Where there is smoke... IoT connected stickers
Chemical sensing stickers capable of detecting smoke and volatile indicative compounds, and initiating responses via IoT
Description
Whereas conventional smoke and fire detectors are relatively difficult to squeeze into narrow spaces, technology has evolved to the point that airborne chemicals and smoke can be detected by small stick-on tags that fit into even the hard-to-reach spaces, and on or near equipment, power supplies, flammable stores, etc. For example, sensors using polymer films and specific chemistry tuned to identify volatile compounds and smoke components (and even recognize the type of smoke). There are also "e-Nose" sensors, printed electronics in stickers from companies like ThinFilm, etc. Early detection, for example at the point a surface or object starts emitting smoke (without having burst into a flames yet), will create alerts that are more early, and thus can provide valuable time to mount a response. For example, alerts may be integrated from the sensors for a particular business location/factory/warehouse and notifications auto-forwarded to a list of people, the local fire department, etc. Here, Allianz can partner with textile SMEs to identify the kinds of equipment, raw and finished materials, etc in each market and kind of factory (e.g. Turkish carpet weaving factory), and bridge these SMEs with contract manufacturers of sensor stickers. The alert integration and management software, ideally able to display results on a humble smartphone screen, can be a freemium product that Allianz makes available to businesses. Faster detection, faster responses, saving lives and business assets. One of the hurdles to adoption of IoT linked sensors is the SME owners' concern that the sensors my quit working if their batteries run low, or may require maintenance and battery replacements. Therefore, I also suggest that sensors could be designed to power themselves by harnessing background radio waves, i.e. "by harnessing the ambient radio waves already bathing most office and home environments" - similar to research at Disney: https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2017/05/iot-devices-could-communicate-using-ambient-radio-waves/
References
Thinfilm and similar flexible labels (and source of image) https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikekavis/2015/02/17/the-smart-labels-that-will-power-the-internet-of-things/#358a7f202ba6 A general review of sensors http://diposit.ub.edu/dspace/bitstream/2445/121084/1/676563.pdf And Smart Polymers in Micro and Nano Sensory Devices - MDPI www.mdpi.com/2227-9040/6/2/12/pdf (part of http://www.mdpi.com/journal/chemosensors/special_issues/Chemical_Sensors?view=compact&listby=date ) Flexible sensors in environment monitoring https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d40f/543ae8ca1520edebaa085beafc0271850f42.pdf