LOW COST WIRELESS WEATHER STATION TO BOOST AGRI, TOURISM, CONSTRUCTIONS OPS

KUALA LUMPUR, August 15 : Resort hotels, farms and construction sites will benefit from a portable wireless weather station that assists in scheduling outdoor operations by forecasting local weather patterns.

The wireless appliance which allows remote monitoring of overhead local weather was designed as a low-cost tool for widespread industry use by a graduate student from Malaysia University of Science and Technology (MUST).

MUST, which has science and technology focused post graduate courses, was established with the assistance of U.S.’s renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in year 2000.

“If you have outdoor operations, like a construction company, you really need to plan for a rainy day or a thunderstorm to cut costs by rescheduling operations, including personnel and materials.

“This is only possible by having access to pinpoint local weather information in your specific area of operations,” said Leong Boon Tik, 27, from Kota Tinggi, Johor, who is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Construction Engineering and Management.

Boon Tik went on to say that the ability to tell the weather will lower downtime, increase productivity, prevent accidents and loss of lives, not to mention save millions of ringgit a year in lost working days.

He revealed that his target cost for the wireless weather station and software application are below RM12,000 and plans to explore production with established industry players in the country.

“I constructed the wireless weather station to be a modular device system, which means that the existing sensors can easily change to other sensors which suit the user application. The wireless portion can also be change to different device at different transmission range. Furthermore, the device is almost maintenance free as most of the sensors have a high reliability and robustness.”

Among the industries which are in need of wireless weather stations are agriculture, resort, education, mining, construction, environment monitor, search and rescue organisations and the military.

“The wireless weather station monitors barometric pressure, relative humidity, precipitation, as well as wind speed and direction every five seconds on a real time basis.

Because of its wireless capability, distant weather monitoring is possible. The system also provides hassle-free periodic data recording to minimize manual labour,” added Boon Tik.

Born out of Malaysia's Second Industrial Master Plan to help industries become more productive and globally competitive, the university uniquely bridges the requirements of academic excellence with commercial demands, in developing and applying science and technology to useful practical purposes.

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