A Low-Cost Solution To Remote Monitoring of Animal Facility Thermal Environments

• A Dragino LHT65 LoRaWAN T/RH Sensor was selected ($33 per unit, including a battery). The sensor came with a temperature/humidity probe inside the sensor enclosure and a temperature probe on an extension cable (Figure 1-A). Two sensors were installed, with one in each room (Figure 1-B). The sensors are water-proof and can be tied to water or feed lines.

• A RAK7258 LoRaWAN indoor gateway ($149 per unit) was installed in the mechanical room of the barn. It connects to the internet via Wi-Fi that is available in the barn office.
• The Things Network (TTN) was used as the network server.
• A dashboard (Figure 2-A) was created using MyDevices Cayenne, a free, open-source application server. With the dashboard, a producer can not only browse the current temperature and humidity readings, but also access and download historical data records (Figure 2-B). Another useful function is ALERT/TRIGGER. For example, a text message can be sent to the producer when the temperature is higher or lower than certain thresholds.

Why LoRaWAN?

Figure 2. A) Example dashboard created with myDevices Cayenne. The system at the offsite hog farm also measures the manure level in the deep pit. B) Retrieving of historical temperature readings from the stored data.

LoRaWAN is a long-range wireless network technology and has a transmission range up to tens of miles. Comparatively, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth – two most commonly used wireless technologies – have a limited transmission range (typically ≤ 100 feet). The long-range wireless transmission is desired, if not required, for most farm network applications. An immediate benefit of LoRaWAN is that you can use one or a few gateways to cover a relatively large farm land or facility. The gateways can be installed in your farm office or house miles away from production areas. Unlike family or enterprise internet service, LoRaWAN is subscription free. Thus, LoRaWAN is more affordable than Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet in terms of initial and operating costs. Another benefit of LoRaWAN is its low power consumption. This enables LoRaWAN sensors to run on batteries for years without battery replacement, thereby simplifying the network setup and maintenance. Comparatively, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and cellular networks must be wired to grids or use solar panels.

How can we help?

The setup of LoRaWAN monitoring systems is not difficult, but it involves many technical details. For the example project, the system was set up by two undergraduate students, with moderate aids from mentors. We are developing guidance documents for producers with little relevant background.