After a two-year-long feasibility study based on numerous field tests for a variety of applications, Terabee selected the six most mature Application Products embedding Terabee’s sensors in a Development Phase, ready for a large-scale industrialization during this Phase 2 project. These products included many single-pixel or multi-pixel sensors associated with appropriate processing and algorithms, suitable power supply and communication protocols and finally, when needed, dust and water-resistant casings to address harsh environments.
During the project, Terabee prototyped, tested, optimized, finalized and fine-tuned the 9 Application Products answering the 5 of the 6 Applications identified at the start of the project, while running pilots involving many Industrial companies with which field tests have been conducted. We conducted as many customer pilots as we could, as we believe that the best way to test the products is to use them in real conditions. It was seen as critical by Terabee to get as much feedback as possible, in order to address at best the market.
In parallel to the products' developments, we undertook a major market study which refined our business understanding and strategy and that we extended by one month compared to our initial plan. By conducting interviews with customers, it brought additional confidence in our positioning and products and in validating the product definitions. Also, on some other occasions, we used the interviews as a very important input to adapt our specifications to market needs that we had not previously identified.
The market study also led us to abandon the road monitoring application, at the end of the first year of the project, in agreement with the EASME project coordinator, as our partner completely steered away from the topic and the applications were then more complex to identify with the technology we wanted to use (outdoor Infrared Time of Flight). However, this left us the opportunity to propose and develop different solutions and products for the remaining applications that were identified. It allowed us to bring more focus and build stronger products for specific applications that we identified as more robust, such as Smart Building, Smart Agriculture and Industry 4.0.
Finally, we anticipated the Go-to-Market Phase 3 through a detailed Marketing plan and Communication and Business Development actions. Two of the Applications that are part of the program, People Counting and Stock Monitoring, have high market potential and strong demand and we have focused a lot of our communications and business development actions towards this during the two years of the program.
