Remote University On-site Training
Join FreeWave for our Remote University On-site Training Date: March 10th and March 11thTime: 830am-430pm each dayLocation: MCM Elegante Hotel, 5200 E. University | Odessa, Texas 79762Agenda: Tuesday March 10 RF Networks 101 Advanced Serial Network Configuration and Troubleshooting Intro To ZumLink and Ethernet Radios Q&A Wednesday March 11 ZumLink Ethernet Configuration ZumLink Optimization ZumEdge – Edge Enabled I/O Intro and Overview IQ Edge Platform Overview Q&A To register, please contact Jim Garrison, jgarrison@freewave.com. Space is limited. You are welcome to register for both days or just one. Just indicate which day(s) you’d like to attend.
FreeWave Announces the Release of their New Online Training Portal
Take your FreeWave experience to the next level with our new online learning center. FreeWave is primarily a supplier of hardware for the industrial space, which means that our products aren’t as simple to use as hardware designed for the consumer market. The specificity of FreeWave equipment makes training and certifications crucial. We’ve always offered training, but in the past, the sessions were conducted in-person. And while our team enjoys interacting with customers in a live setting, there are obvious drawbacks to on-site education. The value of hands-on training is undeniable, but it requires expensive travel, often for both the FreeWave team and our customers, and the system isn’t available on-demand, nor is it scalable. Understanding the importance of high-quality training, as well as the budgetary and scaling issues inherent to in-person instruction, we set out to create a different solution. Our team worked tirelessly to build the all-new FreeWave online training portal – a video-based learning platform designed specifically to train and certify FreeWave hardware customers. FreeWave’s team of tenured educators built the learning platform to address known customer challenges. We are one of the first in our hardware niche to provide a video-based online learning center. The training portal is a differentiator for us and you. What makes the FreeWave online training portal valuable? The FreeWave online training portal allows customers and partners to learn at their own pace. There are assessments after each chapter that allows users to test their knowledge. The learning center is specific enough to help customers and partners with their unique applications but broad enough to apply to every FreeWave customer regardless of industry (industry-neutral). The education center operates in real-time and will continue to evolve. Customers or partners will have up-to-date information about product releases, as well as notices and advisories specific to FreeWave hardware. The learning center is an excellent resource for notifications about products our customers might already use. Each course has a corresponding message board. Trainees can ask questions and receive follow-up responses from an instructor. The complimentary platform is immediately available to FreeWave customers. Public and private sector organizations with restrictive budgets aren’t always able to justify sending employees for training. Many learning courses with certifications cost up to $2,000 per ticket to attend, and the average group-size for in-person training ranges from 12 to 15 people. The ease of access and affordability of our new learning platform combined with on-demand features and real-time updates make it an invaluable resource. What are early adopters saying? “FreeWave did an excellent job on the videos, and I learned a lot! I especially like that the videos are broken into bite-sized chunks. I took notes throughout and nearly went through an entire pad of paper.” – FreeWave customer “I started the online course, and I love it!!!” – FreeWave customer A mini-case study: A newly-onboarded customer conducted a successful field test and sold FreeWave hardware the day following his training and certification. A learning process that in the past would have required on-site training conducted by a FreeWave educator, and hands-on assistance in the field test and sales process, was achieved within 24hrs and at no cost to either the customer or FreeWave. It’s important to note that the customer attempted to use a competitor’s hardware last year for the same purpose and was unsuccessful. The online training portal is designed for both resellers and end-users of FreeWave hardware. Our initial launch includes one certification and roughly seven hours of educational video content to get you started. Additional certifications and training videos will be added throughout the year. Are you an existing customer or partner? Click here to register for the FreeWave online training portal! New to Freewave products? Contact Us.
FreeWave Technologies Expands Global Footprint and Has Record Growth
FreeWave Technologies Welcomes New Decade with Expanding Global Footprint and Record Growth BOULDER (February 11, 2020) – FreeWave Technologies, a leader in industrial edge computing and long-range industrial wireless connectivity expanded its global footprint and continued its record growth trajectory in 2019 thanks to gains in the smart agriculture, UAV, oil and gas and municipal water/wastewater verticals. With 2019 revenue growth up more than 10 percent, international growth up 50 percent and EBITDA up 38 percent over 2018, the company is well-positioned to meet the growing global demand for Edge Cloud and Virtualized Edge platforms that deliver true Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) benefits to new and existing markets. “These are dynamic and exciting times at FreeWave and in the industry in general,” said FreeWave Technologies CEO Kirk Byles. “We’ve been connecting the industrial edge for decades. However, our strategy to shift the business toward integrated edge connectivity and computing solutions has had an immediate impact on our bottom line. Delivering high-fidelity data capture capabilities for analysis, control and automation via a single, scalable IIoT platform is certainly on point. We see this proven out by our continued performance and growing demand,” said Byles. “By building a strong and diversified ecosystem of partners, we believe we can provide customers with effective solutions to address network challenges and optimize algorithms to capitalize on IIoT opportunities today and into the future.” Since 2017, FreeWave has steadily and strategically expanded its portfolio beyond SCADA to include investments in its Zumlink™ industrial products and ZumIQ™ EDGE compute platform. Recent updates have added improved processing power and memory, as well as additional ports for USB and Ethernet connectivity. Here’s a quick snapshot of key 2019 business milestones: Announced an agreement to team with MachineShop to provide a turn-key edge computing solution that seamlessly extends Amazon Web Services (AWS) computing to the edge, transforming how edge computing is deployed, managed, and connected with AWS IoT Greengrass and related services. Invested and grew international sales by 50 percent by executing agreements with partners and customers in Latin America, APAC, MEA, & EU. These partnerships will allow FreeWave to continue to diversify and scale its solutions globally. Announced strategic partnerships with Inductive Automation and AUTOSOL to deliver a fully integrated Edge solution that optimizes real-time data acquisition via a MQTT publish/subscribe SCADA architecture. Established new Board of Directors comprised of highly accomplished executives in the IIOT, software, product development and professional infrastructure services industries to support its IIoT solution evolution. Continued to align with various edge and cloud software tool and solutions providers to simplify the adoption of IIoT. IIoT is rapidly becoming more important to industrial enterprises as they look to evolve their operations. The emergence of OT Cloud capabilities also promises to be a powerful asset. The proliferation of sensors and devices being implemented brings new demands for computing power at the edge as well. FreeWave has taken its rugged OT products, designed for low-power operation across wide temperature ranges, and infused them with open IQ intelligence. By connecting them to a smarter platform, they can reliably address the data-intensive realities of IIoT, create data transparency, foster interoperability to enrich existing infrastructure and enable new business models. “It’s about moving organizations from reactive models to predictive optimization enriched by real-time IoT insights,” said Byles. “We look forward to helping customers solve all their problems in all the industries we serve through IIoT transformation.” For more information on FreeWave Technologies’ and its Intelligent Edge solutions, visit www.freewave.com. About FreeWave Technologies With deployments in over 32 countries, FreeWave’s products are leveraged by industrial end users and OEMs alike to connect, control and optimize remote machines and processes to impact smarter decision-making, improve operational efficiencies and drive cost savings. Throughout our 26-year history, Freewave’s IIoT Connectivity and EDGE Solutions have solved thousands of customers’ problems in government/defense, energy, agriculture, and municipalities – achieve reliable connectivity for data telemetry and command and control in some of the most challenging, remote and rugged environments in the world. Today, we are transforming the extreme edge of operations – and the proliferation of smart devices within it – into a connected part of the enterprise with our IQ edge computing platform and ecosystem of solutions evolved for IIoT. Are you ready to transform your operation? Visit freewave.com to get started. Media Contacts: Lisa DiBenedetto Corporate Communications lisa@ldbcomm.biz 630-338-2208 Renea Sloan Director, Channel Marketing rsloan@freewave.com
Pittsburgh, PA Lunch + Learn with AUTOSOL and FreeWave Technologies
Hungry for knowledge? Don’t miss out on our free Lunch & Learn with AUTOSOL and FreeWave Technologies in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! Join technology experts from both companies to discuss field case studies that demonstrate the joint solution of eACM software and FreeWave radios for both secure data transmission over long distances and application deployment. Please email jgarrison@freewave.com to register.
FreeWave Technologies Expands Distribution into Philippines
New Partnership Penned with Presidium Controls and Industrial Technologies Corporation Boulder, CO – December 16, 2019 – Today, FreeWave Technologies, a leader in long-range industrial wireless connectivity and wired edge computing platforms announced it will expand the distribution of its industrial automation and edge computing solutions to the Philippines with new authorized partner Presidium Controls and Industrial Technologies Corporation. Established in 2003, Presidium Controls has been helping Philippine industries achieve and maintain maximum productivity, efficiency and quality through automation and process control solutions. They are a shared partner with Inductive Automation, with four offices across the Philippines. “FreeWave’s focus on the international market will be boosted by engaging with partners like Presidium Controls,” said Mike Tate, senior vice president, FreeWave Technologies. “They have the experience, the people and the products to deliver ground-breaking solutions for their customers.” The collaboration of FreeWave, Inductive Automation and Presidium Controls will deliver a powerful combination of strengths in the industrial automation space with transformative solutions to help customers achieve the full benefits of IIoT. “With area demand for Industry 4.0 solutions growing, our partnership with FreeWave and Inductive Automation uniquely positions us to deliver comprehensive solutions for manufacturing, plant automation, process control, energy monitoring, and smart agriculture – from the edge to the core to the cloud,” said Presidium Controls CEO Jopriz Zamora. For more information on FreeWave Technologies’ and its Intelligent Edge solutions, visit www.freewave.com. About FreeWave Technologies With deployments in over 32 countries, FreeWave’s products are leveraged by industrial end users and OEMs alike to connect, control and optimize remote machines and processes to impact smarter decision-making, improve operational efficiencies and drive cost savings. Throughout our 26-year history, we’ve helped thousands of customers – government/defense, energy, agriculture, and municipalities – achieve reliable connectivity for data telemetry and command and control in some of the most challenging, remote and rugged environments in the world. Today, we are transforming the extreme edge of operations – and the proliferation of smart devices within it – into a connected part of the enterprise with our IQ edge computing platform and ecosystem of solutions evolved for IIoT. Are you ready to transform your operation? Visit freewave.com to get started. Media Contacts: Lisa DiBenedetto Corporate Communications lisa@ldbcomm.biz 630-338-2208 Dava Baumann Chief Marketing Officer dbaumann@freewave.com Emilio M. Enriquez III Presidium Controls sales@presidiumcontrols.com
FreeWave and MachineShop Team Up to Deliver a Turn-Key Solution for Amazon Web Services IoT Greengrass and Device Management for Industrial Applications
Los Angeles, CA – October 23, 2019 – FreeWave Technologies, a leader in long-range wireless radios and edge computing platforms, and and MachineShop, a leading provider of software infrastructure for connected devices, are teaming to provide a turn-key edge computing solution to seamlessly extend Amazon Web Services (AWS) computing to the edge. With the combination of Freewave’s ZumLink™ IQ and ZumIQ™ product families and MachineShop’s EdgeIQ™ Device Management and Orchestration platform the companies are jointly transforming how edge computing is deployed, managed, and connected with AWS IoT Greengrass and related services. The offering also provides a seamless, managed delivery mechanism for advanced Internet of Things (IoT) services from AWS. FreeWave edge computing devices enabled with AWS IoT Greengrass and MachineShop’s EdgeIQ seamlessly extend AWS computing to the network edge, allowing industrial devices to act locally on the data they generate while still leveraging the cloud for management, analytics, and durable storage. With AWS IoT Greengrass, connected devices can run AWS Lambda functions, execute predictions based on machine learning models, keep device data in sync, and communicate with other devices securely – even when not connected to the Internet. “The partnership allows our customers the ability to modernize their industrial IoT network functions while leveraging their existing industrial infrastructure, a critical hurdle in the adoption and deployment of industrial IoT solutions,” said Kirk Byles, CEO of FreeWave Technologies. “Our partners and channels are thrilled to solve key pain points and hurdles by offering a turn-key, zero touch edge solution.” “The ability to extend AWS services to the edge to execute local AWS Lambda functions and manage Machine Learning unlocks an incredible amount of value for a multitude of industrial applications,” said MachineShop Chief Product Officer, Mike Bauer. “We are excited to team up with FreeWave to deliver a complete out-of- the-box, high-availability offering that delivers a simple to deploy and use solution that accelerates our customers’ time to value for their edge computing projects.” The new MachineShop EdgeIQ enabled FreeWave devices deliver: Simplified Service Integration – Customers bring their own accounts and enter their credentials to automatically configure AWS IoT Core and AWS IoT Greengrass; there is no need to pre-configure any service in advance. Zero-Touch Deployment – Once connected to the appropriate network, EdgeIQ enabled FreeWave devices will receive all their necessary configurations, software updates and AWS IoT Greengrass and AWS IoT Core credentials. Integrated Service and Software Update – Selectively upgrade services including AWS IoT Greengrass and applications by device or group. Remote and Harsh Environment Device Integration – FreeWave’s long-range wireless solutions allow EdgeIQ and AWS IoT Greengrass deployments in remote industrial locations that are not within close proximity to the network core. The joint offering also provides additional value through high availability and management features including: Service and Device Monitoring – continuously monitor AWS IoT Greengrass, other services and applications at the edge to ensure optimal performance. Automated Alerting and Notifications – Create and deploy user-specified policies, alerts, and notifications to take action based on predefined events. Automatic Restart – Based on service monitoring, EdgeIQ enabled devices will automatically reboot or restart edge component including AWS IoT Greengrass as needed to ensure service availability. Local Failover – Local, managed redundancy for AWS IoT Greengrass provides alternative to restart or re- initialization. The integrated offering will be available shortly from FreeWave Technologies and their channel partners. For more information contact FreeWave at sales@freewave.com or visit www.freewave.com. About FreeWave Technologies With deployments in over 32 countries, our products are leveraged by industrial end users and OEMs alike to connect, control, and optimize remote machines and processes in ways that enable smarter decisions, significant efficiency gains and immediate cost savings. Throughout our 26-year history, we’ve helped thousands of customers – government/defense, UAV/drone, precision agriculture, energy and smart grid networks – achieve reliable connectivity for data telemetry and command and control in some of the most challenging, remote, and rugged environments in the world. Today, we are transforming the extreme edge of operations – and the proliferation of smart devices within it – into a connected part of the enterprise with our IQ edge computing platform and ecosystem of solutions evolved for IIoT. Are you ready to transform your operation? Visit www.freewave.com to get started. About MachineShop MachineShop provides the software infrastructure that powers connected products. Our software and services allow customers and partners to innovate better, get to market faster, and deliver dramatically superior customer outcomes. MachineShop’s API-first, EdgeIQ™ platform dramatically simplifies the lifecycle management of connected products and their integration into their value chain. Founded in 2012, MachineShop is headquartered in Boston, MA with offices in Denver and distribution partners worldwide. More information about our products and offerings can be found at www.machineshop.io. Media Contacts: Lisa DiBenedetto Corporate Communications lisa@ldbcomm.biz 630-338-2208 Dava Baumann Chief Marketing Officer dbaumann@freewave.com Press contact for MachineShop: Skyler Haupt Marketing Manager 617-819-5443 skyler.haupt@machineshop.io Michael Bauer Chief Product Officer mike.bauer@machineshop.io
FreeWave Technologies Establishes New Board of Directors to Continue Growth Trajectory
BOULDER (July 9, 2019) – FreeWave Technologies, a leader in long-range wireless and wired edge computing platforms, has formed a new Board of Directors comprised of highly accomplished executives in the IIOT, software, product development and professional infrastructure services industries to support its IIoT solution evolution. The company has enjoyed continued double digit growth over the last 10 consecutive quarters and is projecting 20+ percent growth in 2019 as their new Zum Intelligent Edge platform gains traction across medical, energy, government, defense and precision agriculture markets. “This is an exciting time for FreeWave,” noted CEO Kirk Byles. “With a strong legacy and track record of success to build upon, we believe the guidance and engagement of a dynamic new Board of Directors who passionately embrace our vision will elevate the business to a new level; one that will allow us to more rapidly accomplish our global growth goals while firmly establishing our role as an IIoT technology leader.” Members of FreeWave’s newly appointed Board include: Steve Wulchin – Chairman of the Board Co-founder and former CEO of FreeWave Technologies, Wulchin now serves as Chairman of the Board. An accomplished industry leader, his commitment to and passion for both the wireless industry and FreeWave’s evolution into an intelligent edge solutions provider played a pivotal role in attracting and recruiting high caliber talent for FreeWave’s newly appointed Board of Directors. Nazila Alasti Alasti is a visionary technology executive with a career spanning startups to Fortune 100 publicly-traded companies. Analytical and creative, she is a serial entrepreneur with three successful market exits under her belt. She has also helped raise over $50M in capital. The Founder and CEO of Project FWD, she serves as a strategic advisor to the CEO and Board of SleepScore Labs and is on the board of Stanford Women on Boards. Most recently, as head of eBay’s Global Product Marketing organization, she led and delivered eBay’s first ever $300M global brand campaign and digital presence. At the same time, she drove the design and creation of Global Product Marketing, a new discipline for eBay, where she defined organizational scope, negotiated roles, responsibilities, and metrics for improving customer experiences. Robert Dimicco Dimicco has held VP/GM positions within Fortune 500 companies including Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, Xerox, and Lowe’s Home Improvement. Over his storied career in the technology sector, he has delivered over $1.5 Billion in new revenue through product introductions and sponsored/co-sponsored 16 investments and strategic acquisitions totaling over $725 Million in cloud, securities and data technology. His passion for creating amazing products and services while scaling businesses will support FreeWave’s ambitions for continued double-digit growth for the foreseeable future. Greg McCray McCray is the CEO of FDH Infrastructure Services and member of the Board of Directors for Adtran. Throughout his technology career and as a CEO, he has led various technology companies — PipingHot Networks, Antenova and Aero Communications — through successful market exits, acquisitions and growth transformations. McCray also has deep previous leadership experience in large public corporations including IBM, Lucent Technologies, Google Fiber and as a Board Member at CenturyLink. For many years, he has run his own successful consulting firm focused on supporting newer technology companies, often functioning as an interim CEO when needed. His extensive expertise in growing revenue while focusing on profitably will help FreeWave focus on the bottom line while continuing to rapidly grow revenue. Allen Proithis Proithis is the CEO of Capstone Partners, a strategic advisory firm for clients in the mobile, IoT, software and technology industries. Capstone provides strategic advisory, ecosystem development and market insights to help clients accelerate time to market and revenue growth. Prior to Capstone, Allen was the President of Sigfox, North America, where he created a high-performance team of 100 people that built an Internet of Things business with top enterprise companies and verticals while providing wireless coverage for over 70M people in the US. The acceleration of IIoT is generating greater demands for computing power at the edge as well as OT cloud capabilities. To address this need, FreeWave infused their legacy rugged OT products with open IQ Intelligence to make the growing proliferation of sensor and device data immediately actionable. By connecting devices to a smarter platform, companies can now reliably navigate the data-intensive realities of IIoT, create data transparency, foster interoperability to enrich existing infrastructure and enable new business models. “Our approach allows organizations to move from reactive models to predictive models powered by AI at the edge to drive real-time decision making and operational efficiencies across the board — from optimizing PLCs and RTUs to pump and sensor-driven meters,” said Byles. “Now, industrial end users and OEMs operating in harsh, remote environments can take full advantage of the compute power traditionally only found in the closet or the cloud, moving away from proprietary protocols to more standards-based communications. With the guidance of our dynamic new executive team, we look forward to facilitating true business transformation.” For more information on FreeWave Technologies’ Intelligent Edge solutions, visit www.freewave.com. About FreeWave Technologies With deployments in over 32 countries, our products are leveraged by industrial end users and OEMs alike to connect, control and optimize remote machines and processes in ways that enable smarter decisions, significant efficiency gains and immediate cost savings. Throughout our 25-year history, we’ve helped thousands of customers – government/defense, UAV/drone, precision agriculture, energy and smart grid networks – achieve reliable connectivity for data telemetry and command and control in some of the most challenging, remote and rugged environments in the world. Today, we are transforming the extreme edge of operations – and the proliferation of smart devices within it – into a connected part of the enterprise with our IQ edge computing platform and ecosystem of solutions evolved for IIoT. Are you ready to transform your operation? Visit freewave.com to get started. # # # Media Contacts: Lisa DiBenedetto Corporate Communications lisa@ldbcomm.biz 630-338-2208 Dava Baumann Chief Marketing Officer dbaumann@freewave.com
FreeWave Technologies to Partner with AUTOSOL to Deliver IIoT Edge Solution
Boulder, Colo., April 23, 2019 – FreeWave Technologies, a leader in long-range wireless radios and edge computing platforms, and AUTOSOL, a leading provider of secure, industrial automation software solutions, are partnering to deliver a fully integrated Edge solution that optimizes real-time data acquisition via a MQTT publish/subscribe SCADA architecture. The combined solution will greatly improve data analytics and decision-making. Additionally, AUTOSOL’s eACM brings an extensive library of proprietary equipment protocols to the Edge. The AUTOSOL eACM, running on FreeWave’s hardened, C1D2 ZumIQ™ Edge Computer and the ZumLink™ IQ Edge Intelligent Radio, will convert virtually any field device such as flow computers, PLCs and Controllers to be MQTT-enabled. The proven ruggedness of the Zum platform and its low power requirement serves as a reliable home for applications that place analytics and intelligence alongside remote assets even when infrastructure is not available. As a result, the ZumLink IQ delivers an all-in-one solution for both secure data transmission over long distances and application deployment. “As new predictive tools are coming to the market, customers want access to key operational data faster,” says AUTOSOL CEO Douglas Osburn. “Together, eACM and the Zum products deliver a powerful solution for industrial companies looking to do just that with their SCADA system. We believe this partnership will deliver immediate and measurable IIoT benefits to existing and new customers.” Today, both companies support customers in common and complementary markets, including Oil & Gas, utilities, warehousing and distribution logistics, all of whom require the reliable collection of asset and sensor data for process automation, performance monitoring, asset tracking, preventative maintenance and compliance reporting. “For more than 30 years, AUTOSOL has been setting the industry standards for SCADA automation and security solutions,” says FreeWave Technologies’ CEO Kirk Byles. “We are energized by the potential this new partnership brings and is yet another example of our commitment to create powerful data platform solutions that can transform industrial operations, moving from reactive communications models to predictive optimization enriched by real-time IIoT insights.” About FreeWave Technologies With deployments in over 32 countries, our products are leveraged by industrial end users and OEMs alike to connect, control and optimize remote machines and processes in ways that enable smarter decisions, significant efficiency gains and immediate cost savings. Throughout our 25-year history, we’ve helped thousands of customers – government/defense, UAV/drone, precision agriculture, energy and smart grid networks — achieve reliable connectivity for data telemetry and command and control in some of the most challenging, remote and rugged environments in the world. Today, we are transforming the extreme edge of operations – and the proliferation of smart devices within it — into a connected part of the enterprise with our IQ edge computing platform and ecosystem of solutions evolved for IIoT. Are you ready to transform your operation? About AUTOSOL Since 1987, AUTOSOL has been committed to providing reliable, flexible solutions for the automation and data delivery needs for mission-critical infrastructure. Our software engineers have many years of experience in industrial automation system design, development and implementation. We have extensive knowledge of the entire SCADA system – from the devices that our products communicate with and our relationships with the device manufacturers, to the HMIs used to view the entire system. We meet the demands of the industrial data delivery markets like oil and gas, water/waste water, building management and more. We strive to lead the way with advances in new technologies, as well as supporting legacy systems for years to come. Visit autosoln.com to learn how we can keep your Data in Motion. Media Contacts: Lisa DiBenedetto Corporate Communications lisa@ldbcomm.biz 630-338-2208 Dava Baumann Chief Marketing Officer dbaumann@freewave.com
Inductive Automation and FreeWave Technologies Team Up to Provide Users with Increased Data Visibility and Enhanced Network Reliability
Collaboration helps companies make better decisions through sensor queries, analytics and intelligence placed at the “edge” where operational devices reside Folsom, Calif., and Boulder, Colo., February 6, 2019 – Inductive Automation, an industrial automation software innovator with a focus on transforming the user experience, and FreeWave Technologies, a leader in long-range wireless radios and edge computing platforms, are taking charge to advance the true benefits of IIoT networks by providing increased data visibility and a more reliable data network for industrial IoT customers with remote assets. Ignition Edge MQTT, a component of Inductive Automation’s universal and multi-faceted industrial application platform, can run on FreeWave’s hardened, C1D2 ZumIQ™ Edge Computer and the ZumLink™ IQ Edge Intelligent Radio to flawlessly perform edge-based data collection using various industrial protocols and data publishing using MQTT. This publish/subscribe, or Pub/Sub, architecture provides granular data to anyone on the network and the proven ruggedness of the Zum platform provides a reliable home for applications that place analytics and intelligence alongside remote assets. As a result, the ZumLink IQ is an all-in-one solution that provides both secure data transmission over long distances and application deployment. “This collaboration with FreeWave will provide real benefits to users,” said Don Pearson, chief strategy officer for Inductive Automation. “Today’s industrial users are certainly on a quest for more data, and edge computing is a big part of satisfying that demand.” The two companies span many common verticals to include O&G, utilities and agriculture markets that require the reliable collection of sensor data for process optimization, preventative maintenance, and compliance reporting. “The ZumLink hardware platform is a perfect example of why we developed the Ignition Edge MQTT product,” said Arlen Nipper, CTO and president of Cirrus Link Solutions, a leading innovator of pervasive computing technologies and co-inventor of the MQTT messaging transport. “Having a modular platform with tools that are already SCADA/OT-aware is extremely important in any digital transformation journey. Having a mature set of tools on the Ignition platform that can run on ZumLink solves numerous migration strategy issues.” “In the simplest analogy, we are the “I in IoT” and Inductive Automation’s holistic approach to delivering automation solutions is not like any other software provider in the marketplace today,” said Kirk Byles, CEO, FreeWave Technologies. “Our joint focus on enabling industrial customers with data platforms that can transform their operations while improving productivity and reducing operating costs is of paramount importance to both our companies’ missions. It’s a unique hand-in-glove type of relationship and it has many automation integrators excited about the endless opportunities that can be created from our partnership.” FreeWave will be a primary sponsor at Inductive Automation’s Discovery Day on Implementing IIoT Strategies for Large Enterprise Architectures to be held at the ARC Industry Forum in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 4-7. More info is available here. About Inductive Automation Inductive Automation creates industrial software that empowers organizations to swiftly turn great ideas into reality by removing all technological and economic obstacles. By cross-pollinating IT with SCADA technologies, Inductive Automation created Ignition software, the first universal industrial application platform with unlimited potential. Ignition empowers industrial organizations around the world and in virtually every industry, with an outstanding software platform and top-notch support. For more information, visit inductiveautomation.com. ### About FreeWave Technologies FreeWave Technologies is a leading provider of wireless Machine to Machine solutions that deliver reliable access to data for companies in the Industrial Internet of Things markets. With a significant presence in the oil and gas industry, FreeWave’s fast, flexible and easy-to-deploy solutions streamline connectivity over long distances with proven operational efficiencies for government and defense, UAV/Drone, precision agriculture, energy and smart grid networks, and municipalities. With 25 years of experience in the RF and Edge Computing market and millions of devices deployed in the field, customers repeatedly turn to FreeWave for reliable connectivity and programmable network appliance devices to optimize real-time decision making. For more information, visit freewave.com. Media Contacts: Dava Baumann, FreeWave Technologies 703 919-0547 dbaumann@freewave.com Jim Meyers, Inductive Automation 1 800 266-7798; Outside U.S. (916) 456-1045 jmeyers@inductiveautomation.com
The Intelligent Edge: A Deep Dive into Edge Computing with Robert Reid
The industrial data landscape is rapidly evolving because of emerging communications and processing technologies that allow organizations to more efficiently collect data and act upon it in real-time at the device and sensor level– something we at FreeWave like to call ‘Edge Computing.’ The money, time and resource-conserving possibilities are endless with Edge Computing, and industrial organizations are quickly looking to adapt this technology to stay ahead. For the ninth installment in our series “The Intelligent Edge,” we caught up with Senior Software Engineer Bob Reid to discuss his expertise in developing emerging Edge technology – like ZumIQ – at the ‘nuts and bolts’ level. His experience in developing new technology and taking it to the very edge (literally) is vast. FreeWave: Tell us more about yourself. How did you get started in software engineering? Bob Reid: I started writing software at a young age on Apple II computers, but my background is in space science. I have degrees in astronomy and planetary sciences and got involved with a couple Mars missions in the late ‘90s during my time at the University of Arizona. FreeWave: What did you do for the Mars missions? What was it like? Bob Reid: Our team built the cameras for the landers, and I was responsible for image calibration software. During landed operations, we had to follow the Mars day, which is 24 hours and 37 minutes long. There would be times where my work day would start at 8am and then about a week later it would start in the afternoon. There were times where my day would start at 1am – it was an experience. After my work with Mars, I went on to work for the Army developing software for soldier training. I helped develop tools for data collection, analysis, and review of data generated by sensors on equipment and personnel. It really expanded my ability as a professional software developer before coming to FreeWave. FreeWave: What is your focus at FreeWave primarily? Bob Reid: Recently I’ve been focused on ZumIQ on both our App Server and ZumLink radios. I’ve written applications and supported customers on this platform. I also support our Windows-based radio management utility, Tool Suite. I’ve been here long enough to get into a little bit of everything. FreeWave: What programming languages do you work with the most? Bob Reid: In the past year, I’ve worked with JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Lua, C#, Java, and Node-RED. During my work with the ZumIQ platform, I’ve been able to learn a lot of new languages. It’s really allowed me to explore the space. If it will run on Linux it will run on ZumIQ. FreeWave: What is the ZumIQ? Tell us a little more about it. Bob Reid: ZumIQ is an embedded system – in the same class as a Raspberry Pi in capability – but it’s ruggedized. It can operate anywhere our current radios do, and it allows our customers to develop their own custom applications or implement third-party applications at the edge to solve problems. ZumIQ is a wide-open platform – we haven’t placed a lot of restrictions on it. The hardware is capable of withstanding rugged and remote locations with extreme weather that other products may not be able to survive in. FreeWave: Can you share some real-world examples of how ZumIQ is used? Bob Reid: Sure thing. In oil & gas, companies can install ZumIQ at its well sites to collect more data at a higher resolution and analyze the data at the site. Companies can also use ZumIQ to send back the data that matters, or all the data, back to the cloud for analysis, or the software can make decisions right at the edge. The benefit here is that if your central network goes down, you can still continue to function at the edge with ZumIQ’s capabilities. At these well sites, companies can use ZumIQ to monitor their status and take action if necessary with predictive analysis. An application can find trends within all the data it collects and analyzes, such as if a tank level falls by a certain threshold – companies can then send out a technician out in case something is failing. That’s just one example – there are so many ways ZumIQ can be used across many industries. FreeWave: What are you looking forward to in the future for ZumIQ? Bob Reid: I’m really looking forward to integrating all the components of ZumIQ and creating a one-for-all platform. Taking the Application Server, Application Environment, ZumLink technologies and more, and packaging it all up so companies only need one product to meet all their future needs. That’s what I’m excited to see in the future. FreeWave: Before we let you go, what has been your most memorable problem you’ve helped solve? Bob Reid: There have been so many problems I’ve helped solve, so it’s hard to say. One does stand out – back when I was calibrating images for Mars. It wasn’t just about taking a single picture. We would take image of rocks in several different wavelengths to generate a reflectance spectrum. From that, we were able to do remote sensing to figure out the composition objects on Mars by comparing to reflectance spectra of know materials in a lab. But to figure that out, we had to correct for the Solar illumination, atmospheric illumination, the angle of the rock face, camera sensitivity at different wavelengths, data compression, etc. That was my first professional software project, and I have fond memories of it. ______________________________ Enjoyed learning about what our line of talented experts have to say? Stay tuned for the next Intelligent Edge conversation! In the meantime, catch up on all the blogs in our series here.