Semtech and Energiya have collaborated to make it simple to connect nearly any legacy device to the cloud. The foundation of this collaboration is the Semtech FX30 gateway combined with Semtech’s Smart Connectivity. The gateway is built using the Semtech WP77 4G LTE module and has a Cortex-A5 host MPU on which customers can develop applications using the Legato software development framework. The gateway is expandable with an add-in card slot where customers can plug-in a variety of different cards to serve different use cases such as bridging to a legacy unconnected devices or adding a LoRa radio to communicate when cellular or ethernet is not available. Energiya offers 10+ add-in cards specifically designed for the FX30 gateway. This opens up a world of possibilities and flexibility to address many IoT applications. Combined with Semtech’s Smart Connectivity global SIM, customers can quickly and easily build a solution to breathe new life into unconnected devices to make them IoT enabled and communicating to the cloud with minimal effort.
There are many, many high value devices which are still unconnected in the world that will not be replaced with connectivity built in for a number of years. Everything from Industrial machinery, to street lights, vending machines, the list goes on and on. The benefits of connecting these devices to the cloud are the fundamentally core to the business outcome derived from the internet of things. For example, according to ARC Advisory Group, customers deploying predictive maintenance solutions can benefit from up to 50% reduction in unplanned downtime while decreasing maintenance costs by 30-40%. The challenge however is how do you connect a piece of machinery in the factory which only has a serial interface to the cloud? This is where Energiya and Semtech come in.
The first step will be to select the appropriate IoT card from Energiya's portfolio. In the portfolio, we have two types of cards: IoT cards and add-on expansion cards. Both cards can be combined together in any configuration and placed inside the FX30, allowing us to achieve, for example, analog channels with a serial interface, two Ethernet ports, and two RS485 ports, or digital inputs and outputs with wireless connectivity – there are truly many configuration possibilities. Finally, let's not forget about the appropriate cover, which will secure the IoT cards inside the FX30 and protect them from external conditions. Our adventure doesn't end with just selecting the right hardware; after all, we need to collect, process, and send the data we're interested in. Energiya also specializes in software development and provides technical support to its customers, assisting them in the implementation of various projects, ranging from simple ones related to environmental measurements to more complex ones involving cloud processing and database management.
An example use case is Mount Pleasant Waterworks who uses the solution to monitor pressure, deep well and wet well levels, equipment monitoring and tracking, and other metrics . “In general, we have found that the IOT market has been pretty limited with offerings that have industrial level I/O, especially with 4-20 mA built in. The FX30 with the Energiya Card is by far the least expensive solution that met all of the requirements for our Portable Generator application, which was cellular connectivity with GPS tracking and with both current and voltage I/O monitoring,” said Chris Martin from Mount Pleasant Waterworks. “There are other options on the market, but they cost almost ten times as much as the FX30. The FX30 and Energiya Expansion card have proven to be a reliable IOT hardware solution. We have been using the hardware for over a year now and have no issues to date. Additionally, we have had one tropical storm event since installing, and they survived the stress test of being bounced around while moving the generators around town. The fuel and location tracking information we received was extremely valuable for our emergency management and backend FEMA reporting after the event ended. Many open-development IOT systems are good for prototyping but are not ready for mass deployment in terms of packaging. That is not the case with the FX30 and Energiya. It is a good solution for companies like us who do not have the resources to take a prototype and develop a package and board that works for their application.”
Another customer use case example is Energy-Pool. “We use Energiya expansion cards (Ethernet and RS485) and FX30 to monitor (mainly) the consumption of industrial sites (like steel factory, supermarket, and many others),” said Guillaume Amaudric du Chaffaut from Energy-Pool. “Your products are very good and our part of the standard cabinet offering to our customers. They allow us to expand the I/O and interfaces from FX30 to fulfill the requirements of the instrumentation.”