There are a lot of applications for a low-cost, low-power wireless technology like ZigBee.

Smart energy will make the world a greener place by helping us to use power and other resources more responsibly, industrial automation will make the world a more efficient place by improving process control, hospital and patient monitoring will make the world a safer place by making it easier to provide medical care when it is most needed, and home automation will make life more fun by allowing us to control all of our latest gadgets with the touch of a single button.

Not long ago this type of functionality was found only in the realm of science fiction. Today, technologies like ZigBee and companies like Daintree Networks are helping to bring these dreams to life.

Below is a summary of the types of areas in which Daintree's customers are currently investigating, developing and implementing ZigBee applications and solutions:

• Smart Energy / AMI / AMR
• Smart Homes / Home Automation
• Commercial Building Automation
• Industrial Automation
• Healthcare
• Environment and Agriculture
• Defense and Security
• Asset and Inventory Management

Smart Energy / AMI / AMR

Utilities are getting smarter about the ways in which they provide power to consumers. Things like automated meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering initiatives (AMI) are revolutionizing the industry.

Applications

• Utilities are able to track peak usage times (and days), which provides them with the ability to offer consumers a greater range of rates and programs, such as time-based pricing.
• On-demand meter reading and remote troubleshooting allow utilities to provide better and more timely consumer support. Utilities have more information at hand about outages and restorations, and are able to provide consumers with reliable information about when power will be restored.
• Smart energy can be integrated with smart homes to provide both consumers and utilities remote access to the home area network (HAN). For example, consumers can remotely adjust usage during peak periods when prices are high, and utilities can remotely adjust usage during emergencies.

Savings

• Demand response can enable utilities to keep prices low by reducing demand when wholesale prices are high.
• Utilities can post meter readings daily (or at more regular intervals) for consumers to view, which enables consumers to track and modify their energy usage. This provides more timely and immediate feedback than traditional monthly or quarterly statements.
• Utilities can not only notify consumers of peak demand times, but also monitor the extent to which those notifications cause consumers to change their habits and reduce their load during these periods.
• Utilities and consumers both benefit from more accurate billing that is available thanks to the increased granularity of usage information. This gives consumers better control of their usage and passes on the biggest savings to those who use services most efficiently. It also helps to reduce the number of billing enquiries and helps to make those enquiries easier to resolve.

Safety and Conservation

• During emergencies, utilities can create "partial outages" in non-exempt buildings to ensure that power remains available where it is most needed. Partial outages are more economically efficient than full rotating outages because the effects are limited to the reduction of a single discretionary service (such as air conditioning) rather than the elimination of all services.
• When consumers use less power to save money, utilities are better able to manage the power they have available and don't need to generate as much. This not only reduces costs for the utility (in reducing the number of new power stations that need to be built), it also helps to reduce emissions to satisfy new "green" legislation.

Smart Homes / Home Automation

Low-power and low data rate ZigBee networks provide an affordable and flexible solution for home automation to monitor and control things like light switches and lights; HVAC (heating, ventilating, air conditioning) controls and thermostats; computers, TVs, and other electronic devices; smoke detectors and other safety equipment; alarm panels, motion sensors, and other security devices; and electricity, water and gas meters.

Applications

• Enjoy flexible management of lighting, heating and cooling systems from anywhere in the house.
• Automate control of multiple home systems to improve conservation, convenience and safety.
• Configure and run multiple systems from a single remote or home control unit.
• Remotely alter power usage to take advantage of off-peak savings.
• Allow utilities (gas, power, water) to remotely alter usage to better manage scarce resources during emergencies.

Savings

• Capture highly detailed electric, water and gas utility usage data.
• Embed intelligence to optimize consumption of natural resources. For example, automatically turn off HVAC devices and lights when security system is armed.
• Install, upgrade and network home control system without the expense and complexity of wiring.

Security

• Easily install wireless sensors to monitor a wide variety of conditions.
• Receive automatic notification (via SMS, email or home control system) upon detection of unusual events.

Commercial Building Automation

Wireless sensing and control ZigBee networks can make building automation easier and more efficient by combining lighting, HVAC, security, safety systems and other monitoring networks into a single platform.

Applications

• Integrate and centralize management of lighting, heating, cooling and security.
• Automate control of multiple systems to improve conservation, flexibility and security.

Savings

• Reduce energy expenses through optimized HVAC management. For example, in a hotel, motion sensors can identify which rooms are occupied, and the network can automatically turn off HVAC devices and lights in empty rooms.
• Allocate utility costs equitably based on actual consumption (between floors in a building or offices on a single floor).
• Reconfigure lighting systems quickly to create adaptable workspaces.
• Extend and upgrade building infrastructure with minimal effort.

Safety and Security

• Network and integrate data from multiple access control points.
• Deploy wireless monitoring networks to enhance perimeter protection.

Industrial Automation

Wireless sensing and control ZigBee networks provide accurate and efficient industrial plant monitoring (IPM), and are also ideal to deploy in hazardous environments in which you want to minimize human exposure.

Applications

• Extend existing manufacturing and process control systems reliably.
• Improve asset management by continuously monitoring critical equipment.

Savings

• Identify inefficient operation or poorly performing equipment.
• Provide detailed data to improve preventative maintenance programs. By predicating faults before they occur, failures and down-time can be reduced.
• Reduce energy and other manufacturing costs through optimized processes. For example, ensure all required components are on hand prior to the manufacturing run to minimize down-time, and then monitor output to avoid costly over-runs.
• Automate data acquisition from remote sensors to reduce user intervention.

Safety and Security

• Deploy monitoring networks to enhance employee and public safety. Obtain accurate readings from pressure sensors, smoke detectors, meters, gauges, and other safety devices, and identify potential problems earlier.
• Remotely monitor hazardous areas that may previously have been seen as too dangerous for manual monitoring.
• Streamline data collection for improved compliance reporting.

Healthcare

ZigBee can help to bring healthcare into the 21st century, and provide better, more timely, and often less expensive, care to those who need it most.

Applications

• Within hospitals, adding patient monitors to a ZigBee network enables faster detection of irregularities in a patient's medical condition.
• Outside hospitals, patients can be treated at home, with doctors able to monitor their vital statistics over the Internet.
• The elderly and infirm can also be monitored at home. For example, an alert can be issued after a specified period of time if motion sensors don't detect movement or the fridge door doesn't open.

Environment and Agriculture

The portable, wireless, and robust nature of ZigBee networks makes them ideal for constant monitoring of environmental conditions.

Applications

• Emissions can be monitored and measured from installations including chemical plants, power stations, factories, and mining operations: not only for reference and potential greenhouse taxes, but also to quickly detect any hazards being released into the environment (such as gases or toxins).
• Because of its robustness and self-management capabilities, wireless ZigBee mesh networks are ideally suited for outdoor agriculture and irrigation use. Sensors can monitor weather and soil conditions to control irrigation levels.
• ZigBee devices can be attached to livestock to help track their movements, helping to quickly count and locate animals, and also identify any animals that are in the wrong place and may be lost or injured.
• ZigBee devices can be combined with GPS and some form of deterrent (such as an alarm or mild electric shock) to create "virtual" fences. When livestock comes within range of the virtual fence, the deterrent is activated to keep the livestock inside the fenced limits. The GPS coordinates can be changed to move the fence lines at any time (as a much faster and less expensive alternative to moving actual fences).

Defense and Security

Devices that are small, light-weight, robust, secure, and able to be wirelessly installed quickly are ideal for many military needs.

Applications and Safety

• ZigBee mesh networks can be used to monitor and protect installations that are identified as potential targets, including military installations and sites where hazards such as heat, gases, and toxins are manufactured or stored.
• The wireless nature of ZigBee makes it ideal for mobile military and security units. For example, ZigBee networks can be used for battlefield and shipboard monitoring.

Asset and Inventory Management

Tagging items with small ZigBee devices allows them to be automatically tracked and quickly located.

Applications and Security

• Audits can be performed by a single person with a scanner instead of a room full of people manually counting.
• Theft and pilfering can be reduced by tracking when items are moved. In buildings where employees wear security tags, the network can also identify which employee moved each item, or activate security devices such as cameras when items are moved outside normal business hours.
• Organizations that transport and track goods, such as freight companies and the military, can use mesh networks to track individual items within shipments, and also help to protect the integrity of each shipment by identifying whether any items are added, removed or replaced.