TroughTally

How it fits together

TroughTally, part by part

Scroll or tap a part. Press “See the 3D CAD design” to watch the model, built from our CAD, light each part up and show how it connects.

See the 3D CAD designShow the concept

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1. 01

   The whole TroughTally

   A rim head counts water through a pulse meter and measures trough level and temperature. LoRaWAN carries it to the ranch gateway for alerts.

2. 02Brain

   RAK3272S (RAK3172)

   The brain: it runs the troughtally firmware program

3. 

   03

   Pulse water meter

   Counts every gallon that flows into the trough

   RAK3272S (RAK3172) · 2-core cable, wake pin · Pulse per gallon

4. 04

   Ultrasonic level sensor

   Measures water level from above, nothing in the water

   RAK3272S (RAK3172) · UART · Distance to water

5. 

   05

   Water temperature probe

   Tells frozen, normal or hot water

   RAK3272S (RAK3172) · 1-Wire (one data pin) · Water temperature

6. 

   06

   WinterWatch front end

   Reads heater current and stray voltage on the water

   RAK3272S (RAK3172) · Analog pins (ADC) · Heater amps, volts on water

7. 07

   5 V step-up regulator

   Powers the ultrasonic sensor only while it measures

   RAK3272S (RAK3172) · GPIO enable pin · 5 V on demand

8. 

   08

   Two AA lithium cells

   Run the head for about three years, down to −40 °C

   RAK3272S (RAK3172) · Power lead to board · 3 V battery power

9. 09

   All connected

   7 key parts, one program, and your phone

How the parts connect

TroughTally, wired up

Every part, what links it to the brain, and how the data reaches your phone. A solid line is a cable; a dashed line is a radio link.

The program

What controls TroughTally

void loop() {
  digitalWrite(BOOST_EN, HIGH); delay(150);
  uint16_t mm = medianOf5(readA02yyuw(Serial1));   // UART level
  digitalWrite(BOOST_EN, LOW);
  float tempC = ds18b20.getTempCByIndex(0);         // 1-Wire
  State s = troughState(pulses, mm, tempC);
  uint8_t up[12];
  packUplink(up, pulses, mm, tempC, battery_mv(), s);
  bool alert = (s != DRINKING && s != OK);
  api.lorawan.send(sizeof up, up, 2, alert);        // port 2, confirmed on alert
  api.system.sleep.all(alert ? 60000 : 900000);     // pulses keep counting asleep
}

To your phone

How the data reaches TroughTally rancher app

Rancher's phone: push and SMS

1. Rim head
2. LoRaWAN
3. Ranch gateway
4. Internet · MQTT over TLS
5. IEMI cloud and phone

Key specs

Targets for production units; they may change during development.

Pricing

Target pricing. A $249 gateway is needed per ranch unless LoRaWAN coverage already exists. Estimated BOM about $188 per trough at qty 1 and about $95 at qty 100, plus about $179 for the gateway. The WinterWatch kit is a target +$99 per trough (BOM about $74.50 at qty 1, est.).

Indicative launch pricing in USD, excluding taxes and shipping. Final pricing is confirmed before any balance is charged.

1. 28 Oct 2026, 11:27LatestA grazing farm needs one thing at each water point that calls a cut supply, a stuck float or ice before the stock go without, and watches the mob that comes to drink: calvings, an animal down, a dog at the water. Water rules keep the float valve and its air gap (Northumbrian Water Guidance Note 9, BS 3445), the welfare rules ask for fresh, clean, unfrozen water every day, and farmers pay about A$749 for a trough monitor (Farmbot) before a flow sensor, a calving camera and a gateway.

   • Now part of FarmOne: https://iemilabs.com/products/farmone/

   See it in 3DFull research and design

2. 27 Oct 2026, 12:39A calving farmer needs the pens watched at night and the water in each pen kept running for the cow that has just calved. Calving-pen advice is a self-filling bowl in every pen, not buckets (Irish Farmers Journal), winter checklists say to check heated waterers and their cords (Penn State Extension), and advisers say a cow should be offered water as soon as possible after calving (TheCattleSite). Our own two products for a 4-pen barn cost $2,455 and $243 a year.

   • Combined into CalvingPen (https://iemilabs.com/products/calvingpen/); TroughTally itself is unchanged

   See it in 3DFull research and design

3. 27 Oct 2026, 05:10A mixed farm with an orchard next to its stock paddock pays for a frost alarm, a trough monitor, a crop-raid flasher and a pest-trap camera, each with its own pole, power and app. Commercial versions cost about $389–1,252 for a frost alarm (Onset, fruitweb), A$749–1,290 for a trough monitor (Farmbot) and about $2,700 for a trap camera (iScout, Perennia).

   • Combined into FarmMast (https://iemilabs.com/products/farmmast/); TroughTally itself is unchanged

   See it in 3DFull research and design

4. 26 Oct 2026, 01:52In winter ranchers must check heated waterers every day because a failed heater freezes the trough fast, and a few volts of stray voltage from a worn heater can stop cattle drinking; UNL Extension puts the practical action level at 0.5 V (Beef Magazine cold-weather advice, Alberta Agriculture, UNL Extension G2292).

   • New CAD part: probe sleeve that slides onto the clamp leg and holds the temperature probe and a stainless water electrode; 8 bought-part checks pass, 0 mm³ overlap with the clamp
   • Case changed: 2 more cable glands and a small front-end board for the stray-voltage and heater sensors; 3 new fit checks pass
   • Hardware: clip-on current sensor on a bought, listed line splitter (no mains in our case), stainless electrode and copper ground rod; WinterWatch kit about $74.50 (est.), target +$99
   • Design doc: dated section with 6 new sources, heater and stray-voltage reports and 3 new tests; product page summary, highlights, use cases, specs and FAQs updated

   See it in 3DFull research and design

5. 25 Oct 2026, 16:27Level-only monitors alert late on a supply cut → a meter before the float valve means 'level falling with no inflow' fires in 1-20 min vs 9-181 min for a 50% low-level alarm (CAD report, est.)

   • New design: 3 printed parts in code CAD, bought parts fit-checked
   • Market research, hardware list and use case written up
   • Design page and kit render published
   • Product page added

   See it in 3DFull research and design