Dutch IoT solution provider NetOP Technology has teamed up with French LoRaWAN gateway maker Kerlink to produce a ‘wildfire-prevention’ system that measures humidity, temperature, carbon dioxide, and volatile organic compounds to issue long-distance alarms over LoRaWAN to alert about possible wildfires.
Global warming has increased the risk of wildfire, the pair said. They noted that extreme temperatures and droughts have fueled recent wildfires in Russia, Greece, Sicily, Algeria, Tunisia, the Amazon, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Canada, and the United States; they said 187,114 fires have been recorded across the globe this summer, with the Dixie Fire in California burning since mid-July, having already “ravaged” more than 200,000 hectares.
Their new solution “detects, collects, and reports” dangerous conditions even in remote locations via Kerlink’s LoRaWAN gateways; in-built “AI capabilities” identify likely fire outbreaks with their exact GPS location, they said. “The system’s intelligent dashboard features an integrated AI layer, sensors with machine-learning functions, forest fire prediction, on-line risk calculation, smart live maps of terrain, real-time heat maps and alarm scenarios.”
Olcay Taysi, co-founder of NetOP Technology, commented: “Our technology and Kerlink’s LoRaWAN coverage allow forest and wildlands managers to expand their monitoring far beyond traditional capabilities of smoke detection and early fire observatio
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n. By predicting where fires are likely to start, the Forest Capsule system helps officials spend their monitoring and surveillance activities more effectively.”
Romain Weryk, key account manager at Kerlink, said: “This solution delivers on the global scale by helping to anticipate climate change consequences potentially resulting in vast fires, and locally it protects wildlife and enables organizations to conserve water and other resources used in fighting fires. Kerlink’s expertise… make Kerlink an obvious partner for this world’s-first, IoT wildfire-prevention application.”
NetOP Technology has been a Kerlink distributor since July 2018. Kerlink announced a distribution deal with CyRIC in Cyprus in July; it said the designation followed several years of collaboration on a variety of IoT projects, including an automatic water metering project for the local Nicosia Water Board to monitor the performance of LoRaWAN-enabled water meters in demanding conditions.
Michalis Stylianou, manager for commercial IoT at CYRIC, said: “Establishing CyRIC IoT as a Kerlink [partner] will accelerate the adoption and growth of LoRaWAN-based solutions in Cyprus. This partnership is an important milestone and a step forward for CyRIC IoT to offer its customers the opportunity to transform their businesses with LoRaWAN® solutions.”
Meanwhile, also in the LoRaWAN world, US-based Senet has said the US patents office has recognised its LoRaWAN system for its “seamless[ness]… and… security”. A statement said: “The patent covers a new system for gateway onboarding that uses a self-service registration portal that users connect to via the internet to confirm the gateway’s serial number and other identifying information. It validates the information of the gateway and user, and enables network access and configuration parameters only when that information is confirmed.”
Bruce Chatterley, chief executive at Senet, said: “Every IoT device needs to be secure, particularly when massive IoT deployments are involved, and our team has worked tirelessly to make it as easy as possible to connect to our carrier-grade network while adding new security features. The patents Senet was awarded recently are a testament to our dedication to creating IoT software and solutions that lead to successful large-scale IoT deployment.”
