Pigeon Paradise
- Country BE, Knesselare
- LOXONE partner Intelliwatt
Challenge
Since 2000, PIPA has been a dealer of the highest quality racing pigeons, whether online, offline or through public auctions. They have done this by storing and collecting the best genetic material in the PIPA Elite Center. Allowing them to breed pigeons that meet the strictest requirements. They are also at the centre of providing current global news in the pigeon racing community. With all this being very time consuming they were looking for a solution to take more basic tasks off employees hands allowing these employees to spend more time on more important jobs. With this automation being required in the field of lighting, climate control, access control, security, but also, for example, the control of the manure belt.
Solution
The Loxone installation perfectly fulfilled PIPA's requirments, alleviating more basic tasks from their employees. Four of the key aspects of the install were:
Lighting - which is now controlled by presence sensors and is fully automated, including special lighting levels and schedules in the breeding lofts, and a special lamp for growing season on an extended schedule.
Security - any alarms are silent alerting the needed people with lighting and mobile notifications. A fire alarm panel is also integrated into the system which reacts immediately if needed eg the sprinkler system is automatically controlled when smoke develops. Also protection comes from weather monitoring, in order to shelter the pigeons from wind or drafts. Further protection comes from power supply monitoring across the site and through all safety systems.
Climate control - This comes in the form of wind protection for the pigeons in order for the wind not to bother them, the wind protection mechanisms are activated through data being recorded by the Loxone weather station. Climate control is also important in the transport room, where many pigeons are placed together leading to CO2 levels needing to be recorded. When the CO2 level exceeds a predetermined limit, the Loxone system opens the dome to supply the room with fresh air.
Automatic central manure belt - With so many pigeons, a simple system to remove the faeces is a plus, because well: s#!t happens 😉 The scraped manure can be quickly and easily thrown onto the belt, which is then automatically discharged to a container. This way everything stays clean in an efficient manner.
Lighting - which is now controlled by presence sensors and is fully automated, including special lighting levels and schedules in the breeding lofts, and a special lamp for growing season on an extended schedule.
Security - any alarms are silent alerting the needed people with lighting and mobile notifications. A fire alarm panel is also integrated into the system which reacts immediately if needed eg the sprinkler system is automatically controlled when smoke develops. Also protection comes from weather monitoring, in order to shelter the pigeons from wind or drafts. Further protection comes from power supply monitoring across the site and through all safety systems.
Climate control - This comes in the form of wind protection for the pigeons in order for the wind not to bother them, the wind protection mechanisms are activated through data being recorded by the Loxone weather station. Climate control is also important in the transport room, where many pigeons are placed together leading to CO2 levels needing to be recorded. When the CO2 level exceeds a predetermined limit, the Loxone system opens the dome to supply the room with fresh air.
Automatic central manure belt - With so many pigeons, a simple system to remove the faeces is a plus, because well: s#!t happens 😉 The scraped manure can be quickly and easily thrown onto the belt, which is then automatically discharged to a container. This way everything stays clean in an efficient manner.
What is certainly worth mentioning is the fact that on this site 3 Miniservers speak and work together in concentrator mode. Since the project was made more intelligent in several phases, the first Miniserver was on the other side of the site than the other Miniservers. Now they all speak together and all Loxone functionalities are integrated in one app. Loxone makes all this possible.
Kristof de Backer, Zaakvoerder Intelliwatt