Increasing Safety and Visibility with LoRaWAN and Meshed IoT

Established in 2015, Meshed IoT is providing innovative IoT solutions using the LoRaWAN® network to cities and industries throughout Australia.

Over the past few years, 46 Australian local councils have partnered with Meshed to deploy free-to-use public access LoRaWAN® IoT networks. This ubiquitous layer of connectivity has enabled the collection of real-time data about the performance of assets, places, and people, as well as the implementation of new IoT solutions that were not practical previously.

“We really like Digital Matter’s devices,” says Paul McManus, Co-Founder of Meshed. “Our technical team thinks very highly of the way they’re engineered – particularly the way the firmware is organized.” 

Creating Smart Beaches

Using a combination of sensors and Digital Matter LoRaWAN® tracking devices, Meshed is applying LoRa® technology to increase safety and visibility on public beaches. 

Asset tracking devices such as the Yabby LoRaWAN® are placed on vital shore-assets such as equipment and vehicles, providing real-time location and movement history for lifeguards. 

The Yabby is a compact GPS tracking device available in 868MHz and 915MHz versions. Rugged and versatile, the IP67-rated Yabby is designed for tracking assets where a small device is required. 

Guppy LoRaWAN®s are also placed on beach flags, where GPS is used in tandem with weather, tide, and wave conditions collected by other sensors to analyze movement patterns, providing early detection of dangerous conditions.

The Guppy is a tiny geolocation tag available in 868MHz and 915MHz versions. Rugged and versatile, the IP67 rated tag also features movement-detection and “tilt monitoring,” measuring the angles of poles and road signs, sag in cables, and more.

Overseeing RV Dump Points

Caravan and recreation grounds have the responsibility of providing RV dump points. The waste that is generated within an RV is pumped through to a holding tank, which needs to be emptied regularly, safely and sanitarily.

Before deploying LoRaWAN® tracking and sensor monitoring solutions, local councils were generally unaware of how often Dump Points were being used. Meshed installed park disks on RV parking bays to detect RV arrival and departure. A Guppy LoRaWAN® is then placed under the lid of the RV dump point, where it alerts the council every time it is opened.

“Councils now have 24 x 7 x 365 information on their RV dump points,” says McManus.

Smart City Starter Kit

Meshed has included the Oyster LoRaWAN® GPS tracker as a standard item in their ‘Smart City Starter Kits’, which are provided to councils and developers. The Oyster2 can be used as a LoRaWAN® coverage mapper for council networks, and as a GPS for tracking non-powered assets.

These kits can be advantageous in numerous industries (Smart Farming, Smart Building, Smart Cities, etc.) when needing a low cost, fully managed LoRaWAN® Gateway preconfigured to The Things Network.

Coogee Beach in NSW is currently using the Oyster2 device, to enhance visitors’ experience at the beach.

Visit www.meshed.com.au for more information or get in touch to learn more about becoming a reseller!