IoT – Fire Detector / Water Tank Levels / Switch Status

The Challenge

We were tasked to come up with a solution to monitor smoke detectors and water tank levels at a number of remote Eco-Lodges in areas with limited accessibility and no 4G coverage, mains water or power.

Information regarding the status of devices needed to be stored and exceptions detected required the transmission of alerts.

A second phase of the work will involve triggering devices to perform certain actions when target conditions are met.

The Solution

We developed an IoT platform which accepted data feeds from programmed battery and solar powered Raspberry Pi relays and level sensors.

When smoke events are detected, SMS messages are transmitted via NBN satellite to relevant personnel while relevant data is recorded in the platform.

Water tank levels can be measured accurately to within 1 mm and calculations based on this data can trigger relevant actions or provide valuable analytics to support management efforts.

The Dashboard

Here’s an overview of what the platform dashboard looks like. The status cards on the top provide a quick indication of any issues with the four sensors on site. There’s a diagram representation of the current water levels in the tank on the left, and the graph on the right shows the water level changes over time. A weather widget on the bottom right gives a snapshot of the weather on site.

The ‘View Latest Snapshot’ button on the top right of the dashboard takes you to a page showing snapshots from the CCTV cameras onsite. Images are taken at 8am and 2pm every day, and the most recent ones are displayed on the portal.

The Benefits

– Automated smoke alarm notification to remote management team representatives;

– Realtime view of available water for lodges and historic reporting of requirements;

– Monitoring capability that is not dependent on the national power grid;

– Automated water pump shutdown based on exception conditions;

– Data analysis capability to support resource optimization and maintenance.

The Technology