LoRa DAQ node and gateway - 13 June 2018 - Centurion Micro Electronics

Data acquisition and monitoring of all types of industrial equipment is vital to improve productivity, lower costs and increase profits. Remote control of industrial equipment can improve efficiency and lowers costs.

Building air conditioning systems control, motor control and vibration monitoring, water level monitoring, refrigeration plant and freezer room monitoring, pump control and many other applications provide opportunities for remote control and monitoring. Using wireless communication, temperatures, liquid levels, vibration frequencies, gas levels and other parameters can be monitored and reported from remote locations and control equipment operated from central or dispersed locations.

Wireless communication to these monitoring systems reduces the cost of connecting and accessing these monitoring systems. LoRa wireless technology enables long-range communication at low cost to sites and multiple access points for distributed access and control.

The Wzzard LRPv DAQ nodes and the SmartSwarm 243 industrial LoRa private gateway from Advantech offer a complete solution for remote data acquisition using wireless technology. The potential range can be as much as 15 to 20 kilometres, but depending on conditions and location a safe figure of 10 kilometres is more likely.

The DAQ nodes are IP66 rated, excluding dust and tolerant of high pressure water jets, making them suitable for applications such as abattoirs and outdoor locations. They have a wide operating temperature range of -40°C to 75°C so they can be used in remote, harsh, exposed locations and applications such as freezer rooms.

The nodes’ analog, thermocouple and digital I/Os enable them to be connected to a variety of analog sensors, thermocouples and control units such as switches for input and output. They have magnetic and screw mountings for easy and secure installation. The programmable, intelligent battery control ensures long operating life and can be supplemented with solar power if available.

The SmartSwarm 243 gateway provides a long-range, wide-area IoT gateway for the Wzzard LRPv DAQ nodes. The LAN connection from the SmartSwarm 243 is 10/100 Mbps. These units also have a wide operating temperature range of -40°C to 75°C meaning they can also operate in remote, harsh conditions. They can connect directly to a network or the Internet.

For more information contact Henry Hugo, Centurion Micro Electronics, +27 83 581 4549, henry@cme.co.za, www.cme.co.za