Libelium releases a new version of Waspmote, its open source wireless sensor platform, designed with input from a community of more than 2,000 developers over four years. Libelium has brought improvements to the Waspmote platform that combine the flexibility of the initial design with field and test bed experience gained from 20,000 units sold worldwide.
A chief improvement to the Waspmote platform concerns its remarkable energy efficiency, crucial to wireless sensor networks: Waspmote has reduced power consumption by 10 -to 0.07uA- in hibernation mode. Other extended features include refinements to the hardware platform and software API, and notably, a code generator with a graphic interface that allows Waspmote to be programmed easily by anyone.
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The development Community has played a key part in the evolution of Waspmote. Libelium has created a new Development website to facilitate collaboration and reinforce support, increasing the number of code examples ready for use “off the shelf” from 50 to 500. Also -for the first time- developers can contribute to the Waspmote API directly through access to a repository where they can download the source code, open new branches and share code.
“We have listened carefully to our worldwide developer community since releasing Waspmote four years ago and have based improvements on their requirements and suggestions,” said David Gascon, CTO of Libelium.
In other milestone improvements since its launch in 2009, Waspmote has doubled both the number of sensors and wireless communication protocols it supports. Waspmote’s modular approach to radio technology allows the choice of any of the six radio protocols available -including Wi-Fi, ZigBee, 802.15.4, Bluetooth, NFC, 3G- or to switch between any two of these technologies if needed.
For system integrators, Libelium introduced a Waspmote Plug & Sense! line of encapsulated sensor nodes to simplify outdoor deployment, reduce installation time and increase autonomy, with a solar panel option for energy harvesting. Recent developments include an over-the-air programming (OTAP) feature that allows Waspmote to be programmed wirelessly.
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As a scalable, modular and horizontal open source platform, Waspmote now integrates 60 different sensor probes, for widely applicable services that range from monitoring air quality with gas sensors (CO, CO2, NO2), to Smart Cities deployments (Smart Parking, Smart Lighting), radiation control, security systems or agriculture monitoring (soil moisture, solar radiation).
Waspmote sends information collected from the sensors to Meshlium, the sensor gateway that uploads data to the Cloud, making data accessible from anywhere and easy to integrate into third-party applications. Unlike other platforms, Waspmote is ready for deployment anywhere in the world, in terms of available radio frequencies and certification worldwide (CE, FCC, IC).
Waspmote is available commercially here: http://www.libelium.com/waspmote