Qoitech, a startup within Sony, is looking to change the way IoT companies are optimizing their batteries’ current consumption. This is done using Qoitech’s Otii solution. Otii is a developer tool for energy optimization. The tool is easy to use, requires minimal setup, and lets developers measure and analyze energy use at any stage of development. The Otii solution comprises a compact and portable measuring unit, Otii Arc, and an easy to use, but comprehensive desktop app for Windows, MacOS, and Ubuntu.

Otii Arc acts both as a power supply to the tested IoT device and as a current and voltage measurement unit. It can be powered by USB from a laptop for portable and compact measurement set-ups, or by a 9-V DC power supply. It provides up to 5 V output voltage and current measurements with a sample rate of 4 ksps for the range of 1 uA to 5A. An additional measurement channel is available via ADC in the expansion port, which also provides UART, Digital I/O, and SENSE pins. 

The Otii software runs on multiple platforms, is quick to install and provides means for continuous measurements. The UI is intuitive and allows for real time analysis; scroll, zoom and select parts of the current consumption while measuring. New recordings are easily added on top of the previous ones which makes it easy to track changes in the power consumption throughout development. For iterative tasks, automated testing can be performed by built-in scripting features.

To further understand what really draws the current, measurements can be continuously synchronized with UART debug logs from the device under test. Other log formats are supported for sync with pre-recorded data. The Otii solution enables developers to measure, share and collaborate in a simple manner. Measurement data can be cropped to the desired time frame, and optionally down-sampled to reduce the amount of data to be shared without affect recordings of the accumulated energy consumed. Original measurement projects can be shared and new measurements can be added on. Developers can achieve operational efficiency and cost savings by using Otii in the everyday communication on the topic of energy optimization in their teams, with their suppliers and customers.

With Otii developers can get more accurate information about the correlation between code and power consumption. This will make it easier to create energy efficient IoT devices and apps that meet the increasing market demands for products with long battery life.

eletter-10-19-2017