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Choosing the right cellular network and chipset pays huge dividends on battery life
Many historic battery-operated data acquisition devices have used LTE CAT-1, failing over to 2G when signal strength is poor. In some parts of the country, the frequencies of LTE CAT-1 and 2G are being allocated to other cellular communication protocols, such as Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) & LTE Cat-M1. This means that a lot of these legacy devices are finding themselves without any signal whatsoever and can no longer transmit their data to the network.
Battery-powered data logging systems are increasingly transitioning towards NB-IoT / LTE-CatM1 technologies instead of relying on 2G and older networks such as 3G and LTE CAT-1.
NB-IoT and LTE-CatM1 offer lower power consumption transmissions compared to their predecessors, allowing battery-powered devices to operate for longer durations without frequent recharging or replacement.
Additionally, these newer technologies provide improved network coverage especially when paired with sims and modems that can support both networks. Enabling seamless connectivity in challenging environments with the lowest power overhead is our goal at Hubit, and our solutions embrace these new standards.
What solutions can Hubit offer to this challenge?
Hubit have partnered up with Digital Matter; a company who specialise in manufacturing extremely low-power cellular devices for datalogging, tracking and remote monitoring. These devices capitalise on Nordic Semi’s single chip designs that includes processing and connectivity in one package. These chips include both NB-IoT & LTE Cat-M1 connectivity and edge computing inside a single package. This is also coupled with a high-accuracy GNSS (GPS) for tracking.
Paired with high density, ultra-long-life Lithium Thionyl Chloride batteries, these dataloggers and asset trackers can function out in the field for years at a time with little to no maintenance whatsoever.
The Hawk’s versatile architecture provides near limitless options for interfacing to sensors that report on data to be used for analysis or generating actions. Through modular plug-in “I/O Cards,” the device seamlessly connects with an extensive range of third-party sensors. It boasts compatibility with SDI-12, I2C, 1-Wire, iButton, 4-20mA, RS485, Analog Inputs, Digital Inputs/Outputs, Switched Power, among others. This architecture empowers users to source their own sensors or create custom ones, aligning with their unique use cases.
Below is the list of input cards that the Hawk IoT Data Logger boasts.
AgTech1 Card |
|
Digital Inputs | 1 x Digital Input with configurable pull up/pull down 0-40V DC input range On/Off thresholds: On >2V, Off <1V Can be used for pulse counting (max 40Hz) |
Digital Outputs | 1 x Switched Ground |
I²C | Yes |
SDI-12 | Yes |
Switched Power Out | 3.3V switched power for sensors |
Switched Sensor Power | 5V or 12V selectable power for sensors |
1-Wire or iButton | Yes |
4-20mA | 1 x 4-20mA input |
AgTech2 Card |
|
Analogue Inputs | 1 x Analogue Input (0-30V range) |
Digital Outputs | 1 x Switched Ground |
SDI-12 | Yes |
Switched Power Out | 3.3V switched power for sensors |
Switched Sensor Power | 5V or 12V selectable power for sensors |
1-Wire | Yes |
RS-1 Card |
|
Analogue Inputs | 1 x Analogue Input (0-30V range) |
Digital Inputs | 1 x Digital Input with configurable pull up/pull down 0-40V DC input range On/Off thresholds: On >2V, Off <1V Can be used for pulse counting (max 40Hz) |
Digital Outputs | 1 x Switched Ground |
RS485 | Yes |
Switched Power Out | 3.3V switched power for sensors |
Switched Sensor Power | 5V or 12V selectable power for sensors |
1-Wire | Yes |
4-20mA | 1 x 4-20mA input
|
Serial Card |
|
Analogue Inputs | 1 x Analogue Input (0-30V range) |
Digital Inputs | 2 x Digital Inputs with configurable pull up/pull down 0-40V DC input range On/Off thresholds: On >2V, Off <1V Can be used for pulse counting (max 40Hz) |
Digital Outputs | 1 x Switched Ground (1A current limit) |
Switched Sensor Power | 5V or 12V selectable power for sensors |
RS232 TX | Yes |
RS232 RX | Yes |
TTL TX | Yes |
TTL RX | Yes |
The important thing here is to have good firmware and hardware that allows you to power the sensors when you want to make the readings. The Hawk allows you to have the device in sleep mode until it is required to take a reading; it can then store that data and upload all the stored data at a given time interval. For example, you could have the Hawk take a reading every 5 minutes and then upload every 6 hours, but each reading will have its own unique timestamp, depending on when that reading was taken.
Furthermore, you can override the pre-defined upload interval based on alarm triggers and thresholds, this means that you can have your Hawk IoT Data Logger send its payload instantly whenever a threshold is triggered on the device.
A highly versatile cloud server that can manage firmware, parameters, and templates on mass or single level.
Integration Strategy – How do we make use of this data?
Most customers have been on a journey with cloud computing; some have the in-house team to continually develop and scale their deployments and data. Others have 3rd parties helping with the process. At Hubit, we understand, in detail, the customers’ requirements and how the data needs to be used to enable the day to day business decisions and what the process looks like to onboard sensors at scale. Our inhouse software team can explain these challenges and show how to make these work smoothly.
The Digital Matter have a powerful OEM Server which is their device management platform. The OEM Server is an intermediary server that simplifies device management. It manages device firmware and settings. It allows logical groupings of devices. It allows health checks and debugging. And it allows data to be routed to a variety of platforms using connectors.
In addition you can choose to bypass the OEM server completely and integrate your data into your own server at no extra monthly cost with your data passing directly to your cloud platform. With this strategy, the OEM server is still there in the background for health check, firmware and recovery mode, however it doesn’t store any client data.
How can we analyse the results?
Hubit has teamed up with Ubidots to provide the data endpoint for the Hawk IoT Data Logger and other Digital Matter products. With Ubidots’ endpoint API, we can send the data to the platform via a multitude of IoT protocols such as MQTT, HTTPS, TCP Direct and more; we pull out the necessary information and display it how you wish on either a dashboard, report or even set up alarms through Ubidots’ events engine.
At the heart of all our work is security, our software is hosted in the UK, within an AWS environment and we benefit from their high availability and stringent security.
We offer several services where we can provide you with a fully managed service where your portal becomes a sub domain of ours; in this instance, we help you with setting up security levels and permissions, so your deployment is completely segmented. The powerful white labelling within Ubidots allows solely your data to be viewed via web or mobile, and without reference to us or Ubidots with tailored user permissions.
Once the data has been received at Ubidots, we use a tool called a UbiFunction to extrapolate the data and format it in a way that the customer wants. You only want to read temperature, humidity and signal level? Not a problem, we can extract that data for you and leave the unnecessary data behind, leaving a sleeker looking device portal. This code can always be changed in the future as it is an infinitely flexible platform.
A lot of customers can benefit from using Hubit’s Enterprise Ubidots licence, as this can help reduce costs for smaller deployments (typically up to 100 sensors). For large scale deployments, customers would have their own Ubidots Industrial licence and this is a complete segmented installation. In this instance, our clients have complete control over segmentation and user permissions, including setting up specific dashboards for themselves and their customers.
What markets benefit from this solution?
To say that the Hawk IoT Data Logger is fit for almost any data acquisition task wouldn’t be too far from the truth, but here are a few specific markets that we have helped with our solution,
Here are several markets that have benefitted from using our solutions:
Tank Level and Quality Monitoring
Managing tank levels and contents quality through wireless IoT sensor monitoring to gain real-time information about fluid levels, temperature, and pressure. Accurately monitor to prevent overfilling or underfilling of tanks to reduce the risk of spills or equipment damage.
Weather Stations
Collecting critical weather information with the IoT data logger to build a smarter and more efficient weather station. Capture real-time data on temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind speed and direction, cloud cover, atmospheric pressure, and more with accurate IoT sensor monitoring.
Water Management and Metering
Manage water supplies and metering through IoT sensor monitoring. Ensure adequate water supplies are available during periods of high demand or emergencies.
Remote Pump Management
Efficiently monitor and manage geographically dispersed pumps using our IoT data logger. Gain valuable insights into asset performance and streamline operations from a centralised platform.
Soil Moisture and Quality Monitoring
Monitor soil moisture levels to optimise irrigation, reduce water waste, and improve crop yield. Make informed decisions about when and how much to irrigate and when to conserve water using IoT sensor monitoring technology.
Pulse Counting
IoT sensor monitoring devices for pulse counting to accurately measure and log events such as the frequency of water flow, energy consumption, or any other event that can be quantified by pulses
How can Hubit Help you?
Via various partnerships, Hubit can provide a full suite of tools to help with the install and onboarding process for the devices in the field. We concentrate on the technology and how they can be interfaced with multiple manufacturer’s sensors and systems in to one seamless integration at scale. We can help you with the decision and purchasing of sensors, gateways, and the process of getting your data to where you need it to go.
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