CES 2018: Bosch sees future in smart-city business / Smart solutions for better air quality, and for more security and convenience (FOTO)

Las Vegas, NV (ots) -

- Stefan Hartung: "For a long time, the smart city was a vision.
We're helping make it reality."
- Good-bye to air pollution: Climo measures and analyzes air quality
in real time (new product)
- Good-bye to flooding: digital flood monitoring system keeps track
of river water levels and gives flood warnings well in advance
- Good-bye to the search for parking: Bosch to offer community-based
parking system in as many as 20 U.S. cities from 2018

Urban populations are growing: according to the United Nations,
roughly two-thirds of the global population will live in conurbations
by 2050. In 2014, this figure was just one-half. Urbanization is
increasing, and with it the challenges cities have to solve. Even
today, therefore, there is a considerable need for smart solutions.
Speaking at CES in Las Vegas, the Bosch management board member
Stefan Hartung said: "We need a new conception of the city. One key
factor here is technologies that make cities smart and worth living
in. In the long run, cities without intelligence will not survive,
but succumb to gridlock."

Bosch is working to equip cities and neighborhoods for the future,
offering smart mobility, better air quality, more convenience,
greater security, and many new services. In short, the aim is
significantly better quality of life in cities and neighborhoods.
"When it comes to smart cities, few other companies can match Bosch's
comprehensive portfolio, cross-domain knowledge, and outstanding
expertise in sensors, software, and services - and all this from a
single source," Hartung said. From January 9 to 12, the supplier of
technology and services will be presenting many new solutions that
make cities smart at CES 2018, the world's largest electronics show.
These range from a new compact unit that measures and analyzes air
quality in real time, to a system that digitally monitors river water
levels and gives early warning of flood risks, to a completely
automatic parking space service that makes drivers' lives easier.

For more business: the smart-city market is booming

Some of the world's major metropolises are already synonymous with
the term "smart," among them Barcelona, Seoul, and London. Across the
globe, cities large and small are investing in smart-city
technologies. According to a study on behalf of Bosch, the smart-city
market will grow 19 percent each year between now and 2020, reaching
a volume of 800 billion dollars (680 billion euros). Bosch believes
this is a great business opportunity: "For a long time, the smart
city was a vision. We're helping make it reality. Bosch is in an
excellent position to make the connected city a technological and
commercial success," Hartung said. The company is currently involved
in 14 extensive smart-city projects in places such as San Francisco,
Singapore, Tianjin, Berlin, and Stuttgart. Others are planned to
follow. Within the past two years, the company has doubled its sales
from cross-domain projects to nearly one billion euros, and this
figure is set to rise further.

In the Bay Area city of San Leandro, for example, the company has
equipped roughly 5,000 streetlights with LEDs and supplied a system
for remote management of the city's street lighting. In this way, the
lights are only switched on when they are actually needed. With this
solution, San Leandro will be able to save roughly 8 million dollars
over the next 15 years. At the Bosch CES press conference, Mike
Mansuetti, the president of Bosch North America, said: "Whether
cities are big or small, our smart solutions will help them save
energy, and money too." In the case of San Leandro and its 100,000
inhabitants, sensors can be used to measure and analyze air quality,
and cameras can automatically re-route traffic in the event of
congestion.

For more connectivity: IoT and artificial intelligence

The internet of things (IoT) has laid one of the main foundations
for the connected city. The IoT is finding its way into all walks of
life: a Gartner study predicts that some 230 million homes worldwide
- roughly 15 percent of all homes - will be intelligently connected
by 2020. Here as well, the potential is huge, with market volume
estimated to reach 250 billion dollars annually by 2020. By the same
year, more than 20 billion devices worldwide will be connected with
each other - smoke detectors, burglar alarms, electricity meters,
home appliances, and many more. "Bosch recognized this potential
early on," Hartung said. "Even now, more than half our electronic
product classes are web-enabled - and the aim is for this to be 100
percent by 2020. Not only that: for each of our products, we want to
offer accompanying services."

Another driver of the rapid development of smart cities is
artificial intelligence (AI). Bosch intends to further expand its
research in this field. Last year, the company opened a research
center for artificial intelligence, which now employs some 100
associates in Renningen, Germany, Palo Alto, CA, and Bengaluru,
India. By 2021, Bosch will invest some 300 million euros in expanding
the center. The company anticipates that, ten years from now,
scarcely any product will be conceivable without AI.

For better air quality: Climo creates basis for targeted action

Air quality is one of the greatest challenges cities face. Thanks
to smart technologies, cities can take faster and more targeted
action to improve it. However, this depends on accurate measurements.
At CES 2018, Bosch is presenting a new solution that it developed
together with Intel - the Climo microclimate monitoring system. Climo
measures and analyzes 12 parameters that are important for air
quality, including carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, temperature, and
relative humidity. The appliance is one-hundredth the size of
conventional systems - and one-tenth the cost. Climo won a CES
Honoree Innovation Award in the "smart cities" category.

For early warning: digital monitoring of rivers

In many regions, climate change is resulting in unpredictable
weather. Researchers expect that heavier rainfall will result in more
frequent flash flooding. Up to now, mechanical devices have been used
to measure river water levels. Hours may pass before these
measurements become available for others. However, the flood
monitoring system changes all this. In real time, it monitors the
water level in rivers and other bodies of water close to cities, and
warns of an impending flood. In a pilot project, Bosch is testing the
new system on the Neckar river near Ludwigsburg, Germany. Ultrasonic
sensor probes and cameras track changes in water level, speed, and
throughput. The data is sent to the Bosch IoT Cloud for processing.
Should critical thresholds be exceeded, the affected municipalities,
residents, and business owners are alerted well in advance by text
message. This gives them enough time to take precautions against
flooding and flood-related damage. Among those interested in the
solution are a number of Indian and South American municipalities
that frequently have to combat flooding.

For more time: connected parking

Urban traffic will increase by roughly one-third by 2050. Bosch is
working to make tomorrow's mobility free of accidents, stress, and
emissions. At CES 2018, the company is presenting many solutions that
lead toward this goal. Urban traffic plays a role in roughly half the
smart-city projects Bosch is involved in. Parking is a particular
focal point. U.S. drivers now spend more than 40 hours a year stuck
in congestion, wasting some 160 billion dollars in the process. Of
this time, roughly one-third is wasted on the search for parking
alone. This is where Bosch can help: with its community-based
parking, the company simplifies the search for a suitable space. As
they drive by, cars automatically recognize and measure the size of
the gaps between parked cars, transmitting the data in real time to a
digital map. In this way, drivers can have themselves guided directly
to free parking spaces. Bosch is already testing this service in
German cities, including Stuttgart. This year, as many as 20 U.S.
cities will follow, including Los Angeles, Miami, and Boston.

In early 2018, moreover, Bosch and Daimler will be launching a new
automated valet parking service. Cars in the Mercedes-Benz Museum
parking garage in Stuttgart will look for a parking space and park
themselves, without a driver. This cuts out stress, and makes more
efficient use of parking lots - the same amount of space can
accommodate up to 20 percent more vehicles. One factor making fully
automated parking a reality is smart parking-garage infrastructure,
which connects with the vehicle's on-board software. Bosch recently
won a Frost & Sullivan's 2017 Technology Innovation Award for this
driverless parking solution.

For energy and cost savings: Bosch DC microgrids

According to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),
cities account for roughly 75 percent of total global energy
consumption. Forty percent of this is attributable to buildings
alone. And the BP Energy Outlook 2035 estimates that global energy
consumption will rise 30 percent by 2035. Bosch has many smart energy
management solutions that can reduce power consumption. One of these
is the Bosch DC (direct current) microgrid, which can be used to
supply power to large buildings or building complexes. Since
microgrids are generally fed by renewable sources, they are
especially eco-friendly. DC microgrids consume up to 10 percent less
energy than conventional power plants. Another major advantage is
their self-sufficiency, which makes them a reliable source of power
when a weather- or security-related outage affects the broader grid.

Bosch at CES 2018:

- PRESS CONFERENCE: In Ballrooms B, C, and D, Mandalay Bay Hotel, Las
Vegas South Convention Center, Level 2, from 8:00 to 8:45 a.m. local
time on Monday, Jan 8.
- BOOTH: Tuesday to Friday, Jan 9-12, in the Central Hall, booth
#14028
- FOLLOW the Bosch CES 2018 highlights on Twitter: #BoschCES
- PANELS WITH BOSCH EXPERTS:
- Tuesday, January 9, 1:30 - 3:15 p.m. (local time) "Connect2Car:
Next-Gen Automobility" session with Kay Stepper, Vice President of
Bosch in North America, head of driver assistance and automated
driving, Las Vegas, Convention Center, North Hall, N256
- Wednesday, Jan 10, 1:45-2:30 p.m. (local time) "Connected Vehicles
in Connected Ecosystems" session with Mike Mansuetti, President Bosch
North America, Smart Cities Conference, Westgate.
- Thursday, Jan 11, 11:30 a.m to 12:30 p.m. (local time) "The Future
of Robots at Work and HomeThe Future of Robots at Work and Home"
session with Phil Roan, Senior Engineer Robotics, BSH Hausgeräte
GmbH, Las Vegas Convention Center, North Hall, N258

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and
services. It employs roughly 390,000 associates worldwide (as of
December 31, 2016). The company generated sales of 73.1 billion euros
in 2016. Its operations are divided into four business sectors:
Mobility Solutions, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy
and Building Technology. As a leading IoT company, Bosch offers
innovative solutions for smart homes, smart cities, connected
mobility, and connected manufacturing. It uses its expertise in
sensor technology, software, and services, as well as its own IoT
cloud, to offer its customers connected, cross-domain solutions from
a single source. The Bosch Group's strategic objective is to deliver
innovations for a connected life. Bosch improves quality of life
worldwide with products and services that are innovative and spark
enthusiasm. In short, Bosch creates technology that is "Invented for
life." The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly
440 subsidiaries and regional companies in some 60 countries.
Including sales and service partners, Bosch's global manufacturing
and sales network covers nearly every country in the world. The basis
for the company's future growth is its innovative strength. At 120
locations across the globe, Bosch employs some 59,000 associates in
research and development.

The company was set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch
(1861-1942) as "Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical
Engineering." The special ownership structure of Robert Bosch GmbH
guarantees the entrepreneurial freedom of the Bosch Group, making it
possible for the company to plan over the long term and to undertake
significant upfront investments in the safeguarding of its future.
Ninety-two percent of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is held
by Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, a charitable foundation. The majority
of voting rights are held by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG, an
industrial trust. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried
out by the trust. The remaining shares are held by the Bosch family
and by Robert Bosch GmbH.

Additional information is available online at www.bosch.com,
www.iot.bosch.com, www.bosch-press.com, www.twitter.com/BoschPresse.

Contact persons for press inquiries:
Melita Delic +49 160 7020086,
Agnes Grill +49 162 4247841,
Trix Böhne +49 173 5239774,
Annett Fischer +49 152 08651292
Briela Jahn +49 172 7098624

Original-Content von: Robert Bosch GmbH, übermittelt durch news aktuell