Need to know how much diesel fuel is in the tank, how high the water level is under the bridge, or whether the chicken feed will last longer than the chickens? Senix ToughSonic Level Sensors can now get these answers to your desk or mobile device quickly, safely and inexpensively using the emerging LoRa spread-spectrum wireless technology.
Get these common ultrasonic sensor applications IoT-connected to your business:
Field-proven sensors since 1990Senix wireless products carry the brand name AirWire. The wireless system described here is an emerging technology we call AirWire LoRa designed to operate at distances up to 10 miles depending on terrain, antenna elevation and line of sight. LoRa is derived from the words Long Range and handles many applications at low power, low cost and with good range performance.
Functionality
Cost Savings
Public LoRaWAN |
| LoRaWAN is publicly available by subscription in some areas through private providers. These services can move data from Senix Level Transmitters directly to the cloud. |
At each monitored site a Level Transmitter and attached non-contact Level Sensor measure the distance down to the monitored liquid or material. That distance is periodically transferred wirelessly to a Receiver-Gateway that can serve many purposes, such as presenting the level(s) in a web page on a Local Area Network (LAN), sending email alerts for high or low level conditions, and/or transferring the data to an external application either locally or on the cloud. Level can be displayed simply as height or converted to volume (gallons, liters, etc.).
At each monitored site a Level Transmitter and attached non-contact Level Sensor measure the distance down to the monitored liquid or material. That distance is periodically transferred wirelessly to a Receiver-Gateway that can serve many purposes, such as presenting the level(s) in a web page on a Local Area Network (LAN), sending email alerts for high or low level conditions, and/or transferring the data to an external application either locally or on the cloud. Level can be displayed simply as height or converted to volume (gallons, liters, etc.).
The battery-powered Level Transmitter connects with and controls a Senix RS-485 interfaced ultrasonic level sensor, then sends each level measurement to the Receiver-Gateway. It maximizes battery life by operating for a very short period of time to power the sensor and send the data, then goes back to “sleep” until the next measurement. In that very short time the transmitter and receiver-gateway communicate to schedule the next measurement and collect service statistics.
A Receiver-Gateway accepts level measurements from one or more level transmitters and can:
The Basic Receiver-Gateway is plastic housed with an internal antenna and is surface, wall or ceiling mounted. It can act as a server and/or Ethernet gateway, and can datalog 115,000 measurements (about 20 days at 15 minutes per measurement).
The Flex Receiver-Gateway is metal housed with a rear-attached bendable antenna and is surface mounted. It can act as a server and/or Ethernet gateway, and datalog up to 22.8 million measurements (about 20 days at 15 minutes per measurement). The antenna can be replaced with a coax cable to extend and elevate an indoor or outdoor antenna for increased range. Cellular gateway options are also available.
The Outdoor Receiver-Gateway is sealed in an IP67 aluminum housing with attached antenna designed for elevated mounting outdoors to increase system range performance. It can act as a server and/or Ethernet gateway, and datalog up to 115,000 measurements (over 10 years at 15 minutes per measurement). Cellular gateway options are also available.
If the level transmitters are within range of Public LoRa services a cloud-based application can be used in lieu of the receiver-gateway. Similar or expanded features can be provided in a cloud-based architecture. Cloud-based services can also be provided simultaneously by transferring the level data stream through the receiver-gateway to the cloud.
The Receiver-Gateways are configured to customer-specific needs. Here are some possibilities for the Basic and Flex Receivers:
Receiver-Gateway Capabilities |
Basic |
Flex |
Outdoor |
| Receive level data from any number of Level Transmitters | ♦ | ♦ | ♦ |
| Display levels and link status, indicate high or low levels and send email alerts * | ♦ | ♦ | ♦ |
| Time-stamped datalogging to simultaneous CSV and JSON file formats, whether operating stand-alone or while performing server and/or gateway functions | 115,000 records | 22.8 million records | 115,000 records |
| Gateway to other systems with latest IoT and standard interfaces (MQTT, JSON, HTTP post, etc.) | ♦ | ♦ | ♦ |
| Gateway to Ethernet (LAN or beyond) | ♦ | ♦ | ♦ |
| Gateway to cellular network (GSM, LTE) and/or Wi-Fi (options) | cellular | ♦ | ♦ |
| Outdoor elevated mounting for extended range performance | ♦ | ||
| * If desired features exceed receiver-gateway capacity, expansion is provided by cloud services | |||
A complete AirWire LoRa System has several components:
Senix delivers complete ready-to-go systems, or supports customers who want to “roll their own”. Systems vary from simple one-tank displays to multiple tanks at multiple locations. To get started, enter your requirements below or call our team at 800-677-3649.
