obniz
Coming soon — preparing for general availability. Available today through obniz solutions.
obniz Intelligent Edge

Hardware that turns equipment
into smart devices.

No firmware development. Battery powered. RS232/485/CAN/Ethernet/BLE and more.

With obnizOS onboard, on-device embedded development is zero. Just connect a PLC, sensor, or existing equipment, and monitor and control it from the cloud.

obniz Intelligent Edge Kilo

Why Intelligent Edge

The end of
"IoT is hard."

Firmware. Security. Power. Connectivity. Every wall that used to block IoT — cleared by a single device.

Firmwareless

No firmware development.

obnizOS is preinstalled, so the embedded development that used to live on the device is gone. Write JavaScript in the cloud and your equipment in the field starts running.

Multi-Protocol

A rich set of interfaces

Kilo connects to virtually any equipment with RS232/485/CAN/Ethernet/Relay — all in a single device.

Low Power

Power-efficient enough to run without a power outlet

Sleep-mode operation enables long-term battery life or solar-powered installations for years of unattended deployment.

Lineup

Kilo or Micro — pick by use case.

Kilo for remote connection of industrial equipment. Micro for product embedding and miniaturization. Both share obnizOS, so swapping between them later doesn't change how you operate them.

Intelligent Edge Kilo

For industrial equipment

Kilo

Everything in one box: RS232/485/CAN/Ethernet/Relay. DIN-rail mountable for control panels.

Intelligent Edge Micro

For embedding and outdoor use

Micro

Slim, USB-powered, with plenty of GPIO. Built for embedding into your own products or for outdoor installation.

Kilo

Micro

Recommended use
Industrial equipment, PLC connection
Product embedding, outdoor IoT
Size
46 × 25 × 85 mm
76 × 48 × 20 mm (slim)
Mounting
DIN rail / slide
M3 screws
Power
5–32V DC (industrial)
5V
RS232 / RS485 / CAN
Relay contact (SSR)
Ethernet
Digital I/O
Out 2 / In 2
Out 5 / In 5
Analog input
2 ch
5 ch
Expansion port
Qwiic
ZH8 connector
BLE / Wi-Fi / LTE-M / NB-IoT
Built-in accelerometer & temperature sensor
Remote OS update

For detailed specifications, see the product comparison page.

Connectivity

Four ways to reach the cloud.

Factories without Wi-Fi, outdoor sites without LAN, mountainous areas with weak LTE — there's a connectivity option that fits every site.

Wi-Fi

b/g/n 2.4GHz

Ethernet

10/100 Mbps

LTE-M

Wide-area coverage

NB-IoT

Low power, long range

Why LTE-M

Nationwide LTE coverage at low power and low cost

LTE-M is an LTE standard optimized for IoT. All three major carriers in Japan support it, reusing existing LTE base stations. Compared to smartphone LTE, power consumption is a fraction, signal reaches indoors and underground more reliably, and monthly connectivity fees are kept low.

99% Domestic LTE
coverage

For Equipment Makers

Equipment support — handled in the cloud, immediately.

When device manufacturers move to IoT, the conventional path required custom firmware per device and a dedicated maintenance organization. With obniz Now, supporting a new piece of equipment is configured entirely in the cloud, and dedicated maintenance fees are folded into the subscription.

Per-device customization

Custom firmware

Conventional: separate device software and cloud build for every model

With obniz Now, equipment support is configured entirely in the cloud

Dedicated maintenance fees

JPY 2M+ / year

Conventional: dedicated team and annual contract per project

Included in the obniz Now subscription (no dedicated maintenance contract needed)

Time to launch

3–6 months

Conventional: full development and testing on both device and server side

Live in 1 day to 1 week — dashboards included

All-inclusive subscription

Hardware, connectivity, cloud, and operational support — all in one monthly fee. Deliver remote-maintenance offerings to your customers at lower cost and faster time to market.

All-in-One

Monthly subscription

* Comparisons are general estimates based on building firmware and dedicated maintenance teams in-house.

Use Cases

Where it's being used.

Small-scale IoT and PoCs

Start with a single unit and roll straight into mass deployment. With no firmware development, both initial cost and project duration are dramatically reduced.

Connecting existing equipment to the cloud

Plug into a PLC over RS232/485 and you can monitor and control existing equipment from the cloud. Software updates are delivered remotely.

No security team? No problem.

Building firmware from scratch in-house creates a heavy security audit burden. With Intelligent Edge, obnizOS provides authentication and encryption out of the box.

Avoiding electrical work

Sleep-mode support means you can install Intelligent Edge in places where running power or LAN cabling is difficult. Power consumption is a fraction of conventional gateways.

With obniz Now

Dashboards and operations included —
IoT in a day.

Intelligent Edge is the hardware. obniz Now is the remote-maintenance service for that hardware. Combine the two and you get dashboards, error notifications, and remote control — ready to use today.

If you want to build your own application logic, the obniz Cloud API and SDK are available as well. A common hybrid pattern is to start with Now and add custom features on Cloud as needed.

obniz Now dashboard

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Q. Is firmware development really unnecessary?
Yes. Intelligent Edge ships with obnizOS preinstalled, and application logic is written in JavaScript on obniz Cloud. There is no on-device coding, cross-compilation, or debugging.
Q. Does it work with existing PLCs and legacy equipment?
It supports RS232 / RS485 / CAN / Ethernet / relay contacts, so it can communicate with most major industrial equipment used in Japan and overseas. A list of verified models is available on the /sensor page.
Q. What about cost at production volume?
Pricing depends on volume, connectivity plan, and maintenance requirements. When moving from PoC to production, you continue to use the same hardware and software stack, so there is no switching cost.
Q. How long does battery operation last?
It depends on measurement interval and connectivity. Sampling once every 10 minutes can run for over a week on four AA batteries. We provide tailored recommendations per use case.
Q. What about security certifications?
Standard features include TLS 1.2 with elliptic-curve encryption, per-token permission management, and microcontroller-based resistance to kernel-level malware. obnizOS has been in production since 2018, with over 40,000 units deployed including at large enterprises.
Q. How does this relate to obniz Now / obniz Cloud?
Intelligent Edge is the hardware. obniz Cloud is the developer platform. obniz Now is the higher-level service focused on remote equipment maintenance. Plug Intelligent Edge into obniz Now and you get a dashboard plus operational workflow on day one.

Ready to connect
your equipment to the cloud?

Bring existing PLCs, sensors, and control panels into IoT with a single Intelligent Edge unit. Our specialists will recommend the optimal configuration — covering compatibility, expected cost, and power requirements.