Urban traffic is one of the main problems affecting the quality of life of residents in cities and metropolitan area. Current city models, with a very distributed layout and an urban population in constant growth, contribute to an ever increasing number of daily trips.

Besides problems with pollution, safety and energy consumption, providing a sustainable way of mobility for citizens to arrive to their destinations requires new ways of managing urban traffic.

Wireless Sensor Networks are now more than a promise to develop and implement real systems. Using this technology as a base, a research group from the University of Málaga has developed an Urban Information System to gather relevant information about city environments, particularly relative to traffic. The group is composed by Alfonso García, professor of Systems Engineering and Automation department, Juan Jesús Fernández, main researcher and Juan Martín and Miguel Martín, R&D engineers.

Málaga, Andalusia, Spain

Wireless Sensor Networks to collect vehicles information

Accurate information is one of the first requirements to achieve the goal of sustainable mobility. Acquiring precise and timely data about travelers movements is the first step to look for an optimization of the available means as infrastructure.

While a wide variety of sensors are available, they usually need modifications on the roads and nearby areas (for instance, burying cables), and thus construction works and road closures are a part of any deployment.

In addition, most of these sensors provides only vehicle counting and, while some types allow for vehicle identification (opening the way to trend monitoring and estimation), they need means for processing, as in the case of video cameras. This is an investment to add to the construction and deployment works.

Nodes used in the deployment

Sensor nodes communication

With the support of a research grant from the regional government (Junta de Andalucía), the Urban Information System (UIS) is a rapid deployment system focused on providing information about traffic, using a set of sensors to gather information about vehicle counting, vehicle identification, noise levels, dust (particle matter concentration PM10), gases concentrations, humidity, etc.

The system is implemented as a Wireless Sensor Network, with different types of nodes, with power supply independence from the grid, and allowing an easy and inexpensive deployment around an area of interest.

The chosen area was a section of the Highway A-357 in Malaga (Spain), with a speed limit of 100 km/h and the surroundings of a roundabout with different entries and exits within a short distance.

The Urban Information System (UIS) is based on hardware and software provided by Libelium. For instance, Waspmote Sensor Platform, Smart Cities board, gases board, gases sensors, ultrasound sensor, dust sensor, noise sensor and Bluetooth modules are only a few of Libelium solutions integrated in the system.

“Thanks to Libelium we have been able to focus on the application development instead of the issues related to hardware”, argues the researcher manager. The deployment comprises sensor nodes and coordinator nodes. These are some of the sensors installed:

• Bluetooth Node.
• Ultrasound Node.
• Laser Node.
• Gases Node.
• Environmental Node.

These sensor nodes send the information gathered periodically to a manager node – the Meshlium Gateway – which is also called the coordinator node.. The ZigBee protocol is used for communication among nodes. This protocol has been selected because of its efficient energy consumption and acceptable data transfer rate.

As far as data is concerned, the information collected by the coordinator node is always available through two wireless protocols: WiFi and 3G. There are two ways to access to the information gathered by the coordinator node:

• Direct access via WiFi or 3G: the data acquired by sensor nodes are obtained and processed in the coordinator node. Later, these data can be seen by a laptop or a computer using WiFi or 3G.
• Real Time: The coordinator node must synchronize with a computer working as external server, via 3G. This computer acquires and monitors data sent by sensors, processing the information and allowing interaction with an operator.

Diagram of the wireless sensor network

One of the key features of UIS is vehicle identification. Bluetooth nodes acquire the MAC (Media Access Control) of Bluetooth devices located in vehicles traveling on the selected urban area. The Bluetooth node detects also the device type (mobile phones, hands free, laptop, etc.).

In this way, the MAC address of a particular Bluetooth device is unique, so it can be used to identify the vehicle carrying the Bluetooth device. The car tracing can be possible through the detection of the same MAC by different Bluetooth nodes of the UIS platform. If a difference of time exists between different intervals of detected Bluetooth with the same MAC, then a trip between a certain origin-destination pair has been identified.

This process is used to calculate the Origin-Destination matrix. The O-D matrix is a powerful tool for traffic management, containing the information about the way vehicles are moving between different points of interest. It is noteworthy that privacy rights are preserved, since MAC addresses are not linked to any individual.

But a total count of vehicles is needed to calculate the O-D matrix. UIS uses ultrasound and laser nodes for that purpose. The first of them detects vehicles crossing the sensors beam. The second type sweeps the driveway analyzing the existence of vehicles. The advantage of a laser node with respect to the ultrasound node consists in the capability to detect a vehicle and the lane it is using.

On the other hand, ultrasound node has a simpler, cheaper and faster installation. It can be positioned in any street element, while the laser node needs to be placed at a height of 7 or 8 meters.

The UIS has been tested in different real-world scenarios. Since it is based on a wireless network, different layouts can be easily adopted to cover different road configurations. The real areas can be shown in the SCADA interface.

SCADA visualizer

A powerful tool for city managers

This project presents a wireless sensor network designed to characterize urban traffic parameters. In particular, vehicle counting and identification are the key to obtain information about origins and destination of trips in the area under study.

This data allows the calculation of the origin-destination matrix in real time, providing city managers with a powerful tool to adapt traffic planning to real demands. Up to now this matrix required an extensive field work linked to roadside interviews and needing weeks or months to be completed.

The system has been validated in real conditions. Transmitter nodes have been tested separately and data about detection using ultrasound and Bluetooth have been obtained. The complete system have also carried out proving its capability to calculate an origin-destination matrix in real time, with acceptable accuracy.

The UIS is possible to be deployed by a wider geographical area, as a city. Besides, calculations can be refreshed in real time through the SCADA system, allowing traffic managers to obtain an information that up to this moment required weeks or months.

If you are interested in purchase information, please contact our Sales Department.

More info:

• For technical details on Waspmote hardware, sensors and how to program a Smart Cities application: Smart Cities Board Technical Guide
• For technical details on Waspmote hardware, sensors and how to program a Gases application: Gases Board Technical Guide
• Read more about Libelium sensor product lines in the Waspmote, Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensor Platform and Meshlium Gateway websites.

References:

• Universidad de Málaga: www.uma.com
• Systems Engineering and Automation department of University of Málaga: www.uma.es/isa
• A Wireless Sensor Network for Urban Traffic Characterization and Trend Monitoring: www.mdpi.com

Discover our Smart CIties IoT Kits at The IoT Marketplace

Libelium has reached an agreement with Loriot to launch the first IoT kit that includes LoRaWAN connectivity. The new kit, that can be bought at The IoT Marketplace, is available with American range (915 MHz) and European range (868 MHz).

The base station selected for this kit is the Multitech Conduit LoRa Gateway 3G Outdoors IP67&mLinux, with connectivity ready to work in Europe (868MHz) or in USA (915 MHz).

This Application Development Kit will let any user to deploy Proofs of Concept (PoC) with Libelium Plug & Sense! and Loriot.io services and software, which enable to operate large scale Internet of Things (IoT) networks based on the LoRaWan technology.

The new development kit is the best option for those who want to program a solution on top of Loriot.io platform and test it with real sensors. Includes nodes for Smart Cities, Smart Security, Smart Environment and Smart Agriculture applications. It includes solution oriented software already integrated with Loriot and LoRaWAN connectivity.

The IoT Marketplace is a one-stop click-and-buy online store that offers fully integrated solutions from hardware sensors to cloud applications to speed up IoT adoption. The IoT Marketplace features out-of-the-box IoT kits containing programmed sensor devices connected to specific Cloud applications for use in pilots or proof of concept projects in the minimum time to market.

More info and purchase at: Libelium-Loriot Development LoRaWAN Kit.

If you are interested in purchase information, please contact our Sales Department.

Today, at Sensors Expo, Libelium has launched ten new kits for The IoT Marketplace with applications for Smart Cities, Smart Buildings, Water Management and Environmental Control. The company keeps on expanding interoperability and facilitating the access to end solutions in the IoT.

Following up with the integration of new Cloud platforms to deliver fully integrated IoT solutions, The IoT Marketplace -launched by Libelium on March 2016- will add new kits featuring solutions in Smart Cities, water management, smart buildings and environmental control. These kits work out of the box and offer complete solutions from sensors to Cloud to speed up IoT adoption.

AWS, C2M, Devicelynk, Devicify, IoT Ticket, Loriot, Nexmachina, SensorInsight, Sentilo and Reekoh are the new ten partners joining The IoT Marketplace.

“The Internet of Things generates a lot of hype but the lack of integrated solutions from hardware to application level is a barrier for fast adoption. The IoT Marketplace is removing this barrier”, considers Alicia Asín, Libelium CEO.

The IoT Marketplace is a one-stop click-and-buy online store that offers fully integrated solutions from hardware sensors to cloud applications to speed up IoT adoption. The IoT Marketplace features out-of-the-box IoT kits containing programmed sensor devices connected to specific Cloud applications for use in pilots or proof of concept projects in the minimum time to market.

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New fully integrated solutions

Libelium will exhibit these new solutions at Sensors Expo & Conference, between June 22 and 23. Ana Sancho, KAM of Agriculture, Water and Environment will give a speech about “Precision Farming: Sensors to Improve Crops & Farm Management”, at 10:20 on June 22.

More info at The IoT Marketplace.

If you are interested in purchase information, please contact our Sales Department.

Today, at Sensors Expo, Libelium has announced new integration agreements with software cloud partners. The company, that designs and manufactures hardware for wireless sensor networks, keeps on expanding interoperability of Meshlium IoT gateway and facilitating the access to end solutions in the IoT.

“Our Waspmote IoT ecosystem is designed for interoperability, giving developers access to the widest range of sensors, communication protocols and cloud systems to build IoT applications quickly and safely”, said Alicia Asín, CEO at Libelium.

More Cloud integration options

Libelium’s new Cloud partners include seven worldwide software providers: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amplía, Eagle.io, Extunda, IoT-Ticket.com, Simfony and Smart City Platform.

They join the existing 15 cloud partners ecosystem like Azure by Microsoft, Esri, IBM Bluemix, Indra, Telefonica or Thingworx.

The cloud integrations in the Meshlium IoT gateway allow easy configuration of solutions without further integration and reducing time-to-market for IoT and Smart Cities solutions.

These software providers allow developing applications for IoT projects and create analytic or data reports. Existing Meshlium customers can access this new group of Cloud platforms by upgrading their Meshlium software.

New cloud partners at Libelium ecosystem

For more info, please visit: Cloud Software Solution Partners.

If you are interested in purchase information, please contact our Sales Department.

If you are interested in adding your cloud platform, contact us and visit the Cloud Partner Program.

The socioeconomic importance of tobacco in Italy requires a continuous update of technical improvements to rationalize the cultural practices in order to obtain a product of higher quality, but respecting the environment. High quality depends on cultivation techniques, including chemical substances that could be toxic for smokers, or specific pedology and climatic requirements.

Veneto, Umbria and Campania, Italy

TeamDev, an Italian software company, has deployed Libelium’s Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensor Platform to collect information localizing weather conditions to support farming management. TeamDev has worked with a farmer association on tobacco’s monitoring.

Innovation in tobacco crops thanks to sensors

One of the major problems for captains of vessels, especially during summer, is the absence of marina’s reservation mechanisms. In fact, sometimes it is not possible to plan a trip by boat securing the position where it will be stationed throughout the course of the tourist route.

The start-up SaMMY, financed by the Fiware Accelerator European Commission FrontierCities, rises up from this need detected in Greek ports. They have developed an application to become the ultimate fellow traveler for yachters, skippers and marina administrators. It supports e-booking services, navigational and parking assistance features and mobile guidance to the nearby coastal areas.

The pilot project, deployed in Patras port yachting area with Libelium’s Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensor Platform, has been implemented to modernize the operation of marinas with the installation of a wireless sensor network to monitor mooring berths, measuring the sea water level and observing the weather conditions.

Patras Port in Greece

Sensor to modernize marinas

The project, carried out by Libelium and SaMMY, wants to fill a huge gap in marinas services but also to open a channel for a smarter communication with the world of marine tourism, which conquers constantly new territories and searchs for smarter tools. A sensor network has been deployed to monitor mooring berths as well as sea and environment conditions.

Libelium sensors and gateway installed in Patras port

This project comprise the collection of several parameters to solve different issues related to the marina. For that, three different kinds of Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensor Platform with a wide range of sensors have been installed building a wireless infrastructure:

• Waspmote Plug & Sense! Smart Water: it has been used to control the Water quality, that is measured by the pH calibration kit and Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP) with calibration solution. Water quality is important to take decisions regarding the waterflow rate to the port and the presence of people at the mooring berths.
• Waspmote Plug & Sense! Smart Security: it has been used to detect the height of the sea surface and the height to reach the port using the Liquid Level sensor probe and the Presence sensor (PIR) probe. It is important to take decisions regarding the waterflow rate to the port.
• Waspmote Plug & Sense! Smart Cities: this node has a double mission. On the one hand, it is used to monitor weather conditions using a Temperature sensor probe and a Humidity sensor probe. On the other hand it is utilized to monitor the vessels presence in berths and the berth positions and it is controlled by an Ultrasound sensor probe.

The communication protocol used to connect Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensor Platform with the Meshlium Gateway is TCP/IP 802.15.4. Fiware technologies are used for the Cloud services and a dedicated agent, Node.js, for the communication with the Meshlium.

Patras port deployment

Yachts management through data

The wireless sensor network installed in the marina allows to monitor and manage mooring berths. Thanks to the measurements provided by this application deployed by SaMMY, it is enabled an online contact and reservation mechanism that improves the way they operate ensuring the comfort of ship passengers from tourist boats.

Apart from the features inherent to the port, the SaMMY application brings others related to the hosting of the boat marinas. It provides information on nearby points of interest as well as the common services of interest for travelers and crews.

“This way the marinas provide important information to the yachters; the marinas administrators have a clear view of the status of the berths, improving this way the quality of the services and the scheduling of the yachting trips”, considers Ioannis Kostopoulos, SaMMY CEO.

The SaMMY project has developed a unique marina application which aim is becoming a modern communication and information tool for skippers, crews of tourist vessels and managers marinas. The application to end-users is offered for free for smart phones and mobile devices such as tablets with Android or IOS operating systems.

Mobile version of SaMMy application

Nautical tourism maket and especially the sector of yachting and marinas is very dynamic. They contribute decisively to the development of local economies of Mediterranean countries and Northern Europe cities. According to European Commission, activities around yachting generate an annual turnover of 15 billion Euros providing more than 303,000 jobs.

The pilot project, carried out by Libelium and Sammy, could be deployed in other marinas of the Mediterranean sea during the following months. The platform has already been presented in conferences in Greece, Italy, Spain or Belgium with great success.

Contact:

If you are interested in purchase information, please contact our Sales Department.

More info:

• For technical details on Waspmote hardware, sensors and how to program a Smart Water application: Smart Water Board Technical Guide
• For technical details on Waspmote hardware, sensors and how to program a Smart Cities application: Smart Cities Board Technical Guide
• For technical details on Waspmote hardware, sensors and how to program a Smart Security application: Events Board Technical Guide
• Read more about Libelium sensor product lines in the Waspmote, Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensor Platform and Meshlium Gateway websites.

References:

• SaMMY: www.sammyacht.com
• FIWARE: www.fiware.org

Discover our IoT Kits at The IoT Marketplace!

Councils and governments are conscious about the significance of improving public areas. Not only to reduce costs, but also to show their commitment with inhabitants and tourists that visit their cities. This is one of the main reasons why Smart Cities are more than a phenomena, actually they are a reality and the trend that every public institution wants to follow.

Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona is a great example in the Smart Cities field. With different projects to ease citizens lives, it has became one of the worldwide references of innovative and technological developments. With Barcelona Council and Starlab, Libelium has worked in a smart water project to control the irrigation system in Poblenou Park Centre.

Irrigation system management with only a click

Starlab, together with other companies, has deployed a remote control irrigation system for Barcelona that will help to reinforce its Smart City status. Starlab’s contribution to the service is by soil moisture monitoring with in situ probes that use Libelium technology . The deployment is based on sensors technology and consists in allowing remote control of the irrigation system to facilitate the management of the water network.

Before starting the project, each zone of the park was studied and analyzed in order to know their specific needs. The SmartIrrigation system is controlled and monitored thanks to different soil moisture sensors which measure humidity and water flow in strategic points of the area.

The deployed probes datalogger is based on Waspmote Sensor Platform with sensors probes from a third party. This fact gives an impression of the versatility of this device. It enables connection with a wide range of sensor probes that does not have to be from the same manufacturer.

In SmartIrrigation project soil moisture probes are located underground together with Waspmote Sensor Platform, which are put inside waterproof boxes that ensure highly durability. Besides, these devices are powered by a long-life battery with one year autonomy.

Smart Irrigation System

Data gathered by Waspmote Sensor Platform can be sent to a gateway or directly to the cloud. It can be done through several communication protocols, such us GPRS, 3G, 4G, LoRaWAN, LoRa, Sigfox, 868 MHz, 900MHz, ZigBee, 802.15.4, WiFi, RFID, NFC and Bluetooth 4.0. In this project, data is sent through ZigBee to Meshlium Gateway, also provided by Libelium, and from there to the cloud using 3G. All the Meshlium installed are located in the garderner huts to facilitate the communications.

The information collected in the Meshlium Gateway can be visualized in a platform which concentrates and allows knowing the state in each zone. Two departments of Barcelona Council, Urban Services and Computing, have worked with Wonderware to carry out the application which can be controlled with computers, smartphones and also tablets.

Visualizer developed by Barcelona Council and Wonderware

If your are enjoying nature, sitting on a bench or walking through Poblenou Park Centre, you will probably see some members of Barcelona Parks staff and Gardeners using tablets. This is not the way how they spend their break times, the tablets are their new work tools. The new irrigation management system allows an automatic control of the electronic valves that close or open the water flow.

Cutting down water and money

The Council of Barcelona led this project which is part of Barcelona Smart City project. Cristina Vila, General Manager of Water Cycle in the city, considered the deployment as a great success because “the system optimizes water consumption because it irrigates with the proper amount according to weather conditions and the plants’ needs“.

Thanks to this new management system the municipal water bill has been cut down near a 25% in the city. Moreover, this reduction is not just about money, the water usage has been reduced too. Barcelona is saving resources such us water with Internet of Things technology and contributing to enhance the environment too. For gardeners, their daily work tasks has been eased too. Controlling the irrigation system and detecting any incidents that may have occurred can nowadays be checked in real-time.

If you are interested in purchase information, please contact our Sales Department.

More info:

• For technical details on Waspmote Sensor Platform hardware programmable software, modules and boards: Waspmote Sensor Platform Technical Guide
• Read more about Libelium sensor product lines in the Waspmote, Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensor Platform and Meshlium Gateway websites.

References:

• Starlab: www.starlab.es
• SmartIrrigation: www.star2earth.com
• Wonderware: www.creatingsmartcities.es

References of the service:

• BCN Smart City: http://smartcity.bcn.cat/en/telemanaging-irrigation.html

Discover our IoT Kits at The IoT Marketplace

Vietnam is one of the main worldwide fish producers and exporters. Its anual fish production is approximately of 5.699.250 tons which supposes an export value of 1,7 billions USD. The main markets for its production are Europe, USA, Mexico and China. The European Union has already warned the wholesalers to establish tougher control measures on the quality of fish and also on the farming conditions.

Thanh Bình District, Dong Thap Province, Vietnam

PHA Distribution, one of the leading IoT & ICT distributors in Vietnam market, has deployed a wireless sensor network in a Vietnamese fish farm in Thanh Bình District, Dong Thap Province, next to Mekong river, with Libelium’s Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensor Platform. The aim of the project is to monitor in real-time different parameters to control water quality and prevent some diseases that could affect fish in order to improve the quality and quantity of the production.

Waspmote Plug & Sense! intallation in a fish farm pond

Real-time monitoring to improve the production

The main goal of the project is clear in words of Tran Vinh Phong, Managing Director at Pha Distribution: “Real-time monitoring will allow us to help our end clients to be aware of preventable diseases in order to save costs in diseases treatment and keep fish in good health before harvesting job as well as mange fish loss to the minimum rate”.

The company has chosen Libelium’s Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensors Platform, fully equipped with Libelium sensors, because the hardware has a good design, it is easy to implement, scalable depending on the demands and also have low maintenance costs.

Fish farm deployment functioning diagram

Waspmote Plug & Sense! Smart Water have been deployed in the source of water supply and also inside the fish farm. Water and fish quality are controlled by the following parameters:

Smart Farming has become the main trend in Agriculture sector. According to the FAO, by 2050 food production may increase a 70% to feed 9.6 billion people. As we have reported in our our Smart Agriculture white paper, food and agricultural companies are increasing investments daily to integrate IoT solutions in some of their processes to cut down costs, to increase quality and quantity of the harvesting and also to ease some routine activities of farmers. It is essential to guarantee production and competitiveness.

Lembo, Colombia

Red Tecnoparque Colombia is part of the technical innovative program Sennova from SENA Regional Risaralda, the Colombian National Service for Learning, which aim is to accelerate the development of I+D+i projects in the countries. To improve productivity, the organization has deployed a wireless sensors network with Libelium technology to monitor plantain crops in Lembo area, in Santa Rosa de Cabal region. The project has been carried out by students from different organizations linked to SENA

Waspmote Plug & Sense! Smart Agriculture in banana crop

High accuracy monitoring in crops

Plantain crop has special significance for Colombian economy. It represents 9,69% of the agricultural production value and its annual production is estimated to be around 3 milions of tons in an area of 380.000 hectares.

According to Colombian Consolidated Report of Exports published on May 2016, the total amount of banana exports between January and May is estimated in 433.454.622 USD which supposes 11,5% more than previous year. Banana exportation supposes 3.7% of total exports in the country. Colombia is one of the largest worldwide exports with other South America countries as Guatemala or Ecuador.

Improving crop conditions will increase the economic relevance of banana production in Colombia. For this reason, Red Tecnoparque Colombia has selected Libelium Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensor Platform to develop a Smart Farming project with remote sensors. Plantain crops has been monitored with different sensors added to Waspmote Plug & Sense!:

Monitoring these parameters, Redcom Tecnoparque is remotely supervising ambient and agronomic variations to investigate new banana varieties. This solution also lets them to know harvesting projection, to optimize water usage, to prevent plagues and diseases, to reduce fertilizers consumption and to catalogue soils depending on climate and culture.

Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensor Platforms communicate with Meshlium Gateway through 802.15.4 protocols while data is sent to the Cloud via 3G and GPRS. The information is visualized in an own cloud-based application for the project. The platform is accessible through any computer and also by a mobile application.

Plantain crops deployment functioning diagram

Sustainable farming thanks to IoT

“This project will allow to obtain knowledge from the crops and also to develop and deploy technology for agriculture sector as a first step for future researches. Our aim is to upgrade and promote innovation and competitiveness to all the processes related to environmental and agriculture sectors”, considers Jerry Giovanny Colorado Cano, Consultant of Tecnoparque Nodo Pereira in virtual technology line.

Some of the benefits of deploying this project are:

• Improving environmental and agricultural sustainability.
• Promoting sustainable productivity in plantain crops.
• Organic waste management.
• Crops traceability.
• Safety of the product.

With the deployment of the Smart Agriculture project, the Colombian organization has obtained and managed knowledge about precision farming in relation to remote sensing application in crops. The installation allows also to identify and characterize a concrete plantain crops area thanks to the wireless sensor network. This project will help to develop future projects in Colombia to improve banana production and to keep the top position in the ranking of export countries.

Along decades, the most important and also exported banana variety worlwide was the Gros Michel, but in the 50s was almost annihilated by a fungus known as “Panama disease”. Currently, it attacks crops in Africa, Indonesia, the Philippines and Australia, but it is feared that it might come soon to the American continent. Stopping the plage is really difficult, experts are working to find the genetic diversity through species improvement programs.

Discover more about this project watching this video recorded by SENA Regional Risaralda to show the project:

If you are interested in purchase information, please contact our Sales Department.

More info:

• For technical details on Waspmote hardware, sensors and how to program a Smart Agriculture application: Smart Agriculture Board Technical Guide
• For technical details on Waspmote hardware, sensors and how to program a Smart Environment PRO application: Gases PRO Technical Guide
• Read more about Libelium sensor product lines in the Waspmote, Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensor Platform and Meshlium Gateway websites.

References:

• SENA Regional Risaralda: sena.edu.co
• Red Tecnoparque Colombia:tecnoparque.sena.edu.co
• Project design and deployment: youtube.com

Discover our Smart Agriculture IoT Kits at The IoT Marketplace

The product launch improves the sensor nodes Waspmote and Plug & Sense! and the IoT gateway Meshlium making them faster, more accurate, energy-saving and compliant with the latest radio and cloud technologies in the market. This new generation adds more than 10.000 developers’ feedback.

Libelium presents a new generation of Waspmote, the most complete Internet of Things platform in the market with worldwide certifications. This movement consolidates the company as a key player in the IoT after 10 years of business expertise.

Libelium Waspmote and Plug & Sense! families increase monitoring capabilities to 120 sensors to cover hundreds of IoT applications such as Smart Water, Smart Environment, Smart Cities, Smart Agriculture, Smart Parking, etc. Some of the existing air and water sensors have been upgraded for better precision on particles measurement (ppm’s). The new version includes also actuators to control DC units such as irrigation valves, thermostats, illumination systems, motors, PLC’s, etc. Finally, new energy saving modes extend nodes lifetime from 5 to 10 years.

New generation of Libelium products: Waspmote OEM, Waspmote Plug & Sense! and Meshlium Gateway

In a very fragmented IoT market, interoperability is key to ensure Libelium technology will fit any project. The new version has updated and certified the following communication radios: LoRaWAN, Sigfox, WiFi, 4G, 802.15.4 / ZigBee, 868 / 900 RF. Also, the Plug & Sense! 4G US model is the first sensor device passing PTCRB and AT&T compliant device tests, opening the door for the big IoT cellular projects coming in the US market.

Security is another key feature of the new generation. 5 different security layers integrates a system validated even for military use as it combines AES 256b encryption for data privacy in two different layers (network and point to point) and RSA 1024 for authentication and message integrity.

Meshlium -Libelium IoT gateway- core migrates to a more powerful architecture and offers cloud connectivity off the shelf with 24 key players like Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, Telefonica and Thingworx.

“Libelium has made a big effort getting the new products ready for the major IoT markets worldwide”, states David Gascón, Libelium’s CTO. Both Plug & Sense! and Meshlium are the first IoT platforms to be fully certified with CE (Europe), FCC (US), IC (Canada), ANATEL (Brazil), RCM (Australia), PTCRB (US) and AT&T (US). ”After 10 years, we keep our commitment to deliver continuous innovation for the IoT market making our products compliant with cutting edge technologies while increasing its robustness and reliability” he adds.

More information at:

• Waspmote Technical Guide
• Waspmote Plug & Sense! Technical Guide
• Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensors Guide
• Meshlium Technical Guide

Comparative old VS new generation:

• New Generation Libelium Product Lines

Certifications:

• Certifications Product Table

For more information about our products contact the Libelium Sales Department.

Buy our IoT Kits at The IoT Marketplace!

Volcanoes are one of the most unpredictable and impressive natural phenomenons. Worldwide researchers and scientists have always been trying to discover what happen inside volcanoes to predict future eruptions that will save lives. Their activity has provoked along years great disasters destroying entire settlements with lava flows and also endangering the environment or human health due to gas emanations or ash falls.

Some vulcanologists are currently focused on working with the latest technology to monitor in real-time everything that happens inside and outside the crater to predict eruptions. Qwake, a global brand that merges ground-breaking scientific expeditions with cutting edge technology to drive positive change, has trusted in Libelium technology to develop a wireless sensor network in the Mouth of Hell, Masaya volcano in Nicaragua.

Masaya volcano (Nicaragua)

Masaya is one of Latin American most active volcanoes. In fact, in 2008 during September, November and December the caldera threw ash and steam rising a height of 2.1 kilometers. At this time, there is a lava lake in one of the craters with 600 m₂ dimension that offers an unprecedented glimpse into the dynamic behavior of magma plumbing system including cascading as explosions, emission of lava jets, etc.

Real-time control at Masaya volcano with 80 sensors

Qwake team, with explorer and filmmaker Sam Cossman, Nicaragua government, Libelium and General Electric (GE) have worked in this project to bring the first volcano online. The expedition took place along July and August 2016. The team was looking for a wireless monitoring system able to collect, transmit and store data in real-time. For this reason, they chose Libelium to get information directly from the crater.

Sam Cossman at Masaya volcano

Our CTO, David Gascón, was a member of the expedition and experienced in first person the impressive landscape around Masaya volcano. “We are glad to contribute to a project that will help to save million of lives, not only in Nicaragua, but also in worlwide projects monitoring other volcanoes”, has argued David Gascón

David Gascón, Libelium CTO, at the Mouth of Hell

In order to access safely to Santiago Crater, the open air lava lake, Sam Cossman and his expedition team developed a zip line system to solve some previous challenges and efficiently descend personnel and gear there. It allowed to install the Waspmote Sensor Platforms next to the crater to get data in one the most extreme and challenging environments.

Location of the expedition camp at Santiago Crater

The Sensor Platforms deployed in Masaya volcano were Waspmote Plug & Sense! Smart Environment PRO and Waspmote Plug&Sense! Ambient Control as data repeaters. Sensors connected to Waspmote Plug & Sense! Smart Environment were more than 80 and measured CO₂, H₂S, temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure.

The expedition team with all the sensors deployed in Masaya volcano

The encapsuled sensor platforms were vacuum-sealed to be protect against the heat inside the crater and also in areas next to the volcano. There were around 150 degrees Farenheit (about 65 Celsius degrees) where most of the sensors will be placed, although parts of the active volcano reach 800 to 1,000 degrees Farenheit (between 426 and 537 Celsius degrees).

Waspmote Plug & Sense! Smart Environment PRO sent information directly to Meshlium Gateway and in some cases to Waspmote Plug&Sense! Ambient Control when there was low signal acting as repeater stations. This data was sent through XBee900HP. The IoT Gateway collected data and sent the information through 3G to GE database were after was visualized in Predix, a cloud-based software platform GE developed for the Industrial Internet.

Deployment at Masaya volcano

One of the explorers from Qwake, Hugo Nordell, explained the benefits of using Libelium technology in Masaya volcano project: “Our team was able to quickly setup and ensure that data was captured correctly. This allowed us to focus on solving actual problems related to deploying the sensors inside the crater and bringing the Masaya volcano online, rather than having to deal with connectivity and underlying data transfer”.

Public service by saving lives and opening data

The main aim of the project has been building a digital early warning system to predict volcano eruptions. This information will be used by researchers and data scientists to build a family of “digital twins” to simulate digitally what is happening inside the cater.

Waspmote Plug & Sense! installed next to Santiago Crater and Meshlium out of Masaya volcano

The vulcanologist who has participated in Qwake project, Guillermo Caravantes, has been widely researching about Masaya. He has explained that it represents “a real danger” for inhabitants from villages next to the volcano. “We could potentially have millions of lives at risk. It could happen at any time and the problem is that we are not able to predict when this could happen or what sorts of signs from the volcano”, asserted Guillermo Caravantes, vulcanologist from Qwake.

The ultimate goal of the project is providing a public service by giving access to the general population and decision makers enabling them to experience an active volcano in real-time. The predictive analytic tools built on the cloud-based platform uses a combination of data gathered over more than 20 years of fieldwork at Masaya and also information gathered by the sensors connected to Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensor Platforms installed in this project. All this data will help to anticipate volcanic crisis, and act as a pioneering, first-of-its-kind Early Warning System. After this project, the expedition believes that there is potential for huge applications in worldwide volcanoes.

To discover more about Masaya volcano expedition and the wireless sensor network development view our photo gallery.

If you are interested in purchase information, please contact our Sales Department.

More info:

• For technical details on Waspmote hardware, sensors and how to program a Smart Environment PRO application: Gases PRO Board Technical Guide
• Read more about Libelium sensor product lines in the Waspmote, Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensor Platform and Meshlium Gateway websites.

Discover our Smart Environment Vertical Kit at The IoT Marketplace

Read the entire article at Gadwoman.

Read the entire article at esmarcity.es.

Water and electrical supply are two of the main concerns for public authorities. The demand of these resources grow as fast as the population in urban areas so they would become scarcer with the pass of the years. A Technavio report states that the use of smart water management technologies such as Big Data, sensoring and monitoring in real-time can help save more than USD 12 billion revenues for utilities annually.

Madrid (Spain)

Some of the areas where IoT developments can improve smart water infrastructures are drainage or water supply plans, leakage detection services, network performance optimization and GIS management. The project called iWesla, which stands for Improving Water Efficiency and Safety in Living Areas, is a CPSE Labs funded by the European Union´s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. The consortium is formed by A-CING, Indra, Novelti and the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (UPM).

The wireless sensor networks developed in iWesla are based on Waspmote Sensor Platform. A-CING (Aqua-Consult Ingenieros), a consulting and engineering company specialized in water management projects and ICT-based environmental solutions using wireless communications trusted the Sensor Platform due to its modularity and scalability.

Living area water efficiency and safety solution

The solution prototype was tested in UPM Campus Sur with the premise to be scaled up and deployed in two pilot sites provided by the Municipality of Rivas Vaciamadrid (Madrid, Spain), a primary school and a sports center, to enhance the impact on the citizens.

Smart water management system developed in a primary school in Madrid

The smart water project aims to develop and deploy a demand-side cyber-physical system (CPS) to optimize the water consumption efficiency and safety in living areas. The system consists of:

• High-accuracy water flow meters installed in the main water supply pipe of the living area to provide real-rime water flow data.
• Solenoid-based electric valves to control (open-close) the water supply into the living area.
• Waspmote OEM Sensor Platform to gather the information and the Meshlium Gateway to store and transmit it.
• FEEP IoT & Big Data Platform Sofia2, where data is received from the sensors, stored and analyzed in real-time, extracting meaningful insights for the demand-side. Based on this information Sofia2 is also able to send orders to the actuators, modifying their operation according to defined rules and alerts.
• Disaggregated consumption data will be analyzed through the integration of Novelti real time analytic service that provides autonomous machine learning capabilities able to learn the behavior patterns of each individual data stream corresponding to appliance, personal hygiene or green areas water usage.
• A-CING Web Application to visualize the processed information and to allow users to interact with FEEP IoT & Big Data Platform Sofia2.
• A-CING Consumption Awareness Application (FEEP IoT & Big Data Platform Sofia2 based) to allow users to be informed about the water consumption habits.

Diagram of iWesla deployment

The communication between the sensor platforms and Meshlium is carried out through 3G communications. The IoT Gateway collects data and sends it to the FEEP IoT & Big Data Platform Sofia2 through Ethernet connection. Novelti analytic service processes the water consumption information gathered by FEEP IoT & Big Data Platform Sofia2 based Application, returning the disaggregated water usage made by all consumption points in the living area. The processed indormation is visualized in a Web Application designed and developed by A-CING.

Cutting down costs near 50%

The water efficiency and safety solution designed in iWesla could help saving up to 50% of the water consumption in living areas thanks to the detection of abnormal water consumption. When detected, the user is warned using alarms and given the possibility to actuate over the electric valve to close the water flow. Apart from the reduction in the water consumption, this early detection can lead to the reduction of potential damages caused by leakages or open taps.

iWesla dashboard to visualize data

One of the main challenges faced during the system development was the disaggregation of the water consumption actions using the data gathered from the main water supply pipe, such as number of times people pull the chain, take a shower, open the water tap or turn on the dishwasher. Apart from the system management web front-end, a consumption awareness application has been developed to allow users to be informed about the water consumption habits, raising awareness and leading to a responsible consumption, creating an impact on the citizen’s water consumption patterns.

FEEP IoT & Big Data Platform Sofia2

Deploying wireless sensors networks to achieve smart management in infrastructures is one of the most important goals for public authorities and large water consumers. The optimization of water use and also the water supply network performance allow cutting down resources waste and also the water bill for organizations.

Public primary school where iWesla project has been deployed

The current rate of growth of the population in cities together with climate change effects requires the optimization of natural resources usage. The intelligent use of water in smart cities implies engagement and involvement from the water utilities to the demand side or end-users such as citizens, municipalities or building management staff.

For more information about our products contact the Libelium Sales Department.

More info:

• For technical details on Waspmote hardware, sensors and how to program a Smart Water application: Smart Water Technical Guide
• Read more about Libelium sensor product lines in the Waspmote, Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensor Platform and Meshlium Gateway websites.

References:

• A-CING: a-cing.com
• Indra: indracompany.com
• FEEP IoT & Big Data Platform Sofia2: sofia2.com
• Novelti: novelti.io
• Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (UPM): upm.es/internacional

Discover our Libelium-Sofia2 Smart Cities Solution Kit at The IoT Marketplace

From the consolidated positioning that Libelium is taking into the IoT market after ten years of professional experience and a wide insight vision, it is time to share some thoughts, trends and realities that will shape the IoT market evolution in 2017. Alicia Asín, Libelium’s CEO, and David Gascón, Libelium’s CTO, give us their vision from market and innovation perspectives.

1. Fragmentation vs interoperability

The fragmentation of the IoT market is a reality to manage at any point of the whole value chain, from hardware sensors to data analytic, both in geographic areas and business development opportunities. There is a big mess due to the lack of standards and clear roles in companies.

This fact evidences that we are diving in a fast evolving market where game rules are constantly in motion. In this sense, there is a rising demand of horizontal perspective for a market that needs interoperability, not only related to the hardware devices but also in the communication protocols, cloud services and the applications developed in any IoT project.

The importance of interoperability for Libelium

2. Do not expect a winner wireless technology anymore

There are two types of companies. The ones waiting for the winner wireless technology to emerge and consolidate, and the ones making money with real IoT projects. Do not expect to be a unique wireless technology to conquer the market (no, not even NB-IoT, or other LPWAN alternatives like LoRaWAN or Sigfox). There are many mature technologies ready to make money today, do not wait to be a winner because there will not be any. There will be always fragmentation as each technology has its own pros and cons.

Wireless Technologies

3. No lazy nor eager allowed

New emerging communication protocols and technologies keep us aware of the latest ones that jump into the market. But it is not a market for lazy nor impatient people due to the long sales cycles. The best advise we have heard is “do not wait for the ultimate technology as it will never happen”. That makes us feel that frozen investments in digitalization will never see the light if decision makers stay stopped waiting for the last cutting edge novelty. In addition, it is remarkable that marketing messages go one year ahead from technology generating lot of noise in the market but no reality in the backstage.

The key is being resilient and interoperable enough. That is why Libelium strategy stands on “any sensor connected to any cloud platform through any communication protocol”. In this sense, we are focusing all the efforts on having modularity right now to upgrade to the future. There are hundreds of applications our customers are already deploying. Just take a look and inspire yourself!

Smart World Infographic

4. An ecosystem is not just a label tool

Another great truth is that the worldwide IoT players map now is still a work in process. Many companies boast to have the most extensive ecosystem to help organizations jump-start their IoT initiatives. But it is not only a matter of quantity or a guidance to label players in the value chain. The real ecosystem worth is offering what the market demands: transparency and interoperability to avoid vendor lockings.

Libelium closed 2016 with more than 80 partners

For that reason, Libelium has built a modular and horizontal platform with an ecosystem of 80 partners and distributors -classified in different stages- and partnerships with many communications companies; even extending the ecosystem to hardware partners to make their technologies compatible with our IoT platform.

5. Pack the complete solution and stick a red ribbon

It is also important to consider that everyday sales managers are finding customers demanding final solutions nor products or communication protocols. They search for real applications like setting up an alarm system for forest fire detection or developing a decision system based on gas emission levels. Insofar as we are able to offer complete solutions we will be on the correct way. With this aim, Libelium created The IoT Marketplace, to offer complete kits “out of the box” to build PoCs just to start selling and to make able the possibility to replicate the project to a great deployment. With 40 final solutions in this store by the end of 2016, we are making real the IoT.

The IoT Marketplace offers ready-to-be-deployed IoT kits

6. Cloud Paradigms are currently changing

Even the most powerful Cloud services by Amazon are not ready to support the IoT mass storage that is coming. As result new services like Greengrass are being released to offer to the IoT Gateways a unique point of entrance and distribution of data. This and other services are being included as Cloud Connectors in Meshlium so take a breath, the IoT era has just started.

Libelium Ecosystem

7. From lab to reality

As Libelium has gained deeper knowledge on the growing IoT landscape we have realized that the only pathway is going from lab to reality. Not in vane, we are putting technology in the hardest scenarios: rain forests and even volcanoes. It is the only one way road to be aware of trend markets and to align expectations with customers.

Waspmote Plug & Sense installed in Parque Nacional del Manu (Peru)

This is how we have realized that devices need more accuracy and we have incorporated it without loosing sight on easy installation and maintenance that is also needed to offer the simplest and lowest CAPEX solution and, of course, enabling programming over the air.

8. Legal Certifications for IoT Devices. Be careful.

Many of the companies who release IoT products never go for a complete FCC / CE certification. They create hype and noise with nice prototypes to make PoC’s (proofs of concept) but never obtain the legal documents needed  to validate their product. Certifications are a serious matter for Libelium, so we have our main lines certified for FCC, CE, IC, RCM (Australia) and Anatel (Brazil).

Libelium’s worldwide certifications

9. Protect customers from future and themselves

In that real scenario we have also found that it is necessary to protect customers from future and from themselves. Just an example: why is important to enable a dual radio in Smart Parking solution? The answer is simple: because we do not know what will happen tomorrow in a very fragmented market so let’s enable customers to test both of them to use it.

New Smart Parking includes Double Radio with LoRaWAN and Sigfox

Furthermore, enabling customers to change cloud platform in a dynamic way should not be a matter of ethics. In fact, customer values like transparency are the most remarkable and we should conquer them delivering the best service nor retaining with vendor-locking strategies.

10. Accuracy. The new asset.

When the IoT started the number of nodes was a key point. Having a 1000 nodes network sounded cooler than a 20 nodes one. Never more. Since governments and municipalities got into the game, accuracy of the information is the new key point. We saw this tendency in the last years since clients demanded us: calibrated gas sensors, calibrated sound / noise level probes or even having the possibility to recalibrate themselves the sensor probes (smart water calibration kits and ions sensors calibration kits).

Waspmote Gases PRO Board

11. Focus on quality, accuracy and scalability

Without any doubt deployments in Smart Cities are still being one of the main in the IoT sector. Public authorities play a vital role in these projects so political conversations are essential to have everyone aligned. Governments are investing in IoT technology but they also want to know how they are going to use it and how data is going to be shared and profitable.

What a major is afraid of

So frequently, talking about IoT developments let us realize that the main aspect is not quantity, but quality and accuracy. We do not need millions of sensors measuring millions of data; it is a matter of having just the right ones to add capillarity to the professional stations maintaining quality standards. When customers are searching for the cheapest option we need to make them understand the value of interoperability and scalability that, of course, Libelium technology has.

12. IoT market is a matter of moment

Indeed, some of our older solutions were pricey so we improved them with new features increasing even more accuracy and quality. The consequence with new generation has been that they have been sold out, explaining the symptom that IoT market is a matter of moment.

13. Security VS Complexity

The more secure you want your sensor network the more complex and costly it will be to develop. Security is a key point for Libelium. For this reason we added  AES 256 libraries for privacy / confidentiality and also RSA 1024 for authentication and data integrity; and even added a HW encryption circuit in Waspmote to be able to encrypt the information without the need of external SW units. However, we do not recommend to use all this security layers for every single application as it can be time consuming and unnecessary. First make something works and is usable, then secure it.

Complete security IoT scheme

14. Hypocrisy about security

Another controversial point in our sector is security. It should not be considered just as a check point in a conversation with customers; they just want to know that technology is secure but they never prove encryption. So, hypocrisy is a prize to pay if they not pay attention to security and it is a must to insist on.

15. Enhancing educational IoT development

To conclude, we would like to highlight the importance of focusing our efforts in education to guarantee the future growing of the IoT. In 2020 the market will need 4.5 million developers and the commitment is global. Libelium tries to cover the educational gap that exists nowadays with The IoT Spartans Challenge, an educational program that offers specific training to ensure skills for future employees. So, do not lose perspective to this if you do not want to compete with each other recruiting the best ones.

IoT Spartans Challenge 2017

For more information about our products contact the Libelium Marketing Department: marketing@libelium.com.

Libelium, designer and manufacturer of technology for the Internet of Things (IoT), and BaseN, a global Full Stack IoT Operator, have joined forces to speed up IoT adoption in any market.

BaseN and Libelium are now offering an integrated end-to-end IoT service suitable for any industry. BaseN Platform gathers the desired data that is transmitted through Libelium’s Meshlium gateway, turns that data into actionable information and delivers it to the end users. This happens through a multi-tenant user interface, reports and real-time alarms in case of emergencies.

The compatibility between Libelium wireless sensor networks and BaseN extreme-scale IoT Platform allows to develop in an easy way new IoT applications for smart cities, precision agriculture, smart environment and smart water management. In that sense, companies are enabled to deliver reliable IoT solutions with minimum time to market.

BaseN, with Libelium sensor network, have developed an IoT project for the golf course in Poorvo (Finland). It enables keepers to know exactly when the need for maintenance arises, provides an understanding of the player volumes, and gives players accurate and real-time information about the weather and other environmental conditions. “BaseN Platform and Libelium sensors provide accurate information and knowledge to take management decisions to the end users“, says Alicia Asin, CEO of Libelium.

“BaseN provides real time operations with own full stack platform, enabling true scalability and resilience for millions of users” adds Pasi Hurri, CEO of BaseN. “This makes BaseN Platform the perfect match for all kinds of mission-critical and sustainability needs in e.g. smart grid, smart city and advanced smart home environments”.

Discover more about the new version of Meshlium Gateway.

Acces to the entire article in interempresas.net

Libelium will participate as exhibitor in its second year at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona between February 27 and March 2 with a larger stand. The company will show its wide range of solutions for Precision Farming, Water Management, Industry 4.0 or Environment at stand 8.0F9 in the IoT Pavilion (hall 8).

This year, Libelium will focus on its new IoT Sensor Platform worldwide certified with important improvements for the sensor nodes Waspmote and Plug & Sense! and the IoT gateway Meshlium. The devices are now faster, more accurate, energy-saving and compliant with the latest radio and cloud technologies in the market.

Libelium team at MWC 2017

The new IoT Smart Cities Platform will also be displayed at the booth. It enhances accuracy in noise level and air quality pollution sensors to combat climate change and prevent the impact in citizens health. Libelium has improved its sensors design according to regulations of noise and environmental control.

Libelium also displays on the booth te real projects developed with five partners: Thingworx, Egle.io, Telit, Spark Compass and Arrow. Thingworx will show a demo deployed in three areas around Boston (downtown, industrial area, residential neighborhood) to control and calculate air quality index. Besides, alerts have been set to create notifications when the air quality is reaching an unhealthy level so corrective actions can be taken.

Eagle.io will display a Smart Water Solution to improve and simplify remote water quality monitoring in rivers, lakes, fish farms or the sea. The platform allows to store, visualize in real-time and alert on time series data for portfolios of connected devices. For its part, Telit will offer a live demonstration of their IoT portal and Industrial IoT (IIoT) platform with the collection and visualization of data from a PLC and various Waspmote sensors connected to Meshlium at Telit booth in MWC.

Rosecroft is a historic estate in San Diego, California. Total Communicator Solutions, Inc. has developed there a Living Lab that includes Libelium sensors to get Air quality, Agricultural and Parking data. The dashboard will show live streaming data at our booth through the Spark Compass platform. Arrow will represent a smart city with our sensor platforms and use cases to demonstrate sense and react capabilities of Arrow platform.

If you want to arrange a meeting there contact our Libelium Sales Department.

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Italy is the second major kiwi producer after China with a saleable production around 448.000 tonnes last year. Both countries with New Zealand, Chile and Greece suppose the 93% of worldwide production by a research of the Centro Servizi Ortofrutticoli (CSO).

The CSO informed in 2015 that the grow surface for kiwi on the Mediterranean country was 24.440 ha, most of them in the regions of Lazio, Pedemont and Emilia Romagna.

Emilia Romagna Region (Italy)

FAMOSA is an Italian company that works on technology-based support for agriculture, offering solutions for crop monitoring and management. They have developed wireless sensor networks, based on Libelium technology, in a kiwi plantation with GPRS and Sigfox to develop accurate irrigation strategies for farmers.

Comparing GPRS to Sigfox

Kiwifruit is one of the most sensitive fruits in terms of quality which is given by size, sweetness and dry matter. In order to reach the best quality, the Rivista di Frutticoltura e di Ortofloricoltura considers that it is essential for farmers to develop a good irrigation strategy to attain marketable products and to reduce product losses.

Agriculture organizations are deploying cutting-edge technologies in their plantations to improve processes, to maintain high quality standards and to ease farmers daily works. “We have chosen Libelium Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensor Platform for its wide range of sensors and the easy development of software for data acquisition and transmission”, has stated Massimo Noferini, CEO of FAMOSA.

Waspmote Plug & Sense! installed in kiwi plantation

For this project, the company has installed two different wireless sensors to monitor soil water status to plan irrigation in a kiwi orchard. Data has been recorded with the same system but information has been transmitted to the platform by two different wireless connection: GPRS and Sigfox. The main aim has been testing reliability and costs during 2016 kiwi growing season.

Two Waspmote Plug & Sense! Smart Agriculture have been deployed with watermark sensors in different depths to control soil moisture with fruit diameter sensor to measure the size of the fruit; and temperature and humidity sensors to monitor environmental conditions. One of the sensor platforms is connected to a GPRS shield and the other with Sigfox. The first one represents the classical widely used data communication network and the second one the rapidly diffusing LPWAN technologies.

The information collected by the sensors has been sent to esiFARM, FAMOSA’s platform, that includes both GPRS and Sigfox technologies. To manage GPRS stations however a server has had to be configured. In this case Meshlium IoT Gateway has been used embedding Meshlium Management System making data handling easier. Farmers can get valuable information to schedule irrigation timing to avoid stress conditions, which is fundamental on kiwi plants.

Functioning diagram of the FAMOSA deployment

FAMOSA has detected some differences between both technologies after the deployment:

• GPRS:
• A server is needed to host data that has to be maintained by the local services.
• There must be GPRS/3G/4G coverage.
• It is needed power consumption hardware because GPRS node requires a long-duration battery pack or external power supply. The hardware needs to stay awake for a long-time and requires a longer communication session.
• It needs a SIM card that usually takes some days to be activated. Even if international SIM cards are available, there is a strong dependence to a contract which make connections liable to changes and reliability.
• Sigfox:
• It dumps data to a unique service which is accessible worldwide: data can be managed autonomously or by an intermediate service.
• Coverage is already diffused in Italy so it is not available everywhere although it is rapidly growing worldwide.
• It doesn’t need a handshake step with the network, while based on an acknowledge response.
• Communication is very short and allows the device to stay dormant for a long time allowing a much longer duration to batteries.
• Registration is quicker than GPRS, based on an annual fee.

Fruit diameter sensor

The final user has not been aware nor suffered the difference between the communication through GPRS or Sigfox. Battery pack proved to have a life long enough to cover the season both in Sigfox and GPRS devices. In general, any field deployment should be as simple as possible and have a ready and reliable answer during installation tests.

Precision Farming to make smart irrigation decisions

Developing technological projects in rural areas may involve several difficulties because of the absence of physical communication infrastructures and the costs which are often unaffordable. However, wireless sensor networks suppose a great opportunity because of the low installation, maintenance and also operative costs.

esiFARM platform

FAMOSA is collaborating with farmers to introduce the IoT approach with esiFARM in their fields. The platform allows to collect information from the sensor platforms and other information sources such as georeferenced cameras pictures or multispectral analysis of satellite imagery. EsiFARM includes models to help farmers in decision and alerts (irrigation, pathogens and maturation).

“Farmers were impressed by the ease of the installation, which proved to be able to give real-time and comprehensive information in less than one hour of full installation”, has argued Massimo Noferini, CEO of FAMOSA. During 2016 season between March and October the decision support system has worked well and continuously. Farmers have been able to monitor without interruptions soil water status to have irrigation always under control.

Kiwi crops in Emilia Romagna

The deployment of soil water status sensors at different depths has allowed to compare the effect of irrigation strategies. Farmers have had a prompt warning about any water stress condition to recover from a growth deficit. In this kiwi project, the irrigation system was activated by the farmer.

For more information about our products contact the Libelium Sales Department.

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More info:

• For technical details on Waspmote hardware, sensors and how to program a Smart Agriculture application: Smart Agriculture Technical Guide
• Read more about Libelium sensor product lines in the Waspmote, Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensor Platform and Meshlium IoT Gateway websites.

References:

• Centro Servizi Ortofrutticoli (CSO): csoservizi.com
• FAMOSA: famosasrl.com
• Italy Fruit: italiafruit.net
• Rivista di Frutticoltura e di ortofloricoltura: rivistafrutticoltura.it

Discover our IoT Kits at The IoT Marketplace

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Air pollution is one of the major environment risks to health. According to a report from WHO cutting down gases and pollutants emissions can reduce the burden of hearth and respiratory diseases like stroke, lung cancer and asthma. In fact this pollution generated by vehicles, industries and energy production kills 800,000 people annually by Health and Environment Linkages Initiative.

Noise pollution is the second cause of illness for environmental reasons after air pollution in Europe. Traffic congestion, civil works or industry in urban areas impact adversely exposing people to high sound levels. This exposure can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases and also high blood pressure.

Ljubljana (Slovenia)

BTC City is one of the largest shopping and business centres in Europe located in Ljubljana, the 2016 European Green Capital. It has trusted SmartIS City Ltd, a company that provides digital transformation solutions for cities and municipalities, and Libelium to develop a project to improve its environmental and social commitment.

Ambient and environmental conditions monitoring

Many worldwide cities are following environmental standards to reduce the number of illnesses induced by air pollution and to lower emissions. These cities are changing their attitude towards the environment and, above all, taking action. For that reason, they need to detect the problems and respond with green projects installing wireless sensor networks.

BTC City Shopping Centre

This Smart City project is based on a Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensor Platform that has been installed in the BTC City shopping area in Ljubljana to control ambient conditions and air pollution. The devices and sensors installed are:

• Waspmote Plug & Sense! Ambient Control:
• Luminosity
• Temperature and humidity
• Waspmote Plug & Sense! Smart Cities PRO:
• Luminosity
• Noise
• Ultrasound distance.
• Waspmote Plug & Sense! Smart Environment PRO:
• Temperature, humidity and air pressure
• CO
• O₃
• NO
• NO₂

Diagram of the deployment at BTC City Ljubljana

The information collected by the sensors is sent to Meshlium IoT Gateway through 868 protocol, which requires to locate sensors within a radius of 500 meters. The communication among the SmartCityPlatform and the IoT Gateway has been carried out via WIFI.

SmartCityPlatform is an innovative platform for digital transformation of cities. It serves cities as a smart governance tool and a big data market place and creates value for future city development. The platform enables better management of urban, socio-economic and technological development of the city helping city leaders to make better decisions and to create green cities as better places for living.

SmartCityPlatform developed by SmartIS

Green solution to achieve social commitment

The goals of this project has been aligned with sustainable goals of the City of Ljubljana. In words of the mayor, Zoran Janković, at Ljubljana Forum 2016 Future of Cities conference: “More cities should adapt the vision of green cities and work towards providing best services for their citizens”.

“We have created a BTC City Living Lab Digital Platform, which is transforming not only shopping industry and creating new value for local businesses and their customers, but holds prospect for transforming management of cities as well”, has said Julij Božič, Chief Innovation and Digital Officer at BTC.

Libelium sensor platforms installed at BTC City

This solution supports BTC Company to follow its Green Mission strategy, which is oriented towards sustainable development and creating a better environment for local people, visitors and businesses.

“This environmental quality monitoring project in BTC City area supports the company in following its innovative business model ECO Index for measuring and assessing the impacts of their activities on the environment and society”, has stated Blaž Golob, CEO and Partner of SmartIS City Ltd.

Waspmote Plug & Sense! installed at BTC City

SmartIS and Libelium have designed a Green City Kit for The IoT Marketplace after the successful story of implementing network of sensors in BTC Company. This ready-to-be-deployed solution allows cities to carefully measure key environmental parameters in real-time and monitor these measurement in the SmartCityPlatform.

For more information about our products contact the Libelium Sales Department.

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More info:

• For technical details on Waspmote hardware, sensors and how to program a Smart Environment PRO application: Gases PRO Board Technical Guide
• For technical details on Waspmote hardware, sensors and how to program a Smart Cities PRO application: Smart Cities PRO Technical Guide
• Read more about Libelium sensor product lines in the Waspmote, Waspmote Plug & Sense! Sensor Platform and Meshlium Gateway websites.

References:

• SmartIS City Ltd: smartiscity.eu
• SmartCityPlatform: smartiscity.eu
• Ljubljana Region: visitljubljana.com
• Ljubljana Forum on Future of Cities: ljubljanaforum.org
• Ambient (outdoor) air quality and health by World Health Organization: who.int
• Environment and health in developing countries by Health and Environment Linkages Initiative: who.int
• New evidence from WHO on health effects of traffic-related noise in Europe by World Health Organization Regional Office: euro.who.int

Discover our Libelium-Smartis Green Cities Solution Kit at The IoT Marketplace

The IoT
Marketplace

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