New Zealand, May 3rd 2017 – 0G IoT Network for the New Zealand Aquaculture Industry
New Zealand is one of the largest and most efficient exporters of lamb, beef and dairy products in the world. It has a strong reputation for the development of advanced techniques in the optimisation of primary industries and many of these techniques are highly prized in overseas markets. But there is another comparatively new primary industry climbing the ranks, showing rapid year-on-year growth.
With 14,000 Kilometres of coastline making it the 10th longest in the World, New Zealand also has a large and thriving aquaculture industry, with major players including Sanfords, Sealord and Aotearoa Fisheries. The aim of all New Zealand fisheries is to provide long term sustainability – thereby not increasing the stock take, but to increase production in a smart and sustainable manner.
A long range, low power, low cost network built just for IoT
Thinxtra has deployed a New Zealand wide Internet of Things (IoT) network with its partners Kordia utilising 0G technology, now covering 89% of the population in NZ. It is an ultra-low power, low cost and long range network that is particularly good over water with messages delivered as far as 150km out to sea. This makes it ideal for connecting assets that previously had no option but to connect to an expensive satellite system and in many cases, the lack of a local power source made this simply impossible.
The new network could have a significant impact on the Aquaculture industry, enabling increased yields by smart means and allowing operators to act on real time information.
Joss Birss – Moana’s pāua expert with his happy pāua. Behind him, the 0G network monitored Hot Water Heat Pump.
Sustainable Fisheries are adopting IoT technology
One of the first NZ fisheries to take advantage of the innovative 0G IoT network is Moana New Zealand. Moana is the largest Maori owned Fisheries Company in New Zealand with a long term view to ensure sustainability of their fisheries for generations to come.
With pristine New Zealand coastal seawater, Moana harvests some of the highest quality pāua (known globally as blue abalone) in the world on their commercial farm on the East Coast of Northland.
Pāua is a large edible mollusc, with a unique deep blue colour shell. It has a subtle taste and firm texture. At over USD 100 per kilo, it is also a very valuable shellfish.
Pāua requires very specific conditions to grow well, ideally with seawater temperature between 17.5˚ to 18˚C. Although they can tolerate colder temperatures, they are very susceptible to warmer temperatures. Last summer, Moana lost valuable stock at the Northland pāua farm, due to a heat wave. Moana Nursery Team Leader Joss Birss is pleased to be able to introduce technology to assist them to act on real time data.
“There are so many variables you can’t control in this industry, particularly with the weather, so we continually look for ways to improve on the things we can control.” Birss says. With a number of the breeding stock lost with the higher temperatures as well as the possible economic impact of losing important genetic variation, this was a situation which Moana had to avoid in future years.
Industrial Monitoring
Moana engaged with Auckland based Hot Water Heat Pumps Ltd to control the temperature of the seawater to the majority of the brood stock pāua tanks. The variable capacity heat and chill unit controls the seawater temperature to a steady 17.5 ˚C to all tanks, allowing for optimal growth and consistency for the brood stock pāua.
“Since the industrial heat pumps were installed we have not lost one pāua, and we are seeing increased rates of conditioning and growth which will only increase our productivity.” Birss explains.
The heat pump units were recently upgraded to provide remote connectivity to constantly monitor and control the equipment via the nationwide 0G network. Hot Water heat pumps engaged with industrial IoT design company Motiv Industrial IoT Solutions to design and implement a 0G-RS485 Din rail mounted transceiver, which connects directly to the heat pump control circuitry using a standard Modbus protocol.
Preventive Maintenance
Kevin Trigg, Sales and Marketing Manager at Hot Water Heat Pumps Ltd was delighted to discover Motiv and the 0G technology they specialise in. “When we engaged with Motiv, it just made sense for such important control equipment which is responsible for such a high value product that we should have constant remote control and monitoring of the unit. Before now, we had no easy way of providing simple connectivity to our -out of the factory- assets that just worked. We didn’t want to rely on our customer’s WiFi systems to connect our assets and 3G systems were too complicated. We now know if there is a problem with the heat pump before our client does and we can react before any performance issues occur.”
This isn’t the first unit Hot Water Heat Pumps have provisioned with 0G technology. It is also being used to monitor commercial swimming pools. Mike Day, Service Manager at Hot Water Heat Pumps Ltd, was pleased they could be alerted to a problem and that a service agent could be sent before a problem was noticed by the client.
“Before the 0G network was implemented, if there was a problem on one of our pool heat pumps, it might not be noticed immediately leading to temperature changes and a delay before repairs were carried out. We can now turn up on site with the correct parts and disruption to services is minimised. It dramatically changes our service model and sets us apart from our competitors.”
“The solution presented to us by Motiv ticked all the boxes. The combination of low hardware and operational cost was a must. We don’t want to add this cost burden to our customers so it had to be a level we would accept while adding a point of difference. The hardest part was creating a 0G-RS485 transceiver that fitted into a single DIN rail mounted enclosure, which fits seamlessly within the limited space of our units existing control circuitry. Motiv really delivered here and as far as I know, fitting it all into such a small unit was a world first. Finally, the ease of which the unit is set up to connect and display monitoring data to our service team made it a simple choice.”
Kevin believes they have taken a big step forward in customer service by being able to offer IoT technology to their clients:
“In fact, we have been so impressed with how easy it was to make this change to our products, we plan to offer Motiv’s 0G transceivers as an option on all commercial heat pumps leaving the factory and we are even upgrading some of our commercial heat pumps that are already in service”.
About Moana Paua farm
Moana New Zealand is the largest Māori–owned fisheries company in New Zealand. They fish and harvest solely from the coastal waters of Aotearoa. One of the world’s most pristine and sustainably managed fisheries. Connecting customers to the taste of a true and pure place. Bringing to customers New Zealand’s most sought after species of blue abalone, wild abalone, fin fish, lobster and oyster. Seafood as good as it can be, brought to market with a lightness of touch that preserves and protects its pure taste and rare magic. They have a deep sense of responsibility and respect for their kai moana, honouring the taonga they have been entrusted with. Taking a long term view in everything they do, they work in harmony with nature to ensure the sustainability of their fisheries for future generations.
About Motiv
The team at Motiv has been providing bespoke, engineered solutions in the data acquisition and control field for many years. Their solution architects take an end-to-end systems approach to hardware, firmware, software and web specification, design and integration. They have established a strong capability in wireless telemetry for Internet of Things applications, based on a range of communication channels such as Wifi, 0G and GSM connectivity. This has enabled them to help their clients maximise their data aggregation capabilities and better utilise and manage their assets. As they put it: “we take care of the bits and bytes, allowing you the time to take care of your business.”
About Hot Water Heat Pumps Ltd
Hot Water Heat Pumps has a history of timely product innovations, which saw the introduction of high-tech corrosion resistant tubing within the heat exchanger of its swimming pool heat pump range during the late 1980s. The advancement came after HWHP’s Don Trigg identified a problem in the standard grades of tubing used at the time. These had a tendency to fail when proper pool balance wasn’t maintained, causing considerable damage to the heat pumps refrigeration system. In over 35 years of operation, Hot Water Heat Pumps have developed a solid reputation as a high quality producer and distributor of heat pump water heaters and water temperature control solutions to residential and commercial customers across New Zealand and abroad. Their commitment to service and their belief that customers should have access to the very best water heating technology at highly competitive prices has driven their growth since the beginning. Today, Hot Water Heat Pumps operates a network of over 80 Dealers, offering a broad range of water heating equipment and services that spans water heaters, underfloor heating systems and industrial water heating and chilling solutions.
