To start, the Cota Power Receiver for IoT will be built on Ossia's 2.4 GHz wireless power system, with the 5.8 GHz system to follow. Once embedded into the end devices, the wirelessly powered sensors can be managed remotely through the cloud-based Cota IoT Platform. This sensor, using the Cota technology and Marubun's product development, will be the first of its kind to be designed and integrated into many types of IoT devices, without the need for a retrofit stage.
"There are so many ways Cota can be leveraged for so many different kinds of devices. To date, we have seen successful applications within commercial products such as ESLs and commercial truck trackers," says Doug Stovall, CEO of Ossia. "With this new development and partnership with Marubun, even more companies will be able to bypass a 'retrofitting' step and seamlessly build the Cota Power Receiver for IoT right in to the device itself. This will save on costs and one-off experimentation, and offer a shortcut to market."
With any new technology, retrofitting is a common bridge between a currently marketed product and a new product with the technology built in. But retrofits, such as adapters and power sleeves, can be costly, cumbersome, and take extra time to build and distribute. The Cota Power Receiver for IoT was developed to help bypass these obstacles.
"The Cota system is stable, resilient, and scalable," says Satoshi Fujino, Senior VP of Marubun. "To bring it to fruition more rapidly, we saw an opportunity to leverage Cota wireless power technology for a sensor that can be integrated within many types of IoT devices. Developing for one device at a time is not economical, nor wise, when a single wireless power sensor can be applied to so many different types of devices, from commercial and retail to industrial and medical."
Cota enables devices to receive power without user intervention, charging pads, plugging in, or batteries. It can deliver power at a distance to multiple devices simultaneously, while supporting a high level of quantity and frequency of updates, such as might be required with a digital display. It can also safely deliver power while the device is in motion. The Cota Power Receiver for IoT is designed to be:
- cost effective
- easy to use
- easy to integrate
- easy to customize through Marubun
"Marubun is uniquely suited to develop the Cota sensor due to its long-standing history and experience in the electronics space and its well established, end-to-end development processes. We are excited for this next step for Cota," says Stovall. "It should benefit not only many businesses, but also the millions of employees who use the wirelessly powered devices."
Fujino says, "We are especially excited to see how our customers leverage the online Cota management platform offered by Ossia. Managing hundreds or even thousands of devices remotely can have exponential benefits for our customers and partners." The Cota Power Receiver for IoT is expected to be available through Marubun for limited distribution as early as Q1 2022, with a full release in Q2 2022.
