It doesn’t take much to see the impact the Internet of Things will have on commerce, particularly in the maritime and agricultural sectors. A couple of those businesses are right in our backyard, about 60 miles south of Boston. Quansett Nurseries and Salt Creek Vineyard are taking part in a pilot program that helps small and medium size businesses leverage IoT technology.

The pilot program is an initiative lead by IoT Impact Labs, a business unit of INEX Advisors. It focuses on empowering businesses to embrace IoT technology and real-time data to make better business decisions and ultimately increase profits.

Cantina partnered with INEX Advisors and the IoT Impact Labs to design and develop a web-based application that processes and displays sensor data in a format that is actionable and easy to understand. Each pilot location encompasses multiple sensor deployments.

Using PTC’s Thingworx platform, Cantina developed a multi-purpose interface providing critical views into the environmental data of both the nursery and vineyard locations. The businesses can now see data at the site-level as well as on an individual sensor level. This flexibility allows the business to remotely observe trends and quickly identify and mitigate issues ranging from humidity irregularity to low light levels. Furthermore, the interface allows the business to set acceptable ranges for the items being measured triggering alerts when things get out of range.

“LABS is all about bringing together multi-stakeholder teams to solve complex challenges. From Cantina’s UX expertise through LABS Sponsors stable platforms to the subject matter experts in viticulture and horticulture, it literally does take a team of teams working in close concert to ensure that SMBs get profitable, sustainable IoT solutions,” said Chris Resendez, Partner and Founder of INEX Advisors and IoT Impact Labs.

IoT Impact Labs leverages technology from key partners, including Dell’s IoT Gateway to process the sensor data and feed the information into PTC’s Thingworx platform for reporting. For sensors, IoT Impact Labs used Aeotec multisensors along with Analog Device’s Fenway sensors in a raised bed setting that measured relative humidity, light and temperature. Paired with a Davis microclimate weather station (pictured left) the pilots are able to report on everything from fish production to accurate water levels, soil temperature and greenhouse conditions. The technology ecosystem will continue to evolve in future pilots, including the use of GE’s Predix which will provide key infrastructure moving forward. Additionally, Analog Devices’ sensors will be featured in upcoming food safety pilots.

For the technical folks reading this, below is a architecture diagram of the field pilots:

We’re proud to have partnered with IoT Impact Labs on this project and help them successfully launch the first set of pilots using IoT technology. We are also happy to report that the pilots were the key stops during the INEX & Dell media day on August 25th and featured our application showing real-time sensor data. Both the client and the business received a ton of press about the program.

Are you developing an IoT product and looking for a software partner? Drop us a note - we’d be happy to talk about your project.

Press

How Traditional Companies Can Tap Into the Power of Connected Devices

INEX Internet of Things IMPACT LABS Working to Deliver Solutions