Lessons from Myriota IoT Developers

[Andrew at MEA]

Lessons from Myriota

I’ve written three blog posts on how MEA started up our adventures in moving IoT data over Myriota’s nano-satellite link to our Green Brain web application.

Those stories can be found at the end of my forum posts entitled “What does it take to be an IoT Engineer?” on this Engineers Australia IoT site.

I’d like to hear how other engineers are travelling with their new Myriota SDKs (Software Development Kits), so jump onto this thread and contribute.

Let me kick-off by mentioning that I’ve got three sites set up  moving soil moisture, climate and tank level data – about 350 messages so far in the past five weeks.

Proof-positive of five weeks of soil moisture tension data linked from MEA's test garden to Myriota's tiny satellites

The folks at Myriota have been wonderfully helpful as we walked into all the usual bear-traps, sharing “Ah, blast!” moments on either side of the fence.

Here’s two:

1. MEA has been jamming too many messages into the pipe, at the rate of 8 per day. This constipation results in lost messages. We’re dropping back to six messages per day.
2. Our tank level monitoring site has not transmitted a single message (see that last story “The IoT via Satellite”).
   Turns out this was due to multiple instances of dry solder joints on that particular SDK, particularly under battery pads and around the UHF aerial-connections corner of the module (pads 19 to 29).
   Lesson: Keep an eye out for hardware faults if you are not getting connectivity.
   The Myriota folk are taking this up with the SDK-kit manufacturer.

OK, open to Myriota IoT stories from engineers working with this gear...

Edited March 21, 2019 by Andrew at MEA
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[Andrew at MEA]

Tales from the Trenches Part 2

More learnings from the three Myriota sensor-to-satellite systems installed in the MEA Test Garden are told in the latest yarn at the bottom of Page 3 in “What Does it take to be an IoT Engineer?’ in this forum.

‘A Hat Trick in the IoT’ covers issues with over-zealous data feed rate, the vagaries of UARTs and glimpses into topographical issues caused by the Mt Lofty Ranges.

Oh, and one more thing: check the sealing around the Myriota SDK antenna connection where it enters the enclosure. Sometimes the O-ring seal is under insufficient pressure to prevent water ingress if the unit is placed outside under rainy conditions. Simply tighten the connector nut inside the enclosure to fix this. 

[Andrew at MEA]

A Two-Legged Race in the IoT

Twelve weeks after pivoting back from the Myriota transmission trials to start the development of MEA’s CAT-M1 logger, I sign the purchase orders and we’re in production of the first 100 units.

That story must wait for another day.

In the meantime, our three Myriota loggers rack up their first three months of continuous unattended operation. Rainfall has boosted the moisture in the top 60 cm of the soil profile and lifted the level in the rainwater tanks, while the first frosts have occurred and been captured.

The panel of three photos shows my Green Brain view of these three satellite-delivered systems on my smart phone, which I open at odd moments to ease my nerves.

Perhaps the real test has been that I no longer hang about anxiously twice-daily, waiting for the latest satellite pass. I get on with other things.

In the race to develop these two new IoT technologies to meet the demands of the looming Australian irrigation season, it is the satellite-based Myriota field stations that are clocking up the data-hours.

But it will be MEA’s terrestrial CAT-M1 loggers – with a mere two weeks of logged data to their credit – that will do the heavy lifting.