STORE-WATCHSYSTEM
STORE-WATCHSYSTEM
A GRAIN store monitoring system that takes continuous measurements of crop moistures and temperatures and triggers warning alarms and activates fans when threshold levels are reached has been launched.
The Martin Lishman Barn Owl system is claimed to be the first to keep an active watch on the stored crop and take action when trouble develops.
It utilises a new type of low cost sensor to measure relative humidity and temperature of grain and other crops stored in bulk or bins. Regular monitoring shows up changes that might require corrective action. The measurements can operate cooling and drying fans via a specially designed control unit.
Barn Owl is a modular system that downloads data to a hand-held computer or PC. A single cable connects several temperature sensors over a distance of up to 200m and many sensors can be connected to the same system. Data can be viewed on-screen, plotted as graphs, or saved to a spreadsheet, making the system suitable for use in a quality assurance scheme. Barn Owl draws its low power requirement from the computer so no independent power supply is needed.
The modular design makes it equally suited to a 500t store as a 50,000t facility. Prices start from £220, including software and three temperature sensors.