An innovative smart beacon: Fliegl COUNTER SX

Thanks to its new features, this little wireless device has universal application

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Fliegl COUNTER SX is an innovative beacon which extends beacon technology with an acceleration sensor, a GPS module, Sigfox wireless technology and memory. But these are not just additional features, they are also usefully linked to each other and they interact, and so they create a new scope of application and depth of data: Fliegl COUNTER SX is smart. For quite different processes, it can generate, store, and forward useful data. The beacon opens up completely new areas of application, not just in agri-business and livestock farming. At the Agritechnica 2017, the Fliegl COUNTER SX was awarded the Silver Innovation Award.

Fliegl COUNTER SX demonstrated that beacons can do more than just count operating hours. When mounted on an implement, it detects when the implement is working and what it is working on - all by itself. The beacon can record and store this information along with time and location data, and make it available in real time or later through Sigfox or a smart app. It generates smart data and independently supplies it directly to the places where it is used for documentation records or for further processing.

Fliegl COUNTER SX has its own GPS module, so it can store GPS data without the need for connection to a smart device or app. This means it does not depend on level of charge, functionality and internet connection as a smartphone does. With its GPS module, the beacon can substantiate all its data with location data.

Fliegl COUNTER SX is active only when moving (i.e. when the related implement is in motion). All the 3-dimensional information gathered by the acceleration sensor is linked intelligently to GPS functionality. Fliegl COUNTER SX ’goes to sleep’ when the implement is at rest, but also ‘wakes up’ when moved and immediately starts recording location data - all by itself, with no need for any manual intervention. The acceleration sensor in the Fliegl COUNTER SX is used directly for intelligent energy management (sleep mode). This extends the battery life, and the service life of the beacon as a whole, to from four to twenty years. Fliegl COUNTER SX functionality is process-related: it detects work breaks and stops sending data during those times, but even after long breaks it ‘wakes itself up’ as soon as the beacon carrier implement goes into action. Fliegl COUNTER SX can distinguish between machine working times and transport times and, unlike simple vibration counters, not only knows when something has happened, but also what. Because the internal acceleration sensor evaluates all three axes of rotation through 360°, Fliegl COUNTER SX can detect movement of any kind, and can be mounted anywhere.

Example with a cultivator: By angle measurement, Fliegl COUNTER SX detects whether the cultivator is in working position or not, and by vibration measurement whether the cultivator is moving or not. So there are three possible statuses: Fliegl COUNTER SX distinguishes between work, transport and work break, and does this without the driver having to do anything at all.

Example with a swather: Fliegl COUNTER SX stores the place and time at which the swather is lowered, i.e. goes into working position, and the place and time at which it is raised again. So the start and end points of the swath can be stored.

Example with a round baler: When the Fliegl COUNTER SX is mounted on the cover of a round baler, it can not only count the number of bales, but also store their position. Fliegl COUNTER SX stores the time of the ‘bale eject’ event. The result is a map which shows where the bales are located.

Fliegl COUNTER SX has a potted circuit board - the beacon is completely sealed and effectively protected not only from splash water, but also dust, dirt and vibrations as defined in protection class IP69K, and is designed to withstand a wide temperature range. The beacon is extremely robust for farming applications.

Unlike its predecessors, Fliegl COUNTER SX no longer has to be read off locally, which brings a great benefit for machine hire firms, for example, who can now rent out their implements without having to read off the data first. This is made possible by connection to Sigfox - a new and innovative networking technology.

Sigfox is a French telecommunications company which has built up a worldwide wireless network that connects billions of small devices such as the Fliegl COUNTER SX beacon wirelessly to the internet and stores their data directly in a cloud. Sigfox in this way is establishing a base for the “internet of things”. The devices send small amounts of data at intervals to the Sigfox base station, which then sends them on to a database at the receiver concerned. The company is currently extending its wireless technology around the world. Many European countries are already completely covered (e.g. France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands), and the roll-out phase is underway in others. Sigfox is planning to have covered 80 percent of the land of Germany by the end of 2017. It is interesting to note their high coverage in agriculture-dependent countries such as Spain.

Sigfox wireless technology uses the low frequency of 868 Megahertz, which allows it to cover long ranges of up to 40 kilometres - this is practical for eliminating dead zones for farmers. Sigfox works with a three-way overlap, so that one data packet is received by up to three Sigfox stations. Communication is bi-directional, so data can also be transferred to the beacon. SIM cards are superfluous. The power requirement is very low, as are the lifetime costs of internet access for the beacon. In addition to the Sigfox module, the Fliegl COUNTER SX also has a Bluetooth module, so it can work equally with either system.

Fliegl COUNTER SX has universal application, and the beacon can supply useful data in different situations, from different vehicles and implements and from within different working processes. The beacon is not limited to particular farming processes or even to the farming sector itself. It is also suitable for applications such as the tracking of containers, truck trailers, machines and components. For mixed operation firms which operate both in logistics and in machine hire, Fliegl Beacon technology works equally well in both environments. However, it also has numerous possible applications in theft protection, gate surveillance, weather stations, and temperature or silage monitoring. Fliegl COUNTER SX is small but the possibilities which it opens up, as part of the internet of things and as a basis for Smart Farming, are great.