Working on cutting-edge technology with Philips Lighting
Visible Light Communication is the next big thing if you would ask Philips Lighting. Their light sources not only are part of a connected lighting system, they can also be turned into points of data. This allows light sources to be included in the Internet of Things, which opens up a world of possibilities, connecting more devices, places and people through light. How does this work? And how to utilize these new opportunities? This challenge was accepted by 20 TU/e PDEng Software Technology trainees.
The project at Philips Lighting, which is part of the two-year salaried postgraduate PDEng Software Technology (ST — formerly known as OOTI) program to prepare trainees for an elite career in industry, ran for nine weeks. Within this short period of time, the trainees had to carry out the complete project from A to Z. “Due to the research oriented nature of the project, we had to establish a flexible project organization, get acquainted with and configure the hardware, develop software including security algorithms, fix bugs found during testing, and demonstrate a working prototype,” says PDEng ST trainee and project manager Nityanand Panpalia, who worked as a software engineer for seven years at Intel Corporation prior to joining the PDEng ST program.
Collaboration
Philips Lighting and TU/e’s PDEng ST program have previously worked together on a project, and both were very satisfied about that collaboration. That was the basis for starting a new project together. Henk Stevens, Indoor Systems Software Architect at Philips Lighting: “Doing this work ourselves was not an option. One of the main reasons we asked the PDEng ST program to contribute to this project, is the fact that some issues needed to be sorted out first. We were lacking time to address them properly, so this was a great opportunity to strengthen our ties with TU Eindhoven.”
Yanja Dajsuren, Program Director of the PDEng ST program, adds: “We were very happy with the opportunity to collaborate in this project. Our trainees got the chance to work on a challenge coming straight from the industry.” She continues: “On top of that, they have been working on cutting-edge technology which will have a big impact in the future.”
Final presentation
After nine weeks of hard work, the trainees were ready for the final presentation at the Philips Lighting headquarters. Several Philips Lighting stakeholders were present, including software developers, the security expert, and the innovation manager. In a lively meeting, the trainees presented their work and answered the questions of the stakeholders. As the icing on the cake, they proudly uncovered and demonstrated their working prototype. Stevens: “It was a challenging assignment, so it is a great accomplishment to having made it this far.” He continues: “We are very pleased with the fact that the trainees made the whole chain working, which was one of the main objectives.”
However, that was not all. The 20 trainees were also invited to take part in an IP (Intellectual Property) generation workshop. Divided in four groups, they brainstormed with an employee of Philips Lighting to come up with new ideas for the Visible Light Communication technology, and come up with solutions for problems that could arise. For example, how can the firmware of low power devices be upgraded without the possibility of plugging in a cable? “I really enjoyed working with this group of trainees. They were very eager to learn, came up with some great ideas, and I have also learned a lot from them,” says Stevens, reflecting on the project.
Learning experience
For the trainees, every project comes with new challenges from which they learn new skills, which they will take with them in their future jobs. Panpalia: “Although I have worked on embedded software before, I had never worked on micro-controllers. Furthermore, this was the first time I used Visible Light Communication to transmit information over a communication network.” But also soft skills are developed during the PDEng ST program: “As the project manager I learned to lead a team which was challenging and completely new for me. And we used a new form of AGILE approach to software development for the first time, which went quite well.”
Lead architect, and also one of the trainees, Sololia Ayele adds: “Working on such innovative product has taught me on how to manage uncertainties and come up with a feasible project goal that the team can implement. Being part of the architect team gave me the chance to implement the training I have received so far regarding software design and architecture. In this project, for example, we tried a new approach on how to better integrate the architecture and implementation.”
The future of Visible Light Communication
The collaboration not only was a very educational experience for the trainees. It has also proven to be very valuable for Philips Lighting. It gave them, for example, insights in the signal processing of Visible Light Communication, the security and roaming aspects of mobile IoT devices, the credentials necessary for the authentication of a mobile IoT device in a wireless network, and how to configure an asset management server.
What the future of this technology will be, is now in the hands of the Innovation group of Philips Lighting. Stevens: “The trainees made a working prototype, a proof of concept. This helps to determine the following steps regarding asset management based on Visible Light Communication and wireless communication.” Dajsuren believes the future of this cutting-edge technology is bright: “I foresee lots of applications, for example in the automotive field communication-based vehicle safety applications to improve traffic safety, and for creating smart cities. I am proud of this collaboration and our PDEng ST trainees for contributing to the important step to take this technology into practice.”
