Exploring the possibilities that a workspace can offer, optimizing a building’s space and energy efficiently, combining the human with the digital environment, are modern top priorities for customers such as building owners, tenants, facility managers or system integrators. IEE has been working on helping customers who aim to use digitalization and sensing systems in their buildings areas to make them more sustainable, safer, more pleasant, and better performant.

How can IEE’s People Counter help with space efficiency?

One example is canteens getting excessively busy during specific time frames, leading to big queues and long waiting times that employees simply cannot afford. Showing the efficiency and usefulness of technologies such as the ones behind our People Counter contributed to smoothly integrating it into employees’ daily lives. By installing the IEE People Counter in the canteen employees see in real time on their computer the actual data of how busy certain areas are at what times, info accessible via intranet, for instance, so they can plan their lunch break better.

The data can be shown in a simple but efficient way, fully respecting privacy data (there is no camera), by showing a colour map on which people can see in real time just how crowded an area is. As such, employees can manage their own time based on reliable data and decide when to go to the canteen. Our People Counter also offers historical data which enables those in charge of canteen management to optimize their staff.

Another use case for IEE’s People Counter is dynamic space optimization. This means measuring the actual use of different areas in the building such as open offices or meeting rooms, helping to optimize space and energy consumption in times like these where mindful and responsible management of resources is necessary.

“Knowing how many people are in a certain building area can be useful in a variety of decisions, like adapting the use of air-condition, cooling, or heating. Air humidity and air quality, for instance, can be estimated based on the number of people present in a room and the information given by the sensors. The air conditioning can be started to bring in fresh air before the air quality gets worse. All these parameters, coupled with the knowledge of how many people are in the room, are extremely useful for everyone who looks for easy energy saving solutions,” says Kai Pabelick, Head of Business Line People & Object Sensing.

With the historical data gathered thanks to the People Counter, the frequency of booking meeting rooms in a building or during a fair, for instance, can be observed in time and analyzed. Perhaps not all rooms are being regularly booked and/or not by many people. Decisions can be made on whether it is best to decrease the number of rooms available, thus saving costs on energy, cleaning, etc. and maximize the use of fewer/one meeting room(s)/area(s).

Many companies nowadays have adopted a hybrid working mode, which leaves parts of a building unoccupied. There are so many opportunities to make better informed decisions in this field. No matter the area concerned, space, cost, and energy optimization are easier to plan with accurate counting data at hand.

For over 30 years, IEE S.A. has built itself a worldwide reputation for delivering exceptional sensing solutions predominantly for automotive interiors that help enhance comfort, safety and offer a better driving experience. Since its early days, however, IEE has also actively explored further possibilities to introduce its in-house, high-quality sensors to a wider range of applications, industries and markets that go beyond the automotive world and continues to do so.

For novel applications in the medical field, for instance, IEE has developed sensors that integrate digital shoes to support diabetic patients in monitoring their health status and prevent further foot damage. The first prototype of such a unique shoe will be exhibited at the MEDICA 2019 fair taking place in Düsseldorf between 18th-21st November. Visitors to the IEE booth will be able to try several applications that the shoe responds to and find out more about how it can be customized to accommodate various needs.

“This is not new ground for us,” says Tobias Meyer, System Engineer for Footwear and CIS Solutions at IEE. “We have been investigating into the possibilities of bringing to market a product that is more than a simple shoe insole sensor. We have created a complete solution instead, combining not only our experience in sensing technology, but also electronics, mobile apps and cloud services. Our customers can use this ready-to-go “package” and adapt it to their various specific needs, which allows them to be flexible in their applications.”

The footwear sensing solutions from IEE have been designed to provide easy, durable and comfortable integration into wearables that best address people with health difficulties such as diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s, etc. but also health professionals or sports people looking to improve or monitor their performance.

“These new solutions from IEE that support current and future healthcare technologies mark our intention to explore new business horizons and transit from printed electronics to IoT and Infonomics. It is the beginning of a journey we hope to continue,” says Meyer.

To discover more about our product’s capabilities and how they can apply to various specific needs, visit us at MEDICA 2019, Hall 3, Booth A74. Our specialists will be happy to walk you through all the possibilities.

Sensing Solutions for Battery Management

EVS32 is in full swing right now. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to find out how we can improve the life and efficiency of your battery pack for electric vehicles. Stop by our booth B21 bis, Hall 6.3.A. Get to know our sensing solutions for battery management and seize the opportunity to work with us on exciting, innovative projects that will certainly help to build the car of tomorrow.

The question is not whether the shift to electric vehicles will happen, but rather when and how fast it will happen. Smart Cities and electric mobility may not be that far in the future as some may think. OEMs are slowly but steadily preparing the ground for this transition, giving time to various automotive-related businesses to adapt to an inevitable change. Sensors, we know, will play a major part in this transformative future of the vehicle industry. “Competitive batteries solutions are therefore a critical piece in this puzzle of electro-mobility,” Maroš Šefcovic, the European Commissioner for the Energy Union, said in his speech at the 30th EVS in Stuttgart, Germany.

Events such as EVS – the Electric Vehicle Symposium – provide an excellent platform for conversations, demos, knowledge exchange and promotion of top-notch solutions in the field of electro-mobility. The 32nd edition of the internationally acclaimed event kicks off in Lyon, France, today and closes its gates on the 22nd May. Under the umbrella theme “A World of E Motion”, EVS brings together for four full days some of the most relevant and influential players (industry and institution representatives, as well as scientists) involved one way or the other in the making of electric vehicles.

150 exhibitors and this time, IEE is among them. Thierry Goniva, Head of Accelerator for Battery Management, proudly introduces our company’s range of sensing solutions to a public roughly estimated to 5000 people from all over the world.

Thierry, why should visitors come to our booth? 

Simply put: We offer attractive sensing solutions for battery packs, with improved performance and easier assembly for applications such as cell voltage measurement, balancing current connections and heating.

What does your presence here in Lyon mean to you?

This event is where we are showing our battery pack sensing solutions to the public for the first time, so it is an important step forward for us. Up to now, we have only worked with specific customers.

What do you expect from this event?

I expect to make new contacts and find new opportunities, especially with battery pack manufacturers and engineering service companies – customers that are outside our traditional OEM customer base. I am also very curious to get feedback on the products we have on display: What is it that potential customers like particularly and what are their specific requirements. We are always open to adapt and we do our best to fulfil them.