By DAVE RANKIN, Indigo Systems Ltd and NICK ADAMS, Winegrowers of Ara Ltd
Wireless mesh network technology is set to revolutionise vineyard management. The ability to get real-time information across the entire vineyard in a cost-effective way signals a major shift in vineyard management – perhaps most critically during frost events but also throughout the year for irrigation management and plant health monitoring.
A wireless mesh network is made up of a collection of radios and sensors which only talk to their ‘nearest neighbour’. Those near neighbours then relay the information onto their neighbours until the message reaches some central control point.
This allows networks to be large or small as desired without any geographic constraints, so long as every radio can talk to at least one other in the network. This scalable ‘plug and play’ philosophy also makes the networks robust and easy to install, expand and modify. The robust nature of the network comes from the fact that any message can take multiple paths back to the central control point, so if one path fails it will automatically send the message down another.
The wireless mesh network provides an ideal communication backbone over pretty much any area, in a very economical way. The real power in the system is its ability to add a range of different sensors or controllers onto the network to perform critical monitoring and control tasks.
At Indigo Systems we have tailored our wireless mesh network technology for long-range, low power agri-tech systems in general and vineyards in particular.
The most pressing and dangerous problem for many vineyards is frost protection and frost management. Currently this problem is addressed in a multitude of ways with a variety of different techniques for applying heat to the vines during the frost. Most of these systems have two points in common.
First they are designed to only protect down to a certain temperature (and even this may change depending on the climatic conditions). And secondly you don't really know how effective they are – in any given frost event – until the next morning.
Clearly this leads to a number of highly stressful, sleepless nights as your teams scout throughoutthe vineyard, checking systems and monitoring the temperature. However, the risks associated with unknown temperature variability, critical system monitoring and overall frost management can be significantly reduced by using wireless mesh networks.
Indigo Systems’ wireless mesh networks are designed to collect continuous real-time temperature information and remotely monitor and/or control critical systems. All the information is collected back to a single point where a team can make measured decisions on strategy as the frost event is unfolding. This tool gives unprecedented clarity on how the vineyard responds to the frost event – and how systems are coping in the fight against the cold.
This revolution in frost event management is best exemplified by the new Winegrowers of Ara wireless monitoring and control system. The Ara system is a collection of more than sixty radios connected to air temperature sensors and some valve control units throughout the entire 330ha property. Sensors are placed every two to three hundred metres apart around the boundary, at the valve control points for the water-based frost protection system, and other strategic locations within the vineyard.
All this information is collected in real-time from the wireless mesh network and displayed in the control centre at the office. The ability to see how the frost event develops - then monitor the effectiveness of the system as the frost fighting ensues - is a “real eye opener” says Nick Adams, project coordinator at Winegrowers of Ara In one frost event last autumn, the vineyard’s wireless temperature monitoring network allowed the vineyard team to carefully monitor the entire vineyard during a near-frost event. With temperatures approaching the critical turn-on points, the team at Ara decided to hold their ground and leave the system off – a decision which played out well that night, The continuous monitoring over the entire vineyard allowed them the confidence to leave the system off, when previously they probably would have run it “just to be safe”.
Currently Winegrowers of Ara are commissioning the next stage of the wireless network project – the ability to control the water delivered onto each block (both for frost fighting and irrigation). By turning on only the blocks which need water, this system has clear benefits in terms of water and energy usage during the frost event. These benefits are compounded by the reduction in staff required to operate the system, and the positive aspects of reduced water usage on vineyard health and operations.
The key reason why Winegrowers of Ara decided to go with Indigo Systems’ wireless mesh network technology is the option of future expansion. The frost control system provides a wireless infrastructure to which numerous other systems may be added. Already soil moisture monitoring, pump automation and alarming, vehicle tracking - sprayers, mowers and harvesters etc - gate security and plant health monitoring are being considered as potential add-ons to the system.
Other clients are using the same technology in different ways. Many are aimed at frost monitoring for wind-machine based systems. In this case the wind-machine status and health is monitored continuously, along with temperatures throughout the vineyard. This provides immediate notification in the event of failure, while also monitoring the frost fighting effectiveness of the system. Key to frost event management with these systems is the ability to see how and where any supplementary heating should be applied to minimise risk.
Similarly, vineyard-wide, real-time temperature monitoring is extremely useful when using helicopter frost protection. This is true both before the event, i.e. determining exactly when to fly, but also during the event to monitor the effectiveness of the helicopters and move them as required.
Other wireless mesh network systems are just as useful for frost-free vineyards. An example of this is another vineyard which is monitoring the downstream pressure on eleven irrigation pumps spread around the property. These pumps all have controllers which range from the simple to moderately complex. But in every case a valve closure, power or equipment failure, or a filter blockage will cause vineyard blocks not to be irrigated as scheduled, or worse, constantly under-irrigated.
The continuous real-time monitoring and alarming via the mesh network provides an economical way of avoiding these problems without having to manually drive around every pump, every day, to check on them.
The power of the wireless mesh network technology lies in the ability to economically solve problems in vineyard management in a way that simply wasn't possible or even remotely cost effective, only five years ago. Continuous, real-time monitoring and control of critical systems is rapidly gaining momentum as the unit costs approach only a few hundred dollars per radio. The lack of cellular data charges associated with each sensor and long battery life drive the running costs down.
The scalable nature of Indigo Systems’ wireless mesh network technology together with a huge range of possible applications in vineyards indicates the system has a bright future.
(Further information: dave@indigosystems.net.nz; nick.adams@winegrowersofara.co.nz).