Real-time visibility and analytics across machines, environment, and energy—powered by LoRaWAN and Wi-Fi.
Project Overview
A multi-line manufacturing facility sought to digitize its operations by capturing real-time data from machines, electrical panels, and the shop-floor environment. They wanted to monitor machine health, ambient conditions, and energy usage to improve efficiency and reduce downtime.
Problem Statement
- No centralized visibility into machine runtime, fault states, or power spikes.
- Manual tracking of temperature, humidity, and vibration data was inconsistent.
- Maintenance was reactive, leading to unplanned downtime.
- Existing wired solutions were costly and inflexible for plant layout.
- Needed scalable, wireless IoT with real-time alerts and dashboards.
Our Solution: LoRaWAN + Wi-Fi Enabled IoT System
Kelectron designed a hybrid Industrial IoT (IIoT) system using LoRaWAN for long-range data capture and Wi-Fi for high-throughput nodes like energy meters.
| Module | Technology |
|---|---|
| Sensors | Vibration, temperature, humidity, current, voltage, RPM sensors |
| Connectivity | LoRaWAN (for remote, low-power devices), Wi-Fi (for real-time energy data) |
| Gateways | Multichannel LoRa gateway + Raspberry Pi edge node |
| Backend | MQTT Broker + Python FastAPI + MongoDB |
| Dashboard | Custom web dashboard + charting + alert engine |
Implementation Highlights
- Deployed 30+ nodes across 2 shop floors
- Designed custom low-power sensor nodes with STM32 and ESP32
- Data transmitted every 10s–60s depending on criticality
- Set up LoRaWAN network server and OTA configuration
- Created rule-based alert system (e.g., high temp, abnormal vibration)
- Enabled PDF reports and Excel exports for compliance teams
Results & Benefits
- Reduced machine downtime by 22% in first 60 days
- Energy optimization strategies identified via load trend analytics
- Enabled predictive maintenance by correlating vibration + temperature spikes
- Fully wireless deployment reduced cabling cost by 40%
- Operators and managers now access data remotely via mobile dashboard
Technologies Used
- MCUs: STM32, ESP32
- Protocols: LoRaWAN, MQTT, HTTP
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi, RS485, BLE (optional)
- Software: Python, FastAPI, MongoDB, Chart.js
- Cloud/Local: Hybrid – edge analytics + optional cloud sync