Thingy:AQ SENSOR NODE is a part of the Thingy:AQ Air Quality Monitoring and Bushfire Early Warning System
The Sensor Node is the both a standalone real-time Air Quality Monitoring, Logging and Telemetry System as well as an integral part of the Bushfire Early Warning System. The Sensor Node performs the sampling of the sensors, signal processing, logging and telemetry of the data. There are two variants of the Sensor Node, the Thingy:AQ with a comprehensive suite of gas and particulate sensors and Thingy:AQ Lite which has a subset of the same sensors with the subset being sufficient for deriving Air Quality Index and Bushfire Early Smoke detection. Other than that, the two systems are functionally the same
SENSORS
Our ultra-low-power sensor system measures air pollutants including fine particulate matter PM 1.0/2.5/4.0/10, Carbon Monoxide, Carbon Dioxide, Ozone, NO2, NOx, SO2, H2S, and TVOC. They also measure air temperature, relative humidity and other parameters. The sensors are pre-calibrated at the factory.
LOG & TRANSMIT
Each sensor node logs all measurements and system events to a removable memory card before transmitting readings over an optional telemetry radio as frequent as every minute.
Originally designed around the ultra-low-power and long-range LoRaWAN technology, we have now expanded connectivity options to include LTE and WiFi.
CORRELATE
By providing the raw sensor readings across multiple pollutants in a single sample period, close collaboration with regulatory + scientific organizations, and rigorous testing in ambient to dense bushfire smoke conditions, we provide the greatest flexibility to correlate pollutants for rapid detection of smoke and air quality concerns.
Sensors were selected and tested based on the trade-offs between accuracy, sensor range, resolution, power consumption, life expectancy, ease of field replacement, and price. Pre-calibrated digital sensors were selected because they minimize the problems typically associated with a generic analog sensor front-end. This sensor class enables the use of field replaceable sensor subsystems. There are currently two models of the Thingy:AQ Sensor Node, the Thingy:AQ and the Thingy:AQ Lite. The Thingy:AQ lite is specifically intended for use by residents in Bushfire prone areas. The lite version contains a subset of the sensors of the full system as its primary function of detecting a smoke event can be achieved without the full sensor suite of gas sensors.
SENSOR NODE DATA LOGGING
The Sensor Node default sensor ‘Scan Interval’ is 5 minutes. This default can be changed by the operator and becomes effective immediately. The new value becomes the new ‘Power On’ system default. For Bushfire Smoke Event Detection applications, the sensor Scan Interval should be set to 1 minute. The Sensor Node’s OLED screen is updated at the end of each sampling interval.
A Sensor Node records data locally on its microSD card as well as telemetering the data via USB, UART, and the optional radio modules. The Sensor Nodes are capable of recording continuously for several years without intervention. The Sensor Node uses two basic data formats:
- a heavily compressed binary encoded data format for efficient transmission over the long range, low power, very low bandwidth radio links and
- a presentation format for the USB and Serial port and for storing the data on microSD
The Sensor Node requires minimal infrastructure and operator effort to set-up, operate, and decommission. The Sensor Node is capable of autonomous battery-powered operation for greater than 15 days in harsh environments. The Sensor Nodes can be optionally augmented with an external power source and/or solar panels. In this scenario the system is capable of operating for many months without user intervention. The logger supports the ability to load a new system image via the microSD card.
The Sensor Node sensor subsystem contains the gas, particulate sensors and temperature/humidity sensor. This subsystem, with its own sealed enclosure, is mounted inside the Sensor Node enclosure. The seal enclosure is used to control the flow of the air being sampled into and out of the sensor subsystem.
The Sensor Node stores system configuration information in non-volatile (EEPROM) memory. Whenever a system configuration change is made, the change is also made to the EEPROM. When the system is restarted the configuration is loaded from EEPROM. Some configuration changes, such as changing network credentials, are not made to the node until the system is restarted either via a user command or via a power-on reset.
TELEMETRY AND RADIOS
Bushfires typically occur in areas that lack communications infrastructure. There is little point in implementing a real-time monitoring and telemetry system solely dependent on a service provider’s GSM network if the service provider cannot guarantee ubiquitous coverage of the target area. The approach taken with Thingy:AQ is the use of LoRa (Long Range) telemetry from the Sensor Nodes using LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) protocols. LoRa is renowned for Long Range, Low Cost and Low Power consumption characteristics. In lieu of LoRa communications, LTE, WiFi and Bluetooth communications options are available.
LoRa uses a spread spectrum modulation encoding data into chirps allowing signals to be recovered in extremely noisy RF environments. In Australia, LoRa operates in the unlicensed Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) radio band centered at 915MHz. In remote areas, free from external noise sources, LoRa achieves line of sight distances with recorded cases of distances achieved of more than 200Km. Realistically however obstacles in the path will seriously attenuate and/or completely absorb / reflect the signal. More typical distances achieved are 15km in the rural areas and 5km in urban regions. Significantly greater distances can be achieved by deploying and strategically positioning antennas, antenna masts and LoRaWAN gateways.
Thingy:AQ Sensor Node Standalone and LoRaWAN Deployments
Solution Integration
We partner with the best solutions and help you integrate them seamlessly so you can realize the value of IoT
Sensor Development
Sometimes a sensor or method to extract useful data from your systems just doesn’t exist or meet your needs. We solve this by custom building solutions to bridge the gap
Consulting
Do you have a solution and just need help getting from pilot to production? Do you need help building an IoT strategy? Our decades of experience in IoT and networking can help
Recent Comments