Funding tool: Basic research projects
Project-ID: FTI18-009
Project start: 01. November 2019
Project end: will follow
Runtime: 24 months / finished
Funding amount: € 200.000,00

Brief summary:

The internet of things (IoT) is a highly emerging field and has arrived in our daily lives and bears huge potential in a wide range of areas. Due to this, there is currently a high demand for simple, cost-efficient and reliable IoT-solutions.

For this reason, we propose the development of a combined LoRaWAN-chemiresistor based IoT setup, which is economic, reliable, durable and versatile. The used sensor is basically a recently developed chemiresistor, which will be coated with different polymers in order to serve as tool for a detailed humidity and ammonia concentration mapping within Lower Austrian. The LoRaWAN network is chosen, since it provides the perfect basis for future IoT applications - it is currently available in more than 50 countries and will be rolled out in Lower Austria within the next years.

The huge benefits of our approach are the possibility to customize the implemented sensor for a wide range of different airborne analytes based on the used coating material, as well as the availability of a LoRaWAN network solution for these sensor types. The necessary sensors are readily available in our laboratory and will be adapted to the needs of humidity and ammonia sensing and coupled with a LoRaWAN unit within the project in order to autonomously measure for up to two years in different areas in Lower Austria. At least 15 final devices for humidity and 15 for ammonia should be successfully used within a prolonged measurement period (at least one year). This includes the recording and data transmission of one data point each 10 minutes per device. This approach should lead to a detailed time resolved humidity and ammonia concentration mapping in St. Pölten, Tulln, Wr. Neudorf, Wr. Neustadt, Krems and Wieselburg.

Based on the proposed project, some very valuable benefits could be triggered:

1. The development of an all-in-one solution for the integration of an adaptable and simple chemical sensor in the future LoRaWAN-IoT network will serve as blueprint for other sensors in development and speed up the integration of similar devices.
2. The promotion of R&D in the field of IoT and chemical sensors in Lower Austria could be directly triggered. The consortium is 100 % located in Lower Austria and the service provider (SENS) is a daughter company of mictrotronics, which is also located in Lower Austria. Therefore, the full value chain, test sites and benefits are located in Lower Austria.
3. The humidity and ammonia data obtained by the different field trials in Lower Austria is a valuable information and will give deep localized insight in agricultural related aspects (manure distribution, chicken farms and the related ammonia levels) and therefore provide valuable data for agricultural stakeholders already within the project.