Today we review Gu Ge's work visit experience in Sydney, Australia. From small talk with an Uber driver in Pakistan to an in-depth discussion with a customer about industrial cylinder tracking locators and Bluetooth sensors, to a visit to the Sydney Opera House, the schedule is full of rewards. And Gu Ge also put forward several key points:
First, Gu argues that while Australia has potential in IoT and sensor technology, the overall development is still in its infancy and slow compared to China's rapid progress. He pointed out that Australia's market is still untapped, which provides good export opportunities for Chinese companies.
Secondly, the new technologies mentioned in the article, such as industrial gas cylinder tracking locators and Bluetooth sensors, demonstrate the broad prospects of wireless technology in industrial applications. Gu Ge emphasized that with the continuous advancement of technology, these devices can not only improve management efficiency, but also reduce costs, so as to provide users with better services.
Finally, in his conversations with customers, Gu Ge found that Australia companies face challenges in innovation and technology research and development, which provides opportunities for Chinese companies to enter the market. He called on Chinese companies to actively explore overseas markets and promote business development through technological innovation.
Through this article, Gu Ge not only shared his experience in Sydney, but also provided us with in-depth industry insights and market analysis. Let's take a look at Gu Ge's journey to Sydney for an inspiring work visit.
The following is the original text shared (for ease of reading, China Exportsemi Web has changed when authorized to reprint):
The customer we visited is a Fortune 500 company focusing on the supply of various industrial gases, and today we are mainly here to exchange a tracking and locator Tracker that we have developed to track and locate various industrial gas cylinders, and it is also the smart device terminal that customers are most interested in. This is not a relatively simple tracker that we usually track individuals or animals, it is mainly used to track various large and small industrial gas tanks that are sometimes moving, sometimes stationary, sometimes indoor, and sometimes outdoors. Of course, by extension, it can also be used for a variety of small and medium-sized equipment from time to time for exercise.
Figure: Xi'an CHINASTAR Co., Ltd. developed a tracking and locator Tracker for tracking and locating various industrial gas cylinders
It's the white plastic housing pictured above, with the black adjustable mounting baffle. The main functions of this tracker developed by Xi'an CHINASTAR Company are as follows.
First, the built-in motion sensor, as long as the tracker is hung on a certain device, the device will have a signal when it moves, which can sense how many times the device has moved and how many times the position has changed;
Second, there are three built-in wireless technology modules. The WIFI module is used as a positioning to determine the location of the tracker according to the strength of the surrounding WIFI signal;
Third, Bluetooth can be connected to the surrounding paired pressure or temperature sensors, which can detect the pressure of the gas cylinder and determine the amount of gas in the tank;
Fourth, LoRa wireless transmission technology can transmit the acquired signal to a gateway or base station hundreds of meters away, and then transmit the signal to a farther management platform through the base station or the Internet.
Fifth, the built-in battery is required to adapt to the outdoor environment, and the battery life should be more than five years.
Use this tracker coupled with the necessary platforms. The gas cylinder management company can grasp the location of thousands, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of gas cylinders at any time, whether there is much gas in the gas cylinder, and when it is necessary to fill the gas or take back the gas cylinder, which greatly improves the management efficiency, reduces the cost, and provides users with better services.
Figure：CS-iWPT302-P Wireless Bluetooth Pressure Sensor
Figure：CS-iWPT302-T Wireless Bluetooth Temperature Sensor
Customers are also very interested in wireless Bluetooth pressure sensors and temperature sensors, which are particularly small in size, with a very small battery but a working time of more than three years. This product can also be used in multiple industrial environments, as a wireless data acquisition terminal for multiple pressure and temperature measurement points in the region, and then use the router to form a simple pressure and temperature detection interface, which has great promotion value. Or just to look at the pressure or temperature of the measuring point through your mobile phone, which is very convenient.
Today, on the last day of the Refrigeration Exhibition in Sydney, Australia, according to the agreement, we met with a customer in the exhibition hall café to introduce the company and the corresponding products to each other, and each person had a cup of coffee, and the exchange lasted for nearly three hours.
Photo: Mr. N, a scholar-entrepreneur who met at the Refrigeration Show in Sydney, Australia
Mr. N is an academic entrepreneur who is already a customer of our level sensors and is very interested in our wireless level sensors through communication. This includes asking what kind of wireless technology to use, lora or NB, how long it will last if it is battery-powered, and how well the sensor is sealed. In addition, as we all know, Australia is a big agricultural country, and we introduced our customers for agriculture, agricultural environmental sensors, every 100 acres of land can use one of this agricultural comprehensive sensor. Sensor parameters include atmospheric temperature, humidity, PM2.5, wind, direction, rainfall, as well as soil temperature, humidity or moisture, PH value, water dissolved oxygen, and even including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content and other complex multi-function sensors, through the battery solar photovoltaic energy supply energy and control board, all the parameters of the field through lora wireless or NB wireless transmission to the management center. Australia is vast and sparsely populated, and some farmers will even own tens of thousands of acres of land, if it is popularized, it is a large market.
By the way, understanding the current situation of the Internet of Things in Australia, Mr. N said that the development of the Internet of Things in Australia is only in its infancy. As such an academic-type entrepreneur, he is developing a wireless controller called TOC, which is actually also a gateway. Its built-in battery, Lorawan wireless module, external 12-pin socket, can convert the signals of a variety of sensors into Lorawan wireless signals through the gateway or called the base station, but such a product is sold for 850 Australian dollars, converted into more than 4000 yuan, too expensive, it is difficult to promote.
In addition, it is understood that the nbiot network in Australia only covers about 60% of the main areas in large cities such as Sydney, and the cost of the operator's SIM card is 50 Australian dollars per month. More than 600 Australian dollars a year, which is nearly 3,000 yuan. In addition, some regional LoRa regional operators also charge $25 per month. Compared to China, this is too high, is this also a factor in the slow adoption of NB IoT in Australia? Welcome to comment in the comment area.
There are also relatively few terminal manufacturers in Australia, as can be seen from this exhibition, although this is not a communication show or an electronics show. The few companies that do sensor and IoT hardware are basically from Europe, China and the United States.
After three days of understanding the exhibition, and communicating with major customers and friends in the industry in Melbourne and Sydney, we can draw a conclusion: the development of sensors/IoT in Australia is not as fast as we imagine in developed countries. Whether in terms of basic research, intelligent hardware and platform construction, Australia may be a large market to be developed in the future. It can also be simply said that the development of China's Internet of Things is much earlier, much faster, and much wider than that of Australia.
Yesterday, towards the end of the show, we went to a small booth in the corner of the exhibition hall and found what I thought was pretty good sensor technology, a very small clamp current sensor. The external size of this sensor is 20~30 mm, and it has a self-taking function, that is, it generates electricity through induction, which is used for the magnetic sensor to work, and then sent out wirelessly. A receiver or router is installed at a distance of about 10 meters next to it, which can not only receive the signal of the sensor, but also transmit the information through long-distance wireless technology, and a receiver can receive the signal of about 30 sensors around.
Pictured: A small clamp-on current sensor with self-pickup capability found at the Refrigeration Show in Sydney, Australia
This can not only save 25% to 30% of energy, but also easy to install, small size, occupy small space, do not need external power supply and built-in battery, and perfectly combine today's popular self-power generation technology and wireless transmission technology. Gu Ge believes that this current sensor has a very large application space, and it is also the most advanced current sensor technology seen at present. However, the representative of the booth did not provide more information, the approximate price is more expensive, the sensor price is more than 300 Australian dollars, the receiver quotation is more than 400 Australian dollars, asked it, this is not produced in Australia, the exhibition representative did not directly answer, should not be produced in Australia.
I don't know if the manufacturers of current sensors in China have this kind of technology and products. Ladies and gentlemen, if you see it, please tell Gu Ge.
During the exhibition, Gu Ge learned from a conversation with a customer who started his own business after leaving a large Australia company that the management of some large companies in Australia often emphasizes how to reduce costs and reduce expenses. Lack of innovation, lack of research and development of cutting-edge technologies, lack of exploration of new technologies in the industry, and formalism to a certain extent. These are basically the same as many of China's big companies, and United States' new technology companies, even if they are large, are not like that. This may be a problem that Chinese companies should think about, large companies have strong strength to do R&D and innovation, but they don't do it; Small companies, in order to survive, have to do some innovation, but it is very difficult, the speed of progress is slow, so the difference between our innovation and United States is often here to some extent.
This concludes the work visit in Australia, and then we will fly to the United States to attend the United States Technology Expansion Show and the Internet of Things Exhibition.
Editor's note: Gu Ge, formerly known as Gu Rongxiang, is currently the chairman and general manager of CHINASTAR Co., Ltd. He continued to serialize a series of essays on his personal WeChat public account, recording his own cognition and perception of the sensor and Internet of Things industry, and China Exportsemi Web authorized to reprint his article, so that readers can look at the past, current situation and development of this industry from the perspective of a senior industry person. For ease of reading, the article has been changed when reprinting, if necessary, you can click on the original text to read: When traveling on a business trip, Gu Ge talks about sensors (114).
