Nordic-powered industrial connectivity solution enables Cloud-based operations monitoring

Rulo’s EdgeTrak 4S employs Nordic nRF9160 SiP for data processing and LTE-M to connect to equipment and systems

A Nordic nRF9160 SiP-powered industrial connectivity solution launched by equipment management company, Rulo, is helping users simply and securely connect their equipment to the Cloud to monitor, control and manage operations. The Rulo ‘EdgeTrak 4S’ controllers feature flexible, user-configurable inputs and outputs that quickly enable connection to many types of equipment and systems.

Supervising machines

The ‘EdgeTrak 4S’ can be fully configured remotely and deployed at scale, and allows industrial organizations to supervise and control machines and processes using ‘real time’ data. Benefits of the solution include edge processing capabilities and detailed custom reports via dashboards on the accompanying web-based platform.

The EdgeTrak 4S is designed primarily for non-road mobile and stationary applications, with target markets including oil and gas, water and wastewater, rental/asset tracking, and construction. For example, a U.S. oil and gas company, Rimrock Resource Partners, deploys EdgeTrak 4S to optimize well management. The EdgeTrak 4S controllers are used to monitor and send out alerts on a range of parameters including wellhead pressures, compressor data and tank levels to avoid any unnecessary downtime.

There are a lot of marginally data intensive applications that need to be low power and always connected, and Nordic’s nRF9160 SiP is perfect for these situations

Brian Barton, Rulo

“Previously, Rimrock field personnel were required to visit well sites every day, multiple times a week, or once weekly - depending on the well,” says Brian Barton, VP Sales and Marketing, Rulo. “Now instead of having staff continually visit and record well performance data, EdgeTrak 4S can relay performance data to the Cloud remotely, allowing field personnel to make better use of their time by putting an end to routine visits and relying on alerts instead.”

Reliable coverage

At the heart of the EdgeTrak 4S, the Nordic nRF9160 SiP’s powerful application processor with generous memory is responsible for the core processing of machine and process data, while the LTE-M cellular IoT connectivity enabled by the nRF9160 ensures reliable coverage anywhere to relay data from the device to the Cloud.

“There are a lot of marginally data intensive applications that need to be low power and always connected, and Nordic’s nRF9160 SiP is perfect for these situations,” says Barton.

“The nRF9160 also fits very well with the long term roadmap for Rulo, while Nordic’s technical support was first class.”