LoRaWAN® on the Construction Site: Use cases, advantages practical examples
Last modified on 11th April, 2024
One of our members is currently building his own home and is using LoRaWAN® on his own construction site to solve various problems. For this reason, we are presenting a small series of articles to show you which IoT applications are suitable for your own construction site, why LoRaWAN® is an advantageous transmission standard there and, using a specific application, how you can put it all into practice.
IoT use cases on the construction site
First, a few ideas for use cases that we think are useful and that can be easily implemented on construction sites with the help of IoT sensors and LoRaWAN®:
- Monitoring the presence/activity of craftsmen
- Monitoring the room climate to avoid/prevent mold or to check the drying of the screed
- Detection of leaks at vulnerable locations
- GPS monitoring of machines, IBC tanks for storing liquids such as oil, tools or other valuables
- Lighting control to avoid unnecessary power consumption
- Level monitoring of IBC or other tanks
As you can see, there are a number of possible use cases here. Of course, this is not an exhaustive list and there are certainly many more. After all, there are no limits to your own creativity.
Advantages of LoRaWAN® on the construction site
Why is LoRaWAN® a suitable transmission standard for construction sites and which of its advantages are particularly relevant here? From our point of view, the main ones are:
- The realization of large coverage ranges with few means (depending on the respective local conditions usually up to 5 km in urban areas, even up to 20 km in rural areas)
- The excellent building penetration and the very high interference immunity
- The very low power/energy requirement of LoRaWAN® -based, battery-operated IoT sensors = low maintenance, durable, cost-effective and ideal for hard-to-reach measuring points/locations
If you want to know more about LoRaWAN® and its other advantages, also compared to other standards, then take a look at our FAQ in the help section and the blog post “LoRaWAN® vs. NB-IoT – A first overview and comparison”.
Practical Example of Presence Monitoring – A Basic Setup
Using the specific use case of the presence monitoring mentioned above, we will now show you how you can implement the whole thing in practice based on the ZENNER Datahub and what you need for it.
1. IoT Sensors for Presence Detection
Various IoT sensors that can detect movement can be used to detect the presence of craftsmen or uninvited guests on the construction site. This example uses a Browan Tabs Motion Sensor:
As you can see in the photo, the compact sensor is simply plugged into a still open flush-mounted box near the entrance. It is barely noticeable and is also protected from unwanted external influences. The battery-powered Tabs Motion Sensor detects movement using a dual passive infrared (PIR) detector and fresnel lens with a detection range of 7 meters. Alternatively, you can, of course, also use other sensor models. You can find a selection of other motion sensors in the ZENNERShop, for example.
2. LoRaWAN® network for measured value transmission
Access to a LoRaWAN® network is necessary so that the measured values recorded by the sensor can be sent to the appropriate systems/tools for further processing. If this does not apply to the location of your construction site, you can obtain this, for example, by ordering an IoT GatewayPLUS from the ZENNERShop. Our Community member uses the ZENNER GatewayPLUS Indoor on his construction site. This can either be permanently installed or, as shown in the photo below, simply plugged in and placed loosely in a suitable location. This option is ideal for getting started, if you are perhaps unsure of the ideal location for your gateway.
Special advantage: For data transmission, the gateway can automatically switch between cellular and Ethernet backhaul. As very few construction sites already have an Internet connection in the early stages of construction, the use of mobile communications is, of course, particularly useful here.
3. IoT Tools for Data Processing & Visualization
Now we come to the systems/tools for the further processing of the collected data. However, in order not to go beyond the scope of this article, only a rough overview will be given below, before going into detail in another article. Basically, you have the choice between paid tools that can be used out-of-the-box, such as the B.One Gallery, and mostly free open source tools. If you want to set up as little as possible yourself and do not need any individual customization options, the former is definitely recommended. Otherwise, the latter is also an exciting approach, which our community member has also chosen in this use case and which we will examine in more detail below.
ZENNER Datahub as a data hub
In this case, the ZENNER Datahub acts as a central data hub in the background. The measurement data recorded by the sensors is received via the IoT GatewayPLUS Indoor installed in the building, parsed in the ZENNER Datahub and finally forwarded via HTTP to the endpoint created in Node-Red.
Node-Red for application logic
The entire logic of the use case is mapped in Node-Red. This ranges from storing the data in a database to defining the minimum time window between two presence notifications.
Messenger for Notification
The information about the presence on the construction site is provided via an automatically sent notification. This is configured via Node-Red and then sent to the recipient(s) via the Messenger Telegram.
Grafana for Data Visualization
In addition to ad hoc notifications, you may also want to analyze historical attendance data and track it over time. For this purpose, the data stored in the database can be visualized using Grafana.
Technical Implementation in Detail
You have now received some ideas for possible IoT applications on your own construction site, learned which advantages LoRaWAN® offers as a transmission standard and what a possible basic setup for practical implementation could look like using the example of the specific use case of attendance monitoring. In the second article we will take a closer look at the technical implementation . Above all, this includes the interaction of the systems/tools used and setting up an alarm notification via Telegram. In addition, there are further insights into the dashboard itself.
Are you already implementing your own IoT use cases on the construction site? Or do you have other application ideas? Then share your experiences or ideas and exchange with each other here in the Community 🙂
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