Bluetooth LE tag provides temperature monitoring for critical cold chain shipping applications

The Seguro 120 employ’s Nordic’s nRF52832 SoC to monitor temperatures and relay data to sender and receiver on arrival

U.S.-based company sensified.io has launched a temperature monitoring device designed to track and record temperature fluctuations in critical cold chain shipping applications. The ‘Seguro 120’ can be placed inside any cold storage transit packaging and records temperature throughout the parcel’s journey, alerting the recipient upon arrival if the temperature has moved outside of pre-set limits.

Monitoring valuable perishables

Powered by Nordic’s nRF52832 Bluetooth® LE SoC, the Seguro 120 has been designed for the transport of valuable perishables with a critical temperature tolerance range, such as pharmaceuticals, biologics, or lab specimens. Measuring 76 by 51 by 6 mm—approximately the size of a credit card—the device can be easily added to most cold chain packaging types. In operation, the dispatcher uses the ‘Seguro’ smartphone app to assign temperature thresholds, start delay, and other monitoring parameters. The user can also store location, photos, shipment tracking numbers, and other useful information in the app. This information is then relayed to the tag using the Bluetooth LE wireless connectivity provided by the Nordic SoC.

We would not have been able to use a cell of this size if it weren’t for the exceptionally low power consumption of the nRF52832 SoC

Chris Bear, Sensified.io

The Seguro 120 device is then stored with the perishable item(s) for the duration of the journey, and once it reaches its destination, the recipient can tap the tag with their smartphone to end the temperature recording and view the final report via the Seguro app. As the device also integrates Near Field Communication (NFC), the recipient does not need to have the app installed on their smartphone to view the results. Instead, they can simply tap the device and receive the journey data via a web page. The sender will also be notified through the app when the package has arrived and can also access the results via the app or from the Cloud, including a detailed PDF report of the journey.

“Seguro 120 is the only reusable temperature tag to use Bluetooth LE and NFC technology, rather than USB, for communication,” says Chris Bear, President and Founder of Sensified.io. “For us, Bluetooth LE offers the ideal combination of bandwidth and low power consumption, and its ubiquitous adoption across a wide variety of platforms allows us to provide a high-performance product that is accessible by everyone without special equipment.

“The Cloud architecture underlying the Seguro tracking systems also allows for integration with shippers such as UPS, FedEx, and USPS to provide a step-by-step record of the temperature at each point in the journey.”

Ample memory resource

Because the tag does not transmit data during the journey itself, the nRF52832 SoC’s generous 512 KB Flash and 64 KB RAM provides ample memory to record and store the temperature data during extended transportation. Sensified says that because it is essential to reliably know whether food or medicine has been kept at a safe temperature throughout the whole journey, robust battery life was key.

“The Seguro 120 uses a CR2016 coin cell battery, which allows us to design a full-featured temperature tracker in a very small form factor,” says Bear. “We would not have been able to use a cell of this size if it weren’t for the exceptionally low power consumption of the nRF52832 SoC.” The nRF52832 SoC has been engineered to minimize power use with features such as the 2.4 GHz radio’s 5.5 mA peak RX/TX currents and a fully-automatic power management system.