A distribution center used a conveyor belt systems to transport a wide variety of products to appropriate locations. When all went well, products were delivered, stored and shipped back out with a minimum of trouble. But a breakdown in any of the motors running the conveyor belts could interfere with operations and cause unacceptable shipping delays. The distribution center decided to use remote monitoring and decision analytics to predict where and when, preventative maintenance could keep small problems from ballooning into major disruptions.

Sensors aren’t always placed in locations that make data networking connectivity easy. One rather extreme example would be the slopes of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano, which is capable of making ground travel in the area extremely hazardous. In extreme events, like the eruptions of 2010, Eyjafjallajökull can emit so much ash that it disrupts air travel all over Europe.The Icelandic Meteorological Office observes Eyjafjallajökull with a wide array of sensors ranging from seismographs and GPS units to flow meters and thermometers. They can’t control the volcano, but they can make informed predictions about its behavior.Between lava flows, ash fall and earth tremors, installing and maintaining a data communications cable run on a live a volcano would be a very expensive proposition. The Icelandic Meteorological Office needed a wireless solution that could do its job in a very tough environment.