Products and systems for cold chains

Wireless Temperature and Humidity Monitoring System Based on Smartphone for Transportation

Since 2009 year PJSC TERA designs, manufactures and installs wired / wireless automatic temperature and humidity monitoring systems for the companies being into pharmacological and food industries. Every complete monitoring system successfully passed required validated procedures by TERA’s customers corresponding to requirements GMP, GDP, GCP, GPP, FDA 21 CFR (Part11), GAMP and HACCP.

WHAT’S INCLUDED

Wireless temperature and humidity monitoring system includes the following parts:

  1. Android-smartphone with 4G mobile Internet, which runs an application to connect to wireless transducers TSP 868 (DVT 868) and to visualize its measurings on the display. Using the smartphone, the system aggregates and transfers in the cloud all of online data about air temperature and humidity in a cargo compartment, goods temperature and GPS coordinates of refridgerator location. A driver can visually observe data of temperature and humidity on the smartphone display while driving. Also the driver can start and finish expedition by pressing a button, thereby to activate and to diactivate alarm signal.
  2. Coordinator T-K-868, which connects using the USB-C jack to the Android-smartphone and serves as a gateway between wireless transducers TSP 868 (DVT 868) and the smartphone. The coordinator works as an access point on the frequency 868 MHz, which can administrate up to 12 wireless transducers. The coordinator itself with the smartphone connects to the car USB charger using a standard USB charge via the second USB-C jack of the coordinator. When the power supply is off, the smartphone automatically switches to the power from own built-in battery.
  3. Y-Case Wireless Temperature Transducers with ZigBee 868MHz and Y-Case Wireless Humidity & Temperature Transducers with ZigBee 868MHz, which place in a cargo compartment of the refrigerator. Transducers may have two internal channels of temperature and air humidity, and additional one or two channels to connect an external temperature transducer with a cable jacks. External temperature transducers can measure temperature of goods inside of a package. Transducers work using two interchangeable batteries and use the radio frequency 868 MHz to transfer data. Transducers are equipped with magnetic holders to mount it easily.
  4. Cold Chain Cloud software is in the cloud that provides users with WEB HMI interface using web-technologies. The application is developed to fulfill all necessary functions of the monitoring system for vehicles in real-time, namely transducer’s data collecting, processing, displaying and archiving, notifying alarms, database storing, etc.

DIAGRAM

Operation diagram of the wireless temperature and humidity monitoring system

 

PLACING MONITORING SYSTEM IN THE VEHICLE

Scheme of sensor placement on transport

Sensor designations

 

FEATURES

Advantages:

  • It allows to switch from using USB data loggers to the online system with minimal human interaction. Compared to USB data loggers it saves human’s time taking to collect manually, transfer and read all data by maintain staff.
  • Using exactly the online system, not the system with downloading (based on USB or Bluetooth data loggers) is recommended to implement by standards of cold chain in pharmacology and food industry.
  • Using GPS and 4G LTE it allows to receive exact route coordinates of the vehicle and display it on the map.
  • The smartphone display, which shows temperature measures, allows a driver to react quickly on alarm situations related on temperature regime in the way even in absence of the mobile network.
  • Easy montage, which lets to move and mount all of parts (transducers and the smartphone with the holder) in another vehicle as necessary.
  • Wireless transducers can be easily mounted and unmounted by magnetic holder from the vehicle to maintain, to calibrate or battery exchange, etc.

Disadvantages:

  • Transducer radio signal may be blocked by physical obstacles (pallets, goods, steel walls, etc) or by radio interferences. Before mounting it’s recommended to determine in advance the transducer location and its external antenna inside of cargo compartment to search location with the high quality radio signal (RSSI level).
  • Battery charge depends on response time (more response time, more discharge).
  • Actual response time is no more 1 time per minute, recommended is 1 time per 5 or 10 minutes.
  • A need to pay every month subscription fee to access to Cold Chain Cloud cloud software and to have cellular Internet.

Presentation

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Gallery