Installer guide
This guide is for the technician who installs the Sqiya equipment at the farmer's site: the Edge Box, the sensors and the valves.
Your role
You come to the farm to:
- install and commission the Edge Box (the farm's Sqiya box);
- install the sensors and valves of each zone;
- check, with the farmer, that everything shows up correctly in their Sqiya app.
You do not create anything in Sqiya yourself. Before your visit, the Sqiya team declares the farm, its zones and its equipment. The team then gives you the information you need on site.
The equipment
The Edge Box
The Edge Box is the Sqiya box installed on the farm. There is only one per farm. It is a small computer (Raspberry Pi) that:
- communicates with the farm's sensors and valves;
- runs the schedules, irrigation rules and safety features (lack of water, leak, pressure, rain) locally;
- sends readings and events to the Sqiya Cloud;
- keeps irrigating without the Internet, with the last configuration received. The data is kept on the box and sent when the connection comes back.
In the farmer's app, the Edge Box is called Sqiya box.
The sensors
Sensors measure what happens in the zone: soil moisture, temperature, flow, pressure, rain. The flow and pressure thresholds of each zone are used by the box's safety features: without a flow or pressure sensor, these safety features cannot go off.
The valves
Valves turn a zone's water on and off. They are controlled by schedules, automatic rules, safety features and manual commands from the app.
Two ways to connect a device
| LoRa | MQTT | |
|---|---|---|
| Link | LoRaWAN radio, to the Edge Box | Internet, to the Sqiya Cloud |
| Piloted by | always the Edge Box | the Sqiya Cloud, or the Edge Box depending on the farm |
| What the Sqiya team gives you | the radio identifier (DevEUI) declared for each device | MQTT credentials, given only once |
Each device has only one pilot: either the Cloud or the Edge Box. The details are in Sensors and valves.
Steps of an installation
- Before the visit: the Sqiya team gives you the serial number of the Edge Box, its activation code, and the list of devices to install (zone, type, protocol, identifiers).
- On site: check the farm's Internet connection where you install the Edge Box.
- Commission the Edge Box and enroll it with its activation code, within 24 hours. See Commissioning the Edge Box.
- Install the sensors and valves, zone by zone. See Sensors and valves.
- Check the installation in the farmer's app: box online, readings arriving, valve responding. See Check the installation.
TIP
Prepare your visit with the farmer: their phone with the Sqiya app installed and their account signed in will be used for the final check.
WARNING
The activation code is only valid for 24 hours and can be used only once. Ask the Sqiya team for it as close as possible to your visit.