FUELICS
Sensor-as-a-service for stationary and mobile fuel tanks

Smart cities and IoT are complementary to each other where the growth of smart cities is dependent a lot on innovation taking place in the IoT sector. This is further accentuated by the development of Low Power Wide Area Technology networks, which in-turn lead to NB-IoT (Narrowband-Internet of Things). NB-IoT enables communication with sensors which are usually underground or in remote locations, say stationary and mobile fuel tanks, where the GPRS/4G signal is prohibitively low. Coupled with sensors at such locations, monitoring of fuel levels becomes easier; however, the cost associated with the hardware and security concerns have slowed down the adoption of such state-of-the-art technology.

Fuelics is an Athens-based company that aims to change this narrative.

Once deployed, Fuelics fuel sensors make use of their cloud OpenAPI to broadcast measurements of the level in tanks of any geometry and material. “Our R&D team has designed tank level sensors that utilize ultrasound, capacitance or pressure to make the actual measurement providing our customers with a range of options to choose from to address their business needs,” says Mr. Ioannis Nikolaou, Partner, Head of Cloud and Platforms, Fuelics. The Fuelics OpenAPI is available to their customers and enables them to easily integrate IoT capabilities in customer’s platforms and business processes.

The efficacy of the sensors is unmatched in the communication and data transfer volume. The use of edge computing capabilities enables sensors to make real-time computations and decide when to connect to the cloud system to transmit data. This brings down the need for data transfer of each sensor to a few kilobytes per year, “a perfect match for the NB-IoT low bandwidth networks and the general need for ultra-cheap recurring data plans,” adds Mr. Nikolaou.

The company also offers a holistic fuel management platform called tank@Fuelics. It is based on the OpenAPI and is designed with a mobile-first approach to the commission, monitor and consumption of data generated by Fuelics sensors directly into the customer’s mobile devices. The web-based deployed administration platform gives a real-time view of the status of the sensors and allows remote management, alerting and report creation. The platform is cloud provider agnostic--it can easily integrate with existing major cloud providers’ data centres at the customer’s geographic location. While organizations are rapidly migrating to cloud, some are still apprehensive about joining the bandwagon; for them, Fuelics offers an on-premise deployment option of their sensors’ telemetry and remote management services.

Another concern of their clients is the security of the information gathered by sensors, which are prone to tampering. Any attempt to physically tamper with Fuelics’ sensors immediately alerts the designated authorities. All data transferred by the sensors are encrypted, and firmware of each sensor is digitally signed to prevent the installation of malicious software on the sensors. Fuelics has checked all of the customer’s concerns and has been able to serve clients like a Municipality in the Attika (Greece) Region who has employed Fuelics sensors on each of the diesel tanks to ensure they don’t run out of fuel during the winter season.

A water company is deploying their NB-IoT multisensory MBus logger to simultaneously acquire billing and water flow measurements from up to four water flow meters. Fuelics has pivoted on Sensor-as-a-Service model effectively that is allowing to develop a range of products like Ultrasonic Distance Level Sensor for Fuel and Water Tank Management, an Ultrasonic Waste Management Sensor, an on-street Magnetic Parking Sensor, and a Pressure Sensor for Water Level monitoring. “Fuelics people are deep-tech enthusiasts, with the ability to develop solutions for various business models while at the same time invest in R&D in order to keep up with the competition,” concludes Mr. Nikolaou.