German electronics manufacturer Schildknecht is a manufacturer and system provider of industrial radio solutions with over 30 years of experience in the sector. Their DATAEAGLE product range is used where safe and robust radio communication is needed, as in crane operation, lifting tools, elevators, cable cars and the cement and paper & pulp industry.
Schildknecht has developed a new device in Schildknecht’s DATAEAGLE range, using NeoMesh technology. The wireless sensor gateway DATAEAGLE compact 2M10 integrates low power sensors and industrial control units. Sensors that measure e.g. moisture, pressure, position, acceleration, or temperature transmit their data wirelessly via the NeoMesh protocol to the DATAEAGLE compact 2M10, connected through an ethernet cable to the PLC or via mobile radio to the cloud. And in combination with the distribution box DATAEAGLE X-treme IO 2M10, the new gateway is well suited to integrate wired legacy sensors with wireless systems.
Technology leaders
Schildknecht Business Development & Marketing Manager Elena Eberhardt explains the reasons for choosing NeoMesh:
– We have been in this business for a long time, developing hardware and software for radio technologies. Back in the early days we used wifi and proprietary radio frequencies. Nowadays we work a lot with Bluetooth. We got the idea to make a system capable of integrating a whole mesh network of sensors. We started three or four years ago looking for a technology and found NeoCortec. We have an ambition to be technology leaders in our business. We implement the latest technologies and test if there is a demand in the market.
Targeting sensor type applications
– The NeoMesh technology itself is useful for us, because it has very small radio chips and they are available in different frequencies. Also we are especially targeting sensor type applications, so it makes good sense to integrate NeoMesh into our gateway. This is where we would also like to enhance the partnership with NeoCortec in the future, because they also do the integration with the sensors. It is a very suitable technology for that, due to its very low energy consumption.
– Those are the main reasons for us to use the NeoMesh technology. We have launched our mesh network gateway together with the DATAEAGLE X-treme IO 2M10, a new distribution box with 8 connections for wired sensors. We have implemented radio too, so we can integrate wired and wireless sensors. For the customer, that will be an easy way to start having a mesh network.
Enhancing the network
According to Elena Eberhardt, the combination of the two products gives Schildknecht a possibility to enhance the network, utilising the scalability in NeoMesh that allows for up to 65.000 nodes in one network.
– Our current implementation of NeoMesh enables integration of 128 radio nodes. But here we can even scale, so that each radio node could have 8 sensors. This means we could build a network with over a 1000 sensors, and this is actually what everybody is talking about right now – massive radio networks.
For more information please go to the Schildknecht DATAEAGLE Wireless Mesh Network website
