"Seabird Scientific are a leading manufacturer of oceanographic sensors"
Telemetry2U uses a LoRaWAN network to get your data on the IoT cloud - with only the gateway needing 4G coverage
Seabird Electronics on the IoT Cloud
Like all scientific endeavors, oceanographic research comes with its own set of unique challenges. While modern instruments make gathering accurate data relatively straight-forward, problems arise when trying to transfer this data back to HQ for analysis.
Oceanographic science is just one of the many fields of research Telemetry2U can bolster with IoT technology. Take for instance, offshore Conductivity and Temperature Sensors (CTDs) such as the Seabird Electronics SBE37SMP.
These instruments are regularly used to gather data, traditionally deployed beneath the waves for anywhere from a year or two. At the end of their deployment, they are recovered, and the recorded data is manually downloaded from the instrument’s internal logger.
This was far from a perfect solution. For a start, there was always a small chance that during deployment a battery pack could fail or a sensor could be critically bio-fouled. The result? Instead of a year or more of solid data, scientists would be left with an expensive paperweight.
Secondly, the data wasn’t recorded in real time. There was no way – without a chartered trip out to the deployment site and a winch - to see the readings. Luckily, we have a better solution.
The solution
Fetching information in real time is what Telemetry2U excel at most, and ocean science is another perfect application for our IoT network and infrastructure.
It’s as simple as mounting a Telemetry2U configured RS485LN to LoRaWAN Converter on any typical buoy that anchors a standard Conductivity and Temperature sensor. In the case of a Seabird-37, these can then be plugged into the RS-485 interface on the instrument below the surface - allowing for direct data transfer from the sensors in real-time.
The next step is getting the data onto the cloud. By also attaching a LoRaWan gateway to a central buoy, a small network is created in the middle of the ocean that allows the Conductivity and Temperature sensors to speak to a central 4G receiver and transmitter, which in turn would pass the data directly to our network.
The result? All the members of the research team are now able to log on and view their data – graphed in real time – on any device with an internet connection. This means live access to data from the bottom of the ocean, instant knowledge of any compromised sensors (which could then be fixed immediately), and a lot fewer boat trips and crossed-fingers.
If you would like to learn more, please get in touch today.
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