Titan – External Devices: Distance Sensor

The MTX-Router-Titan II, MTX-Router-Titan and MTX-Router-Titan mini devices are prepared to manage a Maxbotix distance sensor with an RS232 output. For example, we can send the measured distance periodically to a web platform, send an SMS alert when the distance is longer or shorter than a predetermined value, or even change a relay when the distance falls outside a particular range (for this, take a look at the section Other >> Relay).

A typical application could be a grain or cement silo where the Maxbotix distance sensor (using ultrasound) sends the measurements periodically.

• Enabled: activate this option if we have a Maxbotix distance sensor with RS232 port connected to a serial port
• Serial Port: select the MTX-Router-Titan II, MTX-Router-Titan or MTX-Router-Titan mini device’s serial port where the Maxbotix distance sensor is connected
• Interval: if we wish to send distance readings periodically to our webserver, we can specify here the period (in minutes)
• Logger: if we wish to use the internal logger to store distance data (to later send this to a web platform), we need to select this option. This option should not be selected if we only want to send an SMS alert when the distance is outside preset margins
• Alarms enabled: select this option if we want to activate the alarms when the distance is outside margins
• Max Distance: the maximum distance before which an alarm is sent due to long distance
• Text alarm on (max): text for the alarm to be sent when the distance is considered to be long
• Text alarm off (max): text for the alarm to be sent when the long distance alert is deactivated
• Min Distance: minimum distance before which an alarm is sent due to short distance
• Text alarm on (min): text for the alarm to be sent when the distance is considered to be short
• Text alarm off (min): text for the alarm to be sent when the short distance alert is deactivated
• Phone number 1: first telephone number where the SMS alarms are to be sent
• Phone number 2: second telephone number where the SMS alarms are to be sent
• Phone number 3: third telephone number where the SMS alarms are to be sent
• Current distance: indicates the current temperature in real time if a Maxbotix distance sensor is connected

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Once the configuration is finished, click “SAVE CONFIG” to save the changes. Remember that the router should be restarted for the changes to take effect.
• Sample format of the JSON string sent:

{“IMEI”:”358884050088207”,”TS”:”25/12/2014 17:40:09”,”TYPE”:”DIST”,”P”:”1234”,”DIS”:500,”ALDH”:0,”ALDL”:0}

Where:
– IMEI: the router’s ID number. Unique for each device
– TS: time stamp DD:MM:YYYY HH:MM:SS
– TYPE: type of string. In this case it is distance
– P: the logger’s ID field (External Devices > Logger configuration)
– DIS: distance read