Driving GEO IoT by using Weconnect Wireless Services

CGEOS (Creative Geosensing SPRL) is a Belgian based company specialized in engineering geodesy and more specifically in high rise buildings surveying alignment, GNSS (Global Navigation Satellites System) and UWB (Ultra-Wideband) positioning technologies and infrastructures and Geodetic Monitoring of engineering structures such dams, towers, tunnels and bridges and natural hazards such landslides, volcanoes and seismic events. For a decade now geodetic instrumentation has evolved to be remotely driven and operate automatically using PC and software. As geodetic instrumentation, we are speaking of Total Stations, GNSS receivers and antennas, UWB anchors and tags, dual-axis inclinometers, and other sensors. The key point in assembling such complex systems is definitively the communication means. Starting with radio-based telecom (UHF and now Lora) solutions, already 20 years ago, the advent of mobile wireless phones and data-based devices have reached that domain of automatic measurements systems. In our field of expertise, geodetic sensors are not closed to each other and often the data have to be forwarded to a control center far away from the place where the instruments are deployed. With the Mobile Internet (and all the successive “G”) there is no more limitation (apart of being in an area well covered). The TCP-IP protocol and MQTT protocol are nowadays the standards for exchanging commands and data from the field to office and cloud computing facilities. We can remotely access installation anywhere in the world. Everything is fine, isn’t it? Not really,  because we do need to communicate in both ways to our devices and we do need such devices equipped with SIM cards, to have their own IP address fixed and public. That is the fundamental concept of IoT (Internet of Things). We are looking not only to gather data but also to send commands and access inbuilt web servers. Now, the problem! In Belgium after several years of investigation, it appeared that there is no proposal for having SIM cards with fixed and public addresses. Eventually, we got a proposal from Weconnect who were professional enough to listen to our requirements and to find a solution. European coverage by roaming, multiple bands, and IP fixed and public, and fully managed. We are therefore very grateful to Weconnect to have brought us the exact solution! Needless to say, the first trials we did to qualify such services, were in very adverse conditions areas where it was impossible to solve that problem. Heavy excavation machines with remote control access, GNSS receivers located far away from our office, positioning infrastructures equipped with CORS (Continuous Operating GNSS Reference Stations), and monitoring equipment such as dual-axis inclinometers are now fully under control. What else? We have just arrived now in the GEO IoT world, our dreams come true and thanks to Weconnect we are looking for a bright future for all our solutions and proposals. Professional mobile internet is making the world move forward! Prof. Joël van Cranenbroeck, Managing Director CGEOS Creative Geosensing SPRL Rue du Tienne de Mont, 11 BE-5530 MONT, Yvoir Belgium www.cgeos.com