Smart Greenhouse Remote Monitoring and Control

Overview

Partnering with an agricultural IoT solution provider in the UAE, we deployed WR245 industrial routers to improve water utilization, save energy and costs, and enable real-time monitoring. Growers no longer need to operate each piece of equipment manually, bringing clear visibility to the water and fertilizer consumption in every greenhouse.

Challenges

Traditional agricultural greenhouses rely on fiber-optic cabling for networking, which is both time-consuming and labor-intensive. Expanding the system in the future requires re-cabling, increasing construction costs.

A multitude of on-site devices, such as temperature/humidity sensors, fertigation systems, and roll-up shade machines, rely on manual on-site data collection. This increases labor costs and causes data latency, compromising real-time performance and efficiency.

Standard commercial routers cannot withstand harsh environments such as high temperatures and humidity, leading to frequent network disconnections. The inability to monitor equipment operating status remotely poses an additional challenge.

Solution

Dual-SIM Backup and Failover

The WR245 industrial wireless router was deployed to provide cellular connectivity with dual-SIM backup and link failover.

Industrial-Grade Design

With an industrial-grade aluminum casing, the device is designed for stable, long-term operation in demanding environments with high temperatures and humidity, within its rated operating limits.

Serial Connectivity to PLCs

The WR245 is equipped with RS232/RS485 serial communication interfaces, enabling connections to on-site PLC controllers through a serial bus.

Modbus Data Acquisition

The system uses the Modbus industrial communication protocol for PLC data acquisition. The acquired data is forwarded to the remote data center through the WR245.

Secure Remote Monitoring and Control

Multiple VPN protocols, including OpenVPN and IPsec, are supported. Acquired data and control commands are transmitted through an encrypted VPN, enabling real-time remote monitoring and control of equipment, such as water valves and rooftop panels, through commands issued from a terminal.

Wavetel RMS

The device connects to the Wavetel RMS platform for remote equipment status monitoring.

Topology

Benefits

Rapid deployment through cellular networks without the need for fiber-optic cabling.

Dual-SIM backup and failover help maintain business continuity.

Remote data access eliminates the need for physical inspections in every area.

VPN protection supports the confidentiality and integrity of industrial data transmitted over public networks, while connectivity redundancy supports availability.

RMS reduces ongoing operation and maintenance costs.

Why Wavetel?

For greenhouse operations, real-time capability is a core pain point. Deploying the Wavetel WR245 industrial router enables remote data viewing anytime and anywhere, improves the utilization efficiency of water resources, fertilizers, and pesticides, and offers exceptional overall cost-effectiveness.