Bosch showcases personalized smart solutions at CES 2017

“Personalisation is a growing trend in the realm of connectivity, and we are driving this trend forward,” said Dr. Werner Struth, member of the Bosch board of management, during the company’s press conference at CES 2017 in Las Vegas.

“The connected world is getting emotional. Devices are becoming intelligent companions that make everyday life easier and safer at home, in the city, in the car and at work. Bosch shapes all spheres of the connected world.” said Struth. Very few industrial enterprises have comparable expertise at all three levels of the internet of things: Bosch brings extensive experience to the table with sensor technology, software and services, and also has its own IoT cloud. This makes the company a one-stop shop for the Internet of Things (IoT). Data security is playing a central role in this. “Customers and users have full transparency and decide themselves how data are used.”

Moreover, Bosch has a goal of networking 100 per cent of its electronic products and offering a connected service package for each product. The customer is the main focus here: “Connected technologies must always have a benefit”, says Struth. “It is becoming increasingly important to offer clever additional functions and services tailored to individual needs and usage habits”, said Struth. Thanks to the personalisation of products and solutions through connectivity, this is increasingly possible.

Smart home: making life at home easier and safer

The Bosch smart home system makes it possible to control connected devices at home via a single app. With the scenario manager, the smart house is becoming even more intuitive. When you leave the house, there is no longer any need to check whether you have turned off the heat, electrical devices or the lights. This makes life safer and more comfortable. By activating scenarios with the tap of a finger, the scenario manager performs such routine tasks through the Bosch smart home app.

In addition to this, Bosch is presenting three new solutions for more safety. With the 360° indoor camera and the Eyes outdoor camera, users monitor what’s going on at home at all times, regardless of where they are in the world. Thanks to local, encrypted recording and messaging, users no longer miss any important events, unless of course they want to. The 360° indoor camera’s lens easily be pushed into the camera’s body at the tap of a finger, and this ensures privacy. The Eyes outdoor camera is more than a camera: it also combines outdoor light, movement sensors, and an intercom system in a single intelligent device. The Bosch Twinguard, a premium smoke detector with air quality sensor, enhances safety in the home. Thanks to its professional dual ray technology, it detects dangerous situations more reliable, and this prevents false alarms.

Smart city: improving quality of life, energy efficiency, and safety

At CES, Bosch is showing solutions in the areas of mobility, energy and building technology, security, and digital city administration. When it comes to mobility, the technologies on display include environmental monitoring systems and connected parking technologies, as well as fleet management, e-mobility, and intermodal transportation solutions. When it comes to energy, virtual power stations, energy efficient heating, hot water, and cooling systems, and energy storage technology are on display. Security systems include fire protection technologies, access control systems, and video surveillance solutions. For residential buildings, Bosch offers Smart Home Technology and connected household appliances.

Smart technology for new neighborhoods in San Francisco: At CES, Bosch is providing a look at how the former sites of a Navy shipyard and the Candlestick Park stadium, are being developed into new, innovative, waterfront communities: The San Francisco Shipyard and Candlestick. FivePoint and Bosch technologies are working together to bring connectivity to The SF Shipyard - offering a taste of life in a “smart city”, with solutions for smarter homes, communities, and widespread mobility.

Connected mobility: turning the car into a personal assistant

By 2022, the global market for connected mobility is set to grow by almost 25 per cent per year. In just a few years, cars will become an active part of the IoT and will be able to communicate with other modes of transportation as well as with the smart home. At CES 2017, Bosch is presenting a new concept car that shows how different spheres of life will be seamlessly interconnected in the future. “The vehicle will play a central role in cross-domain communication,” Struth said. Personalised communication between the car and its driver will also be expanded: New functions are connecting the car to its surroundings, the smart home and the repair shop. These functions will make highly automated driving possible. “Bosch is working diligently to make sure that mobility and smart services become one,” said Struth. “If the car is connected to the smart home or the smart city via the cloud, there will be measurable benefits. Connectivity is turning the car into an assistant on four wheels.”

For example, the Bosch concept car comprises a broad range of innovative technologies: The moment the driver sits down, facial recognition technology sets the steering wheel, mirrors, interior temperature, and radio station according to the driver’s individual preferences. While on the move, driver drowsiness detection helps enhance safety: if the driver risks falling asleep or is very distracted, the car issues a warning and helps prevent critical situations. Thanks to vehicle-to-vehicle-communication, the cars of the future will be informed of other road users long before they are in view. Bicycles in particular are easily overlooked in road traffic because they are hidden by buses or trucks. At CES, Bosch is showing a communication link between the new concept car and a bicycle. With it, vehicles can constantly exchange information about their location and direction of travel. This reduces the risk of collision.

When communicating with its surroundings, the car also takes on important tasks in the connected city. For instance, with community-based parking, the car is becoming a parking spot locator. When driving along the street, the car detects gaps between parked cars. The data gathered is then transmitted to a digital street map. High-performance Bosch algorithms assess the plausibility of the data and make forecasts on the parking spot situation. A cloud-based service that uses this data to create a real-time parking map saves the driver a great deal of time and money, and also helps reduce stress. Pilot projects in the U.S. are planned for 2017. In cooperation with Mercedes-Benz, Bosch is currently testing the community-based parking concept in metropolitan Stuttgart.

Industry 4.0: connecting people, machines, and objects in real time

Bosch is presenting the Automatic production assistant (APAS) at CES, which makes flexible and efficient manufacturing possible. It performs strenuous, dangerous, or monotonous tasks and is best used in areas of manufacturing in which close cooperation with human beings is called for. At the trade show, APAS is serving up coffee and cotton candy to visitors at the Sands Expo. Thanks to its sensor skin, the robot detects when people are too close to it and shuts down immediately.

What’s more? With the IoT Gateway, Bosch is bringing the advantages of connected industry to the operators of older machines that still lack the prerequisites of networked production, such as sensors, software, or a connection to the company’s IT connection. The connected system combines sensor technology, software, and IoT-enabled industrial management, and thus makes it possible to monitor machine status.

Bosch start-up presents new home robot

Mayfield Robotics, the start-up which Robert Bosch Start-up GmbH (BOSP) supports, focuses on the home robot business. The company specialises in the development of home robots. At the CES 2017, it is presenting Kuri, its first commercial robot, which is scheduled to be launched in the United States at the end of 2017. The robot is about 50 centimeters tall and is equipped with loudspeakers, microphone, camera and a number of sensors. It can move around the room, all the while taking note of the shortest possible routes. Kuri interacts with residents and when he sees the mother, he reacts differently than when he runs into her young son around the house. For instance, Kuri can play music or inform parents who are stuck in traffic that their children have come home from school. More than 30 robotics engineers and designers work at the start-up’s headquarters in Redwood City, California. They benefit especially from the creative freedom and inspiring Silicon Valley start-up culture. “For Bosch, targeted investments in creative start-ups are important, as they allow us to respond to new trends at an early stage. In so doing, we are securing our access to disruptive industry developments,” said Struth.

Bosch’s view on the Internet of Things

“We believe that connectivity is more than just technology. It’s part of our lives. It improves mobility, shapes the cities of the future, and makes homes smarter, industry connected, and healthcare more efficient. In every sphere, Bosch is working toward a connected world. A world that opens up possibilities no one could ever have imagined. So let’s go beyond building connected devices. Let’s build connections with real benefit – around the world, across the web, within the cloud. Let’s connect founders with funders, dreamers with doers, parts with the whole. Let’s link the virtual and the physical and leave a lasting legacy in our world. Let´s be Simply.Connected.”

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