Solutions / Catalogue / Environmental Sensing

Environmental SensingReference design

Agricultural Environment Monitoring

A reference build that puts SenseCAP soil and air sensor readings onto a Home Assistant dashboard, either through the SenseCAP cloud or a LoRaWAN server run on the farm. It is aimed at greenhouses, orchards, open fields and off-grid sites such as tea gardens and trial plots. It is a monitoring dashboard with threshold alerts, not a control system.

Agriculture and aquaculture

Talk to an engineer See the hardware

Rows of tea bushes and tall shade trees on a hillside estate in Munnar, Kerala — Photo: Johnchris007, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. Shows the setting, not this installation.

5 min: Typical node reporting interval, adjustable from 1 to 60 minutes
5 to 10 years: Node battery life (nominal spec, not field measured)
5 s: Dashboard refresh in a replay bench test
Up to 200: Nodes per gateway, quoted for the SenseCAP Outdoor Gateway, which is not in the parts list

Results reported by the design's authors on their own test setups. Yours depend on the site, so we confirm them in a pilot.

The problem

Why it matters.

Farms want soil and air readings on a local dashboard that works even with no internet.

The flow

From signal to action.

01SenseSensor nodesSenseCAP LoRaWAN nodes measure air and soil conditions and report on their own schedule.
02ConnectGatewayAn M2 or R12 gateway receives the radio messages from the nodes.
03DecideNetwork serverSenseCAP cloud, ChirpStack or The Things Stack decodes each message.
04DecideBridgeA bridge service removes duplicates, watches for silent nodes and announces sensors over MQTT.
05PeopleDashboardHome Assistant shows the readings and runs threshold alerts for the grower.

Deployment architecture

How it is wired.

The devices on site, what carries their data, where the decision is made and where the result goes.

01SenseOn site

SenseCAP S2101 LoRaWAN Air Temperature and Humidity Sensor3 per preset
S-Soil MTEC-02B1 where used

02ConnectCarries the data

SenseCAP S2100 data logger1 per probe group
SenseCAP M2 Multi-Platform LoRaWAN Indoor Gateway1 per site
reComputer R12 Series LoRaWAN gateway
reRouter CM41 per site
LoRaWAN

03DecideRuns the model

reComputer R1000 Series

04Your systemsWhere results land

Home Assistant
MQTT
ChirpStack
The Things Stack
SenseCAP OpenAPI

How it works

Step by step.

01Choose whether data goes through the cloud or stays fully on site.
02Use an existing gateway or buy a new one, and add any third-party probes through an S2100 logger.
03Register each node on the network server with its keys.
04Run Home Assistant, the MQTT broker and the bridge with Docker on one Linux host.
05Import the dashboard and threshold automations so values appear on screen.

The hardware

What goes on site.

Items we stock can go straight in the bag. Everything else we source and quote with the installation.

SenseCAP S2101 LoRaWAN Air Temperature and Humidity SensorExample node from the S210x family, which also covers soil, CO2, light and rain3 per presetSourced on quote
SenseCAP S2100 data loggerConnects RS485 or analogue probes to LoRaWAN1 per probe group₹7,979
S-Soil MTEC-02BRS485 soil moisture, temperature and EC probe1 where usedSourced on quote
S-pH-01BSoil pH probeSourced on quote
SenseCAP M2 Multi-Platform LoRaWAN Indoor GatewayGateway that forwards to the cloud or runs ChirpStack locally1 per siteSourced on quote
reComputer R12 Series LoRaWAN gatewayGateway that hosts ChirpStack or The Things Stack in Docker1 per site, if self-hostingSourced on quote
reRouter CM4Dashboard host running Home Assistant, broker and bridge1 per siteSourced on quote
reComputer R1000 SeriesAlternative dashboard hostSourced on quote

Before you install

Nodes and gateway bought in the same regional band, since this cannot be changed in software.
Outbound internet for the cloud path, or none for the local server paths.
Each node's DevEUI, JoinEUI and AppKey for self-hosted servers.
A Linux host with Docker for the dashboard.
A gateway position with clear line of sight to the fields.

Good to know

Readings arrive on the node's schedule, typically every 5 minutes, not on demand.
It only receives data. It cannot switch pumps or valves.
The MQTT broker is a single point of failure for the dashboard.
It is an operations dashboard, not a certified measurement system, and the bridge image must be built yourself for now.

How we deliver it

Paper to site, one team.

01Site surveyWe walk the site, or review photos and drawings, and agree what to measure and where each device goes.
02PilotOne lane, one line or one room first. We tune it on your conditions and agree what good looks like.
03Roll outWe supply the hardware in India with GST invoices, install it, and connect it to the systems you already run.
04SupportSpares, remote checks and model updates, with one team to call when something changes.

Questions

Asked before buying.

Can it run without internet?

Yes. With ChirpStack on the M2 or an R12 gateway, everything stays on the farm.

Can it switch irrigation pumps?

No. This build only displays readings and sends alerts.

Can we use our existing LoRaWAN gateway?

Yes, the setup asks whether you already have one, as long as it is on the same band as the sensors.

Want this on your site?

Tell us the site and the problem. We come back with a pilot plan and a priced hardware list.

Book a call with an engineer Write to us

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