Level Monitoring IoT Use Cases With MaxBotix Sensors
Tags: IoT, Robotics, Technology, Smart Cities, Manufacturing

Pictured: Elsys IoT Distance Sensor

There are several different use cases for the Internet of Things.

Our weather resistant sensors are a popular choice for developers when building their applications. We serve many of these wireless sensor applications confidently.

In this article we’re covering IoT solutions our products have been integrated in, providing real time visibility of necessary data.

These IoT devices and cloud solutions are able to:

Manage fill levels

Monitor fluid levels

Manage inventory levels

Level Monitoring Solutions with IoT Ultrasonic Sensors

Ultrasonic sensors work by sending out sound waves that are above the range of human hearing. The sensor’s transducer serves as both a microphone and transmitter to receive and transmit ultrasonic sounds.

Our ultrasonic sensors are similar to many others in that they use a single transducer to send a pulse and receive the echo. The sensor determines the distance to a target by measuring how long it takes between the sending of an ultrasonic pulse and its reception.

Common uses include:

Level

Flow

Monitoring Flow

Our ultrasonic level sensors are low maintenance and easy to install. They are designed to be non-contact, which means there will be no buildup on the sensor face.

Level sensors need to be able to access the surface you want to detect without being hindered.

Wireless Tank Level Monitoring

One of the most successful use cases of our wireless sensors in IoT is tank level monitoring.

Many of our collaborators thrive in this use case, which solves the problem of detecting levels in a tank or bin to relay the information to a monitoring system wirelessly.

In this image, you’ll see how the sensor is to be mounted in these liquid level monitoring applications.

the recommended mounting for MaxBotix tank sensors.

Our Collaborators in Tank Level Monitoring

1. LX Group — An Ultrasonic Distance Sensor for Tank Level Measurement

These sensors are used in silos, water tanks and dams to measure distances down to the surface level and gauge capacity. They are cost-effective, easy to install ultrasonic sensors.

This sensor is one of the most commonly used sensors used to monitor water levels in remote regions of Australia and New Zealand.

LX Group has designed a complete end-to-end Wireless Private LoRa/ LoRaWAN system that can communicate with our MB7386 to determine the water level in a water tank.

Our sensor indicates the height of the liquid level.

Read more about LX Group’s Sensor Solution

2. Invigicom — Wireless Ultrasonic Tank Level Sensor

The company Invigicom Inc. has developed a simple tank monitoring system that replaces traditional monitoring systems that rely on pressure sensors and float gauges. They offer turn-key tank monitoring solutions.

Invigicom focuses on improving the operational efficiency and environmental management of companies with products that answer the question of “How many gallons, where, and when?”

The tanks are monitored by a web-based wireless sensor system that conveys near real-time information on their contents.

The InvigiSense product family provides a complete system for collecting data from tanks, storing it in the cloud, and allowing users to access the data from any browser.

Your team can receive alert messages via email to let you know when a tank needs to be serviced.

Read more about Invigicom’s Sensor Solution

Water Level Monitoring [Primarily Flood Levels]

Another common use case in level monitoring is flood level monitoring. These following collaborators have successfully deployed flood, river, and other environmental water level monitoring applications.

1. TECLAB/FAST — IoT Level Sensor

Level-X is used to detect the level of water flowing in a channel, calculating the water flow for overflow channels.

This solution uses an ultrasonic sensor to measure open flumes and rainwater diverters.

This high-performance measurement sensor can be used to:

Calculate the capacity of Venturi and Parsh open flumes and wired boxes of the Basin and Thomson type

Calculate the level/capacity for small open rainwater diverters

Calculate the capacity of sources with wired boxes of the Basic type or of other shapes and sizes.

Read more about Level-X

2. ToltHawk — IoT Water Level Monitoring and Flood Tracking Sensor

Carnation, WA based ToltHawk has developed a fully customizable hardware and cloud solution to monitor water levels remotely.

Typical industries ToltHawk Works with include:

Monitoring rivers & streams

Flood monitoring

River basin simulation

Roadway monitoring for flood conditions

Wells, snow, dams, water tanks, irrigation flumes and weirs, soil moisture, and many others

ToltHawk provides a fully customizable hardware and cloud solution for use in many wireless, level sensing applications.

Read more about ToltHawk

3. Omixom

Omixom SRL is an engineering firm based in Córdoba, Argentina specializing in Agriculture and working with Government entities to provide solutions.

Industries Omixom works in:

Agriculture

Government

The autonomous station takes samples of the water level and rainfall in a strategic location over a riverbed.

This data is sent via a satellite to a web server.

The station is able to optimize the data with a certain level of intelligence to interpret the data and make decisions based on the data.

Read more about Omixom

In Summary

Many of the companies we’ve worked with successfully deploy many types of IoT applications in various industries.

For more information about the industries we serve and our collaborators visit us here:

MaxBotix Collaborators

If you’re interested in building your IoT application with our sensors, contact us at techsupport@maxbotix.com to let us know what your requirements are.