Read this article before buying a sensor for remote level monitoring

Remote level monitoring presents plenty of challenges, from installation to configuration and more. Today’s IIoT radar sensors bring a solid list of benefits to remote applications, so you can get remote access and efficient level monitoring wherever you are. Come on in to learn more!

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Finding the right sensor for a remote level monitoring application can be a tricky task. Believe me, I know. The market is stuffed with a wide variety of technologies and brands. I also know that even though level measurement is not rocket science, the wrong choice can give you tons of different headaches.

Each application has its particularities, and you need to have all the details laid out to find the right level sensor. Beyond that, it has to integrate with a control system or at least give you access to its history as well as its current data.

Today we’ll demystify the process of scaling out a good level transmitter for your remote level monitoring. Let's dive into some basic and advanced information on this topic.

Types of remote level monitoring

Remote applications can use the same sensors as standard control applications, but the installed structure might cause headaches. You can locate wireless level sensors all over the internet that use different working principles and communication tech, like these:

• Ultrasonic level transmitter
• Float level switch
• Capacitance level switch
• Radar level transmitter

As always, all options have pros and cons, so you’ll need to analyze your application to see which fits best. Still, one of these options can work in many application types to offer reliable measurement with many digital features.

So let’s discuss the benefits of IIoT radar level devices and how nice it is to have an affordable high-end choice for level monitoring.

The difference between monitoring and control

Most monitoring solutions have what we call an open loop. It means the field sensor responsible for measuring the process value sends its data to the supervision software or control system, which displays and stores this data. A monitoring application has no set point or command of a final element, such as a control valve, to run a control loop.

A control application also has a field sensor measuring and sending data to the system, but here the system has a set point for the application. It compares the process value against the set point and acts with a final element to correct the process value if necessary.

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The final element can be a valve, pump, or other such instrument to act directly on the process, increasing or decreasing the value until it reaches the set point.

A monitoring application has a lower level of complexity than a control application. In a monitoring solution, you must measure the process value regularly and store this data. You’ll often find thresholds for minimum and maximum values in the application as well.

What are the challenges in remote level monitoring?

For instance, take an IBC level monitoring application, where the containers are always moving from Point A to Point B, and the location has no local control. Here are four relevant challenges to consider when you want to find the best remote level monitoring in this case.

Value

For monitoring applications, most users want a cheap solution because it's just monitoring. But in most cases, they’re controlling raw materials and consumables, directly affecting the numbers.

If your cheap choice lacks accuracy, you’ll probably regret it. Instead, consider the new low-budget radar level transmitter. It brings high accuracy to monitoring applications at an affordable price, making it a solid option to implement.

Power supply

In applications where IBC tanks are always moving, you’ll want a battery-powered level sensor. It’ll save you time, money, and hassle over cables or other such installation structures.

But that makes battery life a critical point. As a user, you don't want to change the battery every week, do you? A balance between battery life and update rate is essential in this type of application, and new IIoT radars on the market can provide this benefit.

Remote communication

What if you find out that someone set up the device incorrectly, but the device is far away from you? Don’t scoff; it could happen. The ability to set the device up anywhere at any time is critical to remote monitoring.

The new IIoT level sensors offer straightforward setup and monitoring of your field devices, wherever they’re installed. Using connectivity such as NB-IoT, LTE-M, or 2G, you can access and set up your devices remotely. Pretty neat, huh?

Data collection

Remote applications without control-system connections usually have a standalone application implemented. Today, we live in the cloud era, where it's simpler and more efficient to apply a cloud-based solution, so you can get access to all the process values and setups, then integrate them into other solutions.

For instance, Netilion Value and Netilion Inventory are outstanding services that work together with the Micropilot FWR30, an IIoT radar sensor. Netilion offers an excellent user interface on desktop and mobile and an optimized user experience, for smooth sailing.

Why should I use IIoT radar devices?

On the market, you can find a variety of working principles and standalones. IIoT radar sensors bring high-level technology to all kinds of applications, making them affordable and easy to implement.

On top of that, IIoT radar devices provide solid reliability, high accuracy, and stable measurements. It’s a pretty easy choice in most cases; IIoT radar with a cloud-based service is a state-of-the-art solution for a remote level application.

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Stay safe, and have a good one!

Have you ever wanted to build your own low-cost radar speed sign? I live on a street where cars drive too fast, and I worry about the safety of my kids. I thought it would be much safer if I could install a radar speed sign of my own that displays the speed so I can get drivers to slow down. I looked online into buying a radar speed sign, but I found that most signs cost over $1,000, which is pretty expensive. I also don’t want to go through the long process of the city installing a sign, since I heard it can cost them upwards of $5,000-10,000. Instead I decided to build a low-cost solution myself, and save some money while having some fun.

I discovered OmniPreSense which offers a low-cost short-range radar sensor module ideal for my application. The PCB module form factor is very small at only 2.1 x 2.3 x 0.5 inches, and weighs only 11g. The electronics are self-contained and fully-integrated, so there are no power tubes, bulky electronics, or the need for a lot of power. The range for a large object such as a car is 50ft to 100ft (15m to 30m). The module takes all the speed measurements, handles all the signal processing, and then simply outputs the raw speed data over its USB port. I use a low-cost Raspberry Pi (or Arduino, or anything else that has a USB port) to receive the data. With a little bit of python coding and some large low-cost LEDs mounted to a board, I can display the speed. My display board can be attached on a pole at the side of the road. By adding a sign that reads “Speed Checked by RADAR” above the display, I now have my very own radar speed sign that grabs drivers’ attention and slows them down! All this for less than $500!

I started with the main control hardware which is the Raspberry Pi. The assumption here is that you already have a Raspberry Pi with the OS on it and have some Python coding experience. The Raspberry Pi controls the OPS241-A radar sensor and takes in the reported speed information. This is then converted to be displayed on the large LED 7-segment display.

a. I want to place all electrical components other than the radar sensor and LED displays onto a single enclosed electronics PCB board mounted to the backside of the display board. This keeps the board out of sight and safe from the elements. In this manner, only two cables need to run from the back of the board to the front. One cable is the USB cable that powers the OPS241-A module and receives the measured speed data. The second cable is drives the 7-Segment display.

b. The PCB board needs to allow plenty of room for the Raspberry Pi, which takes up most of the area. I also need to make sure that I will be able to easily access several of its ports once mounted. The ports I need to access are the USB port (OPS241-A module speed data), Ethernet port (PC interface for developing/debugging Python code), HDMI port (display Raspberry Pi window and debug/development), and the micro USB port (5V power for Raspberry Pi).

c. To provide access for these ports, holes are cut in the enclosure which match the port locations on the Raspberry Pi.

d. Next I need to find room for the bread board that contains the discrete electronics components to drive the display LEDs. This is the second largest item. There needs to be enough space around it that I can jumper wires to it from the Raspberry Pi and output signals to a header for driving the LEDs. Ideally, if I had more time, I would solder the components and wires directly to the PCB board instead of using a breadboard, but for my purposes it’s good enough.

e. I plan to have the display driver header next to the breadboard at the edge of the PCB, so that I can keep my wire lengths short, and also so that I can cut a hole in the cover and plug in a cable to the connector.

f. Lastly, I allow room on the PCB for a power block. The system requires 5V for the level shifters and display driver, and 12V for the LEDs. I connect a standard 5V/12V power connector to the power block, then route the power signals from the block to the breadboard and the LED header. I cut a hole in the cover so that I can connect a 12V/5V power cord to the power connector.

g. This is what the final electronics PCB floor plan looks like (with cover off):

Python running on the Raspberry Pi was used to pull the system together. The code is located on GitHub. The main parts of the code are configuration settings, data read over a USB-serial port from the radar sensor, converting speed data to display, and display timing control.

The default configuration on the OPS241-A radar sensor are fine but I found a few adjustments were needed for the startup configuration. These included changing from m/s reporting to mph, changing the sample rate to 20ksps, and adjusting the squelch setting. The sample rate directly dictates the top speed that can be reported (139mph) and speeds up the report rate.

A key learning is the squelch value setting. Initially I found the radar sensor didn’t pick up the cars at a very far range, maybe only 15-30 feet (5-10m). I thought I may have had the radar sensor set too high as it was positioned around 7 feet above the street. Bringing it down lower to 4 feet didn’t seem to help. Then I saw the squelch setting in the API document and changed it to the most sensitive (QI or 10). With this the detection range increased significantly to 30-100 feet (10-30m).

Taking in the data over a serial port and translating for sending to the LEDs was fairly straight forward. At the 20ksps, speed data is reported around 4-6 times per second. That’s a little fast and not good to have the display changing so fast. Display control code was added to look for the fastest reported speed every second and then display that number. This puts a one second delay in reporting the number but that’s ok or can easily be adjusted.

I did my own testing driving a car past it at set speeds and the readings matched my speed relatively well. OmniPreSense said they had the module tested and it can pass the same testing a standard police radar gun goes through with accuracy of 0.5 mph.

Summing it up, this was a great project and nice way to build in some safety for my street. There are a few improvements which can make this even more useful which I’ll look at doing in a follow-on update. The first is finding larger and brighter LEDs. The datasheet says these are 200-300 mcd (millicandela). Definitely something higher than this is needed as the sun easily washed out viewing them in daylight. Alternatively, adding shielding around the LEDs edges can keep the sunlight out.

Making the entire solution weather proof is going to be needed if it's going to be posted permanently. Fortunately this is radar and the signals will easily go through a plastic enclosure, just need to find one the right size which is also water proof.

Finally adding a camera module to the Raspberry Pi to take a picture of anyone who exceeds the speed limit on our street would be really great. I could take this further by making use of the on-board WiFi and sending an alert and picture of the speeding car. Adding a time stamp, date, and detected speed to the image would really finish things off. Maybe there’s even a simple app to build which can present the information nicely.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of Radar Level Gauge(es,it,vi). Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.