Sensor: actility---custom-actility

Technical Overview for Custom Actility (ACTILITY)

Working Principles:

Custom Actility employs the working principle of IoT (Internet of Things) by integrating different types of sensors and wireless technology to provide solutions for smart utilities, smart buildings, industrial IoT, and smart cities. The wireless networking utilized is called LoRaWAN (Long Range Radio Wide Area Network). This low-power wide-area network protocol is designed to wirelessly connect various devices to the Internet in regional, national, or global networks. It targets key requirements of the Internet of Things such as secure bi-directional communication, mobility, and localization services.

Installation Guide:

Setting up the Custom Actility system involves installing and configuring both the hardware (sensors, gateways) and the software components.

1. Hardware Installation: The specific hardware installation would depend on the exact device being used. However, in general, you should install the sensor devices at the location where they can accurately capture the parameter they are designed to measure. Gateway installation should be somewhere centralized to be able to capture the signals from all sensors.

2. Software Configuration: This involves setting up the network server and the application server. The network server is responsible for managing the network, and the application server is responsible for interpreting and using the sensor data. Enter the details of the LoRaWAN network server and take note of any necessary security keys.

LoRaWAN Details:

The LoRaWAN utilized in the Actility system provides a robust, power-efficient, and long-range wireless communication channel for the sensors to communicate with the network server. It exhibits a special feature of adaptive data rate, which optimizes power consumption and enhances network capacity.

Power Consumption:

Custom Actility devices are characterized by low power consumption due to the economical use of LoRaWan technology. By deploying devices in low power mode and transmitting small data packets over long distances (up to 15km), battery life of devices can last up to 10 years. This makes the solution more sustainable and cost-effective.

Use Cases:

Custom Actility devices can serve wide use cases:

1. Smart Utilities: Sensors can be deployed for smart grids and metering.
2. Smart Buildings: For managing energy, reducing costs, tracking assets, or monitoring conditions like temperature, humidity, etc.
3. Smart Cities: Monitoring air quality, traffic, wastewater, etc.
4. Industrial IoT: In factories, for predictive maintenance, supply chain traceability, worker safety, and more.

Limitations:

While Custom Actility system has numerous advantages, it does face certain limitations:

1. Coverage: In spite of range advantages, LoRaWAN can suffer from weak coverage in densely built areas or underground.
2. Data rate: Low data rates means it's not suitable for applications that require transfer of large quantities of data in real-time.
3. Interference: Overcrowded frequency spectrum can lead to interference and collision, leading to a loss of data packets.
4. Security: Although it uses encryption, LoRaWan can still be susceptible to certain cyber threats such as the inherent vulnerabilities of wireless communication.
5. Infrastructure: Requires substantial upfront costs for infrastructure setup and maintenance, despite low operating costs.

In conclusion, Custom Actility is an effective and energy-efficient IoT solution for a range of applications, albeit with some limitations related to heavy data transfer and infrastructure costs. It's important to keep these factors in mind while choosing it for specific use-cases.