For so long, the lack of reliable and sufficient preservation facilities has challenged meat traders at the Kariokor market. This leads to significant losses since huge chunks are dumped as moldered meat.
However, a Kenyan tech startup – Veno Autobotics, has developed a cold storage solution to address the problem. This prototype which is already being tested in production seeks to offer a world-class robust meat preservation solution.
Baridi IoT
According to Veno Autobotics, the initial goals have been achieved as well as additional functionalities. For example, the system enables workers’ session logging at the container.
The Baridi IoT prototype has matured into a full-fledged and reliable operations management system for tracking the business’ performance. This in-house developed solution offers the following exclusive features:
- Collects environment data for the cold room (temperature, humidity) and door sensory.
- Collects solar PV data from the manufacturer’s platform
- Collects data from stored products for tracking tracking
- Enables monitoring of employee sessions
- Data aggregation at a single point of access
- Presentation of data analytics & generation of reports
Scalability and Optimizations
If multiple units are needed, it is possible to create a network of the Baridi containers for efficient data transmission from the site. It allows hot swapping between the internet and GSM connectivity. The Baridi IoT solution consumes little power to survive prolonged power outages on a single charge.
The tech stack
- Hardware System: Arduino Framework on ESP32-4GB using C++
- Communication for Sensors – serial communication protocols
- Communication to Server: Wi-Fi – Enabled by using The ESP32 module
- Back-end framework for API: PHP on the Laravel framework
- Database Storage: Firebase
- Front-end: VUE.js framework for the web-based application
