Updates that can't brick a node
Two firmware slots. A new version only counts once it has connected and delivered a reading. If it can't, the bootloader goes back to the old one.
Technology
A nervous system for the hive.
Six sensing points in and under the box, read by a node that sleeps almost all the time on a solar-charged supply.
- 5 min
- default reading cycle, configurable per hive
- 6
- sensing points on each hive, each switchable
- < 50 µA
- sleep current we design the node to
- 3
- places a reading is kept on its way to you
From hive to screen
Designed so a reading has nowhere to get lost.
On the hive
Holds 64 readings in memory that survives deep sleep
A low-power node wakes, measures, sends and goes back to sleep. No network? It keeps the reading and tries again next cycle.
At the apiary
Keeps every message in a local database
A gateway collects the whole apiary over Wi-Fi and forwards it over 4G. When the link drops, it stores, then replays in order.
In BeeCloud
Replays are harmless: duplicates are ignored
Each reading lands once, however many times it arrives. If a stretch of data is missing, the platform notices and asks the gateway for it.
On-board analysis
Sound, without sending the sound.
The node captures a short sample and computes its frequency bands on the chip. Only the bands travel, so a thin 4G link carries a colony's signature instead of an audio file. The same pipeline reads vibration from the accelerometer.
Frequency bands, configurable per node (illustration)
The boring parts, done carefully.
Fleet updates at the pace of 4G
A staggered queue updates a few nodes at a time, so one uplink on one solar station is never asked to serve a whole apiary at once.
No update on a low battery
Below a safe voltage a node declines the download and asks to try again later. Power is the scarcest thing on the hill.
Solar you can read
Each station reports its rails, so state of charge and autonomy are on the dashboard rather than being a surprise.
Your data stays yours
Each gateway has its own identity and may only publish under its own namespace. One apiary can't speak for another, enforced at the broker.
Honest about what it doesn't know
A failed sensor reports as missing, never as a zero that looks real. And gaps in the record are shown, then repaired where the gateway still has the data.
