Pilot deployments
A Pilot deployment validates the scalability of the Silvanet System in a realistic environment. 400 sensors and at least 6 Mesh and Border Gateways are used to monitor an area of about 400 to 500 hectares.
The following shows an example Pilot deployment with the Border Gateway on the edge of the forest and sensors connected via Mesh Gateways to the Border Gateway.
Pilot deployment example
A Pilot deployment typically includes the following devices with the required treenails and other accessories:
- 400 Silvanet sensors (installed using treenails or crop wire)
- 5 Silvanet Mesh Gateways (additional Mesh Gateways can be added depending on topology)
- 1 Silvanet Border Gateways (an additional Border Gateway can be added for redundancy)
Guidelines
Use the following guidelines when planning Pilot deployments.
| Guidelines | Description |
|---|---|
| Understand the terrain of the Site area | As the Pilot uses Mesh Gateways, the deployment area can be hilly, rocky and beside roadways. However, we recommend line of sight between Mesh Gateways and Border Gateways. |
| Sensor spacing | Sensor spacing can be 80 to 100 m between the sensors. Additionally, the sensors can be temporarily attached to trees using crop wire rather than permanently using tree nails. |
| Number of Mesh Gateways | A Pilot deployment uses from 4 to 8 Mesh Gateways for an area of 400 to 500 hectares, depending on the terrain and RF signal propagation conditions. Hilly areas need more Mesh Gateways. Less dense and relatively level forest floors need less Mesh Gateways where 4 should be sufficient. |
| Border Gateways requirements | We recommend powering the Border Gateway using a reliable power supply and where it can have Ethernet Internet connectivity. It is also possible, but not recommended, to power the Border Gateway using only its solar panel. |
| Preparing a deployment plan | Consider how the deployment teams must traverse the forest so they can efficiently use the time. With such a large deployment area, several teams of two workers may be required to deploy all the sensors. Ensure you prepare one site Packet per team, taking into account how the team must navigate through the forest. Ideally, create one Packet for one day's worth of work for a single team. |
Important
To deploy 400 sensors and Gateways, a team of 2 people can deploy 20 to 50 devices a day. However, this depends entirely on the difficulty of the terrain and state of the forest floor. In general, deployment is achieved quicker when more teams are available to deploy the devices.