DIGIMONDO supports Kaiserslautern on their way to the Smart City

SWK Stadtwerke Kaiserslautern Versorgungs-AG uses a LoRaWAN network in combination with IoT software from DIGIMONDO.

Yannic Bonin, Eva Stumpf, SWK Vorstandsmitglied Markus Vollmer, SWK Vorstandsmitglied Richard Mastenbroek und Dennis Spieß (from left) show the structure of their IoT solution with gateways and sensors.

A container for used clothing sounds the alarm as soon as it is full - this is now possible in Kaiserslautern with the new LoRaWAN® radio network. Together with the Hamburg-based IoT software company DIGIMONDO, SWK Stadtwerke Kaiserslautern Versorgungs-AG has set up "SWKiNet", a digital radio network for the Internet of Things.

The LoRaWAN® radio network in Kaiserslautern covers the entire city area. LoRaWAN means Long Range Wide Area Network - a radio network designed for long range and low energy consumption. "The new radio infrastructure is an investment in the future. In the pilot plant we are using it to improve our own processes," says Markus Vollmer, member of the board of SWK Stadtwerke Kaiserslautern. "In the further scenario, SWK will also offer the use of these technologies to customers and partners".

The communication infrastructure, set up with DIGIMONDO, consists of antennas that receive radio data from sensors. These sensors are attached to electricity meters, in old clothes containers or in car parks. They pass on data about measurement levels, fill levels or car park occupancy. The data is processed in the DIGIMONDO software firefly, a LoRaWAN® network server. In the IoT platform niota they are visualised and summarised in instructions for action.

Once the municipal utilities have gained experience with this, the LoRaWAN network will be opened up to other groups in the city. The city has also recently become a funding partner of the Federal Ministry of the Interior in the "Smart Cities model project". DIGIMONDO managing director and co-founder Christopher Rath is pleased about the successfully launched pilot project: "We have successfully supported the Kaiserslautern public utility company in its first steps towards the Smart City. With our IoT software they can easily take advantage of the benefits of the Internet of Things and become forerunners in the field of IoT".