 076-808 10 90
Kirk Clendinning, kirk@heliospectra.com, 0708-36 22 45
The wavelength of light is of great importance for the properties of cultivated plants, but it cannot be regulated with the high-pressure sodium lamps currently used in greenhouses. Helio L4A is an energy-efficient LED-based lighting system where the color spectrum, intensity and lighting times can be remotely controlled and programs can be set up depending on the desired properties. In the future, a sensor feedback is being developed that takes into account reflected light from the plants.

Competing entry: HIOD One
Competitor: Free2Move
Contact person: Louise Wandel, louise.wandel@hiodsports.com, 0702-20 78 92
Pelle Wiberg, pelle@free2move.se, 0702-20 33 82
The HIOD One sports communicator enables groups of cyclists to communicate securely with each other over distances of up to 400 m (via Bluetooth). It can also control a mobile phone and, via an app, turn a smartphone into a cycling computer. The communicator has effective wind noise reduction and can be used even in strong headwinds.

Competing entry: ME12
Competitor: Vibrationsteknik AB
Contact person: Olov Lindholm, olov.li@vtab.se, 13-16 62 00
Lars Lindholm, lars.lindholm@vtab.se, 013-16 62 00
The ME12 vibration meter is a measurement and analysis system for machine vibrations, based on a three-axis MEMS sensor. The small vibrometer communicates via Bluetooth with a smart phone, which is also used as a presentation device. The measurements are made according to ISO standards and quickly show whether a machine needs to be repaired, e.g. due to defective ball bearings.

Contest entry: Miris Liquid Analyzer
Competitors: Miris AB, Prevas AB
Contact person: Tony Malmström, tony.malmstrom@miris.se, 070-619 65 86
Johan Bergsten, johan.bergsten@prevas.se, 070-190 23 14
Miris Liquid Analyzer is the first portable instrument for milk analysis. The instrument is based on a technology called MIR (mid infrared transmission spectroscopy) and provides a very fast analysis of, for example, fat and protein content. Such analyses are used, for example, to ensure that dairy farmers are paid the right price. They are also important for streamlining and quality assurance of production. The instrument can also be used to analyze other liquids.

Competing entry: TrackDown
Competitor: TrackDown AB
Contact person: Derek Whiteman, derek@trackdown.se, 0761-14 28 28
In Sweden alone, cars and boats worth more than SEK 1,250 million are stolen annually. Only in seven percent of cases is the perpetrator found and 40 percent of the cars are found with major damage. TrackDown is a tracking system that can be hidden in cars and boats. The system provides an early warning when a vehicle is about to be stolen and later provides information to the police about the vehicle's location. The system uses both GPS and other tracking methods and is therefore insensitive to GPS jammers. The position is displayed all over the world.

Category Student

Competing entry: Industrial control system
University: Halmstad University
Contestant: Johan Karlsson, Johan.carlsson892gmail.com, 0738-10 62 72
Gonvei Kako, k_jonvei@hotmail.com, 0737-24 91 72
Carpentry shops and other woodworking companies often have central chip extraction systems that are connected to the various machines via dampers. When a machine is not actively used, it is important that the damper is closed, among other things to save energy. The automated control system senses the load for each machine and can be programmed with thresholds, delays, etc. Installation is simple as the sensing is based on current transformers that are connected around the supply lines. The system can handle up to ten machines.

Competing entry: Sound locator
University: Umeå University
Contestant: Mikael Schwartz, misc0014@student.umu.se
Deaf and hard of hearing people need to know what sounds are in their environment and where they are coming from. The sound locator is a small hand-held device that shows the strength, direction and, if desired, frequency content of the sounds on a graphic display. At very strong levels, the device also vibrates. The sound locator uses MEMS microphones and a graphic OLED display. The user can customize it to their own needs.

Competing entry: Smartbeat
University: Halmstad University
Contestant: Robert Bäckström, robertbackstrom@hotmail.com, 070-541 63 82
Isak Ladeborn, isak_ladeborn@hotmail.com, 070-200 95 61
More and more people are also using their smartphones for training. A standard smartphone has GPS and an accelerometer, in addition to having a large memory and good presentation graphics. But the solutions available for heart rate measurement are still clumsy and based on cumbersome chest straps. Smartbeat is a much more flexible solution that uses light measurement technology to measure the heart rate reliably on the arm. The product consists of a smartphone bracelet with integrated heart rate measurement that is connected to the phone via the headset connector. An app on the phone provides voice feedback that tells you how high your heart rate is and whether the training is being performed at the right or wrong intensity.

Competing entry: wAirdrobe
University: Halmstad University
Contestant: Emelie Gustafsson, emelgustavsson@gmail.com, 0735-16 60 43
Niklas Brodin, brodin.niklas@gmail.com, 0704-24 25 19
Many clothes, especially workout clothes, are washed too often. Many times, a refresh would be enough. wAirdrobe is a wardrobe with a built-in programmable refresh function using water vapor. The clothes are freshened up and most wrinkles are smoothed out. The wardrobe is very easy to use and can be used in homes as well as in hotels and gyms, for example.

Competing entry: Energy harvesting Wheel Speed Sensor for the Anti-lock Braking System
University: Chalmers University of Technology
Contestant: Dhasarathy Parthasarathy, dasharathy@gmail.com, 0704-19 73 08
Wireless sensors still require some form of power supply. In cars, for example, the wiring represents an increasingly large part of the cost of a sensor. One alternative is to minimize energy consumption and ”harvest” energy from some other source (Energy Harvesting). In this speed sensor for anti-lock brakes, the energy is inductively collected from the electromagnetic sensor. The energy collected is enough for the sensor to be able to send wireless signals at intervals of just over a second. In this way, it has been possible to eliminate all wiring.

Embedded Conference Scandinavia Press release