• Autonomous Region of Valle d'Aosta: CAE systems are the most "open"
    CAE MAGAZINE n.9 - English Version - November 2018
    Autonomous Region of Valle d'Aosta: CAE systems are the most "open"

Autonomous Region of Valle d'Aosta: CAE systems are the most "open"

The remote measuring network of the Autonomous Region of Valle d'Aosta is currently made up of approximately one hundred automatic stations and was created by putting together four pre-existing networks, which are supplied by four different companies at different times. The tender, for which four different offers were taken into consideration, was called in order to adapt the entire weather-hydrographic monitoring network to the most advanced technologies used for data acquisition and transmission.

In the last years, the technicians of this Region had repeatedly assessed that the situation was discouraging the assignment of all maintenance activities to a single body and therefore not allowing to implement an open tender procedure. As a consequence, it was impossible to implement these and other measures which could have led to administrative simplification and to a possible reduction in costs for the Public Administration itself. Therefore, this project needed to be adjusted in order to make the maintenance of the entire network easier and more rational, by introducing open latest-generation technologies.

This is why we included in the project the complete replacement of dataloggers, radio transmission systems and mobile connections, as well as the complete renewal of the operational centre. Moreover, we added all the activities related to the implementation of the network, as well as those necessary to ensure the coexistence and proper functioning of the already existing networks during the transition and those related to field and remote maintenance at the end of the adaptation works.

One of the preconditions is that, at the end of the project, all the proposed system components could be replaced, both for maintenance and future expansion, with interchangeable components supplied by other manufacturers, which could implement the same standard protocols and dialogue modes, exceeding therefore the closing limit of already existing systems.

Within the tender, CAE offered its innovative Mhaster Datalogger which, as requested, allows to achieve a level of standardization and flexibility of use that today is still unequalled on the Italian and international market. The Mhaster datalogger uses an open and standard Linux operating system, which allows the customer to easily and quickly implement any procedures and/or customized solutions directly.

As for the transmission system, the UHF/IP radio, in addition to responding to speed requirements, uses standard and open protocols such as the CoAP, which are perfectly adaptable to the meteorological monitoring sector.

The Operational Centre will be equipped with a single data acquisition and supervision system for the measurement stations located throughout the territory. Among the software for system management, operators will have AEGIS at their disposal: this is a web platform developed by CAE that allows to display the current status of data and diagnostic and operational information related to the monitoring network and to the transmission equipment in GIS mode, on 2D and 3D maps, allowing us to identify critical and alarm conditions, in order to promptly diagnose any possible malfunction and maintain their efficiency.

Finally, as a complementary service supporting maintenance activities, a web portal will be made available to trace development and maintenance operations throughout the duration of the contract.

The project for the Autonomous Region of the Valle d'Aosta is ambitious and it outlines a possible innovative horizon for our Public Administration on a national scale. Once again, CAE proves to be a leader in the technology field and wants to thank the authorities for their trust by stating that it will work as always for maximum customer satisfaction.