Smart coasters can inform beverage vendors what brands are doing well. Source: RobioticThe growth of the IoT has spawned a large number of companies developing connected products for the home or industry. It has also given rise to design and consulting businesses that assist product development companies with manufacturing, prototyping, design or selecting the best sensor for a device.
Robiotic is one such company, and one that is launching this week at the IoT Tech Expo, taking place in Santa Clara, California, this week.
In addition to its formal introduction, the company is showcasing some of the products that it has worked on with other companies. These include a smart coaster from Smart Call, which uses membrane sensors to measure if a glass is empty, half-full or full.
Florian Schwingenschloegl, managing partner of Robiotic, told Electronics360 the idea was that the coaster can send a message to a bartender or waiter to fill a glass, as well as provide data to vendors such as beverage manufacturers to track consumption patterns. The strain gauge sensing technology works in combination with RFID and is powered via inductive charging.
Schwingenschloegl said each brand or beverage flavor can have a specific glass that is recognized by the coaster, with an accompanying app that allows for more capabilities such as ordering or paying for food and drinks.
While Robiotic creates ideas for other companies, it also creates actual sensors that can be used in these devices. “On the beer coaster, we worked with several project partners but the sensors as well as data transfer is in-house,” Schwingenschloegl said.
Another device is the Heliscan Plus connected bar code scanner that captures location information through GPS. It includes an integrated transmission module and can serve as a standalone alternative to paper and pen. Robiotic designed the device so the customer does not need any secondary transmission device paired to the scanner (like a smartphone or computer) and can use the data within their CRM through real-time data transfers, Schwingenschloegl said.
Robiotic also produces Conbee smart tags for tracking shipping containers and other business assets.
While the coaster is still in development, the smart scanner and smart tags have been delivered to about 60,000 logistics and hospitality customers.
