UK Soil moisture
Measures water in the ground, so crops get the right amount of irrigation without over- or under-watering.
CASE STUDY · AGRICULTURE
Industrial Compact PC Streamlines Data Collection and Provides Remote Monitoring For Farming Industry
NEXCOM's Neu-X101 compact industrial gateway processes and analyses data at the edge of the network, helping to reduce latency and govern real-time decision-making whilst minimising data transmission costs.
A farm without data runs on guesswork. Without readings from crops, livestock and the environment, decisions on irrigation, fertiliser and pest control are harder to get right, trends go unnoticed, and problems such as disease or equipment faults are found late.
Smart farming closes that gap with sensors, an edge computer that gathers and processes their data, and analytics in the cloud. Here we configured NEXCOM’s Neu-X101-6C-DC, a fanless mini industrial PC with six serial ports, as the IIoT gateway between the sensors and the farm’s data platform. It is the kind of system we supply for agriculture.
Sensor inputs · 7Sensors
What a smart farming system measures
The sensors depend on the crop, the farming method and what the system is for. These are the most common inputs.
Temperature and humidity
Tracks the conditions that drive plant growth and the risk of disease.
Light
Measures the light plants receive, to manage it for photosynthesis and growth.
Weather
Records rainfall, wind speed and solar radiation, to plan irrigation and prepare for extreme weather.
Soil pH and nutrients
Measures acidity and the levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, so fertiliser can be dosed precisely.
Crop health
Detects disease, pests and abnormalities early, so damage can be limited.
Gas
Detects carbon dioxide and ammonia, protecting livestock and workers in enclosed spaces.
Gateway · 5 points
What an IIoT gateway does on a farm
- 01Data acquisition
- Connects to sensors, controllers and machines over serial and network interfaces, and collects their readings and statuses.
- 02Protocol translation
- Converts proprietary and legacy protocols into one standard format, so data from different devices can be combined.
- 03Edge computing
- Processes and analyses data close to the source instead of sending it all to the cloud, cutting latency and transmission costs.
- 04Security
- Applies encryption, authentication and filtering at the gateway before data leaves the farm.
- 05Local control
- Runs rules on the collected data and responds to critical events without waiting for the cloud.
Gateway
Managing gateways you can't easily reach
An IIoT gateway on a farm is often a long way for site engineers to travel to. When one stops responding, our out-of-band management guide shows how Allxon restores access and power control without a site visit.
Environment · 4 checksFarm conditions
What the farm throws at a computer
Agricultural sites are hard on electronics. These are the features that keep a mini industrial PC working.
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01
Dust and debris
Fine particles clog vents and fans, so a fanless design keeps dust out and the PC low maintenance.
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02
Heat and cold
Overheating shuts a PC down and cold brings condensation, so every component should be industrial-grade with a wide operating temperature.
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03
Shock and vibration
A solid-state design with no fans or spinning disks resists vibration, and damping plates reduce what reaches the PC from machinery.
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04
Outdoor cabinets
Where the PC sits outside, the enclosure's IP or NEMA rating and its heat management matter as much as the PC itself.
For outdoor installs, our outdoor enclosure design guide explains how to pick the right IP or NEMA rating and manage the heat inside.
Products · 1The PC
Gathering data with the Neu-X101-6C-DC
A fanless mini industrial PC with six serial ports, configured as an IIoT gateway.
Nexcom
Neu‑X101‑6C‑DC
Intel Celeron J3455 Compact Industrial Computer with 6x Serial Ports and Dual GbE
- Processor
- Intel Celeron J J3455 (Apollo Lake)
- Networking
- 2× GbE
- Operating temp
- −5 to +50 °C
- Power Input
- 12 V DC [Barrel Connector], AC Power Supply Included
- Memory
- 1× DDR3L-1866 SO-DIMM, up to 8 GB
The PC · 5 points
Why it suits smart farming
- 01Six serial ports
- Room to connect a wide range of farm sensors directly, for data collection across the site.
- 02Intel Celeron J3455
- Reliable processing for gathering and pre-processing sensor data, with up to 8 GB of DDR3L memory and an M.2 2242 SSD.
- 03Dual HDMI
- Two display outputs to show aggregated data on site in real time.
- 049–24 V DC input
- Works with the power sources commonly found on farms.
- 05Fanless and compact
- Fits tight spaces and keeps dust out, with wide temperature support for changing conditions.
06FAQs
Smart farming FAQs
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What Is an IIoT Gateway?
An IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) gateway is a rugged edge computer that connects industrial equipment, such as PLCs, sensors, meters and machines, to a network or the cloud. It collects their data, translates between industrial and IT protocols, processes and secures it at the edge, and forwards the results.
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What Is Modbus?
Modbus is an open communication protocol that lets industrial devices such as PLCs, sensors, meters, drives and HMIs exchange data. First published by Modicon in 1979, it uses a simple request and response model: one device asks for or writes values, and another replies. It runs over serial lines as Modbus RTU and over Ethernet as Modbus TCP.
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What Are the Advantages of Fanless Computers?
Fanless computers cool themselves passively, through a finned heatsink chassis and heat pipes, instead of a fan. With no moving parts and no airflow drawing in dirt, they are more reliable in dusty or vibrating places, silent, low maintenance and easy to seal, which is why they are the standard choice for industrial and embedded use.
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What Is the Industrial Temperature Range?
The industrial temperature range is −40 to 85 °C: the grade an electronic component must operate across to be called industrial, compared with 0 to 70 °C for commercial parts. Rugged computers built from industrial-grade components typically run from −25 or −40 °C up to 70 °C as a complete system.
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What does IP65 mean?
IP65 defines the minimum waterproof rating for any “weather-resistant” claim — dust-tight against all particle ingress, and protected against low-pressure water jets from any direction. Here is what that means in practice, how it is tested, and when it is the right specification.
// Next Step
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Phone · UK
+44(0)1785 558 300