Introduction
EpiSensor was founded in 2007 to bring a new wave of wireless sensor network & data collection technology to the marketplace. We wanted to be part of the explosive growth of wireless sensor networks around the world and apply this technology to energy efficiency.
By providing visibility of energy usage we aim to reduce energy consumption and reduce the environmental impact of associated CO2 emissions. EpiSensor's promoters have wide experience of founding and running international businesses and our design and development teams are formed from pioneers of the industry. Our products have been deployed and are operating in many locations across Europe, Australasia and North America. Our headquarters are located on the west coast of Ireland, close to Limerick City and Shannon International Airport. All product development, sales and marketing functions are located here.
What do we do?
Our SiCA Platform collects data from wireless nodes using advanced wireless mesh networking technology and sends this data to a SiCA Gateway. The SiCA Gateway is an internet connected device which is capable of storing data, managing large scale sensor networks, and delivering sensor data to a central location on the internet. Many wireless nodes can connect to each SiCA Gateway, and many SiCA Gateways can connect to each central SiCA Server.
From SiCA Server, data is delivered to web applications where it is transformed into information to assist in decision making to reduce energy consumption, water consumption and associated CO2 emissions in buildings, data centers and public lighting systems. When designing our products we focus on the following six key areas:
Wireless
The SiCA Platform is built on a new wave of wireless communications technology, which allows low powered wireless nodes form robust and secure mesh networks to efficiently route data in the most challenging of environments. At the Gateway level, we also implement wireless communication where possible using Wi-Fi or GSM/GPRS internet connections. This allows us to deploy large scale, highly granular monitoring systems with minimal down time and interruption.
Battery Life
Our battery powered sensors employ an advanced multi-stage wake-up approach combined with high capacity Lithium cells to deliver best-in-class performance. Under normal operating conditions, we achieve in excess of 10 years battery life. In most cases, batteries will never need to be replaced. This significantly reduces the maintenance requirements and environmental impact of battery powered sensors.
Open Standards
The SiCA Platform is built on open industry standards. Our sensors networks use Zigbee wireless technology (IEEE 802.15.4) which operates in the ISM band. At the Gateway level, we connect to the internet via Ethernet, Wi-Fi & GSM/GPRS using standard communications protocols. We communicate with SiCA Gateways using reliable and secure web services, and we store data in robust industry standard relational databases.
Accuracy
We are all about accuracy. All EpiSensor electricity monitors are designed to Class 1 metering standards, and all temperature sensors are accurate to +/- 0.2°C. We believe that if care is taken at the design stage, it's possible to retain high accuracy levels in high volume, low cost applications.
Waterproof
The majority of our products are enclosed in rugged polycarbonate enclosures sealed to IP67/NEMA 4 standards. This allows them to be deployed in a wide range of locations from harsh industrial environments to high-tech clean rooms and food processing plants. This provides our customers with significant freedom in designing monitoring systems for controlled environments.
Easy Installation
The SiCA Platform has been designed from the ground up with installation in mind. All EpiSensor products are wall mountable, and most come pre-configured for hassle free installation. We use clip-on current sensors for all electricity monitors and our wireless sensor networks use self-configuring, self-healing Zigbee wireless technology.