How We Tested The Industrial LoRa Light Intensity Sensor
SenseCAP LoRaWAN Light Sensor is aimed for use in outdoor environment with direct exposure to sunlight, and the products need to be waterproof and durable. This post shares how we tested two aspects of the product.
#Special Updates: Here at Seeed, we’ve been working on developing industrial IoT products. And in this new series of blog posts, we will show you some behind-the-stage scenes of how these products are tested to meet the industry standards. In the previous posts, we shared the followings:
- IP66 dustproof and waterproof functions Testing
- High-low temperature testing after sharp temperature differences
- Long-range communication testing
- How we chose and tested different materials for the probe enclosure of LoRaWAN air temperature & humidity sensor and barometric pressure sensor
And in this post, I will make it short and sweet, and have a look at the stories behind the LoRaWAN Light Intensity Sensor.
For those of you who have followed our updates about Seeed industrial IoT products, you might have known SenseCAP LoRaWAN sensor nodes adopts a modular design and share the same data-logger, and the main body of the sensor node is IP66 rated. And with various sensor probes, we took different measures to test and make sure they meet the industry standards for the expected application scenarios.
As SenseCAP LoRaWAN Light Intensity Sensor is expected to be deployed with direct exposure to sunlight, it’s highly important that both the data-logger and the sensor probe are durable in outdoor environments for a long time. Among the many details that we consider, I will share with you two aspects.
Cable to Board Connection Firmness
SenseCAP Light Intensity Sensor has a cable that connects the light sensor sphere to the PCB board, and the cable is encapsulated in a flexible coolant hose (the blue part). We took the following measures to test the sturdiness and durability. The connection was bent by 180 degrees, continuously for a minimum of 100 times. And all the products work perfectly after the tests.
Durability & Waterproof Function of the Light Sphere
The light intensity probe is hidden in the sphere, which is connected to the flexible coolant hose. As mentioned above, the light intensity sensor is aimed for use in outdoor environments. We need to make sure this part is durable and waterproof. We had an A/B test with the following two designs.
- A: Glue a plastic foam to the connection part.
- B: Design a spiral metal structure for connection.
The design of method B outperforms method A, so we chose this design for the mass-production.
And now SenseCAP LoRaWAN Light Intensity Sensor has been officially released. Check out the detailed specifications by clicking the image below.
That’s all for this short update. Stay tuned for our next updates. Have a lovely weekend!
About SenseCAP
SenseCAP is a series of industrial IoT products. Its LoRaWAN version is based on LoRaWAN protocol and deployable worldwide with multiple ISM bands. SenseCAP is encapsulated in an IP66 enclosure, making it applicable in outdoor remote sensing scenarios such as Smart Farming, Smart City, and other IoT applications that need low-power, long-distance, and long-term data collection.
SenseCAP LoRaWAN version is now released, and you can see more details here. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment here, email us (iot[at]seeed[dot].cc), or join the discussion at Seeed Forum.
SenseCAP User Cases
- SenseCAP Deployed in Outdoor Triticale Farm, Empowering Precision Agriculture in Dingzhou, Hebei Province, Northern China
- Smart Agriculture Demonstration Park of Sweet Melons Empowered by SenseCAP in Beihai Guangxi, Southern China
- SenseCAP Empowers Tourism in Hakka Villages by Collecting Environmental Data at in Heyuan, Guangdong, Southern China
- SenseCAP Monitoring Environmental Data in Smart Greenhouses Growing Tropical Fruits in Shandong, Northern China.
- Smart Tea Plantation in Mengding Mountain to Monitor Key Environmental Data with SenseCAP for Increasing Efficiency and Customer Trust
- SenseCAP Deployed in Environmental Monitoring Projects in Stockholm, Sweden
More Info
- Learn more about SenseCAP
- SenseCAP Selected as Smart Agriculture Innovation of the Year
- SenseCAP among the First Products Certified by Microsoft Plug & Play (PnP)
- SenseCAP IoTea Project
- SenseCAP API Introduction
About Author
I have a question – does the light intensity sensor measure both UV A and B and Infrared?
We have a use case where we want to measure those light levels in the shade and another test plot in direct sunlight and compare.
Hi George,
Thank you for your question. Unfortunately, it does not support measuring UV light, this LoRaWAN Light Intensity supports measuring the intensity of visible light.
Hi George,
If industrial-grade is not a must for your project, you can have a look at this Grove – Sunlight Sensor, which measures UV-light, visible light, and infrared light. You can see more details about the specifications and some projects at this link https://www.seeedstudio.com/Grove-Sunlight-Sensor.html