Continuing to increase investment in AIoT and robot "sensor" tracks, the 2023 Bosch Sensortec Smart Ecosystem Conference was successfully held

Fever Fans Network reported (Text/Zhang Ying) is the key to empowering the future development of the oT ecosystem! On November 21, the 2023 Sensc Ecological Conference was grandly held at the Renaissance Hotel in Nanshan, Shenzhen. Focusing on the progress of smart sensors in the fields of smart wearables, and smart wearables, Wang Hongyu, President of Sensors Asia Pacific, Du Bin, Senior Manager of Bosch Sensors, Ding Yong, Senior Product Manager, Xia Yunlong, Head of the Intelligent Sensing Division of Midea Home Air Conditioning Division, Jiang Zhou, Sales Director of Horizon Robotics Division, Ouyang Shan, Senior Sales Manager of Bosch Sensors, and many participants shared their forward-looking views, technology trends, representative products and application cases.
Wang Hongyu, President of Bosch Sensortec Asia Pacific, said: "AIoT is a huge potential market to promote the growth of sensors, and China is the innovation of the world. In 2022, Bosch Group's global sales reached 88.2 billion euros, and Bosch Group's sales in China reached 132 billion yuan. Bosch China has become the region with the largest single revenue within the Bosch Group for three consecutive years. Bosch has a good development momentum and prospects in the Chinese market."

Figure: Wang Hongyu, President of Bosch Sensortec Asia Pacific

Bosch's business has a history of more than 50 years. As the inventor of sensors, Bosch has huge first-mover advantages and product advantages in the sensor industry. In 1996, Bosch Semiconductor launched the world's first MEMS sensor. In 2007, Bosch sensor shipments reached 1 billion. Wang Hongyu said: "From 2007 to 2018, Bosch sensor shipments increased from 1 billion to 10 billion, and shipments increased 9 times in 11 years, mainly due to the market boom; after 2018, we showed a rapid development trend within three years. By 2021, sensor shipments exceeded 15 billion. By this year, Bosch sensor shipments reached 18 billion. The entire MEMS sensor development process is clearly visible. It started with automobiles, including automobile engine control, airbags and body stability systems. Sensors are needed. The breakthrough in the entire MEMS market is the rise and introduction. The subsequent application driving force of MEMS sensors comes from the huge growth of the AIoT market."

Bosch's sensors in the consumer electronics and automotive markets rank first in the world. The consumer sensor product portfolio includes four categories: the first category is motion sensors and smart sensor systems; the second category is environmental sensors, such as pressure, temperature and humidity; the third category is the acoustic microsystem sensor that started last year; and the fourth category is the micro display system solution. In addition, Bosch sensors also provide a complete set of solutions, including some software development tools, AI kits and smart sensor algorithms. "With many solutions, we can make application breakthroughs in eight categories of markets such as smartphones, wearable devices, game consoles, robots, and AR. Bosch is committed to transforming into an innovative AIoT, connecting and providing everyone with better services, user experience and added value." Wang Hongyu emphasized.

It is reported that the new smart eNose refrigerator, Xiaomi game controller, smart door lock and other cases use Bosch sensors to enhance the experience. The eNose refrigerator uses Bosch AI gas sensors, which can identify hundreds of odors and monitor them in real time 24 hours a day; the Xiaomi game controller uses Bosch motion sensors to achieve positioning, and controls movement and direction through the handle experience, bringing a delicate and realistic gaming experience.

Wang Hongyu pointed out that the characteristics of the Internet of Things market are large volume, but the application volume of the market segments is not large. The challenge for us is how to connect the various parts from sensor components to applications. This is also the purpose of this Smart Ecosystem Conference, and to build the future AIoT ecosystem with local partners. We hope to work with owners, communities, and engineers to develop the AIoT market together. The global wearable market is gradually recovering, and China has ushered in the largest quarterly shipments since 2022. In the second quarter of 2023, China's wearable device market shipments reached 33.5 million units, a year-on-year increase of 17.3%. Among them, smart watch shipments reached 9.42 million units, a year-on-year increase of 11.5%; smart bracelet shipments reached 4.63 million units, a year-on-year increase of 20.9%; and ear wearable device shipments reached 19.33 million units, a year-on-year increase of 17%.

Figure: Du Bin, Senior Product Manager at Bosch Sensortec

Bosch Sensortec senior product manager Du Bin said that wearable devices will develop in three directions in the future: first, healthy living, real-time monitoring of health status and energy consumption; second, optimized experience, low-power and high-performance products to achieve more innovative applications, watches are now charged once a day, and in the future may reach once a week; third, personalization, providing customized services according to the personalized needs of users.

How does Bosch MEMS sensor redefine ear wear user interaction? Bosch motion sensors are committed to achieving intelligent power management, which is conducive to extending the battery life of ear-band devices; 3D head tracking can intelligently filter out environmental noise; adaptive active noise reduction, Bosch provides acceleration sensors to monitor the user's bone conduction vibration and the sound of the user's speech; TWS headphones are developing towards miniaturization, and in-ear TWS headphones have become a trend. Bosch provides motion sensors to achieve click interaction and trigger functions.

In the field of smart wearables, Bosch has launched new AI smart sensors BH1360 and BHI380. The main advantages are small size and plug-and-play. These two sensors have ultra-low power consumption and programmable inertial measurement units, which are suitable for high-end algorithms and simple gesture recognition. They are good application device choices for pedestrian navigation, especially fitness and posture analysis.

At the same time, Bosch also launched the barometric pressure sensors BMP581 and BMP585. The main advantages are excellent accuracy and ultra-low power consumption, only 3.5 microamperes at 1 Hz, suitable for use in harsh environments and waterproof. It is reported that Bosch Sensortec sensor solutions have helped many innovative smart wearable applications, such as the AI ​​smart football shoe kit equipped with the BMI270 sensor to achieve multi-dimensional perception and the user's movement posture.

Picture: Ding Yong, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Qualcomm Technologies

Ding Yong, senior product manager of Qualcomm Technologies, delivered a speech titled "The First Generation of Snapdragon W5+/W5 Wearable Platform". He said that Qualcomm has been deeply involved in the field of wearable devices for five years. From 2016 to 2020, Qualcomm launched the Snapdragon 2100, 3100, 4100/4100+ wearable platforms, and then the latest first-generation Snapdragon W5/W5+ wearable platform.

The W5+/W5 wearable platform adopts a hybrid architecture, including a 4nm system-on-chip (SoC) and a 22nm highly integrated always-on (AON) coprocessor. With the advantages of ultra-low power consumption, top performance and high integration, future wearable devices can be thinner and lighter. The large-core SoC is developed for Wear OS and AOSP, and will undertake functions such as LTE, modem, and the operation of some applications, including camera and processing tasks. The coprocessor is based on the system and integrates more functions, including display, sports health sensors, as well as audio processing and notification push functions.

Picture: Zhou Liang, Senior Product Manager of Bosch Sensortec

Zhou Liang, senior product manager of Bosch Sensortec, said that the smart Internet of Things needs more sensors, especially in the field of smart home. From light perception, smart door locks, and smart home appliances, more sensors are needed. This is a very potential market. China has become the world's largest consumer of smart home market. According to data from research institutions, China's smart home device shipments are expected to be close to 540 million units in 2025, and global smart home shipments are expected to reach 1.27 billion units in 2027. Interconnected and smart homes have become a development trend around the world. The smart home links served by Bosch sensors include security, air quality, hygiene, and smart home appliance scenarios.

In the field of indoor air, Bosch launched the world's first artificial intelligence four-in-one gas sensor BME688. The BME688 AI gas sensor has a voltage range of 1.2V to 3.6V and a package size of 3mm ×3mm ×0.93mm. The sensor has integrated high linearity and high precision pressure, humidity and. The BME688 gas sensor can detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other gases such as hydrogen and carbon monoxide in the parts per billion (ppb) range.

In addition, Bosch has also launched the particle sensor BMV080, which is the world's smallest particle sensor. Compared with other PM2.5 sensors on the market, it has completely different measurement principles, sizes, and operating mechanisms. It uses advanced technology to innovate air quality measurement methods. This product is ultra-small in size and low in power consumption. It can be used for air quality detection on smart thermostats, smart air purifiers, and wearable devices. In smart washing machines, Bosch provides customers with high-precision barometers, which can accurately sense the water level, which not only reduces the cost of use, but also improves the user experience with high-precision detection.