January 30th - Competitive Analysis

Team members involved: Micheal Seng, Jonathan Wai

Also known as a "Competitive Audit," the design team decided it would be wise to do research on existing data monitoring systems. Our TA, Chandran, pointed out in our original Project Proposal that there is already a market for this. He was partially correct! Here is an excerpt from our latest Project Proposal which overviews this :

Common conception is that most refridgerator companies already provide monitoring services with their devices, but that data collection is on a high level, such as a refrigerator’s time of maintenance or delivery. Device Monitoring Systems, on the other hand, actively calculate and report live feedback about how well a device is operating (temperature, status of door, voltage use, etc.), and is a separate market altogether.  

There are a few well-established companies in this field, most notably Computer Aided Solutions (CAS), but currently existing monitoring systems are very expensive. One “Pod” must be plugged into each device (in this case, refrigerators) in order to collect data; more expensive Pods allow for more types of data to be collected.

In addition, a “Gateway” is required to beam this data from the Pod to the internet, much like a computer accesses the internet via a modem. However, these Gateways only have a range of 250 Feet.  The price of a single Pod can range from $700 to $1000, depending on capability, with an additional $1000 per Gateway.  

Given the large size of CenturyLink Arena, with many refrigerators spread out across the whole property, many Pods and Gateways would have to be purchased to beam data from each specific area, restaurant, or venue within the Arena. In addition, the data is beamed to another service, Accsense, where it is placed on their monitoring interface and requires a yearly subscription to access, further adding cost.

Through exploring Computer Aided Solutions' Pod manufacturing and distribution firm, DataLogger Inc., I discovered a link to a sample Accsense interface! This interface was a web-based example of the format and basic functions of the device monitoring system, with interactive elements! The demo interface can be accessed here: https://secure.sensornetworkonline.com/SSIWeb/demo.faces. Below is a screenshot of one particular section, along with our commentary on it, as taken from our Project Proposal.

An example of the CAS Dashboard (branded as the “Accense Monitoring System”)

The list format above shows collected metrics clearly enough (Temperature, Humidity, etc.),with time graphs and Alert notifications available for every one of them. These factors are spread out across three distinct sections.   

We can see in the first Pod title that it is plugged into a Kenmore refrigerator, but what of the other two Pods? It isn’t clear if they are plugged into the same fridge, or a different one, or if they’re attached to a separate device altogether. In addition, how would multiple devices be shown, or differentiated, if organized in this manner? How could this display tell between two Kenmore fridges?

Seeing the issues in this existing dashboard, we realized that many of these services are very businesslike and functional. Bringing these issues to the forefront, we noticed that Ombitron's basic dashboard was already leagues ahead in terms of style and modern design sensibilities. This revelation spurred on the design process into beating out the competition by making a stylish, functional, and modern dashboard that addresses the problems of all current systems.