On Wednesday 20 November 2019, The Satellite Terminals Working Group (STWG), organised by Sven Knowles of KTN, chaired by Simon Watts of Avanti on behalf of the STWG, and hosted by Les Hurdiss of Agri-EPI Centre, held a successful meeting of Satcom (Satellite Communications) and Agriculture professionals to discuss and identify the technology needs, challenges and possible solutions in for Satcoms in Agri-tech systems. With rapid innovation among antenna and terminal technologies, Satcom services are becoming accessible to a much wider range of users. They can provide communications and data services to remote locations, they are more easily installed, and can be integrated directly into equipment.

1. How LPWAN Can
Compliment
Traditional Satellite
Services
20th November 2019
Kevin Maher
kevin.maher@sigfox.com

2. IoT Wireless Technology Landscape
802.11ah
PAN WANLAN
2G
3G
4G
LPWA requirements
Range
Energy & Cost
efficiency
Public
Connectivity
Personal & private
networks § High density of objects
§ Reduced H/W cost
§ Reduced connectivity cost
§ Low data rates
§ Constrained latency

3. In 2010 we launched Sigfox
to connect any everyday object to the internet
from anywhere in the world.

4. Sigfox: Global 0G network
Low power
to provide autonomy
Global
to be used everywhere
Low cost
to address everything
Easy to use
and adopted quickly
Global SLA with 99%
availability of the
SIGFOX
Communication
Services
Secure by Design

5. Our network footprint is growing at an exponential pace

6. We want to connect every objects to get them digitalized in the cloud
and cover every square meter of the planet
Today
65 countries
End 2019
70 countries
2020
ELO Constellation: Ubiquitous global coverage

7. Geo Satellites:
• Sigfox Base Station connected to Geo
Satellite.
• Backhauling used to cover remote areas
where there area lots of objects connect, no
Fiber/ADSL/Mobile access eg livestock
management, Oil & Gas, Mining…
Leo Satellite:
• To connect the object directly to the satellite.
• Container Tracking, Boat tracking, Car
tracking…
2 ways to use Satellite

8. Smart Agriculture
8
Optimization of crop production with minimum cost spending
§ Recording of agronomical
activity
§ Mapped out sowing plans
§ Regulated substance
compliance
§ Stock management
§ Reporting
§ Weather Forecast and
weather radar data
Smart Agriculture solution from
CleverFarm integrates farm
management platform, IoT
sensors, remote field scouting
with precision farming and asset
management.
It includes meteorological station,
crop sensors, soil sensors,
monitoring conditions in grain
stocks and monitoring of animal
welfare
Used by many farmes in Europe,
being tested in Africa and Latam
Challenge
BenefitsSolution

9. Customer story: irrigation
management
Optimize the energy and water usage from
irrigation pumps.
9
The solution combines
several features:
• Monitoring of the soil
moisture and water levels
• Decision making software
based on grid condition
and moisture data,
• Activating the pump.
• Reduced energy and
water consumption for
irrigation,
• Remote control and
reporting of the system
status and usage,
• Optimized growth of crop,
generating add’al
revenues,
Challenges
Solutions Benefits

10. Remote Signals Soil
Temperature Monitoring
10
Having accurate knowledge of soil condition at any given time is very
important to farmers and food producers. For example deciding when to sow,
when to spread artificial (bagged) fertilizer, when to spread slurry(farmyard
manure), whether pH is correction is necessary, whether artificial irrigation is
necessary, etc.
Easy to Install.
Data available on mobile (iOS
& Android) and web apps.
Collects data every 3 hours.
AA Battery powered - 3 years
life.
• Remote Signals precision farming
platform.
• Low cost soil monitoring sensors
on every farm.
• Insights presented on mobile and
web apps where farmers can more
precisely capture key data relating
to their farm and use this to
optimally plan their work
schedules.
Challenge
BenefitsSolution
Commerci
al

11. Livestock
Management
CONFIDENTIAL
11
Improve efficiency and safety in farming
§ Affordable
§ Long battery life
§ Gives a real-time visibility
on the livestock location
§ Reduces the number of
diseases by accidents,
calving, thefts or attacks by
other animals
§ Cut-off operating costs
Digitanimal is a location system for
livestock farms. It offers location,
monitoring and traceability
capabilities, detecting anomalies due
to temperature, activity, behavior and
calving. Digitanimal increases farm
profitability by detecting in calving
periods; by reducing production costs
through a losses cut-off and by
improving animals’ welfare through
constant monitoring.
It sends alerts (animal outside the
farm, abnormal activity, weather
alerts, etc.) to the farmers.
Challenge
BenefitsSolution
Alternative partners for this application

12. Smart irrigation to
improve Kiwi production
CONFIDENTIAL
12
Reduce the amount of water resources to grow Kiwi
§ Low installation costs
§ Low maintenance costs
§ Small OpEx
§ Help farmers with decisions
and alerts
Kiwifruit is one of the most
sensitive fruits in terms of
quality which is given by size,
sweetness and dry matter.
it is essential for farmers to
develop a good irrigation
strategy to attain marketable
products and to reduce
product losses
Challenge
BenefitsSolution
Solution providers:

13. Soil & Weather Monitoring
by Greencityzen (FR)
• Reduce logistic costs from 20 to
30%
• Avoid extra costs of dry runs and
emergency deliveries
• Reduce monitoring costs and
overall management cost
• Improve quality of service: avoid
out of stock issues
• Optimize stock costs
• Reduce CO2 footprint
HummmBox Soil is a solution
including:
• Device “as a service”: level
monitoring sensor with soil
moisture and temperature
sensors. Optional air
temperature, humidity, CO2
and rain gauge sensors.
• Software “as a service”: IoT
platform + Apps (dashboard
and fleet management
features)
Problem solved
BenefitsSolution
Avoid round trips to check soil humidity
13

14. • Reduce logistic costs by 30%
• Avoid extra costs of dry runs and
emergency deliveries
• Reduce monitoring costs and
overall management cost
• Improve quality of service: avoid
out of stock issues
• Optimize stock costs
Tank level monitoring
by Dunraven Systems
Device monitors the tank levels
thanks to an ultrasonic sensor.
Automatically notifies RMS
Delta cloud monitoring system.
RMS Delta receives
information.
Tank top up is arranged and
delivered before the tank runs
dry.
Problem solved
BenefitsSolution
Monitor efficiently storage tank levels
14

15. Electronic scale for remotely
monitoring hives (transmits the
weight, the temperature and
autonomy of the system). Harvest at
the right time or to treat urgent
issues such as bringing supplies in
case of famine.
Platform:
- Weight & Temperature on a
graphical chart
- Production alert: alert for an
abnormal variance (up or down) in
weight (email or SMS
Problem solved
Assess the status of a bee colony by permanently
analysing the apiary’s weight and temperature.
BenefitsSolution
• Beekeepers using the
solution reduce their
travel costs by about 30%
• Productivity is greater as
the beekeeper can better
plan his/her work.
• Assess the status of the
beehive in real time
Connected beehive
by Optibee (FR)
15

16. Thank You