Arm unveils "Project Triffid" to help deliver Internet of Things

Arm Holdings has unveiled a series of batteryless sensors that are capable of helping deliver the Industrial Internet of Things - a manufacturing and technological concept around increasing digitalisation, connectivity, and access to information.

The British chip manufacturer has developed its idea around the mythical concept of the triffid plant: carnivorous, mobile flora that first appeared in John Wyndham's 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids.

The concept was centre stage at Arm's developer conference held last month, and the tech company hope its new idea can bring about the revolutionary concept.

Arm explained at the conference how the technology could be used beyond the low-power requirements of smartphone semiconductors in line with the IoT concept of complete energy efficiency by operating devices using virtually powerless methods.

Batteryless devices such as Bluetooth low energy (BLE) beacons are already commercially available but are too expensive for the vast majority of applications. Arm claims that to truly harness the power of Industry 4.0, these kinds of computing software must be developed for a few cents each.

They hope lowering the barrier for entry will maximise accessibility for the technology, which could have a big impact on logistics-based industries such as food production and transport.

The idea for Project Triffid came from radio-frequency identification tags (Rfid) - the chips found in most credit or debit cards, supermarket shelves and pet collars that only operate once a relevant sensor is synergised.

The concept takes this idea but posits that it could be used to transfer or store and later access large amounts of data without needing access to traditional power sources or outlets.

They believe they can shape the technology to give free access to the information whenever a reader passes over the tag.

The technology could see use in the food industry to monitor if perishable foods have been stored correctly and it could utilise "e-nose" technology - such as the artificial nose constructed by engineering students in Singapore - to detect whether food is same for consumption.

Project Triffid could also have applications in footwear to monitor particular information regarding its use without having to add or remove another device.

Arm also see potential in the technology enhancing the supply chains for footwear manufacturers by ensuring the correct product gets to the right consumer or to help prepare the shoe for recycling by returning the materials to the manufacturer and ensuring optimal reusability.

Arm claims it wants to work with industry heads to ensure synergy with fields that could benefit from these kinds of sensors.

Simon Segars, CEO of Arm Holdings said that Project Triffid was still in its concept stage but had the potential to be widespread once the concept is realised.

There are murmurings of these batteryless sensors helping to increase the effectiveness of 5G networks.

Paul Lee, global head of research for technology, media, and telecommunications at Deloitte told the FT that logistics is primarily determined by connectivity and networking with 4G underpinning the rise in home deliveries during the pandemic.

He said: “5G is likely to be a core enabler of the growing automation of processes across multiple verticals. By 2025, we would expect every company listed on the UK’s FTSE 350 to have deployed an application — or more likely multiple applications — that rely on 5G.”

5G has already been harnessed to deliver record network speeds in recent tests run by Nokia.

They hope to use to deliver cutting-edge AR and VR technology and make it commercially viable for home use.

The number of global connections under the IoT is set to double by 2025 as the concepts of Smart Factories are realised, increasing digitalisation in the workplace, machine learning, AI integration, cloud services and private networks.

Such platform providers include tech giants already paving the way for this technology to become mainstream and improvements in logistics management would make the transitions significantly smoother.

The IoT also represents new avenues for cybersecurity as increased digitalisation opens up doors for new threats to emerge as it becomes more vital to protect industry from attacks owing to the potentially catastrophic consequences of such cyber attacks.

All represent possible ideas that both the IoT and Project Triffid could help revolutionise in the push towards significant digitalisation within the industry.

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