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IEMI Labs
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SensingDesign complete (stages 1-6), not built

EndGauge

The pressure gauge at the end of your centre pivot, made smart

Reads end-of-pivot pressure, position and speed, checks the last span's sprays with a camera and maps canopy hot spots ahead of the water, then alerts your phone. Monitor only: it never controls the pivot.

Who buys it
Owners of older or mixed-brand centre pivots with no telemetry; later the pivot dealers who service them.
Why it pays
One broken nozzle about 1,000 ft out costs $600-1,000 of corn (University of Minnesota Extension); a 4 h stopped-wet event pumps about 7 acre-inches onto one spot, about $57 plus ruts (est.).
Target price
$499 kit + $60/pivot/year (target)
First-minute wow
A morning list on the phone: 'Drop 4 from the end: weak spray', with the photo, and the angle where end pressure falls below the regulator rating.
See the CAD designConcept page
EndGauge concept: the idea and where each part goes
The concept. The CAD design is below, under Printable CAD.

What the research found

And how this design answers it

  • Stopped-wet and GPS alerts already sell for $299 (Pivot Watch) → kept as table stakes; effort goes into the pressure trend, spray check and thermal ring
  • Extension says check pressure at the end, end gun on, on high ground → the transducer logs end pressure by angle and flags under-regulated angles (rating + 5 psi)
  • A broken nozzle near the end costs the most → a camera looks back along the last span and flags weak or missing plumes
  • Canopy temperature from the pivot is a proven stress signal (USDA ARS) → a forward MLX90640 pod maps a hot-spot ring, shown as 'scout here', not a stress number
  • Must fit any brand without wiring → V-saddle and band clamps on any 5 9/16 to 8 5/8 in pipe, solar powered

Use case

Stopped wet at night, and a weak drop

OwnerHired handPivot dealer

  1. 01Trigger: the pivot stops at a crooked tower in a wet spot while the pump keeps running
  2. 02Detection: GNSS speed is zero for 3 min while the end reads 24 psi
  3. 03Alert: 'Stopped wet at 212 deg, 24 psi' to the owner's phone; next morning 'Drop 4 from the end: weak spray' with a photo
  4. 04Action: the hand shuts the pump and takes one regulator to the right drop

Outcome: About $57 of pumping and the ruts of a 4 h stopped-wet event avoided, and about 2 acres kept from under-watering (est.)

How it works

Architecture

  1. 01

    Sense: end pressure every 10 s, GNSS every 60 s, thermal frame every 30 s, a camera frame every 2 deg of travel

  2. 02

    Decide: state machine on the Walter (running wet/dry, stopped wet, end gun, under-regulated); spray check on the XIAO

  3. 03

    Send: 200-byte state messages over LTE-M every 5 min while running, crops only for flagged drops

  4. 04

    Tell: phone push with SMS fallback, pass report with the spray strip and thermal ring

Hardware

Real parts, buyable today

Bill of materials: about $479 at qty 1 (about $372 with a generic transducer, about $230 at qty 100, est.).

BlockPartWhy this part
MCU + LTE-M + GNSSDPTechnics Walter (ESP32-S3 + Sequans GM02SP)Cellular and GNSS on one 55 x 24.8 mm board; pivots are far from Wi-Fi
CameraSeeed XIAO ESP32S3 Sense (OV2640)Checks drops on the last span on the device
ThermalAdafruit MLX90640 55 x 35 deg (4407)32 x 24 canopy temperatures ahead of the water
PressureHoneywell PX3AN1BH100PSAAX 0-100 psi, 1/4 NPTRugged sealed-gauge transducer in a tee beside the dial gauge
Power2 x 18650 + bq24074 + Voltaic P126 6 W panel38 mW while running; 23 days with no sun (est.)

Mechanical

Printable CAD

4 parts, generated from code and checked as closed solids. Pick a part to inspect it, or download the STL files to print.

See the CAD parts render
EndGauge printable parts, rendered from the CAD
Render of the printable parts from the actual CAD. Not yet printed or photographed.

Loading the CAD…

Real CAD · drag to rotate · scroll to zoomReal CAD · swipe sideways

Open risks we are working on

  • Lindsay or Valley can add a camera to their own monitors; Pivot Watch is cheaper
  • The end camera checks single drops only 10-30 m back (about 10% of the field's water); full coverage needs a camera per tower
  • One thermal pod maps a 3-8 m ring (under 4% of the field); value against a soil probe is untested
  • The PX3 transducer is a quarter of the BOM; a generic one must hold calibration
  • No irrigator or dealer interviews yet (gate G1); FTO on camera spray checks open (R1)

Design stage only: nothing on this page is for sale. Specifications and prices are targets.