The Role of Embedded Development in the Fitness Industry

 According to CNET.com, more than 70 million fitness wristbands, smart garments and sports watches were sold in 2014. The market for wearable fitness monitoring devices is certainly booming. The secret behind the development of such devices is embedded technology. Another important factor in their success is their ability to connect to other embedded devices through the Internet of Things. Remote and gaming controls are other devices where embedded software have been installed.

The micro-controller is the most important electrical component in such devices. This presents a unique problem because while the MCUs have to be small, they should still be able to perform several functions. So integration is an important factor.

Fitness devices must have extremely small power requirements. They should be able to collect data, filter it and transmit it to a central hub like a tablet or mobile device, so that it can be translated into readable information. For extras, the embedded components may use the information to create automatic alerts or actions. These devices should also contain multiple security layers. The data that they transmit is very sensitive and should not fall into the wrong hands.

All this requires a robust embedded ecosystem and otherwise the platform won’t succeed. Developers should also see that these systems are adding value or they won’t create more apps for such devices. So embedded software development and the people who develop and debug these systems play a very important role in the fitness industry.