Digital gas meter reading
BL-SIG-AMR1 is a battery powered smart gas meter, which uses the Sigfox network for wireless data transfer. Sigfox network allows low-cost wireless connection for large number of gas meters. With several tamper detection alarms and very long battery life, the BL-SIG-AMR1 is an ideal choice for installation on
existing diaphragm gas meters that don ‘t support remote readout.
HEP-Plin digitize their gas meters in Croatia
HEP-Plin, the national energy company in Croatia, is deploying Byte Lab retrofit smart devices powered by the Sigfox.
BL-SIG-AMR1 is a Sigfox Ready device
Sigfox Ready label is given to Devices developed by Sigfox Partners that have passed Antenna Certification.Your gas meter has just become a gadget
Tanks to ByteLab and partners your gas meter has just become a gadget in one of the biggest IoT project in Croatia.Netokracija
We don’t write often about how some state-owned company collaborated with several startups on a positive project, but today is one of those days. HEP Plin, along with the company Byte Lab. Axis, Multicom and IoT Net Adria started the largest IoT project in Croatia, digitization of gas meters.
Frequently Asked Questions
- All
- Battery
- Certification
- Gas Meters
- General
- Installation
- LTE-M & NB-IoT
- Platform
- Production & Shipping
- Protocol
Every Sigfox device is connected to a Sigfox Backend. Sigfox Backend displays the status of all devices and communication. In order to process this data, it is necessary to connect it to an external platform. That is why Sigfox Backend offers APIs and Callbacks that allow further transmission of all messages and events.
Find out more about Sigfox API and callbacks here:
If we’re talking about higher quantities, the container would be shipped from the nearest port in Rijeka, Croatia, or Kopar, Slovenia.
- Certified RC1
- In the certification process: RC2 / RC4
- Other zones: On request
The device is currently certified as Class 2 only due to the early certification of the device.
Since the first clients wanted to receive certified devices before final development was completed we passed certification with the prototype version of the antenna and RF frontend.
In the production samples, antenna performance was improved so the device has already much better performance than the unit which was sent for the certification.
In our roadmap, we are planning to make recertification but with the new model which will have Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) capability which will enable on-site firmware updates.
If the Class 0 certificate is mandatory for your market we can discuss recertification. Another (faster) way will be to do the test of the device in order to check the performance in the critical cases.
You could also get feedback from the Sigfox operator in Croatia (IoT Net Adria) about the RF performance in the real deployment – it will be the fastest way to get valuable feedback from the field.
- Currently, the device does not have an ATEX certificate as in Europe it’s not required for residential areas since the device is not mounted in the gas network system.
- We’re aware that in the industrial environemnt and other markets ATEX imight be mandatory, so we’re considering having ATEX certified version. Contact us for more details.
Typically box contains 30 units. Transport box has dimensions of 600x370x300mm and it can fit 9 boxes. Up to 24 transport boxes are possible to load on the euro pallet.
40ft shipping container can hold up to 24 euro pallets so the estimated capacity for a shipping container is 155.520 devices.
The LTE-M1 device is not in the confirmed development roadmap, but it can be if you are willing to sign a commitment. Keep in mind that in that case, we can customize additional features which customer will request.
Battery life highly depends on the temperature of the application environment. According to the measurements and calculation in the use case of two messages per day in a normal environment, the device should achieve more than 10 years of autonomy.
The number of pulses does not significantly affect battery life.
For example, between 100 and 1000 pulses per day, there is almost no difference.
Communication and stand-by current have the biggest impact on battery life.
It mostly depends on temperature, but we can freely say that there are weeks/months of battery life left.
The device uses primary cells which are not rechargeable. After the battery cell is drained there are two options:
a) Replace the device
b) Refurbish the device (enclosure and battery need to be replaced)
During storage, battery capacity will be drained 2-3% / year due to battery leakage and standby consumption.
The configuration tool is usually part of the platform. For the pilot projects, we can discuss with the partners if we can provide their cloud solution.
Although we do not provide the platform, there is a solution from our partner company which covers the mobile app used for deployment and cloud platform with the dashboard.
Information from the field is that typical deployment requires 6-10 minutes per meter in urban areas so you can expect approx. 40-70 device per day (8 working hours) per technician in deployment.
For example, if you have a team of 20 technicians, you can expect a deployment of 16-28kpcs per month.
Yes, by designing a new adapter. In that case, we would need gas meter samples in order to customize and test the adapter. Contact us, and we can discuss the customization details.
Each type has its own adapter – please check the user manual, page 4.
Alarms are sent when they occur, but only once during the “counting period”. This way we’re avoiding the issue with message flooding.
Our sensor is a digital sensing element, not the standard reed relay. The sensing element is positioned in a way that ensures that the magnet from the gas meter can be detected correctly when properly mounted.
Besides mounting, the “reading range” of the sensing element is three-time higher than the required distance for the proper readout so we can guarantee that the device cannot miss the impulse.
Also, we never got any reports that impulses were missed.
From the field, the most common problem was that technicians were rushing with the installation so they didn’t activate devices. The remaining problems were mainly with the meters because on a really small number of the meters the distributer had a gas meter with a missing magnet!
We can easily provide a customized device for your application, but for that, we should have a discussion or list of the requirements from your side.