Miller Magazine Issue: 124 April 2020

77 ARTICLE MILLER / APRIL 2020 Managing only one site with grain bins, warehouses and/or elevators is not easy as it requires frequent samp- ling and analysis, and, inventory monitoring in order to have an updated overview of the available quantities and the quality status of stored crops. Managing multiple fa- cilities, hundreds of miles from each other, is an even gre- ater challenge. The evolution of interconnected telemetry/sensing de- vices (aka IoT), telecommunications and cloud computing offer several mature solutions that can help a manager take optimal decision, based on her/his current and future business goals. Logistics management is done in an effi- cient and sustainable manner. The available solutions on grain storage and management are divided in two main categories: a) solutions coming from integrators combining generic products, and, frequently, come as an add-on to an exis- ting infrastructure. b) solutions coming from vendors specializing on grain management and quality assurance. Those solutions are usually backed with grain-specific knowledge and The question still the same: Can you manage your grain through your phone, tablet or any other internet-enabled device? TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE & LAYERING The goal of doing an optimal management over the available stored grain is not a trivial issue in the globali- zed 21st century market. Lots of applications can do one thing or the other. But how easy it is to have everything in one application? What does it take to gather data and see them on your screen? What else can you do with these data and how can you control your facility remotely and efficiently? Several solutions out there realize the transition from the traditional low-end elevator to the next-gen elevator which is a part of a larger ecosystem with measurable in- puts and outputs as well as environmental footprint and financial efficiency. So, the ability to change goals dyna- mically and satisfy more than one constraint is vital. The Internet of Things paradigm highly regarded as the next industrial revolution is following a layered structure (Figu- re 1)(Tzounis et al. 2017). Let’s see how the IoT realizes the elevator of the future, today. Layer 1: Perception Layer Irrelevant of how technologically evolved a solution is today or in the future, everything starts with the actual storage environment, both inside and outside the storage facility, the actual grain condition and its responses to the weather fluctuations, and, the quantity of the stored grain inside the elevator. All those factors need to be monitored accurately, in an undisrupted manner using industrial-gra- de, robust equipment. Besides the sensing and/or measu- ring of several factors, at this layer (Layer 1) we have the actuators which do the conditioning of the grain and all the other task related to the elevator management, such as filling and emptying the facility. Business-wise, as silos and elevators are a long-term investment, retrofitting of the sensors and actuators is a serious matter. The ability to upgrade the existing elevators, and, make them dependable again has a po- tential of saving grain companies and mills multiple mil- lions that otherwise would have to invest on making new, modern storage facilities. This becomes quite im- portant for small or medium-sized, family-owned busi- ness as well. Therefore, besides robustness, retrofitting features is an important characteristic to take into con- sideration when looking for new technologies in grain monitoring and handling. Wireless connectivity among the devices (sensors and actuators) in Level 1, is something that helps a lot, as it requires no wiring costs (material and labor). This brings us to the next layer which is the Network Layer, or Layer 2. Layer 2: Network Layer Many networking technologies are already spread ac- ross various sectors starting from industrial facilities up to home appliances. However, transmitting from inside the grain mass is very challenging for most of the exis- ting technologies, including Wifi, and, Bluetooth. There- Figure 1. IoT Architecture Layers.