The Challenge
Although the general technical development of luminaires has made considerable progress in recent years, there have been few digitalization projects to date. Potential efficiencies in workflow design and improved economic viability regarding maintenance, control, and management of luminaires are being realized only hesitantly.
To address this challenge, Siteco developed the innovative iQ platform. With innFactory’s support, this platform was significantly enhanced.
The Implementation
The new iQ platform solution enables control and management of luminaires throughout their entire lifecycle - from creation in the SAP system through installation to decommissioning.
innFactory’s expert team developed the required IoT ecosystem in close collaboration with Siteco stakeholders. Together with the iQ App and web tool, this system enables simple and efficient monitoring and control of all luminaires.
The Solution
In addition to managing all luminaires via the web app, the iQ App gives installers the ability to upload new configurations to luminaires via Bluetooth and NFC and read corresponding diagnostic data. Installers can now make new configurations directly via smartphone.
Additionally, a service box was developed for older generations of luminaires to enable digital management of these as well. The entire platform is operated with high availability on Google Cloud in Frankfurt. Nevertheless, customers can synchronize individual configurations for specific luminaires to the smartphone app’s offline mode, making them operable even in locations without an active internet connection.
Technical Details
IoT Cloud Platform
The Siteco iQ platform uses innFactory’s advanced IoT cloud technology to enable efficient and connected management of outdoor lighting. Thanks to the use of intelligent control units and the robust cloud platform, it is possible to control and manage luminaires throughout their entire lifecycle.
To ensure reliable operational security, the Siteco iQ platform is operated with high availability across multiple data centers on the renowned Google Cloud in Frankfurt.
GKE Kubernetes Cluster
Kubernetes automates important processes such as provisioning, scaling, and managing applications to maximize the availability and performance of these applications. A Kubernetes cluster consists of multiple nodes that communicate with each other and execute applications, ensuring high flexibility and scalability.
Cloud-Native Scala Microservices
Scala Play2 is a powerful development framework specifically designed for creating backend applications. An essential aspect is the innovative actor model, which enables parallel processing of requests and thus significantly improves performance.
Native App with Flutter
innFactory developed a cross-platform app for the iQ App that runs on both iOS and Android. A very important feature is the offline sync capability. This allows the app to be used without an internet connection, either transferring already synchronized data or creating new data that is transmitted on the next online connection.
Infrastructure as Code
At Siteco, we actively use IaC technologies to automate cloud infrastructure and Kubernetes cluster configuration. With Terraform, we guarantee consistent and repeatable infrastructure, while GitHub Actions enables development teams to monitor and track deployments and updates.
Conclusion
Thanks to the close and productive partnership with Siteco GmbH, we were able to realize one of the largest IoT projects in their company’s history. This significant success was enabled by the use of new, revolutionary technologies that were perfectly implemented through the creativity and dedication of our innFactory developers.
The key to successfully implementing our shared visions was the close collaboration of both parties and the innovative thinking and creativity of our developers.
