<h3 id="isPasted">4 Reasons to Create a Smart Tank Monitoring and Pump Control System</h3>#1. A smart solution allows operators to remotely manage tank levels and pump operations from anywhere, preventing common issues such as tank overflows, pump dry-running, and treatment process disruptions. The ability to monitor systems in real-time reduces the risk of costly emergencies by enabling early detection of potential problems, providing timely data for decision-making.#2.&nbsp;In terms of maintenance and usage, access to real-time data allows operators to optimize system performance. Data on pump operations and operating hours can be leveraged to support predictive maintenance, reducing downtime and extending the lifespan of equipment. This also ensures consistent water quality by making informed decisions based on continuous monitoring.#3.&nbsp;When based on versatile products like Arduino’s, inspired by open-source principles, a smart tank monitoring system is highly adaptable and scalable, allowing it to fit various industrial needs. It can be integrated with existing equipment and third-party systems, ensuring seamless incorporation into a facility’s operations. This flexibility makes it ideal for a range of industrial applications, from small-scale plants to complex systems.#4.&nbsp;By automating the monitoring process, the solution minimizes the need for frequent manual checks, reducing human error and cutting operational costs. Automated alerts and precise monitoring help maintain optimal chemical dosing and flow rates, while reducing any costs associated with equipment damage, process disruptions, and regulatory non-compliance.<h3>Technical Overview of the Solution</h3>A flexible and cost-effective solution for tank monitoring and pump control can be based on an easy-to-use micro PLC such as the <a href="https://www.arduino.cc/pro/hardware-arduino-opta/" target="_blank">Arduino Opta</a>. The <a href="https://docs.arduino.cc/tutorials/opta/tank-level-app-note/" target="_blank">complete tutorial is available on Arduino Docs</a>.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzI2ODQ0ODQzNTk5LWVsZWN0cmljYWxfY29ubmVjdGlvbnMucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">In this case, the system employs a variety of sensors – such as float switches, ultrasonic transducers, and pressure transducers – to continuously track liquid levels. Data from flow meters is used to measure pump discharge rates and overall system flow. This information is then transmitted to a cloud-based SCADA&nbsp;(Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system for real-time access, allowing operators to visualize and manage tank levels, pump status, and system flow rates through an intuitive dashboard.Additionally, the system includes configurable alarms that send alerts for critical scenarios such as abnormal flow rates or high/low tank levels. These alarms can be customized and sent via multiple channels, including email and SMS, preventing unnecessary notifications and ensuring only critical alerts are triggered.The solution is compatible with a variety of sensors and supports industry-standard protocols, such as Modbus RTU over RS485 and Modbus TCP/IP.&nbsp;<h3>Adding Vision-Based Liquid Monitoring</h3>In situations where conventional sensors are not practical, a vision-based monitoring system can be deployed. A module such as the Arduino <a href="https://www.arduino.cc/pro/hardware-product-nicla-vision/" target="_blank">Nicla Vision</a>, which is equipped with a 2 MP color camera, has the intelligence to&nbsp;visually assess the current liquid level in a tank: applying so-called “blob detection”, the liquid’s surface can be identified and the tank’s fill level calculated. This data can be relayed to the control system to trigger appropriate actions, such as opening or closing valves.This vision-based approach offers a non-invasive method to monitor tank levels, making it suitable for systems where physical sensor installation is difficult or impossible. It can also be retrofitted to almost any existing system without significant modifications.<h3>Unlocking Smart Industrial Solutions with the Arduino Ecosystem</h3>The flexibility and adaptability of the Arduino platform make it an excellent choice for creating smart industrial systems, such as tank level monitoring and pump control solutions. Whether you're integrating traditional sensors or implementing innovative vision-based methods, Arduino’s open-source tools and broad compatibility with industry standards offer a versatile foundation for any project. Explore the Arduino ecosystem to find the right tools for your next industrial challenge, and see how it can accelerate your path to smarter, more efficient operations.

The need for advanced tank monitoring and pump control solutions is growing across industries – from water treatment to aquaculture to industrial utilities. Meanwhile, smart technology is transforming tank management for a variety of liquids, ensuring a streamlined process and minimizing risks.

Build Your Own Smart Industrial Tank Level Monitoring and Pump Control Solution

Arduino micro-controller on the left, Raspberry Pi in the middle and C.H.I.P. single-board computer on the right

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of Arduino vs Raspberry Pi, highlighting their essentials, key features, and recent developments, helping you make an informed decision for your next project. 

Arduino vs Raspberry Pi: Choosing the Right Platform for Your Next Project

Recently recognized by Fortune among the World’s Most Admired Companies (first in the Home Equipment and Furnishings category), <a href="https://www.steelcase.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Steelcase</a> is a global design company and thought leader striving to “help people do their best work by creating places that work better”.Founded in 1912, it has developed an extensive catalog of furniture for the office, education spaces and health industry that embody excellence in manufacturing and a forward-thinking vision – which are reflected in their own production process and work environment as well.&nbsp;Retrofitting: An Opportunity to Get Smarter“In 2019, we started a reinvention of how we make laminate products within the factory. We essentially created a digital twin for ‘what if’ analysis: IoT allows us to take information in real time and interpret that into what happened, what could we have done differently, and what do we want to continue doing more of – so that we get smarter in our core problem-solving activities,” says Valerie Miller, Steelcase operations engineering manager.Steven Jones, a technical process consultant at the company, works to develop and deploy the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) in all 13 Steelcase plants solving problems using data. When asked to help factory engineers understand why a destacking machine – which takes boards from a stack and places them on a conveyor belt – occasionally underperformed, he searched for a solution that could identify when the problem was occurring and add valuable insights to improve operation from there on out.&nbsp;His challenge was to optimize the performance of legacy equipment, while enabling data-driven business decisions.When a machine seems to not work properly at random, “Traditionally, you’d get a person out there with a stopwatch and a clipboard, but it could be days or weeks before they might see this issue arise,” says Jones.Instead, Steelcase improved their workflow by building a simple and cost-effective application around Arduino’s secure and easy-to-use micro PLC: “We were able to wire in the <a href="https://www.arduino.cc/pro/hardware-arduino-opta/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Opta</a> and capture the signals that indicate that the machine’s not performing exactly the way that it should be,” adds Jones.<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l9fEI9yiqyU?&amp;t=1s&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true">&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe>A Non-conventional Solution to Go BeyondAdding Opta – which supports Arduino programming experience and PLC standard languages – to their destacker, Steelcase improved day-to-day operations well beyond fixing occasional performance issues. Control engineers, electricians and developers within the company were able to quickly create a solution to provide visibility over any critical IoT events via custom dashboards.“That wasn't so easy to do a decade or so ago, but the IoT tools becoming available are much more cost-effective than they have been in the past. I started working in factories in pre-internet times: the technology now is available to do things that were never imaginable before,” says Jones. “Opta has digital inputs and digital outputs, analog inputs, outputs, everything that a regular PLC would have.”<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1722251988140-Opta.jpg" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"> Unlocking the power of data, from IoT to AI-powered manufacturingIndustry 4.0 essentially requires embedded systems that connect to the internet, use big data, and finally support decisions about what needs to be done in the factory to achieve better efficiency and productivity: “When you have an idea or an opinion and you can support it with data, you can usually get things to happen much more quickly,” Jones observes.At Steelcase, this will naturally lead to increased use of AI: “We’re positioning ourselves also for the time when machines make decisions. I think if we curate our data appropriately and ask the right questions, it could be revolutionary for us.”To find out more about this success story, watch the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_hJ4-JPsag&t=3506s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">full-length segment</a> from the 2024 Arduino Days on YouTube.

Steelcase optimized the performance of legacy equipment, while enabling data-driven business decisions.

Adding Industry-4.0 capabilities to existing machines allows smart manufacturers to monitor equipment status, notify critical events, and connect to cloud-based dashboards – achieving process optimization with a cost-effective innovation strategy.

Steelcase Improves the Productivity of Legacy Equipment with Simple and Smart Retrofitting

The advantages of open standards in industrial networksUsing open standards in industrial networks offers significant benefits, impacting efficiency, scalability, and operational security. The primary advantages include interoperability, cost reduction, and innovation stimulation.Interoperability: Open standards facilitate communication and cooperation between devices and systems from different manufacturers. Arduino has always championed interoperability through open and inspectable systems, ensuring users have a clear understanding of system functionality.Cost Reduction: Open standards and open-source solutions lower hardware and software acquisition costs and prevent vendor lock-in. Maintenance costs are often reduced as well. Finally, organizations can leverage diverse skills already present in their teams or easily find talent in the current job market: there are tens of thousands of professionals who have Arduino as one of their skills on LinkedIn!&nbsp;Innovation Stimulation: Open standards promote innovation by allowing developers to focus on creating original solutions rather than solving compatibility issues. Enabling access to technology and fostering creativity is the first step towards genuine innovation. The relevance of proprietary solutionsDespite the benefits of open standards, proprietary network solutions remain necessary in certain scenarios.Legacy Systems: Many sectors have existing infrastructures based on proprietary technologies implemented years ago. In some cases, any kind of transition – including one to open standards – can require significant investment and be economically unfeasible.&nbsp; However, even in a closed context, open-source products – like the system on modules (SOMs) in the <a href="https://www.arduino.cc/pro/hardware-product-family-portenta-family/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Arduino Portenta family</a> or ready-to-use solutions like <a href="https://www.arduino.cc/pro/portenta-machine-control" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Portenta Machine Control</a> – can help innovate without disruption and drive the digital transition while maintaining legacy systems.Performance and Speed: In high-speed automation, proprietary solutions can be optimized for maximum efficiency and minimal latency, which is crucial for performance-critical applications.Controlled Environments: In organizations where production components are managed by a single entity, proprietary solutions can offer tighter control and better integration of processes and systems, enhancing operational optimization. The future of industrial networkingThe evolution of industrial networking includes the extension to wireless communication technologies such as Wi-Fi®&nbsp;6 and 5G, which offer higher speeds, lower latency, and reliable connectivity in complex environments. Here are some topics to consider for any future-forward investment strategy.AI/ML: The future of industrial networking will see the extensive integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance network performance, security, and efficiency. AI-driven network predictive maintenance will become the norm, with networks self-diagnosing and addressing potential issues before they escalate, therefore minimizing downtime.Focus on Cybersecurity and Privacy: As industrial networks become more interconnected and complex, the focus on cybersecurity and data privacy will increase. We see it today in the EU Cybersecurity Act, and soon industrial networking solutions will need to incorporate advanced encryption techniques, decentralized security protocols, and other technologies to safeguard sensitive information and ensure data integrity.&nbsp;Integration Challenges: Companies must address integration complexities related to security, reliability, and adoption timelines, rather than focusing solely on the technological aspects.Wired Connections: Technologies like T1S can mitigate electromagnetic interference issues and reduce adoption costs over time.IIoT and Edge Computing: The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) will continue to drive innovation with smarter sensors and connected devices. Edge computing will become essential for processing data near the source, reducing latency, and optimizing data transfer by exchanging information only when necessary.Open solutions like the <a href="https://www.arduino.cc/pro/hardware-arduino-opta/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Arduino Opta micro PLC</a> are ready for this future: security on the edge and capable computational power help drive innovation, from simple tasks to complex scenarios, always granting full control over equipment. All in all, while proprietary solutions still have their place in specific contexts, open standards and open-source solutions offer numerous benefits. No matter what the best strategy is for your business, now is the time to prepare for the integration of advanced wireless technologies and the growing importance of edge computing, driving continuous innovation and efficiency improvements.

Now is the time to prepare for the integration of advanced wireless technologies and the growing importance of edge computing.

Industrial communication networks are crucial to optimize processes and production in interconnected factories – but the convergence of IT and OT brings interoperability and security challenges. In addressing these issues, do open standards and protocols drive or hinder innovation? 

Open or Proprietary? Pros and Cons to Consider for Industrial Networking

Espressif ESP32 series microcontroller module

This guide serves as a roadmap for engineers to navigate the intricacies of the ESP32 pinout, understand its significance, and explore its applications in modern engineering projects. 

ESP32 Pinout: A Comprehensive Guide for Engineers

In this article, we explore how open source is not just for makers anymore, and actually makes great business sense. Business Benefits of Open Source: The Pragmatic Side of a PhilosophyChoosing open source is not just a philosophical stance; it is a strategic decision with tangible benefits for businesses across a variety of sectors: manufacturing, building automation, smart cities, e-mobility, logistics, safety – and any industry where technology is key.Here are 7 reasons to consider open-source solutions:<ol><li dir="ltr">License Included: Escape the burden of hefty license fees, with an open-source model that completely eliminates the need for these costs.</li><li dir="ltr">Limit NREs: Non-recurring engineering costs decrease when you use an open and accessible platform designed for seamless integration.</li><li dir="ltr">No Vendor Lock-in: The growing Arduino ecosystem is not a trap; it’s a versatile offering that allows exploration and evolution, without imposing switching costs.</li><li dir="ltr">Extensive Documentation: Over the years, Arduino has built a treasure trove of documentation, tutorials, and tech specs to support users at every stage of development.</li><li dir="ltr">Community-Sourced Resources: Our vibrant community of over 33 million users ensures a constant flow of libraries, examples, and shared experiences.</li><li dir="ltr">Effortless Integration: Arduino products seamlessly integrate with third-party solutions, enabling cost-effective retrofitting and interoperability.</li><li dir="ltr">Lower Labor Costs: Arduino’s accessibility and user-friendly design mean lower labor costs, with a large pool of engineers familiar with the platform.</li></ol> Shared Commitment, Shared AchievementsArduino was founded on principles of open source since its inception in 2005, and continues to be at the forefront of the movement. Our recently released <a href="https://blog.arduino.cc/2024/01/11/the-2023-arduino-open-source-report-is-out/" target="_blank">Open Source Report for 2023</a> unveils a range of achievements that exemplify in how many directions this core value translates into new projects, products, resources and more.Key highlights include joining the Zephyr® Project, releasing five new open-source hardware components (Arduino UNO R4 Minima and R4 WiFi, Arduino GIGA R1 WiFi and GIGA Display Shield, Arduino Nano ESP32), and a plethora of updates to the Arduino IDE and command line tools. The pivotal role of the vibrant Arduino community is highlighted in the report too, with over 1,000 new libraries and 205 open-source tutorials shared on Project Hub in 2023.&nbsp;Another initiative fueled by the community’s contributions is <a href="https://docs.arduino.cc/" target="_blank">Arduino Docs</a>, a collaborative repository launched in 2021 as a testament to the brand’s commitment to sharing knowledge. The archive has grown into a comprehensive resource hub, and the Arduino Team’s efforts to keep a sea of information updated, organized, and easy to navigate for all recently led to a complete overhaul of the platform’s design and architecture, unveiled in January 2024.&nbsp; Unlocking Innovation with the Open-Source ParadigmIn a world where innovation is the lifeblood of success, adopting open-source technology platforms like Arduino can be a savvy move for entrepreneurs and engineers worldwide. The tangible business benefits, coupled with an outstanding track record of community collaboration and continuous improvement, position open source as not just a philosophy but a pragmatic pathway to sustained success in the ever-evolving landscape of digital transformation, leading to cost-effectiveness, innovation, and a future-proof tech ecosystem.

Open source makes business sense. Photo: Alberto Morici for Arduino

In the ever-evolving landscape of technology and innovation, businesses are constantly seeking ways to stay ahead of the curve, optimize processes, and drive innovation. One powerful approach gaining widespread recognition is the adoption of open-source technology platforms – and for good reason.

Unleashing Business Potential with the Advantages of an Open-Source Approach

Capping lines in modern factories are machines of incredible speed and precision, capable of installing thousands of caps on bottles and containers every hour. Based in Canelli, Italy, <a href="https://www.arol.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">AROL</a> is a leading provider of innovative and custom capping and closure system machines, with over 25,000 pieces of equipment currently installed around the world. With production lines processing up to 100,000 bottles per hour, maintaining their machines’ speed and ongoing reliability is critical to operations. In other words, any outage or unplanned downtime would be detrimental to meeting production quotas and costly to their clients.<h3 dir="ltr">Adding Brains to Speed for Improved Productivity</h3>To support diagnostic, prognostic and predictive maintenance, they decided to draw on their experience to develop a smart solution able to gather data from industrial equipment and the surrounding environment, creating a machine monitoring system based on remote wireless sensors that could be powered by battery or 24 V.&nbsp;The project faced specific challenges in the fact sensor nodes had to be mounted in rotating capping turrets, fitting in a small space and yet always remaining connected to a communication unit at the base of the line. What’s more, they had to perform part of the data processing on the edge, in order to not overload the central system. And of course, the upgraded capping machine had to be made smart without costing sensibly more.<h3 dir="ltr">An Innovative System for Predictive Maintenance</h3>To accelerate the process, AROL relied on a cost-effective, open-source system based on a combination of Arduino Pro’s Nicla Sense ME and Portenta Machine Control. This allowed their engineers to work with advanced sensors and high computational power, while still leveraging the ease of off-the-shelf components. With the support of a problem-solving and forward-thinking partner, the company quickly developed and tested a working solution: “The Arduino team was very proactive in understanding our requirements and providing a business-oriented solution with a customer-focus approach,” commented Denis Ruffino, R&amp;D technical director at AROL.AROL fitted each of the 15 capping turrets in one of their machines with a compact <a href="https://www.arduino.cc/pro/hardware-nicla-sense-me/" target="_blank">Nicla Sense ME</a>, providing vibration and temperature detection thanks to state-of-the-art, onboard Bosch Sensortec sensors – as well as the&nbsp;computational power to process part of the data directly at the level of the sensing nodes. At the base of the machine, one <a href="https://www.arduino.cc/pro/portenta-machine-control" target="_blank">Portenta Machine Control</a> was easily mounted on DIN rail to concentrate communication with all the sensors via Bluetooth®.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzA4NDQ4MzMxNTIxLVBNQ19sb3cuanBlZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Having chosen an open-source solution, AROL is poised to scale up the idea with limited refactoring – and further upgrade their advanced capping machines, raising the bar of innovation for their industry.

Seeking a way to make their high-speed production equipment even more reliable and productive, AROL recently decided to develop an innovative solution to enable data monitoring and predictive maintenance, upgrading their offering with an Industry 4.0 approach.

AROL Tops Capping Machines with Smart Maintenance

The new Arduino UNO R4 Wi-Fi board provides built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth communication as well as a 12×8 LED matrix display to give makers, hobbyists, and engineers an extremely versatile prototyping tool.


Getting to Know the Arduino UNO R4 Wi-Fi

The collaborative nature of open source projects brings together people across the world to work towards improving and monitoring our natural resources. 


Open Source Projects for Improving Air and Water Quality

An overview of the architecture of IIoT and how it is developing to drive the scalability of Industry 4.0.

The engineer's guide to Industrial IoT and Industry 4.0

<h1 dir="ltr">The beginning of Arduino and a roadmap for accessible tech</h1>“When I started in electrical engineering, it was relatively inaccessible,” explains Kurt. “You would buy a breadboard and some parts and try to connect them and maybe get a basic circuit board. But when I wanted to teach my kids, I went out and bought an Arduino board, and within 10 minutes, we had something working.”The mantra at Arduino is ‘making complex technology simple,’ and that’s reflected in its origin story described by Fabio. Arduino came about to solve the challenge faced by electrical engineering teachers who wanted a way to help their students who had low or no technology background get started quickly. It’s evident by the way that Arduino continues to champion for its products to be used by makers of all kinds that this principle is still driving the company.&nbsp;<h2 dir="ltr">Arduino in the wild</h2>More than 30 million designers engage with Arduino every year to build or build on, many more millions of projects. During their discussion, Kurt asked Fabio to describe some of his favorite Arduino projects from the continually growing archive. The Wevolver community shared that curiosity, asking Fabio the same question as part of a <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/community.qa.with.arduino.ceo.fabio.violante" target="_blank">community Q&amp;A</a> in 2019. Back then, Fabio described the incredible project from the Tokyo Hackerspace, which developed a radiation sensor shield for the Arduino platform to help people in Japan measure radiation levels in their everyday life following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. The board’s design was open hardware and the source code was released in general public license (GPL).In this conversation, Fabio talked about one of the most exciting segments of the Arduino project family as the advent of the open-source 3D printer, which in turn helped enable the creation of the open-source drone industry.&nbsp;<h1 dir="ltr">Arduino and AI</h1>AI will be deployed in Arduino in a number of ways and have huge impacts on how people understand and apply deep learning. Fabio observes that we are now at the point where at least part of the capabilities of technology like Siri and Alexa can be bought into tiny battery power devices. This opens the use of voice control in tiny edge devices with a massive range of applications.&nbsp;<blockquote>“There is a tonne of new sensors available, from pressure sensors to accelerometers which can be combined with the next generation of ultra-low-power microcontrollers and ultra-low-power neural networks like Syntiant chips so battery-powered devices can be anywhere; augmenting you as an individual and augmenting the possibility of what you can do.” -Fabio Violante</blockquote>It’s likely that at some point soon, these sensor-embedded smart objects will be able to give feedback on the way we use them, massively increasing our ability to learn new skills. These objects won’t be used to create instant experts, but novices will be able to gain a useful proficiency level almost immediately - an exciting promise of pervasive AI.&nbsp;To help deliver this promise, Arduino needs to stay ahead of the curve of innovation and continually develop new ways to deliver complex information to everyone. Our challenge is to keep up with the rapid development of technology and continue to make this increasingly complex stuff accessible, explains Fabio. This happens through a combination of a dedicated ‘translation’ team in-house and by partnering with visionary companies that allow Arduino to take the latest technology and democratize it. Kurt agrees, asserting that, “For deep learning to be truly pervasive, it's going to have to become the domain of the everyman.”Arduino contributes to the future of pervasive A.I. through continuing its mission of reducing the barriers to learning about electronics and programming with its proven project-centered approach that induces its users to learn rapidly through action. This approach encourages users to move from technology spectators to actors by engaging directly with hardware.&nbsp;<hr>Companies like Syntiant are continuing to make AI processors smaller, lowering their power consumption and making them more accessible through partnerships with leaders such as Arduino. Innovators like Gustav Hoegen or Anouk Wipprecht (<a href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/bram.wevolver" target="_blank">see our previous fireside chats</a>) are gaining more opportunities to apply artificial intelligence in novel ways.&nbsp;This video is part of a series of fireside chats in which Wevolver and Syntiant partner to engage with global innovators. I encourage you to stay tuned and to follow <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/syntiant" target="_blank">Syntiant's profile</a> for more of these conversations.

Fireside Chat 'The Voice of Innovation' #3

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