LoRaWAN - Sensor technology for HIDD

Hanover Region

Since summer 2020, the Hannover Region's economic and employment promotion agency has had a good 30,000 more employees. Two networked bee colonies have found a new home on Vahrenwalder Straße and are busy collecting data as well as nectar. This means they know exactly how the colonies are doing at all times and how much honey is currently in the hive.

Hanover Region

Our bees have settled in wonderfully at the Haus der Wirtschaftsförderung and are busy doing their important work. And how! Thanks to the LoRaWAN data, we know that our bees are performing best compared to the other networked bee colonies.

The project is supported by beekeeper Marc Junker from the Gottlieb and Therese Wittrock apiary in Springe, who have already measured many colonies in the region with LoRaWAN.

Explanation of the icons in the annual overview above

Review	Review OK	Review Intervention required	Feeding	Honey harvest	Honeycombs removed
Varroa treatment with formic acid	Varroa control by insertion	Frame attached	Frame removed

Hanover Region, S. König-Hapke

The abbreviation stands for "Long Range Wide Area Network" and is a wireless network that can transmit data over long distances while consuming very little power. A standard battery or a small rechargeable battery can last for several years. This means that the data from the temperature and light sensors, as well as the scales among the bee colonies, can send their data regularly without a power connection, WLAN or SIM card.

Of course, this doesn't just apply to bee colonies: in future, waste garbage cans will also be able to report whether they are full and trees will be able to signal their need for water. This is made possible by LoRaWAN technology, the expansion of which the Hannover Region is driving forward in 2021.

Sensors for e.g. humidity, temperature, fine dust pollution or movement can use LoRaWAN to send their information across kilometers in a very energy-saving way. In order for this data to be sent to the Internet so that it can be visualized on dashboards or trigger actions, the data packets must be intercepted and forwarded to a server. This requires so-called LoRaWAN gateways, which pick up the signals from all LoRaWAN sensors within a radius of up to 15 km and transmit them to the network.

The Economic Development Agency is working to ensure that wherever LoRaWAN is needed for measurements or projects, a corresponding LoRaWAN infrastructure is also available. In the future, not only municipal services such as waste collection or green space management will benefit from the technology, but also companies, schools and private individuals will be able to make use of the potential of the "Internet of Things".

Cities and regions will become smart in the future. But what does that actually mean? The main aim is to make life in cities and regions more efficient, pleasant and environmentally friendly by linking various technologies and sensors.

For example, garbage cans can be equipped with sensors that keep an eye on the fill level, collect garbage cans earlier or collect remote, empty garbage cans a week later. This allows routes to be planned intelligently and agilely, avoiding overfilled garbage cans and unnecessary journeys.

With LoRaWAN, not only garbage cans can transmit, but also beds, trees and green spaces can report how dry or damp they are. This can save water under certain circumstances. The water level can be monitored at various points in the sewage system - even where there is no power connection or cell phone reception.

Companies can use sensor technology with LoRaWAN, Zigbee, Bluetooth, WLAN, etc. to monitor water ingress in cable ducts, for example, or to check whether the doors and windows on the factory premises are really closed or how high the CO2 levels in the conference room are at any given time.

In order to make use of these opportunities, the Hannover Region will take care of creating the infrastructure and training companies and citizens in its use.