Matolog brings boats into the of IoT
Published: 3.2.2020
The Internet of Things is becoming available to consumers via reasonably priced, well-designed products and services. The battery-powered, maintenance-free Matolog monitors the risk of mould in boats, holiday homes and caravans for years at a time, with no service charges.
In Suomenoja, Finland’s largest harbour for small vessels, the fishing boat Skorpion floats at its berth, seemingly unaware that it may be a global pioneer. The boat’s conditions have been monitored since the winter storage period with the IoT application Matolog, which uses Digita’s Lora network.
“Boats and caravans can suffer from mould, particularly when under tarp during the winter season. It has been known to happen, says Kari Syrjälä,” the skipper of the vessel.
Matolog is a device the size of an alarm clock, which measures the boat’s temperature and relative humidity at two-hour intervals. The device sends data to a cloud service four times a day, via a network based on radio technology. In the cloud, it uses a model developed by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd to calculate the probability of moulding, based on the data gathered.
“Using a mobile application, you can easily check the situation whenever you like,” says Syrjälä.
Achieving peace of mind easily
In addition to cost-effectiveness, ease-of-use formed one of the bases of Matolog’s design. No maintenance, battery replacements, SIM cards, passwords or logins are needed. Although Syrjälä appreciates all of this, he regards peace of mind as Matalog’s key asset.
“I don’t need to worry about dehumidifying the boat. If the risk of mould rises, Matolog will report it.”
Since Matolog sends only tiny amounts of data at a time, it has very low power consumption, i.e. the device works for around five years in outdoor conditions on just one battery. Syrjälä is also considering installing Matolog in his holiday home, which is unoccupied and without power for most of the year.
No service fees
In addition to its fantastic technological features, Matolog has a clear competitive advantage in its simple pricing. The price includes data communication throughout the device’s service life, freeing customers from service charges.
“Based on our new, innovative business model, we can effortlessly offer our customers a long-term service for a one-off payment, while we pay Digita for the use of the network,” explains Marko Oikarinen, the CEO of Mato Engineering, which developed Matolog.
Demand for Lora is growing
Lora base stations the size of shoe boxes are being installed in Digita’s transmission antennae across Finland, in order to improve network coverage. Digita is investing heavily in the development of the Lora network, since the company forecasts that demand for this type of IoT communication will grow hugely in the near future.
“We believe that consumers can be provided with more competitive IoT solutions by combining Lora’s technical features with our neat pricing model for end customers,” says Ari Kuukka, Director of IT Services at Digita.
Being based on open technology, Lora is less risky than monopoly-based technologies. Many companies are currently working alongside Digita to pilot a range of IoT solutions based on Lora.
“We are a strongly established business and companies can have confidence that we and our networks will still be around decades from now. They can dare to build their businesses around us,” Kuukka says.
Contact us!
IoT_Services@digita.fi
| Ari Kuukka director, IoT Services tel. +358 40 149 7942 ari.kuukka(a)digita.fi | Mika Flinck Head of Sales, IoT Services tel. +358 44 231 8030 mika.flinck(a)digita.fi |