TALIS and SIGFOX has announced that TALIS will use the SIGFOX network in its new smart city fire hydrant monitoring solution.
Called COPERNIC, the solution allows water utility officials and companies to monitor the status of thousands of fire hydrants 24/7 to assure proper functioning and protect against water theft. It provides real-time alerts when the fire hydrants are being used, along with estimates of volume drawn, data on hydrant functioning and other information that supports total network efficiency.
COPERNIC allows real-time monitoring of fire hydrants by time-stamping all data related to hydrant functioning. An electronic module installed on the hydrant sends SMS or email alerts via the SIGFOX network when the hydrant is being opened, closed, tampered with or is not functioning properly. In addition, all data are instantly available on a web portal, and a mobile app for smartphones and tablets is available to read data and receive alerts in the field.
COPERNIC was developed by the TALIS Group unit, BAYARD in Meyzieu, France, which specialises in fire and pipe-protection systems, gates, water treatment and butterfly valves, fluid control, joint connectors for pipelines and pipe connections. BAYARD has applied for a patent for COPERNIC.
“COPERNIC illustrates our commitment to providing cost-effective solutions that enable cities and municipal water suppliers to easily implement smart programms that reduce costs and improve services,” said Hervé Dumont, head of marketing at TALIS. “The SIGFOX network is the obvious choice to connect thousands of hydrants to the Internet of Things (IoT), because there is no network infrastructure to be deployed during installation of the fire hydrants. In addition, the network offers low energy consumption, reduced costs, easy integration and, most of all, comprehensive coverage in France.”
SIGFOX’s cellular, ultra-narrowband (UNB) network has been exclusively designed for small messages that will meet the needs of the vast majority of objects connected to the IoT. By providing economical, energy-efficient two-way transmission of data, SIGFOX is lowering barriers to wide implementation of IoT and M2M solutions, and greatly extending the battery and service life of connected devices. COPERNIC runs on lithium batteries that have an estimated lifetime of 10 years.
“The SIGFOX network, with its ‘plug-and-play’ connectivity, low cost and low power consumption will enable the COPERNIC solution to efficiently deliver a wide range of essential data to water-management officials in real time,” said Stuart Lodge, SIGFOX executive vice president for global sales. “TALIS’s choice of the SIGFOX network is another demonstration of the key role SIGFOX is playing in the development of smart cities today, while other proposed networks are still in the development stage.”
