hen it comes to Internet of Things, connectivity to the internet is the primary area of focus. The sensors on the IoT devices, wearables and electronic devices need to get connected easily – preferably wirelessly. IoT LPWA market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 90 percent. It is expected that in 2021 the market size of about EUR 24.5 billion.
I earlier wrote about Sigfox LPWA system. It was pretty simple story. Now it is time to take a look at the competing technology LoRa. It is a more complicated, and maybe more interesting story.
LoRaWAN tries to bridges the gap between WLAN and cellular networks while allowing low power operations (sensors can work years with batteries). LoRaWAN is a Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) and allows for Internet of Things connectivity making way for secure bidirectional communication. LoRa offers good .
LoRAWAN and LoRa radio
LoRa system consists of two parts: LoRaWAN media access control and LoRa physical layer technology.
LoRaWAN is a media access control (MAC) layer protocol designed for large-scale public networks with a single operator. It is built using Semtech’s LoRa modulation scheme. LoRaWAN as a protocol is strictly for wide-area networks.
LoRa as a lower-level physical layer technology (PHY) can be used in all sorts of applications outside of wide area. No, you do not need a gateway for applications that don’t need to connect to Internet. You can easily implement simple protocols using LoRa, either with modules or with the chips themselves.
There are two options to use this type of radio technology: LoRa and LoRaWAN
- LoRa contains only the link layer protocol and is perfect to be used in P2P communications between nodes in the 868 and 900MHz bands. LoRa modules are a little cheaper that the LoRaWAN ones. For details Go to the LoRa Tutorial.
- LoRaWAN includes the network layer too so it is possible to send the information to any Base Station already connected to a Cloud platform. LoRaWAN modules may work in the 868/900/433MHz bands. For more details Go to the LoRaWAN Tutorial.
LoRa radio details
LoRa communications systems for IoT consists of LoRa (a chirped modulation format) and LoRaWAN (a MAC-layer protocol) . LoRa is a spread-spectrum technology that uses quite wide band (usually 125 kHz or more). Its frequency-modulated chirp utilizes coding gain for increased receiver sensitivity.
The great performance of LoRa in 3 features (good sensitivity, low path loss, good obstacle penetration) makes LoRa a disruptive technology enabling really long range links. Because LoRa receiver looks at quite wide amount of spectrum (so receiver gets much more noise than narrowband systems like SigFox), it needs to elevate noise due to a larger receiver bandwidth is mitigated by the coding gains. Practical link budgets are about the same for SigFox and LoRaWAN. For example Semtech SX1272 LoRa transceiver IC promises 157 dB maximum link budget. With more realistic sensitivity of -134 dBm and +14 dBm we get 148 dB link budget, that should be able to provide more than 22km (13.6 miles) in LOS links and up to 2km (1.2miles) in NLOS links in urban environment (going through buildings).
LoRaWAN data rates range from 0.3 kbps to 50 kbps (some chips can offer bit rate up to 300 kbps). To maximize both battery life of the end-devices and overall network capacity, the LoRaWAN network server is managing the data rate and RF output for each end-device individually by means of an adaptive data rate (ADR) scheme.
. The Semtech basestation architecture is designed to operate only at 850 MHz to 1 GHz. Most typically LoRa is used in 868 MHz (Europe) and 915 MHz (USA) unlicensed frequency bands. LoRaWAN modules may work in the 868/900/433MHz bands.
In radio communications at license free there are limits on transmitter duty cycles. In Europe, 863 to 870 MHz band has been allocated for license-free operation with transmission duty cycle of 0.1%, 1% or 10% (or other control means like LBT and AFA). At 868 MHz the duty cycle is 1%. For other regions, quite similar limitations apply.
There are also other recommendations, for example TTN Fair Access Policy limits the data each end-device can send, by allowing: An average of 30 seconds uplink time on air, per day, per device. At most 10 downlink messages per day. A good goal is to keep the application payload under 12 bytes, and the interval between messages at least several minutes (application packet size can vary between 51 bytes for the slowest data rate, and 222 bytes for faster rates).
LoRa has so far relied on unlicensed spectrum to provide connectivity for sensors used in smart meters, asset-tracking devices and other “Internet of Things” (IoT) networks, but it is also heading to licensed frequencies as well?. Mobile operators that have made investments in LoRa networks are now looking at using licensed spectrum to support the technology. Running the technology over licensed spectrum could help operators overcome one of the main drawbacks of the technology — the interference and congestion that can occur in unlicensed airwaves.“The only benefit carriers have is that they can guarantee quality of service because it’s a licensed band,” said the mystery mouthpiece. Going to other than ISM bands should not be a big problem, because for example The SX1272 LoRa transceiver covers a frequency range of 860 to 1,020 MHz and SX1276 transceiver spans a frequency range from 137 to 1,020 MHz.
LoRaWAN details
LoRaWAN includes the network layer too so it is possible to send the information to any Base Station already connected to a Cloud platform. LoRaWAN was designed for the centralized architecture of telecom operators.
LoRaWAN network architecture is typically laid out in a star-of-stars topology in which gateways is a transparent bridge relaying messages between end-devices and a central network server in the backend. Gateways are connected to the network server via standard IP connections while end-devices use single-hop wireless communication to one or many gateways. All end-point communication is generally bi-directional, but also supports operation such as multicast enabling software upgrade over the air or other mass distribution messages to reduce the on air communication time. For some more details, read Go to the LoRaWAN Tutorial.
In LoRa system both the endpoint and the basestation are relatively inexpensive. This is primarily because you can use the same radio for a receiver on the basestation and at the endpoint. Typically LoRaWAN basestation tends to be more expensive than the endpoint.
Advantages and disadvantages of LoRaWAN
Following are the advantages of LoRaWAN:
➨It uses 868 MHz/ 915 MHz ISM bands which is available world wide.
➨It has very wide coverage range about 5 km in urban areas and 15 km in suburban areas.
➨It consumes very little power and hence battery will last for long duration.
➨Single LoRa Gateway device is designed to take care of 1000s of end devices or nodes.
➨It is easy to deploy due to its simple architecture
➨It uses Adaptive Data Rate technique to vary output data rate/Rf output of end devices. The data rate can be varied from 0.3 kbps to 27 Kbps for 125 KHz bandwidth.
➨The physical layer uses robust CSS modulation (Chirp Spread Spectrum). It uses 6 SF (spreading factors) from SF 7 to 12. This delivers orthogonal transmissions at different data rates. Moreover it provides processing gain. LoRa modulation has constant envelope modulation similar to FSK modulation (easy for PA design)
➨LoRaWAN supports three different types of devices viz. class-A, class-B and class-C.
Following are the disadvantages of LoRaWAN:
➨It can be used for applications requiring low data rate i.e. upto about 27 Kbps.
➨LoRaWAN network size is limited based on parameter called as duty cycle. This parameter arises from the regulation as key limiting factor for traffic served in the LoRaWAN network.
➨It is not ideal candidate to be used for real time applications requiring lower latency and bounded jitter requirements.
Security is important. National wide networks targeting internet of things such as critical infrastructure, confidential personal data or critical functions for the society has a special need for secure communication. This has been solved in LoRaWAN system by several layer of encryption as detailed in this picture from LoRa Alliance.
The security model uses several keys: Unique Network key (EUI64) and ensure security on network level, Unique Application key (EUI64) ensure end to end security on application level and Device specific key (EUI128). Some discussion on LoRaWAN security can be found at Security of an IoT network using AES (LoRaWAN) web page:MIC (Message Integrity Code) for each message and the end-to-end (application to application) ciphering of the payload both use AES 128 bits key.
Pictures of some LoRa products
Here is LoRa dev board by Espotel.
Here is Jaakko Ala-Paavola from Espotel showing LoRa demo that uses their LoRa dev board and commercial LoRa gateway (also uses Node-RED to implement control logic).
The Things Network
The Things Network is a global, crowdsourced, open, free and decentralized internet of things network. The Things Network (TTN) comprises a number of internet connected LoRaWAN gateways deployed by enthusiastic supporters in a growing number of areas around the world.
Because the costs of LoRa technology are very low, the idea is that we do not have to rely on large telco corporations to build such a network. For example the city of Amsterdam was covered with only 10 gateways at the cost of 1200 dollars each – a single Gateway can serve thousands of devices. If you don’t already have local coverage, then you can deploy your own gateway and connect it to TTN. While gateways are expensive at around $500 each, many local funding opportunities exist.
Although the goal of The Things Network is to support for any protocol that can be useful for the community, the focus is currently on LoRaWAN. LoRaWAN is perfect for the Internet of Things as it is low battery, long range, and low bandwidth.
The Things Network is about enabling low power Devices to use long range Gateways to connect to an open-source, decentralized Network to exchange data with Applications and Platforms.
Gateways form the bridge between devices and The Things Network. Devices use low power networks like LoRaWAN to connect to the Gateway, while the Gateway uses high bandwidth networks like WiFi, Ethernet or Cellular to connect to The Things Network. All Gateways within reach of a device will receive its messages and forward them to The Things Network.
The network will deduplicate the messages. The Backend handles the received data.The aim is make the different backend components as decoupled as possible, so there is a clear separation of the responsibilities of each component. The Things Network’s different routing service components:
Gateway, Router, Broker, NetworkServer, Handler and Application
LoRaWAN is a “network-intensive” protocol, intensive in the sense that due to the simple and minimalistic approach for devices, the backend systems are responsible for most of the logic. Firstly, there are some Gateway-related functions such as scheduling and managing the utilization of the gateways. Scheduling is needed because a gateway can only do one transmission at the same time. The utilization information is used to evenly distribute load over different gateways and to be compliant with the European duty cycles. Another important feature is monitoring the status of each gateway. We also need device-related functions that manage the state of devices in the network: Addressing is such that device address are non-unique, so the network has to keep track of which addresses are used by which devices in order to map a message to the correct device and application). Other things the network must keep track of are the security keys and frame counters. The Handlers need to know how to interpret binary data, and bridge to higher-layer protocols, such as AMQP and MQTT. As The Things Network will be a distributed network, there has to be functionality that supports this distribution.
The default Handler implementation simply publishes a JSON representation of uplink messages to a topic <app_eui>/devices/<dev_eui>/up on an MQTT broker. This allows applications to simply subscribe to the same MQTT topic and process the data in any way.
EXAMPLE: From the following message, the application could for example see that the temperature measured by device 001122334455667788 was 12.86 degrees:
Topic: 0102030405060708/devices/001122334455667788/up
{ payload: 'BQY=',
fields:{temperature: 12.86 },
port: 14,
counter: 1234,
metadata:
[ { frequency: 868.1,
datarate: 'SF7BW125',
codingrate: '4/5',
...
longitude: 6.55738,
latitude: 53.18977 } ] }The public community network will probably stick with this API and format, but this behaviour can be easily adapted to other use cases. After publishing the uplink message to MQTT, the Handler will determine whether it is necessary to reply to the device with a downlink message.
In an open network with many different end-devices (nodes), which are not connected but just start sending when they need to (ALOHA-like protocol), and all have a different data need and connection quality, there are many limiting factors to keep things working.
The data rate and maximum packet size roughly depend on the distance to the nearest gateway and the type of data to be sent. For the European 863-870MHz band, the application packet size varies between 51 bytes for the slowest data rate, and 222 bytes for faster rates (LoRaWAN protocol adds at least 13 bytes to the application payload). When an end-device is far away from a gateway, it needs to use a low data rate to ensure at least one gateway receives its data. But a lower data rate implies a longer air time for each byte. For the European EU 863-870MHz ISM Band limits the duty cycle to 1% for data. For other regions, quite similar limitations apply. For 1000 nodes per gateway and dutu cycle limitations, we end up approximately 30 seconds per node per day. With this Fair Access Policy for 10 bytes of payload, this translates in (approx.): 20 messages per day at SF12 or 500 messages per day at SF7.
By default, gateways transmit with maximum allowed TX power (14 for EU-868). Every device has the same transmit duty cycle, gateways are no exception, so gateway must have less than 1% transmit duty cycle.
APIs
IoT device end: Semtech SX1272 LoRa transceiver IC provides SPI interface to communicate with it. RN2483LoRa module from Microchip connects over a serial interface.
The Things Network backend: The default Handler implementation simply publishes a JSON representation of uplink messages to a topic <app_eui>/devices/<dev_eui>/up on an MQTT broker. This allows applications to simply subscribe to the same MQTT topic and process the data in any way.
381 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sending and receiving location data over LoRa using a pair of LILYGO T-Beams, this project comes with an attractive user interface.
Eric N.’s ESP32 LoRa Trackers Offer a Browser-Based Mapping Interface Compatible with Raspberry Pi
https://www.hackster.io/news/eric-n-s-esp32-lora-trackers-offer-a-browser-based-mapping-interface-compatible-with-raspberry-pi-bff018f5cba1
Tomi Engdahl says:
Eric N.’s ESP32 LoRa Trackers Offer a Browser-Based Mapping Interface Compatible with Raspberry Pi
https://www.hackster.io/news/eric-n-s-esp32-lora-trackers-offer-a-browser-based-mapping-interface-compatible-with-raspberry-pi-bff018f5cba1
Sending and receiving location data over LoRa using a pair of LILYGO T-Beams, this project comes with an attractive user interface.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2022/05/25/long-distance-text-communication-with-lora/
Tomi Engdahl says:
RaEsp Gateway
WiFi (ESP8266) connected Ra-02 (SX1278) radio module, OOK, GFSK .. LoRA capable.
https://hackaday.io/project/185280-raesp-gateway
This project is an upgraded version of my previous one, WiFi connected 433MHz transmitter. However this design can be extended via software to support much more things like receiving OOK data (acting like transceiver).
Things that can be achieved by software defined behavior:
LoRA connectivity (433MHz)
OOK transmit and receive (RC switches, outlets, garage doors; weather stations)
FSK, GFSK, MSK, GMSK transmit and receive
Tomi Engdahl says:
Long Range Machine Control System
https://hackaday.io/project/184672-long-range-machine-control-system
LoRa + ROS Full Duplex Peer to Peer Data Transceiver with Onboard High Precision Satellite Positioning
Tomi Engdahl says:
Check out the ingenious LoRaWAN™ based solution Bosch Global built using Arduino Pro devices to detect parking occupancy: https://www.arduino.cc/pro/case-studies/bosch
Tomi Engdahl says:
No Infrastructure Network with ESPnow and LoRa (incl. Repeaters and Gateways). A TTN replacement?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JI5wZABWmA
Today, I can present you a diamond: The Farm Data Relay System. A network using LoRa and ESPnow that does not rely on infrastructure like TTN. And it is not only for farms. It is universal.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2022/06/28/designing-a-lora-gateway-during-a-part-shortage/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Farm Data Relay System: Combine LoRa And 2.4 Ghz Networks Without WiFi Routers And Cloud Dependence
https://hackaday.com/2022/07/02/farm-data-relay-system/
Setting up a wireless sensor network over a wide area can quickly become costly, and making everything communicate smoothly can be a massive headache, especially when you’re combining short range Wi-Fi with long range LoRa. To simplify this, [Timm Bogner] created Farm Data Relay System which simplifies the process of combining LoRa, 2.4Ghz modules and serial communications in various topologies over wide areas.
The FDRS uses a combination of ESP32/8266 sensor nodes for short range, and LoRa nodes for long range. The ESP nodes use Espressif’s connectionless ESP-NOW peer-to-peer protocol on which allow multiple ESP boards to communicate directly without the need for a Wi-Fi router. The ESP modules can have one of 3 roles, nodes, repeaters or gateways, and gateways and repeaters share the same code. Nodes take sensor inputs, and are configured to each have a unique READING_ID.
https://github.com/timmbogner
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2022/07/07/lora-helps-with-remote-water-tank-level-sensing/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2022/07/07/diy-low-cost-lora-satellite-ground-station/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arduino “launches” WisGate Edge LoRaWAN gateways in collaboration with RAKwireless
https://www.cnx-software.com/2022/07/11/arduino-launches-wisgate-edge-lorawan-gateways-in-collaboration-with-rakwireless/
Arduino was already involved in LoRaWAN with its MKR WAN 1300 board, but now the company has started offering Arduino-branded Wisgate Edge Pro and Wisgate Edge Lite 2 LoRaWAN gateways for respectively outdoor and indoor environments as part of the Arduino Pro family.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.cnx-software.com/2022/07/11/arduino-launches-wisgate-edge-lorawan-gateways-in-collaboration-with-rakwireless/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Satellite-based European LoRa IoT program and whitepaper announced
https://www.iotinsider.com/communications/satellite-based-lora-iot-program-unlocks-massive-iot-capability-across-europe/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iotinsider.com/communications/satellite-based-lora-iot-program-unlocks-massive-iot-capability-across-europe/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://blog.christianperone.com/2022/01/arduino-wan-helium-network-and-cryptography/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Illegal Logging and Fire Detector
An IoT Logging and Fire detector employing the PSoC™ 6 62S2 Wi-Fi BT Pioneer Kit by Infineon and the Helium Network via LoRa.
https://www.hackster.io/468821/illegal-logging-and-fire-detector-199e75
Tomi Engdahl says:
LoRa End Node & Remote Monitoring System
https://hackaday.io/project/186608-lora-end-node-remote-monitoring-system
A LoRa remote solar powered monitoring system designed to be as flexible as possible and connect to a variety of sensors/sensor modules
The LoRa remote monitor consists of three custom PCBs, a IP67 enclosure, and a 6V or 12V solar panel.
Software is developed using Arduino IDE, STM32 Arduino core library, Arduino LMIC library, and libraries for sensors.
* LoRa End Node PCB
STM32L15X MPU with RFM95 LoRa Module (915Mhz).
* Sensor I/O Interface PCB
3 – 12 posistion screw terminals to I2C, UART, ADC/DAC, GPIO.
24LC32 EEPROM for configuration information, EUI etc.
* MPPT Solar Power Module PCB
6V or 12V Solar panel to 3.7/7.4V LiPo battery.
* IP67 Enclosure and Monitor
Tomi Engdahl says:
2022 Hackaday Prize: Plant Monitoring System Grows To Include LoRa
https://hackaday.com/2022/08/23/2022-hackaday-prize-plant-monitoring-system-grows-to-include-lora/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Solar Powered WiFi Weather Station V4.0
https://hackaday.io/project/187061-solar-powered-wifi-weather-station-v40
Low-Cost Open Source Weather Station by using ESP32 and LoRa
An Open Source Solar-Powered Weather Station to monitor Temperature, Humidity, Air Pressure, Air Quality, Wind Speed, Wind Direction, Rainfall, UV Index, Lux Level, Soil, and many more.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Local LoRaWAN infrastructure
Be your own network operator
https://hackaday.io/project/187015-local-lorawan-infrastructure
We are operating a LoRaWAN infrastructure that is run locally, with one gateway on a tall building and a ChirpStack server. For now data is being pushed into InfluxDB and can be viewed with Grafana.
Tomi Engdahl says:
LoRa Air Quality Monitor Raises The Bar On DIY IoT
https://hackaday.com/2022/08/30/lora-air-quality-monitor-raises-the-bar-on-diy-iot/
We’ve seen an incredible number of homebrew environmental monitors here at Hackaday, and on the whole, they tend to follow a pretty predicable pattern. An ESP8266 gets paired with a common temperature and humidity sensor, perhaps a custom PCB gets invited to the party, and the end result are some values getting pushed out via MQTT. It’s a great weekend project to get your feet wet, but not exactly groundbreaking in 2022.
Which is why we find the AERQ project from [Mircea-Iuliu Micle] so refreshing. Not only does this gadget pick up temperature and humidity as you’d expect, but its Bosch BME688 sensor can also sniff out volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and gases such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The datasheet actually claims this is the “first gas sensor with Artificial Intelligence (AI)”, and while we’re not sure what exactly that means in this context, it’s a claim that apparently warrants a price tag of $15+ USD a pop in single quantities.
Tomi Engdahl says:
AERQ – Indoor air quality monitor
https://github.com/Mircerson/AERQ
This is the repository for AERQ, a USB-powered indoor air quality monitor using the here Bosch BME688 sensor, running on mbed os. It measures temperature, humidity, CO2 and IAQ using the BSEC 2.x library. This data is then sent to The Things Network.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Water Level Sensor Does Not Use Water Level Sensor
https://hackaday.com/2022/08/31/water-level-sensor-does-not-use-water-level-sensor/
When interfacing with the real world, there are all kinds of sensors available which will readily communicate with your microcontroller of choice. Moisture, pH, humidity, temperature, location, light, and essentially every other physical phenomenon are readily measured with a matching sensor. But if you don’t have the exact sensor you need, it’s sometimes possible to use one sensor as a proxy for another.
[Brian Wyld] needed a way to monitor the level of a remote body of water but couldn’t use a pressure or surface-level sensor, so he used a sensor typically intended for geolocation instead. This particular unit, an STM-type device with a built-in accelerometer, is attached to a rotating arm with a float at one end. As the arm pivots, the microcontroller reports its position and some software converts the change in position to a water level. It’s also paired with a LoRa radio, allowing it to operate off-grid.
Water level lora sensor
https://hackaday.io/project/186862-water-level-lora-sensor
Detect liquid level using a float to rotate battery powered device with accelerometer to detect inclination, send data using LoRaWAN radio
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sensor Monitoring Using LoRa & Arduino
https://hackaday.io/project/187180-sensor-monitoring-using-lora-arduino
A small cool and very informative project, to show “how Long range radio system can work with sensors”. Let’s build one with own.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Compact LoRa Environmental Sensor
https://hackaday.io/project/187133-compact-lora-environmental-sensor
Compact solar-powered LoRa environmental sensor capable of sensing temperature, humidity, air pressure and VoC using BME688
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize 2022: Solar Powered LoRa Weather Station For The Masses
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/22/hackaday-prize-2022-solar-powered-lora-weather-station-for-the-masses/
[Debasish Dutta] has designed a few weather stations in the past, and this, the fourth version of the system has had many of the feature requests from past users rolled in. The station is intended to be used with an external weather sensor unit, provided by Sparkfun. This handles wind speed and direction, as well as measuring rainfall. A custom PCB hosts an ESP32-WROOM module and an Ai-Thinker Ra-02 LoRa module for control and connectivity respectively. A PMS5003 sits on the PCB to measure those particulate densities, but most sensors are connected with simple 4-way I2C connectors. Temperature, humidity, and pressure are handled by a BME280 module, UV Index (SI1145), visible light (BH1750) even soil humidity and temperature with a cable-mounted SHT10 module.
Solar Powered WiFi Weather Station V4.0
An affordable Open Source Weather Station for Everyone
https://hackaday.io/project/187061-solar-powered-wifi-weather-station-v40
Tomi Engdahl says:
Maduino Lora(433M/868M)
Lora Solution Based on Arduino
https://hackaday.io/project/28981-maduino-lora433m868m
The LoRa Radio allows the user to send data and reach extremely long ranges at low data rates. It provides ultra-long range spread spectrum communication and high interference immunity whilst minimizing current consumption. The Maduino Lora useRFM95 and Atmega328, plus the power management circuit, to make it a ready-to-go solution for the Lora application.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Recycling Junk E-tags Into A LoRaWAN AQI Sensor
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/28/recycling-junk-e-tags-into-a-lorawan-aqi-sensor/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Ripple LoRa mesh now has community-focussed tools, including group chats, surveys, shared calendars, and shared map places.
https://www.hackster.io/scottpowell69/remote-community-collaboration-e6a7b5
Tomi Engdahl says:
Environmental Toolkit for an Ecological Area
https://hackaday.io/project/186547-environmental-toolkit-for-an-ecological-area
LoRaWAN IoT system with the Arduino MKR WAN 1300, that help my community to monitor the air quality and water of our ecological area
Description
I live on the shores of a big city, and there’re still ecological reserves with natural lakes and migrating birds of all species. However, there is a big struggle between those who pollute and those who make efforts to clean up these places. Here, people periodically organize ourselves to collect trash, prune green areas, and clean the lakes of water lilies and PET bottles, we even reforest more green areas with plants and trees in order to recover its richness of vegetation. But this is not enough, so I developed a LoRaWAN System with the Arduino MKR WAN 1300, that helps us to monitor the air quality and water ot the ecological reserve of our community. INNOVATION: I have replaced the commercial Gateway with a hardware and software solution between the Arduino MKR WAN 1300 and Arduino NANO 33 IoT, so this project is original and cheaper than any other. Now, plants receive enough quality water, and adequate nutrients thanks to real-time sensor monitoring
Tomi Engdahl says:
Communicating with a LoRa-Based Satellite in Orbit
Oct. 3, 2022
Lacuna Space and The Things Industries have partnered up to provide The Things Industries’ global LoRaWAN developer ecosystem, with the ability to evaluate satellite connectivity with free access.
https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/systems/video/21251646/electronic-design-communicating-with-a-lorabased-satellite-in-orbit?utm_source=EG+ED+Connected+Solutions&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS221011200&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.identpull=omeda|7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R
Lacuna Space, a leading network operator for direct-to-satellite LoRa connectivity, and The Things Industries, a LoRaWAN solutions provider, have partnered up to provide The Things Industries’ global LoRaWAN developer ecosystem, which has the ability to evaluate satellite connectivity with free access.
The Lacuna Network is designed to work in harmony with the Packet Broker concept from The Things Industries, allowing users to seamlessly merge regional terrestrial coverage with extended satellite coverage in the most remote areas. Ubiquitous connectivity is a game-changer for logistics, agriculture, industrial, and maritime markets.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Refrigerator Fleet Monitoring Made Easy with LoRa
Monitor temperature, humidity, and door open/close state across fleets of refrigerators with low-cost, LoRa-based sensors.
https://www.hackster.io/blues-wireless/refrigerator-fleet-monitoring-made-easy-with-lora-e6163e
Tomi Engdahl says:
Squeak: GPS pet tracker
https://hackaday.io/project/188224-squeak-gps-pet-tracker
Squeak is a LoRaWAN GPS pet tracker with a very long battery life. It allows you to ask your pets to share their location
Goals for Squeak:
- More than 2 months of battery life (GPS off, 15 minute uplinks)
- decent size for dogs & big-ish cats
There are many other GPS pet/asset trackers, some of them also using LoRa in one form or another.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mihai Cuciuc’s Squeak Keeps an Eye on Furry Friends with a LoRaWAN-Linked GNSS Tracker
https://www.hackster.io/news/mihai-cuciuc-s-squeak-keeps-an-eye-on-furry-friends-with-a-lorawan-linked-gnss-tracker-8d5a93b06770
Built around a Microchip RN2483 and Quectel L80, this pet tracker talks to the user via Telegram over a LoRaWAN link.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cybersecurity Survey of LoRa and LoRWAN Industrial Radio
https://pentestmag.com/cybersecurity-survey-of-lora-and-lorwan-industrial-radio/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2023/01/23/sadoilla-lorawan-antureilla-tykkylunta-vastaan/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/01/25/secure-lora-mesh-communication-network/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Things Industries Boasts of a Major Milestone with Over a Million Devices Connected to Its Stack
https://www.hackster.io/news/the-things-industries-boasts-of-a-major-milestone-with-over-a-million-devices-connected-to-its-stack-870b49440379
The Things Stack now provides connectivity and management to more than a million devices across the globe — and growth continues.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Building A Communications Grid With LoRaType
https://hackaday.com/2023/03/13/building-a-communications-grid-with-loratype/
Almost all of modern society is built around various infrastructure, whether that’s for electricity, water and sewer, transportation, or even communication. These vast networks aren’t immune from failure though, and at least as far as communication goes, plenty will reach for a radio of some sort to communicate when Internet or phone services are lacking. It turns out that certain LoRa devices are excellent for local communication as well, and this system known as LoraType looks to create off-grid text-based communications networks wherever they might be needed.
The project is based around the ESP32 platform with an E22 LoRa module built-in to allow it to operate within its UHF bands.
https://github.com/AutomationArt/LoraType
Tomi Engdahl says:
Range Testing with FDRS and Node-RED
Test the range of ESP-NOW and LoRa radios
https://hackaday.io/project/190006-range-testing-with-fdrs-and-node-red
Tomi Engdahl says:
With a claimed nine mile-plus line-of-sight range, SparkFun Electronics, Inc.’s LoRaSerial Kit is ideal for low-bandwidth connectivity with no fees.
SparkFun’s LoRaSerial Kit Connects Any TTL Serial Devices Over-the-Air — Up to Nine Miles Apart
https://www.hackster.io/news/sparkfun-s-loraserial-kit-connects-any-ttl-serial-devices-over-the-air-up-to-nine-miles-apart-cc8fa3c4e849
With a claimed nine-mile-plus line-of-sight range, the LoRaSerial Kit is ideal for low-bandwidth connectivity with no fees.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Semtech Unveils the LR1121 LoRa Transceiver with Sub-GHz, 2.4GHz, and S-Band Satellite Connectivity
Latest low-power transceiver offers truly global coverage — and with support for direct satellite communication, even beyond global.
https://www.hackster.io/news/semtech-unveils-the-lr1121-lora-transceiver-with-sub-ghz-2-4ghz-and-s-band-satellite-connectivity-48a8fc5505e2
Tomi Engdahl says:
Markkinoiden tarkinta vedenmittausta: LoRaWAN Ultrimis W -mittarit!
Tutustu huippuominaisuuksiin osoitteessa https://lvi-wabek.fi/lorawan-ultrimis-w/
tai siirry suoraan ostoksille Wa’Shop-verkkokauppaan: https://www.wbk.fi/fi/tuotteet/vedenmittaus-varaajat-putkistotarvikkeet/vesimittarit-ultrimis-lorawan-ja-m-bus
#lviwabek #superservice #lorawan #vedenmittaus #washop
Tomi Engdahl says:
Extend Building Automation and Control with LoRaWAN
Nov. 8, 2021
Historically, building management systems were hardwired, making it challenging to update or modify these systems. The advent of LPWANs has changed the equation to simplify and extend existing systems to address emerging smart-building requirements.
https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/communications/article/21180658/lora-alliance-extend-building-automation-and-control-with-lorawan?utm_source=EG+ED++Sponsor+Paid+Promos&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS230316128&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.identpull=omeda|7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R
Tomi Engdahl says:
Radio Feather X
All in One STM32 feather board with Radio capabilities (NRF24 and LORA)
https://hackaday.io/project/189697-radio-feather-x
This is the design of a STM32F302 feather board with integrated RF modules.
It is based on ADA Fruit’s Feather standard with additional pin headers and support to add one of a few RF modules that do communicate with the MCU through SPI. These planned supported RF modules are:
- LORA 433MHz (RA-02 based on SX1278)
- LORA 866MHZ (E220 based on LLCC68)
- NRF24 2.4GHz
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fascinating mix of STRONG 125k LoRa + some other 200k signal from Omni-M1 on S-Band WAY up high 10,000+ Km during a nearly 3 hour pass over the U.S. Reversed LoRa parameters but masking payloads here since we’re out of the Amateur bands. Always something new!
https://twitter.com/scott23192/status/1643882767657123840
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.hackster.io/news/adafruit-s-radiofruit-feather-rp2040-rfm95-offers-a-low-cost-low-power-lora-radio-project-base-36e8d4c5e39a
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/22/building-a-local-network-with-lorawan/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/03/lora-goes-to-the-moon/