Valmet

The project at Valmet Automation

Valmet has an R&D project building a mobile maintenance application that can help locate and display context-aware data from Valmet's sensors in a factory. The situation at the factory is:

• The number of sensors in a factory can be significant.
• The application combines multiple technologies and data sources to recognize objects and display sensor data.
• The application makes work faster and more efficient. 

Why Immersal is needed

For a context aware application is crucial to understand where you are. Inside the factories are often GPS-denied areas. Network connectivity can also be an issue. External localization hardware can be expensive to install and maintain in a scale that Valmet has.

Immersal provides localization in a factory for the Valmet app. Immersal is not dependent on external hardware and works on-device. Immersal cloud service can be deployed on Valmet's private cloud. This makes Immersal the perfect choice for Valmet's technology stack.

Was there a particular project that you used Immersal for?
That is actually the Nokia Veturi program AISA: Artificial Intelligence for Situational Awareness so that is part of the Business Finland programs. And we are now trying to get context-aware information and for that, we need location. 
    
So, I have been implementing the backend services so that we get the device information. I was actually showing that on YLE News.

More information about the project is on their website.


Why did you use Immersal tech?
The indoor location awareness is always a problem. We have been trying to use Bluetooth; the GPS is not working; very seldom we have a satellite communication that will give you the exact location. We have some other alternatives like the ultra wideband, but that will need different kinds of substations. Also mapping those and installing those substations is too expensive -- it's not easy.

That's the reason for using Immersal. It's easiness and how you can afford without any extra sensors or substations. So the current solution is Immersal and we are using that with our pilot plan

Links (in Finnish):

More about the project on Business Finland website.

News article on YLE News pages.