This week, the Industrial Internet Consortium shared the results of a testbed application designed by member participants Dell EMC (News - Alert) and Toshiba to explore deep learning through neural networks within an IoT platform to optimize asset utilization in an office building.
The Deep Learning Facility Testbed, located in a Toshiba (News - Alert) facility in Kawasaki, Japan, analyzes an impressive 35,000 measured data points per minute, with the scale and reach required to prove in a real-life scenario that AI-enriched IoT implementations make a measurable difference in how efficiently physical facilities can be managed and maintained.
Given the amount of data collected, the testbed “relies on artificial intelligence to detect anomalies in order to improve the visitor experience with things like prioritized elevator scheduling and automated temperature and lighting controls.”
The structure of buildings varies and it’s very costly to design an anomaly detection system to fit the building, the IIC announcement said. The testbed application learns what a normal condition would be using data aggregated from many sensors installed in the facility. The team used the data to determine an unusual condition, locate the suspected device and let staff check if the inference is correct.
In one example, the testbed detected the unusual state of the air conditioning equipment in the kitchen and building facility management staff found out that the air intake ducts in the kitchen had been closed to avoid odor by kitchen staff.
“IoT is an important enabler for energy efficiency, but a large building complex requires thousands of sensors to track ambient conditions, traffic flow and occupancy,” said Ken Hatano, Chief Specialist in Deep Learning Technology Department of Software and AITechnology Center, Toshiba Digital Solutions Corporation. “Buildings also have HVACs, fans, lights and elevators that consume energy. Monitoring all of these sensors and assets is no small task.”
“The deployment of an IoT system for a smart building will maximize the value of big data collection through deep learning analytics,” said Dr. Said Tabet, IIC Deep Learning Testbed lead, and Lead Technologist for IoT Strategy, Dell (News - Alert) EMC. “A smart building will improve operational efficiency, reduce maintenance costs and maximize the use of assets.”
According to the Navigant Research Smart Buildings and Smart Cities Q3, 2017 report, the global smart buildings for smart cities market is expected to grow from $3.6 billion in 2017 to $10.2 billion by 2026.
The Industrial Internet Consortium is one of the largest and most active membership communities in the world, focused on “transforming business and society by accelerating the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT),” and is a program of the Object Management Group (OMG). For more information, visit www.iiconsortium.org.