FieldEdge
One solar pole where the crop meets the tree line: smoke, pest counts and crew heat
One solar pole at the headland where an orchard, vineyard or field meets the woods does the jobs of SmokeSentinel AI, PestTrap AI and HeatGuard AI: a daylight smoke spotter with a bearing and photo, moth counts in a delta trap, and a WBGT heat flag with a 4-colour beacon for the crew.
- Who buys it
- Orchard and vineyard owners and managers next to woods or scrub, especially in California and other wildfire states where heat and smoke rules apply to field crews; farm labour contractors; pest control advisers.
- Why it pays
- $2,990 + $49/month instead of $5,898 + $224/month for our three products separately (list prices on our pages), and one pole, panel, battery and app instead of three (est.).
- Target price
- $2,990 per pole incl. solar kit + $49/month (target)
- First-minute wow
- One afternoon card: 'Flag yellow, red by 15:30, move the heavy picking. No smoke on the ridge since 06:40. 3 codling moths this week, card 41% full.'
What the research found
And how this design answers it
- Three poles, three batteries and three apps → one pole, one CM5 + Hailo-8L brain, one nRF9151 radio, one 100 W panel and one app
- PestTrap needed its own ESP32-S3, LoRa radio and gateway → the trap card is photographed by the same Camera Module 3 Wide as the horizon, on a camera switch, and counted on the CM5
- HeatGuard needed its own brain, LTE-M, panel and battery → it shares SmokeSentinel's SHT45 shield, modem and power; only the globe, wind sensor and beacon are added
- SmokeSentinel already ran the CM5 all day for smoke → heat readings every minute and the 07:00 trap photo cost almost no extra power
- Wildfire smoke reaching the crew → the app shows the official AQI for the pole next to each smoke alert, with no extra sensor
- Heat sensors belong at crew height, smoke cameras up high → arms put the globe and shield at about 1.9 m and the head at 3.2 m on one pipe
Use case
A hot harvest afternoon with smoke on the ridge
Orchard managerCrew supervisorPest control adviser
- 01Trigger: at 14:05 the WBGT estimate passes 28 °C and the forecast says red by 15:30
- 02Detection: the beacon turns yellow and the supervisor's phone shows the forecast; at 15:10 the tree-line camera sees a column grow over three photos
- 03Alert: the manager gets bearing 268°, a photo and 'about 5–7 km' with the AQI next to it
- 04Action: the manager calls 911 with the bearing, the crew stops heavy work early, and the next morning the adviser sees 3 new moths on the card photo
Outcome: Fire called in sooner, crew rest moved earlier, and no trip to the trap (est.)
How it works
Architecture
- 01
Sense: two horizon cameras, one trap camera, black globe + PT1000, SHT45 in a shield, ultrasonic wind sensor
- 02
Decide: the CM5 runs the smoke detector on the Hailo-8L, the moth counter and the WBGT rules
- 03
Send: the nRF9151 sends over LTE-M, with satellite text as the backup, and powers the CM5 on and off
- 04
Tell: one app with push, SMS and voice call; the beacon and buzzer on the pole for the crew
Hardware
Real parts, buyable today
Bill of materials: about $1,660 per pole at qty 1 (est.), mast pipe and install not included.
| Block | Part | Why this part |
|---|---|---|
| Brain | Raspberry Pi CM5 4 GB + CM5 IO Board + Hailo-8L | Runs all three jobs; already sized for smoke |
| Cameras | 3 x Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3 Wide, Arducam 2-camera switch | Same camera for horizon and trap card |
| Heat | 150 mm copper globe + PT1000 (MAX31865), SHT45, Renke ultrasonic anemometer | HeatGuard WBGT inputs; SHT45 shared with fire weather |
| Radio | Nordic nRF9151 (DK for the pilot) | LTE-M, satellite text and µA sleep |
| Alert | LR6-402PJBW-RYGB 4-colour tower with buzzer | Crews see the flag from the rows |
| Power | 100 W panel, Victron SmartSolar 75/15, 12.8 V 50 Ah LiFePO4 | About 64 Wh a day, 8 days with no sun (est.) |
Mechanical
Printable CAD
18 parts, generated from code and checked as closed solids. Pick a part to inspect it, or download the STL files to print.
Loading the CAD…
Real CAD · drag to rotate · scroll to zoomReal CAD · swipe sideways
Bought hardware fitted inside this part (checked in the CAD: nothing collides with the plastic)
- Head bodyhead-body.stl · ASA
- Head caphead-cap.stl · ASA
- Sun roofsun-roof.stl · ASA
- Window retainerwindow-retainer.stl · ASA
- Camera mountcamera-mount.stl · PETG
- Mast collar halfmast-collar-half.stl · ASA
- Radiation shield plateshield-plate.stl · ASA
- Radiation shield capshield-cap.stl · ASA
- Shield armshield-arm.stl · ASA
- Globe armglobe-arm.stl · ASA
- Wind sensor armwind-arm.stl · ASA
- Beacon armbeacon-arm.stl · ASA
- Trap armtrap-arm.stl · ASA
- Trap camera boxtrap-cam-box.stl · ASA
- Trap camera lidtrap-cam-lid.stl · ASA
- Delta trap bodydelta-body.stl · ASA
- Card traycard-tray.stl · ASA
- Lure basketlure-basket.stl · ASA
Open risks we are working on
- Life-safety liability: a daylight smoke spotter, not a fire detector; no auto-dialling and no night claims
- Heat-rule liability: WBGT is an estimate, not ISO 7243 certified; guidance only, the employer's heat plan stays theirs
- Unproven: a 1 m CSI-2 ribbon to the trap and two cameras on one camera switch on the CM5 (bench test first)
- Heights: the trap at about 2.5 m needs a step ladder or a lowering cord to change the card; the wind sensor at 3 m reads higher than at crew height (corrected, est.)
- Cameras on a farm: aimed above the rows, no face recognition, signs at the gate; check state camera and labour rules
Design stage only: nothing on this page is for sale. Specifications and prices are targets.