Industrial Internet-of-Things (IIoT)

There is a lot of hype around the Internet-of-Things, with all sorts of grandiose promises being made about how it will revolutionise our lives. We hear about Internet connected fridges, coffee machines and tractors, but there is a lot more to the Internet-of-Things (IoT) and Industrial Internet-of-Things (IIoT) than soundbytes.

At it's most basic, our connected world allows us to monitor and gather data from as well as control many devices. These devices can warn us of things going wrong, or allow us to react to information even across large distances. This is the IoT that SP Technical can help you with.

IIoT allows users in sectors such as agriculture, small, medium and large industry and even domestic settings monitor the environment around them, to control aspects of this environment and to do so without large amounts of cabling or infrastructure. So monitoring the temperature in cold storage facilities, monitoring air quality in offices, monitoring the location of livestock or machinery, monitoring water or fuel levels in tanks are all possible wirelessly due to the IIoT. Simplified installation means reduced costs and greater reliability.

We are experienced in using technologies such as LoRaWan, NB-IOT, CAT-M LTE as well as standard wireless and wired networking to connect to sensors and actuators. We are also experienced in designing, installing and maintaining the infrastructure required for the IIoT systems, whether you want them on-site or in the cloud, and whether you want self contained or subscription based solutions.

Beyond this, we are a small group of talented engineers who can help you with special projects that normal consultancies simply would not know how to approach. If you need a custom environmental monitoring solution, a way to detect and measure the world around you, a way to create and connect to an 'Internet of Things' or simply a way to interface special projects to your regular infrastructure, we can help.

IIoT and Agriculture

As agriculture becomes more data driven and machinery becomes more complex and expensive, getting information on the location and status of your assets becomes more critical.

Livestock

Knowing where your animals are, and that they are well, is important to any farmer. If getting this information does not involve lengthy trips to far-flung parts of the farm every time, this saves effort and money. GPS tracking of livestock is well established, but what we can do is integrate it into a wider system of data capture and visualisation.

Machinery

Again, GPS tracking of large and expensive machinery is nothing new. However, our systems allow not only the tracking of machinery using GPS, but also monitoring of any piece of machinery through BLE tagging. This can warn on a dashboard or through email/SMS when a specific piece of machinery or smaller equipment leaves it's storage location, allowing you to see at a glance that all of your equipment is in it's correct place every night, or at what times it left or returned over any given period of time.

Environment

Knowing the indoor and outdoor temperature of barns, sheds, byres, stables and greenhouses allows monitoring of animal comfort and wellbeing, as well as monitoring the status of temperature critical storage areas and growing conditions. However, the IIoT systems go well beyond this. They can sense moisture content in soil or they can sense if areas that should be dry are flooded. They can sense fuel levels in tanks, or other solid or fluid levels in storage locations. They can check carbon monoxide, dioxide and other VOC levels and track these over time. They can also send alarms if certain doors or gates are left open for a certain amount of time, or count the number of times these doors or gates open and close. Best of all, they can display this data in a dashboard that gives you the information you need at a glance, anywhere you have a data connection on a smartphone, tablet or computer.

Wider Integrations

Being able to interface to renewable energy systems such as solar charge controllers, battery management controllers and inverters allows monitoring of many systems over greater distances. Being able to interface with many additional system such as building control systems, SCADA systems for Industrial Control or custom command and control systems with documented APIs allow you to be better connected and in greater control over wider areas than ever before.

Industrial Uses of IoT

Industrial settings, whether they are manufacturing plants, logistics and storage facilities, retail or B2B outlets or corporate offices, can all benefit from the data acquisition and control features of the IIoT.

Being aware of environmental factors, such as temperature, humidity, air quality, whether a desk is occupied or even if a space is flooded is crucial to maintaining an efficient workspace that both enhances the wellbeing of staff and the lifespan of equipment. All of these data-points can be collected using IIoT sensors, and in most cases this can be done wirelessly, without additional cabling or power requirements. This means retrofitting this data capture equipment is simple and very cost effective.

Much modern manufacturing equipment is also able to report on it's status, and more importantly, on any alarm conditions. This is generally achieved using serial protocols such as RS485, and these can often display their status on a manufacturer specific dashboard. However, when you have machinery from many different manufacturers, it becomes more difficult to maintain an overall view of the status of your entire fleet of machinery across multiple dashboards. IIoT modules which can decode and transmit status and alarm messages wirelessly and display them on a single dashboard, regardless of manufacturer, makes it more easy and cost effective to monitor your machinery.

With just-in-time delivery schedules, and temperature critical transport being necessary for many businesses, keeping tabs on your stock levels and the conditions in which this stock is stored is crucial. Again, IIoT can help with this with a plethora of sensing and reporting modules available, which can often be easily retrofitted to existing storage and transport systems due to their wireless nature.

Wired, Wireless and Cellular Connectivity

Wireless and remote connectivity are vital in today's connected world.

This ranges from Wireless Internet provision, to wireless data links between locations either close to or far away from each other, to mobile data connectivity using 3G, LTE or 5G data modems for temporary or remote installations.

Unfortunately the radio spectrum available for wireless connectivity is getting more and more polluted, with interference causing slow data speeds and unreliable links at times. It is for this reason that careful planning and spectrum analysis needs to be included when setting up a WiFi system or remote links, to give you the best chance of achieving your desired outcome.

We have the experience needed to design and build systems, taking local spectrum use into account to give you the best blend of speed and stability. We also have the experience to be able to bring all your connected locations together into a secure and available network that fits your needs, and can grow with you as required.

We also have the experience in designing, installing and maintaining hybrid networks, which use wired links where possible, and a variety of wireless technologies such as WiFi or LoRaWan where it is not. Coupled with the use of NB-IOT and Cat-M LTE cellular technology, there are very few locations where we cannot provide you with some sort of connectivity for your sensors or actuators.

Where necessary, we also encrypt any traffic which may be intercepted. We do this by using lightweight VPN protocols which ensure your data stays secure even when being transferred over less secure channels.

Starter Bundles

While there are some infrastructure requirements, getting started with IIoT can be as simple as buying a self-contained bundle.

These are designed to make things simple to set up and get running, and are pre-configured with up to 3 Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) temperature and humidity sensors, and if LoRaWan is selected, one LoRaWan sensor. This sensor can be either a tank sensor for monitoring fuel level in a tank, or a room sensor which measures temperature, humidity, light level as well as occupancy via a PIR sensor.

These basic bundles also include a LoRaWan/BLE gateway and a network server which will handle all the backend processing and serve up the dashboard which displays the data.

Should you require further sensors, or different sensors, or wish to add control options where the system can also control actuators or switches, this can also be accomodated, or added at a future date. The system will be fully customisable or expandable at any point.

For examples of what is included in various bundle options, please see each bundle below:

Domestic Bundle

This is our most basic bundle and includes 3 internal BLE temperature/humidity sensors, for different areas of your home, and one external temperature sensor to measure your outdoor temperature.

Also included are a BLE gateway router and a Node-Red based Home Automation server which will serve up your display dashboard. This is a good option if you want to see what the fuss is about, but gives a solid platform on which to build, should you want to extend the system by using popular WiFi enabled switches such as the Sonoff range. This bundle does not include LoRaWan, but should easily cover a single house.

LoRaWan Bundle

This is our basic LoRaWan bundle and includes 2 internal BLE temperature/humidity sensors, for different areas of your home, and one external temperature sensor to measure your outdoor temperature, as well as either a LoRaWan tank sensor for a liquid fuel tank, or an indoor LoRaWan room sensor which measures temperature, humidity, light level and occupancy. The indoor LoRaWan sensor can also be upgraded to measure CO2.

Also included are a LoRaWan/BLE gateway router and a Node-Red based Home Automation server which will serve up your display dashboard. This server also takes care of the LoRaWan network server function, unless cloud service is preferred. This is a good option to get into LoRaWan sensors and actuators, but can grow to include any of a plethora of LoRaWan sensors or actuators in the future. As with the Domestic Bundle, this bundle also gives a solid platform on which to build, should you want to extend the system by using popular WiFi enabled switches such as the Sonoff range.

Agri Bundle

This bundle has a greater focus on sensors which may be of use in an agricultural setting. By default, this bundle is LoraWAN only, due to potential longer ranges required. As a result there are 2 LoraWAN temperature sensors instead of BLE sensors. However, this bundle also includes a LoRaWan tank sensor for a diesel or other fuel tank, and a LoRaWan GPS tracker to affix to an item of machinery.

This bundle also allows sensor upgrades, so you can add or change sensors in the initial bundle according to your requirements. The same LoRaWan/BLE router and server combo are included as the basic LoRaWan bundle, and with the same functions available.

Industrial Bundle

Included in this bundle are the same LoraWAN temperature sensors as in the Agri Bundle. However, in this case it includes an indoor LoRaWan room sensor and 1 RS485 to LoRaWan data transmission kit, or the room sensor can be replaced by another RS485 to LoRaWan transmission kit, or a flood sensor, or a door open/close sensor.

There is some significant additional work required for this case, as the integration between the device sending data over RS485 and the dashboard will require custom coding, but the precise scope of work can be discussed prior to purchase.

Custom Bundles

Of course, should your needs require something else, we'd be happy to discuss your needs and build you a bespoke bundle which satisfies your requirements. Customisations may include additional gateway nodes to widen the coverage of the system, remote access across VPN links to tie infrastructure in multiple locations together, and even cloud-based deployments using AWS or other cloud hosted services. We also offer maintenance and support packages, and special upgrade deals should you want to move your infrastructure to the next level.

For more information on any of our bundles, or to discuss any custom requirements you may have, please don't hesitate to contact us to speak to an engineer and discuss your options.

Business Radio

Business Radio, also known as Private Mobile Radio (PMR) is no longer the complex and expensive headache it once was.

In fact, with the advent of high quality, low price digital radio handsets from world class manufacturers such as Hytera and licensing prices starting from as little as £75 for 5 years for a shared frequency UK Simple Light license, even small businesses can really benefit from the improved communication amongst spread out workforces and the ability to share information quickly and efficiently.

Added to this are the possibilities that have been opened up by the development of Cellular Push-to-Talk systems. These give the advantage of radio-like features such as one to many broadcasts as well as one to one private conversations using familiar handsets and mobile radios, but which use mobile data as a transport. This reduces the overhead and infrastructure required, and in many cases remove the need for licensing. This means you have the advantage of potentially global range, with almost pay as you go simplicity.