September 25, 2006—A new real-time monitoring system from Hitachi WirelessInfo is helping companies create controlled environments where temperature, humidity and airborne particles can be managed to maintain ideal working conditions, says Hitachi.
The new Hitachi AirSense system, based on Ember’s ZigBee wireless networking technology, will be a boon to food production plants, healthcare facilities, warehouses and other buildings where precise air and ambient control is critical to operations.
AirSense enables companies to more easily improve the sanitary, safety and quality conditions of their work environments. Consider, for example, a cheese manufacturer or beer brewer who must maintain precise temperature and humidity controls during fermentation while also controlling airborne yeasts that might contaminate their product. Or a hospital burn ward where temperature control and protection against airborne infectious pathogens can save lives.
In these applications, AirSense “ZigBee-enables” devices such as thermometers, hygrometers and particle sensors along with environmental controls to create a self-forming monitoring network. More than 50 companies have already deployed AirSense since its debut in December 2005.
Companies can easily install AirSense networks wirelessly using a range of fixed and portable sensor nodes. The nodes automatically self-organize into low-power wireless mesh networks and can run for up to four years on inexpensive batteries. The system also includes AirSense-Ware, a network management application for configuring and controlling large scale AirSense networks.
The ZigBee Alliance is an association of companies working together to enable reliable, cost-effective, low-power, wirelessly networked, monitoring and control products based on an open global standard. For more information, see the Web site.
Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 347,000 employees worldwide.
Ember enables communication among embedded microcontrollers with standards-based wireless mesh networking semiconductors and software.
