While in Herzliya, Israel for its Board of Governors meeting, the IEEE SA hosted a Startup Networking Event: Hardened Systems in Mobility, Healthcare, Energy and IoT. With the growing number of devices and interconnections, it is important to balance the performance of systems with trusted parameters of engagement including data protection, ethical implications and security vulnerabilities, while addressing mobility, healthcare, energy and IoT systems. These vulnerabilities could impact a person’s or organization’s finances, safety, reputation and more. At this special Startup Networking Event—in a country known as the “Startup Nation”—challenges were put on the table and potential solutions were discussed—including open source, market mechanisms, and standards.
Startups in the region were invited to share ideas and to pitch their solutions to a panel of judges. The judges were Dr. Rob Fish, IEEE SA president, Isaac (Danny) Ackerman, HLS PM and Secretary of the NC to IEC, Standards Division, The Standards Institution of Israel, Revital Maor, International Standardization Coordinator, The Standards Institution of Israel, Dr. Yoav Evenstein, (Ph.D.), CEO, Evenovate, ICT analyst for Ramot (TTO @ Tel Aviv University) and AI Lead, and Robby Robson, IEEE SA Volunteer and CEO & Founder of EduWorks.
The winner was Lakuruma for its advanced hybrid RF-optical vehicle-to-everything communication system. Lakuruma’s solution can integrate with LIDAR, switching between RF and optical signals as required, ensuring complete coverage. This hybrid solution enables vehicle-to-vehicle, as we as vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2V/V2I) communication, with faster data transfer, larger bandwidth and improved signal quality. The system contains several parts such as tracking unit, and an independent decision-making unit for parking and cross-roads priority.
Pitching and accepting for Lakuruma was Dr. Amir Handelman (Ph.D.), Senior Lecturer in Faculty of Electrical Engineering at Holon Institute of Technology, and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Lakuruma.
Per Lakuruma, autonomous vehicles (AVs) are gaining market share across various industries, from autonomous cars to public transportation, as well as underground AVs (i.e. for the mining industry and in tunnels). These vehicles require highly effective communication systems with no reception limitations and must operate quickly, in real-time, transferring crucial data to the cloud and to related systems. Today’s RF systems do not offer complete coverage required in terms of reception and real time access. Furthermore, they suffer from channel congestion, and are prone to electronic warfare and hacking. Also, RF communications require spectrum licensing and are associated with electro-magnetic radiation. Lakuruma’s solution addresses some of the key issues which are considered market drivers: increased need for real-time traffic and incident alerts, government initiatives for traffic management, need for safer roads and reduced traffic congestion and increased use of electronics in vehicles and connected mobility.
