You’ve got a good product idea, but it needs connectivity: what’s your next move?

So why should developers of products get 'connected'? Ruth Thomson, head of consumer product development with Cambridge Consultants, explained. "Connectivity increases the types of products a company can offer, and it opens up the opportunity to provide services to its customers. "Imagine if you could provide feedback on a player's golf swing to help them improve their technique, track the movement of assets around a factory to improve efficiency or help a patient monitor their usage of a medical device to help them be compliant with the prescribed regime. "Connectivity is also a good way for companies to increase the level of engagement with customers – and vice versa. At the moment, when you buy a product and walk out of the store, your conversation with that brand and its marketing messages is over. With a connected coffee machine, for example, you could provide the consumer with vouchers and offers, you could allow them to register a device and purchase consumables at a click of a button, they could even join in a community of other people who love that device in order to share ideas." So where do you start? If you have an idea for a connected product/service, how do you even start thinking about how to make it a reality? Ruth suggests this is where Cambridge Consultants can help. "We have deep expertise in all the technical disciplines required for connected system development – from wireless communications to algorithm and hardware development – but, most importantly, we understand how to balance the requirements across the system so you get a product/service that not only functions technically, but which also delivers commercially. We can help clients with the full development, but we can also help them explore the potential directions for a new idea to help them get started. We can help companies to understand what they need to do in order to get their products connected. We want to make the first step as easy as possible." But what if you haven't got an idea yet? What if you just want to explore what the IoT could mean for your business? Well, again, Cambridge Consultants can help and will work with you to identify possible options. Ruth said: "Companies come to Cambridge Consultants because they want to understand what connectivity means for their business and what they need to do to get their products connected." Ruth's advice? "Start by considering your minimum viable product." This doesn't mean stripping it down to the bones; instead, think about what is needed for a product to be successful. "What are the elements your customers will want? Remember that some of these elements may need to be traded off before the design can move on." Then think about the electronics. "Connected devices obviously need electronics to drive them," Ruth said. An option for the developer is to use a component available off the shelf. This may be good enough, but it may be possible to achieve a superior product by investing more in the development. Power is another factor to be considered. Is your product mains powered or will it use a battery? If it's battery powered, what type of battery? And should that battery be rechargeable? How long should the device operate before recharging? What kind of wireless communications will the product need? Can it work via Bluetooth, for example, or will it need GSM style connectivity? And if it's wireless, what kind of antenna will be needed? And then there's the algorithm. You're likely to be measuring something and therefore creating data, so you will need smart maths to convert this data into actionable information. Also, you need to think about the antenna design. There is lots to think about! All of these issues need a technical investigation in order to de-risk them and to help the company clarify its thoughts in order to understand what is possible and what makes sense for its business." One way of clarifying your thoughts is to take advantage of Cambridge Consultants' Appcessory Toolkit. "It's a workshop style approach," Ruth explained, "which allows companies to explore various design parameters alongside Cambridge Consultants' experts. Let's take the simple example of a pedometer. We know it will need an accelerometer, a battery, communications and maybe an LED. "We can 'plug' these components into the toolkit, after which scripts will take the information and generate a PCB layout. This will give you a good indication of the size. If it's too big for your use case, you can play around with the options of different components and visualise the impact on the size." The Appcessory Toolkit approach also allows the power requirements for a design to be evaluated. Ruth said: "You can see how long the battery might last for. This might meet expectations, but it might not. Again, you can play with the options to improve the power performance. "For example, the LED is often a major power drain. By changing the LED pattern, we could add multiple days of battery life. The Appcessory Toolkit workshop educates people about what it means to create connected devices without them having to invest significant time and money. They will get a quick answer to their basic design questions and will be able to move forwards with confidence into the product development process." • Cambridge Consultants has created a 'top 10 tips' guide to creating a connected device, which you can download free at: www.cambridgeconsultants.com/connected-device-guide