SBIR Phase I: IoT Smart Water Management System

Mobius Labs, Inc, Troy NY

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to provide a simple to use "smoke alarm" for water appliances coupled with a level of insight into water consumption and failures that has never existed before. What was once a reliance on water meter data for the sum of all appliances is now a detailed understanding for each individual water fixture. This unprecedented access to water usage data at an individual appliance level will provide the opportunity for increased data analytics research, predictive analytics for failure modes and maintenance scheduling, and better understanding of human consumption habits to identify and solve problems that allow organizations to meet aggressive sustainability goals. Only recently has there been an ability for hospitals to aggregate their medical information to aid research efforts to treat and cure chronic diseases and illnesses. Mobius is looking to do the same for any building owner for water, as the growing concern to continued, reasonable costing fresh water becomes even greater. The proposed project will provide the opportunity for the development of an IoT Smart Water Management System (SWMS). It will use artificial intelligence and machine learning to both identify leaks so they can be corrected before wasting precious water and energy, and provide predictive analytics for actionable insights. This will significantly improve water appliance maintenance and prevent costly water damage to properties. Further, at a macro level, it provides municipality level insight for maintenance and crisis management. The vision is to easily install these SWMS devices into any existing water fixture. It will take less than 60 seconds to install and connect to the Internet. The design goal is to be cost-effective from the start. The SWMS provides an affordable and easy way to adopt data driven decision making into current operations. The critical objectives set forth in this proposal are centered on achieving a simple "smoke alarm" like warning of a fault coupled with a robust analytics platform. Finally, these will be designed as highly durable IoT devices that require little or no maintenance.