Across agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, marine operations, tourism and environmental monitoring, organisations are looking for better ways to understand what is happening beyond the office or factory control room.
A connected device can monitor the health of livestock, identify a failing water pump, track equipment at sea, collect patient information, count tourist numbers or measure the performance of an industrial process. However, collecting data is only the beginning. The real value comes from transforming that data into reliable information that helps an organisation make a better and faster decision.
Based at Atlantic Technological University, Donegal and Technological University Dublin, the Wireless Sensor Applied Research (WiSAR) Technology Gateway helps companies make this journey—from the first sensor reading to a practical, usable and potentially commercial product, using our expertise in wireless communications, embedded systems and AI — from the edge to the cloud.
What does “from the edge to the cloud” mean?
The Internet of Things brings physical devices and digital systems together. A typical IoT solution may include sensors, electronic circuits, embedded firmware, wireless communications, cloud-based software, data analytics and a dashboard or mobile application.
For a company, the difficulty is rarely confined to one of these elements. A sensor may work perfectly in a laboratory but perform differently when placed inside a product, worn on the body, installed on a fishing vessel or deployed in a remote rural location. Wireless signals can be affected by an enclosure, surrounding materials and by battery limitations.
WiSAR’s multidisciplinary team can work across this full technology stack. Its capabilities include:
- Sensor selection and integration
- Electronic schematic and PCB design
- Rapid PCB manufacture and prototyping
- Embedded firmware development
- Antenna design, matching and RF testing
- Wireless communication and network selection
- Cloud platforms and data pipelines
- Mobile and web application development
- Data analytics
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning
- Product testing and technical validation
This end-to-end capability allows WiSAR to investigate individual technical problems or support a company through several stages of the product development process—from feasibility and proof of concept to an advanced prototype approaching Technology Readiness Level 7.
WiSAR Facilities
WiSAR’s industry offering is supported by state of the art facilities in ATU Donegal and TU Dublin, these include:
- Extensive RF and wireless test equipment: with test capability to 40GHz. This includes signal generators, spectrum analysers, digital oscilloscopes.
- A 3m anechoic chamber: Fitted with a spherical near-field measurement system form NSI-MI which enables accurate measurement and characterisation of antenna radiation patterns. The system is driven by a Keysight N5245B PNA-X vector network analyser enabling measurements up to 50GHz.
- A 5m semi-anechoic chamber: Supports RF device and system testing, including radio propagation, harmonic analysis, low-noise amplification, and EMC pre-compliance testing.
- High-Performance Computer: internal scalable computing resource with large-scale data ingestion, used for sand-box AI and deep-learning model deployment.
- Microfabrication Laboratory: A purpose-built 90 m² ISO 7 cleanroom, incorporating an ISO 6 photolithography environment, for fabricating micron-scale semiconductor devices, sensors, electrodes, MEMS structures and thin-film prototypes.
- Microelectronics characterisation: Materials and device characterisation capabilities, including SEM/EDX imaging, spectroscopic ellipsometry, wafer probing and semiconductor electrical testing.
- Fast prototyping facilities: LPKF S104 laser cutting system used for PCB manufacture. 3D printing using SLA resin printers (Formlabs) and an FDM filament printer (Bambu Lab H2C).
- 7-Axis Portable Laser Scanning probe: The Hexagon Absolute AS1 combines tactile probing with 3D laser scanning for product dimension inspection and reverse engineering challenges.
In practical terms, this means that WiSAR has the tools to develop IOT devices that are capable of capturing reliable real-world data in a variety of settings and can support the computational and AI capabilities needed to extract deeper value from it.
Looking ahead the next generation of IoT systems will not simply collect and transmit information. Devices will increasingly process information locally, recognise patterns, adapt to changing conditions and communicate selectively with cloud and AI platforms creating new opportunities across a wide number of sectors.
Working with industry
WiSAR works with start-ups, SMEs and multinational organisations. A company does not need to arrive with a fully written technical specification. Engagement can begin with a business problem, a product idea, an operational inefficiency or a question about whether a particular technology is feasible.
Support can include:
- Applied research and product design
- Feasibility studies
- Proof-of-concept development
- Electronic prototype design and manufacture, including firmware development
- Antenna and RF testing
- EMC pre-compliance testing
- Data analysis, Machine learning and AI model development
- Technical support for funding applications
Projects may be delivered through direct contract research or supported through programmes such as Enterprise Ireland Innovation Vouchers, Innovation Partnerships, InterTradeIreland Innovation Boost, the Data2sustain European Digital Innovation Hub, National and European research programmes.
