ECAN Water Data Usage Collection Forum - AIN Presentation Notes

Hi

My name is Duncan and I am from Advanced Information Networks. Joining me here today is John Williams from M2M Tech in Auckland. We have worked closely with John over the last 3 years providing application solutions for monitoring. Later in this presentation I will be asking John to share his views on telemetry and briefly cover a few case studies that we have worked on together in the hydrological and environmental industry.

Advanced Information Networks, which we will refer to as AIN over the next 20 minutes is a Christchurch based company set up to provide communication and information systems to build solid business solutions. Born out of the desire to see information used in intelligent and profitable ways.

AIN works closely with end users or system integrators like John to evaluate technical requirements and propose a solution based on existing or purpose built technology. We have expertise to cover development of electronic hardware, web based database driven applications and implementing solutions on various networks and platforms.

ECAN TRIAL at the Christchurch Airport.

Environmental Issue
I am sure you are aware of the pressures on our natural resources and the new regulations to be enforced by councils for water use.

This raises a compliance issue.
For the well we were to monitor, resource consent specified 2 key indicators. They were that you shall not ‘draw at a rate exceeding 20 litres per second, with a volume not exceeding 4,641 cubic metres in any seven day period.’
The user of the well, and the council, needs to know if the user is complying with this consent. This requires a cost effective and reliable way to record data.

Although this is a fairly basic system, it is typical of the market requirements for the industry

The system we set up for this application uses a XE8000 SMS Controller. This is a product we have developed and released to market for Logging, Alarming and Control.

For the Christchurch Airport take the system setup can be seen on the screen. The SMS Controller is housed in an enclosure and is connected to the meter; in this case a Helix 4000. The Controller is versatile in that it can interface to numerous sensor types. In fact, data from the Prosol meter was sent to the web using our system.

Information logged by the Controller is sent to the Internet. This saves time as figures can be checked from the office rather than field techs having to go collect the data. The data recorded and sent to the Internet is also recorded and logged to the internal memory of the unit for back up.

Once the data reaches the Internet, we can then make it available in various forms and restrict or share parts or all of the collected data as need be. For the water take trial part of the data collected automatically updates on our site in graph form as well as having all the data restricted for access by the Christchurch Airport.

Alarm to cell phones and email of key personal were set to activate if either of these two conditions for the resource consent were in danger of being breached. We also set alarms up for tampering with the enclosure and for mains or battery faults.

The third function of our system is control. This is a feature not used in this trial but could be incorporated into this setup for remote switching of pumps by cell phone, PCs or the Internet. We are aware of one end user who uses two Controllers; one monitors environmental conditions and sends commands to the other Controller in a separate location to turn a pump on or off.

By setting up a system like this we are able to offer benefits in time and cost savings. Gathering information at a central point and then distributing it to the right people in the right place, across different mediums and organizations removes data collecting and communication time and error. Where data may have been previously collected at daily, weekly or even monthly reads we now have the ability to record data at a sensible frequency that satisfies requirements and cost considerations. This will also allow greater understanding and accuracy for the issue of future resource consents, irrigating patterns, fertilizer to water ratios to name a few.

When we first set up this system there were a few initial issues with interfacing the Controller with the sensor. To solve this a technician from AIN consulted with the meter supplier and fixed the issue. After fixing this clean data was produced.

Another issue we face on a regular basis is that people have a system that they operate and want to stick with. It’s a lot easier to stay with what you know rather than learn a new system. We have found situations where end users have spent considerable dollars for a system that does not have all the features they require. I guess this could be lack of future planning or lack of understanding for the potential of what can be achieved with monitoring. Things like cost are also an issue here. We have supplied a solar power system recently to a company in the north island who had purchased loggers for $1600 each. They approached us for modems to connect to the loggers. Unfortunately the loggers were unable to communicate with a modem. To change over to get remote logging would make the current loggers purchased redundant. Understanding this we sent up a trial system to operate alongside the current system they had running. Based on the money already sunk into the project, they were content with status quo until they saw first hand the benefits and cost savings of remote logging.

In other cases we have just supplied the modem, and assisted in interfacing existing hardware to our Machine Logging Gateway. Then data can be accessed online in graphs and different file formats. We have also incorporated a ‘through mode’ on our Controller for applications where existing systems are in place. Through mode allows a PLC to connect to our Controller and share the Modem for remote access.

Data is everywhere; we are in a world where there is no shortage of information. It is becoming easier to log and retrieve data of all kinds from any location. What is now a defining factor is how we use the data we collect.

The goal is not simply to accumulate data, but to use it in creative and profitable ways.

As well as being able to access data and reports on the data from any location using PCs, mobile phones, and other internet aware devices - we can also have information pushed to us whenever and wherever we need it.

The other opportunity that has a lot of potential is to allow machines to communicate directly - bypassing the need for direct control. A device in one location can sense its environment and control what another device does in a totally separate location ... sending an email or SMS message to interested parties to inform them if relevant.

I will now hand over to John who will share for 10 minutes.

Hi

I am John Williams from M2M Tech. My background is in automation and control.
M2M is an anagram for Machine to Machine.

In some applications it can mean Mobile to Machine or Machine to Mobile. M2M refers to systems that let machines communicate with management systems or people using compatible mobile terminals.

My brief view on telemetry systems is that the collection of accurate data is important in any form of production or process were improvements are being sort or standards are to be met.

What is becoming more important is the need to have instant access to up to date information in order to diagnose a problem or avoid them before they eventuate. This information also needs to be accessed at all levels from Engineers to Operators, wherever they are.

Modern technologies such as Ethernet, the Internet, email and wireless devices have made it possible to store, access and share a great amount of information.
Before you is an overview of how an M2M network is laid out to achieve:

• Logging of process data to a secure web site
• Access to this data via connection to the Internet
• Alarms from plant or processes to engineers, operators and maintenance personnel
• Status information on request to the same people from anywhere
• Remote control by authorized personnel from anywhere
• Transfer of information and remote control between equipment

This data can then be accessed from any web enabled PC, only with the Engineers correct login, for analysis or to prove compliance with regulatory standards. It can even be used to compare trends over different periods.
Control and status information is kept secure by the use of PIN numbers included within text commands and/or caller identification of the relevant cellular phone. Whether Telecom or Vodafone.

The following case studies show a few examples of how the technology has been used by a district council that employs a contractor to manage and maintain water services over a large geographical area.

Case Studies:

Water Take and Booster pump control

Water Take Monitoring and Replacement

Potable Water Treatment Monitoring

Waste Water monitoring

Alarming of Solar Powered Environmental Monitoring Site

Piroa Pump - a current event A water take pump is situated at the Piroa Stream. This site is at the base of the Bynderwyns and the streams water source is ground water. The water is pumped from the site 10kms to a water treatment plant at Maungaturoto. On the way the pipeline passes a dairy factory that draw and treat water for their own use. The engineer responsible for the assets is based in Kaiwaka, while a consultant for the council is based in Whangarei. The maintenance staff for the assets are based in Dargaville. All have access to the information from the pump and treatment plant via the AIN web server. Resource consent allows a water take of no more than 40cubic meters per hour and a total take of 1000cubic meters per day. Bevan Pritchard of the Kaipara District Council receives a daily email summary of the information sent to the AIN web site. A quick browse of the email was enough to make him aware of a trend in the river flow and to check the Piroa data in more detail. This was done using the AIN web site graphs. In a phone call to the consultant in Whangarei both Bevan and Peter Waldron of Duffill Watts & King were both able to view and discuss the same trends in river flow from the Internet. Graphical data of the water plant was also checked. They also went back twelve months to the same period to compare trends. Bevan has allowed me to share part of an email that resulted from the discussion. The access to current and historical information enabled Detection of the decrease in water. The council to avoid breach of the resource consent. Notification to ratepayers in advance of a possible water shortage. Advise large commercial enterprises within the area to plan production changes. I would like to thank you all for the opportunity to share with you some of the type of systems that M2M Tech integrates. My thanks also to the team at AIN and Bevan Pritchard of KDC who I quote "this system is the best thing since sliced bread".

Thanks John.

Thanks for your attention over the last 20 minutes. If you have questions or comments on anything we have touched on please feel free to contact us to discuss it further. For those who have had a look at our table we also have contact forms to fill in and free system trials available for those interested. Do not hesitate to fill in a contact form at our table and we will follow up next week.

To recap
Versatile System AIN provides

1. Interface to existing technology.
2. Integrate new functionality into our current systems.
3. Integrate our Controller system into existing hardware.
4. Supply software-only solutions, accepting data from PLCs and other devices via our Machine Logging Gateway

AIN provides solutions based on new technology that allows

1. Information to be collected that has been previously unavailable or not feasible to collect.
2. Information to be delivered directly to the people and systems that require it - when they need it and how they need it.
3. Information to be used to reduce costs and time, and improve returns.