Making the Next Generation Smart Campus a Reality Today at Qualcomm
By: Michael E. Donner
Tags: IoT, Smart Cities, Internet of Things, Innovation, Qualcomm 835

At #Qualcomm’s main San Diego campus, #IoT smart solutions are everywhere.

When Qualcomm employees are stuck in an unexpected traffic jam on their morning commute, they know they won’t lose any more time once they arrive at the company parking lot. That’s because a #Zyter #SmartParking application located at the lot’s entrance scans and validates their car license plate in seconds, then automatically opens the gate. Employees can drive right through without the need to wave an ID card in front of a barcode sensor. Next, the Smart Parking mobile app on the employee’s phone locates and gives directions to the optimal open parking spot closest to the building in which they work. Even on mornings with no traffic delays, Qualcomm employees never have to waste time and gas circling the parking lot looking for a space. They can also breathe a little easier knowing that they’re reducing CO2 in the environment and that they’ll make it to their office right on time.

Smart Parking is just one of many #InternetOfThings (#IoT) smart solutions for industries based on Qualcomm Technologies solutions being made available on the Zyter #SmartSpaces™ platform for Qualcomm® Smart Cities Accelerator members. In June 2020, Qualcomm Technologies and Zyter began working together to promote the adoption of Internet of Things as a Service (IoTaaS) to support #SmartCities, communities, and enterprise campuses. The collaboration gives companies participating in the Qualcomm Smart Cities Accelerator Program easy access to Zyter’s IoT smart solutions for industries. In December 2020, the Zyter SmartSpaces platform was deployed at the Qualcomm headquarters, demonstrating the results of the collaboration. The result is an exciting digital transformation that’s showcasing what’s possible in your city, community, or business in the near future.

Let’s take a look at some other ways the smart campus is utilizing the Qualcomm Smart Cities Accelerator Program and its IoTaaS solutions — as well as how they’re powering IoT smart solutions on the Zyter SmartSpaces platform to make campus management more efficient and the employee experience more convenient and safe at Qualcomm.

Digital Twin: See Campus Assets with Virtual X-ray Vision

Zyter SmartSpaces is the first and only SmartSpaces solution to feature a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) based 3D #DigitalTwin. It has the capability to create a real digital replica of a city — the exterior and interior of its building structures, as well as surrounding public transportation assets, lighting, and more — to make campus management more efficient.

With this IoT smart solution, Qualcomm facility managers no longer need to sift through blueprints or spend time physically searching for the location of assets to be maintained or repaired. Today they simply click on the Digital Twin 3D interactive map on the Zyter Command and Control screen or mobile app and get a virtual view of the entire building. Digital Twin gives them step-by-step directions — even GPS and elevation coordinates — to guide them directly to the right area or asset. Like Superman with x-ray vision, Qualcomm’s managers can “see through walls” and zoom in to view assets, such as furniture, equipment, electric, plumbing, HVAC systems, and more. As a result, they gain real-time information for faster, better decision making and responses to emergencies at campus facilities and daily operations alike.

Let’s take a look at some other ways the smart campus is utilizing the Qualcomm Smart Cities Accelerator Program and its #IoTaaS solutions — as well as how they’re powering IoT smart solutions on the Zyter SmartSpaces platform to make campus management more efficient and the employee experience more convenient and safe at Qualcomm.

Smart Asset Tracking

Tracking only the location of campus assets is a thing of the past. #SmartAsset Tracking on the Zyter SmartSpaces platform gives Qualcomm facility managers advanced, real-time analytics to help them track asset usage so they can optimize and manage assets smarter and more efficiently. Qualcomm can also optimize the company’s return on investment on all types of assets across the campus ecosystem, from HVAC systems to specialized building maintenance equipment and more. For example, monitoring campus shuttle bus usage can pay off in reduced fuel costs, potentially lower maintenance costs, and reduced CO2 emissions.

Gain a complete view of all IoT smart solutions from the Qualcomm Command and Control Center

Smart Transportation

Instead of driving their cars, Qualcomm employees can take the campus shuttle service anytime they need to go from one of the company’s 35 campus buildings to another. The IoT smart solutions for managing transportation systems on the Zyter SmartSpaces platform make their on-campus travel both convenient and safe. The Smart Transportation solution not only tracks shuttle location, but also provides analytics to help more efficiently plan shuttle usage and routes, resulting in less fuel consumption, lower CO2 impact on the environment, as well as optimized, more efficient use of the shuttle service. Employees can also use a shuttle app developed by Zyter to get directions to a shuttle stop.

With a focus on passenger safety, Zyter #SmartTransportation also tracks shuttle driver behavior, including speed, occurrences of high speed turns, harsh braking, using a cellphone while driving, and other unsafe habits. Improving driver behavior can make shuttle transportation safer for employees, as well as reduce shuttle driver insurance costs. In addition, all shuttle stops have an SOS emergency callbox that connects to campus security guards or police, as well as a vandalism protection system that records video and sound, and alerts security to any criminal activity at the stop.

Smart Parking

Beyond the daily employee benefit of having an optimal parking spot, the Smart Parking IoT smart solution from Zyter can also help prevent auto theft in the parking lot. When a Qualcomm employee virtually locks their car using the Zyter Smart Parking app, a thief might be able to break in, but cannot drive the car out of the gated parking lot — the gate will not open when the Smart Parking system recognizes that the car is locked via the Zyter app. Also, the Zyter Smart Parking app will send an alert to the employee if their unlocked car is being moved from the parking spot so they can immediately alert campus security or police.

Endless Possibilities: Expanding the Smart Campus to Smart Cities

All of the IoT smart solutions for industries deployed by Zyter at the Qualcomm Smart Campus today make up a microcosm that can be rapidly expanded to smart cities, communities, and enterprises of any size — anywhere in the world. It’s all made possible with Zyter’s InfiniGrid approach to deploying the Zyter SmartSpaces™ Platform with a highly secure, rapidly scalable, cloud agnostic infrastructure that is able to be deployed on any edge, cloud, hybrid, or on-premise environment. Together, Zyter and Qualcomm Technologies are showing the world how to realize endless possibilities of the next generation of IoT enablement for all smart spaces.

For more information on Zyter’s loT smart solutions, visit www.zyter.com/iot/.

Qualcomm Smart Cities Accelerator program is a program of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. Qualcomm is a trademark or registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated.