Truly Sustainable Printed Electronics-based IoT Combining Optical and Radio Wireless Technologies

SUPERIOT aims at developing a truly sustainable and highly flexible IoT system based on the use of optical and radio communications, and the exploitation of printed electronics technology for the implementation of sustainable IoT nodes. The dual-mode optical-radio approach provides unique characteristics to the IoT system. The system can be reconfigured to use optical, radio, or both connectivity approaches. The hybrid optical-radio system allows very efficient use of resources while combining the advantages of both wireless communication methods. Energy autonomous nodes can harvest energy from both sources, resulting in an efficient and reliable energy system. Positioning accuracy can be also improved by combining optical and radio signals. Moreover, the dual-mode approach results in a highly flexible and adaptable communication system, that can operate efficiently under changing conditions and in different scenarios. The implementation of the IoT nodes will aim at maximizing printed electronics usage, resulting in a cost-efficient, environmentally friendly solution. Nodes will have essential IoT functionalities such as sensing, actuating, and computational capabilities. As important as the development of a sustainable and flexible IoT node will be the development of its networking capabilities. The project will also identify, develop, and demonstrate applications for the proposed concept. Four demonstrators will be developed at the final stage of the project, including a) Reconfigurable optical-radio IoT node implemented with printed and conventional electronics technologies (Application: smart tags), b) Reconfigurable optical-radio IoT network (Application: logistics in medical ICT scenarios), c) Limited capability IoT node implemented with printed electronics technology only, and d) Large-area IoT node/repeater. The SUPERIOT concept is based on developing an IoT system that is both sustainable by design and sustainable by implementation.