Electronics - Long range low power wireless project.

Livestock Collar using long range wireless - A description of the work I was involved in for Hoofprints Technologies Ltd. (2016 to 2017)

Summary;

In built up areas LoRaWAN's range may be only 100's of metres although it can bounce into caverns and reach places you may not expect. In one of the farms in Britain the Hoofprints livestock collar is being trialled the range is over 3KM and the radio is operating nearly at the highest data rate, SF=7.

Earlier experiments the spread factor was fixed at SF=12, the slowest data rate, and with a poor aerial at a range of 2KM. In that earlier experiment radio path seemed to be over a small hill and bounced off other mountains, giving a patchy but better coverage than might be expected. These cases each with a single gateway. More gateways are recommended in order to give a more uniform coverage.

Top View - the NFC coil is mounted on the pins at the left hand side below

The Wireless Livestock Collar;

The unit has three radio's;

• LoRaWAN 868MHz - Long range low power radio. Using Spread spectrum modulation wireless, wide area network for data with security.

• Bluetooth - Short range communication and used to process lamb to ewe pairing.

• GNSS - Animal location uses Global Navigation Satellite Systems.

• Plus NFC - For reading the units status and identity this operates regardless of battery condition.

The features include a motion sensor. The NFC is wireless powered so it also operates when battery has failed so the user can determine if the unit identity and status by NFC contact, regardless of the battery condition. An off-the-shelf NFC ferrite coil made by Coilcraft has been used.

General Description;

It has been found that the unit works very well. LoRaWAN is operating at high data rate with a smallest spread factor of SF=7 giving 5.5K bps [bits per second] effectively over a distance of 3KM. The anticipated battery life is two years.

 LoRaWAN is a robust low power, low data rate, long range wireless
 protocol running. on 868MHz in the UK mostly there are other bands. 
The LoRa modulation is spread-spectrum modulation which the 
carrier centre frequency follows a zig-zagging waveform within one 
 channel within the band, I understand. The improvement comes about 
because the carrier moves through quiet and noisy parts of the channel 
consequently enough of the packet gets through usually. Even if two 
packets collide one should still get through. The detail of this 
implementation of spread spectrum is owned by SemTech, USA, who 
make the radio integrated circuits. 

Top view looking through the circuit board of 
the external layers through to the under side.

1. GNSS module - Telit SL871L or Ublox Neo modules were comparable the choice was made on manufacturer/distributor support for the modules and the aerial tuning and also support for the RM-186 Laird LoRaWAN module.

2. There are some Inter-Integrated-Circuit bus (I2C) peripherals. The Global Navigation Satellite System module was powered off between use is an I2C peripheral. A power supply remains connected to the back up pin of the GNSS module so that navigation data is retained.

The circuit below separates the powered peripherals side of the I2C bus from GNSS module when its power is turned off.

 I2C bus is isolated from the GNSS module 

when that module is powered down.

3. The patch GNSS aerial is placed away from the edges of the board giving it an area of 0V plane surrounding it. There are pads for clips to mount a screen can over the GNSS Patch aerial connection and matching network. Unfortunately there was a difficulty in fitting these clips but in any case the can was not necessary because the 868MHz cable could be routed away from that area.

The aerials are placed at least 1/8th wavelength apart on top of an 0V plane. The Bluetooth aerial is integrated into the RM-186 Laird wireless module. The White area top right has no power planes or circuits tracks as specified by the data-sheet for the module.

4. The LoRa RF is signal is routed by cable to the Bead 868MHz aerial made by RF Solutions. Please note that I have placed many vias coupling 0V planes on 3 of the four PCB copper layers.

• The board is higher density 4 layer 90mm x 45mm whereas the previous board was double sided (100x52mm) giving a safer larger 0V plane area for the aerials that has proven to be not necessary. The design has three radio's; LoiRaWAN 868MHz, Bluetooth and GNSS. Plus NFC provided by a Coilcraft wound coil mounted on the pins on the bottom left side of the board and facing to the left of the unit.

• Top and bottom have 0V planes with very many vias plus 0V internal plane and 3.3V internal plane has some tracks.

5. NFC - this is a Coilcraft NFC ferrite mounted on pins so that the side of the unit can be touched. It is passive and does not require battery power so the unit will report the last battery voltage before it shut down safely.

Battery protection + SII  S13R1 series 

LDO regulator has bias current of <9uA

6. The lower area of the PCB includes a low bias linear power supply with reverse current protect to prevent current from the debug lead flowing into the battery. It also has Lithium cell under voltage protection and reverse connection protection. The reverse protection provided by a P-channel MOSFET to form a super low drop pseudo diode.

GNSS power supply is separated from the 

main power supply. This is so that the main 

power supply remains relatively free of dips 

when the GNSS is switched on.

Conclusion;

With care UHF and microwave radio has turned out not to be as frightened as I had thought to work with. This board went through a number of reviews and advice was sought and taken resulting in the board worked first time. There some changes to carry out they are not urgent but for a connector part number mistake in the BoM. The requirement did change and so their were earlier boards purchased and designed.

I am told of and I have seen examples of PCB designs where the same care has not been taken, such designs perform poorly. All design work needs care be taken then you can expect very good outcomes.

Electronics, Software & Robust Design

Savages

 First picture of the dark side of the moon taken in 1959
https://www.universetoday.com/105326/oct-7-1959-our-first-look-at-the-far-side-of-the-moon/

http://www.ancient-code.com/the-mysterious-tower-on-the-far-side-of-the-moon-found-by-soviet-spacecraft-zond-3/

A few years ago was the anniversary of Luna 9 landing on the moon successfully in 1965.  Apparently the Daily Mail reported the story and printed pictures from the moon surface intercepted by Jodrell Bank before Russia confirmed the success.  First pictures of the dark side of the moon had been sent back to earth by Luna 3 in 1959.  And an earlier Luna 2 crashed to the moon.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06z4ync

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_programme

I was wondering what NASA was doing at the same time and I looked up the infamous Papermate pen that was used in space by NASA.  Papermate launched and advertised its new pen that could write upside-down in space in 1965.  Meanwhile cosmonauts were using pencils (sensibly) but was the put down.

Of the highest world military spenders, Britain and United States spend the highest on military, war and hate by proportion of land area than any other country this is profitable for a few but it is likely that the majority of people look the other way but think a few crumbs from the business of spreading hate and selling weapons is still a lot of crumbs for us. 

CARTOON of the military eating all the food whilst the other tables starve.

The Soviet union was refused entry to NATO and it embarked on an almost crippling programme of military spending and developed an Intercontinental Ballistic missile during the 1950's.  This counter to USA's claimed superiority in being able to destroy the Soviet Union with its vast force of B52 bombers.

I am disappointed that so few signed the petition below and the parliamentary one is now closed but 38 degrees is still running. My wording is very similar to what Jeremy Corbyn said on behalf of the Labour Party. I think it is evidence that people still support Bush/Blair wars and that parliament was correct to vote for war even if it was mostly Conservative MP's who voted for such a war.

People wanted a scape goat for the actions they also wanted.

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/parliament-make-a-full-and-unequivocal-apology-for-uk-s-part-in-invading-iraq 

The Soviet pencil and the multi-million dollar pen anecdote is well know and the problem seen of military spending on such vast scale is mostly turned into no functional or useless output. Atoms for peace was coined by General D. Eisenhower in order to produce nuclear war heads not to produce electricity. Britain’s first nuclear power station, Colder Hall, was switched on to the grid by the Queen but it never produced electricity. It is debatable if nuclear warheads are fitted and armed in reality the number of near misses and accidents and cock-ups happening should have, by now, but has not lead to nuclear contamination or nuclear detonation.

Film and TV produced very good space fiction at this time
 - Forbidden Planet a machine produces matter from vast amounts of energy creating the nightmares deep in the mind of the user.

• Forbidden Planet - film

- Dr Who's fourth story, Edge of Destruction shows us the machine is telepathic also can deliver virtual electric shocks, a bump on the head turns out to be virtual injury, a melted clock face with hands melted to warn of only a number of minute to destruction. The only way humans may get anywhere else in space will be by some technology that we can barely imagine even in fiction how it could be done.

• Dr Who Edge of Destruction -TV

• Classic Dr-Who-TV Series

If stirring conflict and hate were to stop being funded then no doubt space and nuclear power research that spin in technology for an otherwise inefficient military industrial complex would have to find other funding or cease. USA could have the National Health Service it people have always wanted instead.

The best film of the 20th Century - I agree and one of the very few truly Science Fiction. Perhaps leaving the forests, jungles and vegetable eating to aggression and eating meat was a bad turn for humans?

Electronics - Discussion

Changed 31-07-2021, 01-08-2018

This page is also for readers to post comments or join in with the discussion on the Electronics on my website.

Crocuses open in the morning light. February 2016, IXUS 60 

Not all computing is electronic, clockwork or is animal-powered.  Solar power may have servo systems to track the sun but these crocuses do that and other complicated processing.  They protect their stamen by closing the flower under certain conditions. Other intelligent things such as choosing their environment and they may change the environment to suit them  better part of Gaia system observed and spoken of by humans for millennia.

Crocuses close in the overcast afternoon.  Next morning they will open
again and there will be another flower coming up on the left-hand plant.

Blog - Electronics example of my work

• Example of my work for Hoofprints Technologies Ltd - RF design long-range low power radio using the same principles as I discuss elsewhere for all analogue design. 2016 - 2018

Other;

• My website robust Electronics 

Blog Electronics - Theoretical design example;
Playing and exploring things I do not have time to do at work.  Also to a depth, I would not do for work but is necessary in order to learn and use the things learnt.

• Wireless environmental monitor example with comments on this blog
• Electronics - Temperature measurement - (resistor networks)
• Electronics - Vibration monitor microcontroller solution
• Experiments with circuit modelling CAD;
• Companion peak detector models and circuits.
• Companion peak to peak detector models and circuits.

Electronics - high-frequency metal-vapor-arc-lamp power supply

Bicycle blog pages include Sturmey-Archer Dynohub maintenance and electrical aspects and another blog electronics project to manage the power taken under varying conditions.  Such as battery charging on the downhills, run the lights only when going uphill and restful intermediate on the flat.  This second bicycle blog could be developed into a high-value odometer/fuel gauge/battery charge styled bicycle instrument.

• Bicycle-dynohub-maintenance-project

• Electronics-design-project Bicycle Dynamo maximum power and battery charging manager

Sadly the quality of new bicycles has deteriorated since the 1970s and turned from bikes that are light to pedal comfortable and feel like they float, sports bikes that are amazing or child bikes that are heavier work but easy to ride.  To all regular bikes being heavier work.  The best ever bikes were made before 1961 to last 100 years, oiled and maintained fortnightly or every 100 miles at the height of bicycling in the UK.  Engineer's used to design products to last and work well just like doctors, nurses, artists the craftsmen they used to be.  Whereas the Campaign for Real Ale has empowered people to use their buying power to improve British beer.  The Far East and European car manufacturers now make long-lasting low maintenance cars whilst notoriously greedy, short-term, bad management and government frittered away the best engineering, textile and film industry the British once had.  A culture of not caring and cynicism has been cultivated.  But the system does not work for the little people who now do not have slack in their work and the systems they run fail rather than cope with overload they would have coped with 40 years ago.

Pandemic-and-cycling-going-forward

More flowers have grown and the picture sparkles with the rain this morning.

Discussion on webpages Electronic and Engineering;

For Publication

January 2016: SUNSHINE-GLARE---It-s-sensible-to-take-care

The picture is at a the Chapel real ale festival in Essex last year

This is a heritage rail museum. Camera IXUS60

Trains delayed because of sun in the eyes of the drivers and the guard. I thought the delay because of that reason should not be criticised. Many other delays are ridiculed but the reasons are reasonable and in any case people support cutting of slack any where so there is no way for these issues to be avoided.

The letter was published one day short of the 39th anniversary of that multiple-car crash that I mentioned.

http://www.andrew-lohmann.me.uk/perspective/For-Publication#TOC-SUNSHINE-GLARE---It-s-sensible-to-take-care-Published-Courier-29-01-2016

More recent letter added.

Slow powerful story - The Whispers

This is good I have never watched it before.



Slow and powerful story. Her husband and her son were bad and the poor old lady did not have it in her to be nice and make something of her neighbours who probably were the only kind people near her other than the dole clerk. The stolen money perhaps gave her a second chance incidentally but did not help and that money went back to where it belonged when the house was tidied for her. But that house tidying was good as well.

More on old British film & TV; http://www.andrew-lohmann.me.uk/engineer/dr-who-classic-estb-1963

Christ Church - Money Lender in the temple

A comment made to me many years ago observed that there was a money lender in gods temple made me laugh (mortgage broker on the left). This had been a Victorian stone built traditional church and it was redeveloped by the church about 20 years ago. The money lender was there for many years but in recent years has changed.

Photo taken using a £20 Dummy's guide on digital photography with Jenoptic point and shoot camera kit in about 2010?

In discussion on Facebook

The conversion was carried out led by the then Rev John Banner. He exposed himself to much ridicule in the local newspaper in order to promote a number of things; Fly a balloon to save his church I recall for one.

I am told he was an exorcist for the CofE and it was said he had some rather stone-age views on women.

I was reminded that a letter in the Courier not long after Banner took over likening the dereliction of the site to God's plan for Liverpool in getting them rid of Banner and inflicting him on Tunbridge Wells.

The group that tried to save the Opera House was chaired by the Rev. They were very well advised but the planning decision was fudged. In any case the outcome a Weatherspoons seems to be more appreciated than trying for a big lottery grant to put the building back to its original use.

Human's are herbivores

Changed 12-02-2018, 04-06-2018

Vegan lunch at the Bakehouse, Tonbridge in January 2016.
 A feature of eating here is that the vegetables are not cooked 
or at most lightly cooked. So unusually for eating out I can 
enjoy the veg a lot as well rather than put up with it. This not 
a vegan bakery but covers all types of food particularly well.

There is anthropological view and evidence that humans were descended from apes and that fire and meat eating distinguished us from the our ape ancestors. Further to that the theory is that the brain developed from hunting but I am sure that aggression really did developed in the humans that left the "Garden of Eden". The film "2001 a Space Odyssey" - Chapter 1; Dawn of Man, The author Arthur C Clark was a science fiction (prediction) writer and took great care checking his facts and predictions;

https://youtu.be/ypEaGQb6dJk

The link below states a fairly well accepted view that humans came from plant and vegetable + some insects eating ancestors. It also says the similarities in the stomach and intestine with humans, apes, gorillas and monkeys is very close - Viva (organisation promoting veganism) go further in the anatomical comparison. An article in December 2015 on Radio 4 said that monkey, ape, gorilla and human digestive systems are identical if you dissected each you would not know which was which but that there are differences in relative sizes of each part in humans from different parts of the world correlating with there diet as well as with the other common ancestor species.

Interestingly some of our unsuccessful near ancestors had larger brains than us.

Unfortunately this is not a sharp picture but I have

 made it small so that that is not too apparent.

But Gorillas eat a lot of grasses and there digestion is comparable to a cow in fermenting in an enlarged bowl rather than in a stomach as a cow has. Otherwise more and more evidence shows that veganism covers everything a human needs but not as super-foods popularly stated but are just food. The link below expresses an underlying view that is at variance to this view;

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/human-ancestors-were-nearly-all-vegetarians/

There are many Vegan groups some bring food to share some meet in vegan café's such as this one. 

This is Fortify café in Maidstone, Kent - the chief Steph posts a lot of vegan tips and points of information on Facebook. 

Here is another perspective based on blood group types of recent humans for the past 50,000 years; I have been told of some research that vegetable only eating humans were buried separately in prehistoric times. The variance in this perspective and the out of (the jungles of) Africa plant and insect eater view may just be due to relatively shorter time span of this newer understanding and that the article concentrates on blood groups. So perhaps what is being observed is an adoption back in blood but with no basic anatomically changes;

• Type O being the hunters
• Type A being that have adaptations for vegetable eating.
• Type B being those who have adaptations for milk and wheat.
• Type AB being a combination of both A and B.

http://www.ion.ac.uk/information/onarchives/eatrightbloodtype

This is a lovely meal that is an off menu selection from Zorba Café, Tunbridge Wells.
I usually add salad and occasionally the owner makes lentil soup for his staff and a few customers. 
The café did not know what vegan  is but a lot of Mediterranean food happens to be vegan.
 This lunch may not be vegan but it comes close. Since I wrote this Zorba has become a 
Turkish restaurant with vegan options but no English breakfast fry-up options.

It turns out that my blood type is not the Hunter type but it may be coincidence that red meat does not suit me and milk is not ideal. Having said that the personal observation may also be more an adverse reaction to the other things that are in modern intensely farmed animal products. At a Tunbridge Wells UNA meeting in October 2015 I heard worryingly that the productivity of modern farming is; (Barrie Bain a consultant to the International Fertilizer Industry Association advising on United Nations affairs)

• Chicken 2 times the input for a given food output. Vegan groups say the same (Animal Aid).
• Lamb 4 times,
• Beef 7 times. Whereas Animal Aid said this summer (Kent Vegan Fare 2015) that the intensity is not so high and have a figure of 15 times for beef and 100 times for Goose meat.

The world cannot sustain this level of consumption and has already stopped providing people with grass fed meat and free living animals as a food source for nearly all people and never did so in the past. The world has to be managed sustainably and consumption must not grow whether denied or acknowledge but avoided either way. The modern culture of home delivered pizza and the couch potato where people try to live as medieval kings and suffer diseases of those wealthy only - works for us whilst money is created in London and the income from keeping the world in conflict by war. 

Whatever farming rings a considerable amount out of animals and this motivates people to mistrust at least and have concern for what we losse in quality and humanity for acheiving such productivity.

http://www.andrew-lohmann.me.uk/perspective/motive-and-change/the-amazons-m-c

Personally I do not like the high concentration very apparent in the taste and smell of body excretions (urine and poo taste) in intensive farmed animals and fish. The one I found hardest to pick out what was bad about it was milk. But it is has a yuckness in its taste. I found that milk is subtle one in itself seems okay but when stopped after a year other apparent sensitivities disappear and the effects of hayfever diminish. I used to refuse to eat meat when I was very young. And it was not that mum and dad where trying to force or coax me into something bad. But I am certain that my reaction was right in that case.

Photo Tonbridge Castle and River Medway, January 2016 - Camera; Cannon IXUS60.

In discussion on Facebook;

Books have been written on human anthropology but a view that fire and eating meat gave humans an advantage so that our stomach size could be reduced. "Catching Fire" by Richard Wrangham. Well was recommend.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/6250132/Catching-Fire-How-Cooking-Made-Us-Human-by-Richard-Wrangham-review.html

In the summary of the book; Cooking and eating meat gave humans the genetic opportunity to reduce the amount of body mass taken up by chewing and digesting.

An off menu pizza but with no cheese once again this maybe vegan. 
It is particularly nice and Fagin's, George Street, Hastings 
have always been accommodating particularly when I used to take
 my father, in a wheel chair. That tends to sort those who will 
go out there way to help and those who will put up with a special need.

The blood group type article would coincide with that more recent history case. Humans moving into colder climates such as Inuit for example who traditionally lived hard but short lives. Having said that there is a path for us back to the Garden of Eden (with tablet computers and mobile phones) or at least the diet that goes with it but there is no other path on offer that involves the continuation of the amount of pain, consumption and exploration humans cause now.

I found my Blood donors card turns out that I am A rh D+ whatever that means but I think it means that I am of the vegan blood group. But I am not convinced and neither are many others that the problems with animal and wheat things are just those but the consequences of what is forced intensely into the animals and added to other foods due to modern intense farming that in turn harms me if I then consume them. But vegetables beans nuts seed are optimal foods for humans seems clear.

I have been working on tuning my senses to my body needs. Developing something my Dad coached me on that is to learn to like what is right and to not like what is poisonous for example sweet smell of paint.

Another book recommend was Grain Brain. It apparently say's our brain's developed with the use of grains. That makes sense the group B or AB blood type being more recent than the hunter blood group O.

A friend also recalled some information about uric acid in meat ... due to the stress of modern killing methods ... so meat eaters are, in effect, eating urine. I can confirm that I do and I can smell it (cooking meat can make my eyes sting). As that friend can also. And I agree with her that; " But frankly, given the delicious beans and grains and veg" I have cut the quote.

Hawkwood College, Stroud, Gloucestershire, venue of recent VegiVentures Christmas holidays.

Having good vegan food such as I have with VegiVentures I always
 come  away wondering why anyone would want anything else? 
Also true of making my own but I agree that it takes a while to learn 
but there are a lot of people who have and if you join in with a vegan
 meet-up you may experience such food. The kitchen management is
 a model to any business creating Michelin 5* food with a mixture of people. 

When people find vegan food does not seem to suit them;

My experience of vegan or being mostly vegan is feel very good on it the more strict I am about it. But in discussion, some people have said they honestly tried and they have problems.There are junk food vegans who will expose themselves to risk of scurvy as much as any meat eater can. If you want to live like Royalty you still have to eat your fruit and veg and the veg be lightly cooked or raw like Royalty do. As I said that above.

This is proper vegan junk food it is totally eye candy and is
 everso sweet and horrible but very enjoyable despite that. 
 Vbite's in Brighton is a very smart place to eat making this experience
even nicer and it happens not to be expensive. Also there is no feeling of I 
 wish I had not had  that after anything I have eaten at VBite's, no  
bloating, no lethargy, no body aches or headaches unlike what
 I would feel after eating animal products, particularly red meat.  

Some mothers do not produce milk for they baby's or use another mother's milk. Formula cow's milk is not good necessary and can be plainly bad with lactose intolerance. Nut milks risk, scurvy also but apparently Soya Milk seems to be good. There are a lot of things like this that will concern people but the old myth or truism to eat your fruit and veg but not processed and factory food is generally good. I add water and raw or lightly cooked, unsalted and not sugared salad, veg, fruit is essential as everyone knows but often they chose to miss out. 

Here is a guide which personally I can not endorse as I do not experience the slightest problem anyway with eating vegan but it looks good; In any case I do eat no salt, raw and lightly cooked foods because they are very nice.

I do eat too much but unlike my father it is not always fruit. Dad would keep eating any fruit until someone made him stop he did it as a boy all through life because he enjoyed it. My mum who was also born before World War 2 is Scottish and has a reasonable appetite for root vegetables consequently and tells me if she was hungry as a child she would take a potato rub the dirt off and eat it.

What we chose to eat probably over rides our natural instincts. When I was not too bothered about what I et, that was up until about 1985, I still found Coca-cola and McDonald's very horrible but then I have never conformed and went vegetarian when I left home.

Related links:

https://www.peta.org/living/food/really-natural-truth-humans-eating-meat/

https://youtu.be/05zhL1YUd8Q

Linked In article - not promoting veganism but a Mediterranean diet.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/you-what-eat-why-your-diet-matters-brain-mylea-charvat-ph-d-?trk=eml-email_feed_ecosystem_digest_01-recommended_articles-13-Unknown&midToken=AQE2wpmZcD3uWw&fromEmail=fromEmail&ut=3_6X4wj4xtTDQ1

The hunting v the veg forging animal comparison
https://youtu.be/Ee25u3YccHk