This interactive publication describes STAR-tank radar tank Level Sensor.
USER MANUAL AND TEST RESULTS
Tomorrow's Technology, Today
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is a radar based tank level sensor that mounts at the top of the tank
Operates directly through non-metalic tanks - top mounted In metal tanks a hole is cut and an SAE 5 holt bolt pattern used (industry standard) Accurate to 1mm Operates in Black and Grey Water. It is not affected by foam or gasses This model is battery operatedo operated with a target 5 year life. Unit has "Long Range Bluetooth" that we have tested to 100m line of sight and 40m through metal layers in a typical van build.
World`s First Battery Operated Radar tank Level Sensor - Bluetooth to Victron Cerbo GX
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SPECIFICATIONS This battery powered sensor:
MOUNTING The base of the Sensor has 2 sets of holes: SAE 5 bolt hole For Plastic Tanks: Glue Sensor to top of tank. The SAE bolt holes form the basis for the bonding. Cable Length: No Cable. It is Battery powered and Bluetooth. Connections: No Connections Simple Calibrations: Calibration needed from Display Bluetooth Connection to Victron GX models ONLY Battery Life 3-5 years (longer range and lower level tank, battery life 3 years. Shorter range and tank level typically 50% then 5 year) Battery 2744 Bluetooth 5.3 Adv Output ONLY Deadband 30mm Max Depth 1200mm pre-set. Can be ordered to 2000mm or 10000mm Repeatability 1mm Press button on top and reporting changes to 10 sec intervals for 10mins (during commissioning) After 10 mins at 10 sec reporting, interval changes to 60 second intervals
5.8mm 4.8mm
34mm
51mm
58mm
ETSI Safiery declares that this sensor is compliant with the European commission radio equipment directive 2014/53/EU article 3.1 and 3.2.
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Safiery STAR-Tank Radar Bluetooth Sensors STAR-Tank sensor support has been added to Venus OS. These radar tank level sensors use BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy). This wireless technology allows devices to be networked within a range of about 40 meters (with Bluetooth Adapter added to Cerbo GX, see below), while consuming significantly less power than ordinary Bluetooth technology. The expected battery life is 5 years with tank measurement averaging 50%. Battery life is less at around 3 years if tanks average 10% level for example. The liquid level, temperature and sensor battery voltage are streamed wirelessly to the GX device. STAR-Tank sensors feature phased coherent radar sensing for non-pressurized tanks. The tank level range is 2m as standard. This can be extended, consult Safiery. The top 30mm from the base of the sensor is a dead band. If the tank is 12mm thick fiberglass, then the deadband is 18mm below the top of the tank. The sensors are attached directly on top of any non-metal tank including thick fibreglass tanks. For metal tanks, the sensor needs a clear view of the liquid. To achieve that, a 5 hole SAE pattern adapter is included into the base. To achieve an air tight seal, use “gas sealing tape” (generally pink) and wrap on the thread and screw into the base plate. This prevents gas from the tank passing through STAR-Tank. For non-metal tanks simply adhere the base plate and after curing, screw the STAR-Tank module onto the base. STAR-Tank suits black water tanks, even with foam above the liquid line. Pressing the black button on top of STAR-Tank initiates an AI startup routine to select the dominant line-of-sight signal from a cloud of reflected information. The AI routine does this to minimize battery usage. Press and hold that button for approx. ten seconds. During that 10 seconds the LED surrounding the button is a solid red LED. Wait until the Solid Red LED turns to solid Green then remove finger. The AI function is now complete. After the button is released, every 10 seconds for 10 minutes, the LED flashes tank level status: Flashing purple means tank is absolutely full or some object under sensor is blocking it like a baffle. Drain some liquid and repeat the process. Flashing red means the tank is close to full. Flashing green means tank level is 1m or more below the sensor. Then there are in-between colours of orange to yellow. The purpose of this guide is to give the user confidence in correct operation.
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Safiery STAR-Tank On / Off, Sampling Rate and Approvals To turn STAR-Tank off, press and hold button. The surrounding LED will be solid green for approx. 10secs. Keep holding until it turns solid red, then release finger and it turns off. When turned back on, follow the guide above to re-initiate the startup routine. The normal sampling interval for the long battery life is 60 seconds. Pressing the black button for 1-2 seconds will change the sampling time to 10 seconds for up to 10 minutes. Then the sampling reverts to 60 seconds. Many tank level sensors use averaging to smooth out signal results. We cannot do this with STAR-Tank as it would consume too much battery power. Every reading is a one shot result. The implications of this is that occasionally, you may see a flickering of value for 1 cycle.
In future developments on the Victron side, the temperature value may be used to trigger the temperature relay function on the GX device with relays to initiate stirrers or heaters in tanks as well as notification of this.
To connect STAR-Tank sensors to the GX device via Bluetooth, the GX device needs Bluetooth functionality. Although GX products already have built-in Bluetooth, this internal function may be disabled if the processor gets too hot. Safiery recommends installing a Nano USB Bluetooth adapter from the list below.
This radar tank level sensor is approved with FCC for USA. It is compliant with European commission radio equipment directive 2014/53/EU article 3.1 and 3.2. and is CE and UKCA approved.
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Safiery STAR-Tank Radar Sensor Positions and Calibrated Depth
STAR-Tank uses reflected radio waves at 60GHz. It is therefore important that the sensor is away from the edge of the tank and free from baffles. The test setup above is a nominal 40L tank with 25L of water in it. The Centre Test Sensor is reading correctly as the range for the bottom of the tank is set correctly at 35.6 cm in this example. 1 Test Sensor 5 was calibrated at same bottom reading then lifted up to the raised side section of the tank which is 9 mm higher. This meant the distance to the water inside was 9 mm longer. At 40L for 356mm depth, the volume per mm is approx 0.1124 L. So raising 9 mm will reduce the aparent volume by 9 x 0.1124 = 1.011 L. 2 Test Sensors 2 and 10 are too close to the edge. The Frenzel lens is set to give a 15 degree cone of trasmission. The side is interferring with this giving a 100% reading for Sensor 10 and 94% for Sensor 2 which is a little further from the edge.. 3 If the tank is a shallow tank of say 200-250mm depth, the standard STAR-Tank sensor will show fluctuations when full as the top dead band is a percentage of full scale setting. For a nominal 1m calibrated sensor: the top deadband is about 50mm. The sensor is 16mm above the bottom of the housing leaving 34mm below top of tank. Generally, full tank accuracy is not important. But if this irritates you, then order a Small Tank calibrated sensor which has half that dead band; meaning 9mm below top of tank. However, it may not read past 500mm. Dead band 9-15mm When tank is full. But won’t read past 500mm 200~500 mm Depth 500~1,000 mm Depth 1m to 2m Depth Dead band 30-35mm When tank is full. But won’t read past 1,000mm Dead band 50-70mm When tank is full. But won’t read past 2,000mm
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Safiery STAR-Tank Radar Bluetooth Sensors
The installation of the STAR-Tank sensor is very simple. First, however, the sensor must be installed according to Safiery’s installation instructions.
Then the installation and configuration is done in the GX device as described
Make sure Bluetooth is enabled in the Bluetooth sensors menu (enabled by default). 1 Go to Settings → I/O → Bluetooth sensors menu. 2 Move the Enable slider to the right to enable Bluetooth sensors. 3 To find your STAR-Tank sensor, scroll down until you see them. 4 To activate the sensor, move the slider to the right. It should now appear on the Device List. 5 Repeat steps 1..5 for more than one sensor. 6
GO TO VICTRON CERBO OR EKRANO GX MANUAL FOR SETUP PROCESS.
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Comparison of Technologies to Radar used by STAR-Tank
Resistance
Pressure
Ultrasonic
Radar
Passive measurement of resistance as a magnetic ring slides up and down a hollow shaft with resistors embedded internally.
Active measurement of pressure in a tank using a silicon wafer that “bends” under pressure and creates a signal. Resultant signal may be voltage, NMEA, CAN or or Bluetooth data.
Active measurement of distance from under a tank (or above tank for Some) to the air-water interface point. Resultant signal may be voltage, NMEA, CAN or or Bluetooth data.
Active measurement of distance from top of tank to air-liquid interface point. Resultant signal may be voltage, NMEA, CAN or or Bluetooth data.
Above Tank with height access to remove the unit of similar height of tank.
Side of tank as close to bottom as possible. Needs a threaded boss on tank to screw into.
Below tank must use a couplant of grease or glue. Cant have intermediate layer.
Above tank for non-metal tanks can sit directly on top of tank (glue) and for metal tanks, needs hole with SAE 5 bolt pattern.
20-30mm Accuracy
Varies with quality but typically 20mm
Varies with quality but generally average
High accuracy of 1mm is achievable.
No active power. Just 2 wire to resistance
3 wire of power and voltage value and ground.
3 wire of power and voltage value and ground or battery Bluetooth.
Battery operate Bluetooth. CAN/NMEA powered 12V coming in future model.
N/A
N/A
3-5 years battery life
5 years Battery Life Enhanced by AI
Plastic sensor
and
embedded
Billet machined Aluminium and embedded liquid proof radar sensor.
Stainless
steel
Stainless steel components
components
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Comparison of Ultrasonic and radar tank Sensors to STAR-Tank
Mopeka
Gobus C
STAR-Tank
TECHNOLOGY
Sonar (ultrasonic)
Radar
Phased Coherent Radar
PLACEMENT
Below tank Flat 12mm
Above tank 30mm required
Above tank 65mm required
ACCURACY
Affected by foam and temperature
High
High
POWER
Battery
12/24V
Battery
CALCULATED BATTERY LIFE
3-5 years
N/A
5 years Enhanced by AI
WARRANTY
1 year
Not listed
5 years excluding battery for above non-metallic tanks. 1 year for application in metal tank with SAE 5 bolt hole.
VICTRON INTEGRATION
Bluetooth ADV
Voltage/Resistance
Bluetooth ADV
PRICE POINT IN EUROS Subject to change
Euro 65
Euro 350
Euro 165
AVAILABLE NOW
Available now
Available now
Available Sept. 2024
STAR-Tank uses Phased Coherent Radar In Phased Coherent Radar, a series of short-duration radio frequency pulses are transmitted towards the water line from above. These pulses are reflected back and received by the radar system's antenna. The received signals are then processed and analyzed to determine the depth. The term "coherent" refers to the radar system's ability to maintain a constant phase relationship between the transmitted and received signals. This coherence allows for more accurate measurements and improved signal processing techniques, such as coherent integration, which enhances the radar's sensitivity and range resolution.
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is submitted by Safiery Pty Ltd for 2024 DAME Design award.
This is a family of 10 products that make a whole integrated system using Wire- less Open Protocl and in addition NMEA 2000 connectivity to the digital switching controllers.
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Functionality of STARSHIP - What it does
Devices connected in a marine world have defined protocols such as NMEA 2000 for wired connectivity. However, for non-essential, comfort and convenience devices like lighting, air-conditioning, fans, and appliances there is now a connectivity alternative with wireless digital switching. This alternative Wireless connectivity can be in parallel with the wired system. STARSHIP offers two layers of wireless communication, both with Open Protocols as well as preserving NMEA 2000. More and more devices and appliances have inbuilt wireless connectivity, because more advanced functions can be selected using wireless connectivity to purposeful Apps. However, it isn’t practical nor customer focused to require a collection of Apps to fully operate these devices. So sometime in 2019, Apple, Google, Amazon, and Samsung agreed to commit to a common standard for IOT devices and appliances that any of their platforms would connect with using one native app on the smartphone or tablet. The Standard was published in December 2022 and is called “Matter”. Matter is a published open protocol with IPv6 endpoints. Once provisioned, it does not require the internet. It has a high encrypted security feature and uses conventional WiFi and/or ethernet between devices. STARSHIP is compliant with Matter but with a significant difference: It also has integration of both Wired NMEA2000 and Long Range Bluetooth (uses 802.15.4 transport layer). This means a light can be turned on and colour changed from an MFD display then turned off or the colour changed using wireless STAR-Switches in a cabin. However, the really important functionality is the automation. Apart from convenience of one “Home Control” app for multiple devices (currently over 2,000), there is the Energy Management Automation that is particularly useful. Matter includes this as well as battery monitoring such that load shedding of devices can be done when energy needs to be conserved. Simply departing a boat can trigger automation that turns off all non-essential devices. STARSHIP is the only DC powered Matter compliant device available. Layer on to that the 2 other communication methods. We envision a future where most appliances and lighting will be available under the WiFi standard protocol.
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DUAL Layers of Wireless Control Plus one Layer NMEA Wired Control
THREE LAYERS of COMUNICATION with CONTROLLERS
Each Layer Operates independently
WiFi using Matter Open Protocol No Internet Required Compatible with: Apple, Google, Amazon, Samsung Uses their native Home Control app
Over 2,000 Compliant Devices to Connect Automation on Smart Phone - arrive / depart Energy Management with Load Shedding
Long Range Bluetooth 40m + typical range Battery operated Switches 4-6 year life Up to 6 switches control one device
Easy configuration of Master/ Sub-master Double press feature for alternate colour Inexpensive and simple to deploy.
CAN / NMEA
Wired Connection MFD Control
Amazon, Apple, Google, and Samsung committed to a common standard for interoperability in 2022 called “Matter”. It works seamlessly with over 2,000 devices including fridges, air conditioners, fand, lights, and more, all from a single app on any of these smartphones. is a Matter compliant system designed specifically for 12V DC devices in a marine environment. The clever part by Safiery was integrating CAN/NMEA functionality and long-range Bluetooth devices into one system. Simplified Interoperability with any Smartphone’s Native Home Control The Bluetooth connectivity uses the new long-range 802.15.4 transport layer. Results are 100m range line of sight and 40m through metal skins. This is used for the wireless physical switches and the Radar Tank Monitoring. They operate independently of the other communication methods with high encrypted security. They are battery operated with a minimum of 4 year life.
Simplified Smart Automation and Convenience
automation capabilities simply follows the home control
automation available on your Smartphone. As you approach your boat, lights can automatically adjust based on the time of day, and non-essential systems can shut down when you leave. With AI integration, your system becomes even smarter, offering voice control and real-time language translation based on your smartphone's settings. digital control systems. Time and cost is avoided and user flexibility is at new heights. The Smartphone does the “programming”previously programmed by engineers into
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Combines Old with the New Wired and Wireless to Reduce Cost
The user benefit of this architecture: a system can be completely delivered with NMEA & wireless switching. When the user wishes to add automation, Smartphone App control or remote cloud monitoring, they simply install Matter as an overlay network. The user can redefine switch modes, and scene automation without programming by others. This enhances utility at reduced overall cost. The commercial benefit to the boat builder is a significant reduction in installation complexity: Installation time, cabling cost and weight, commissioning time and troubleshooting time are all at an absolute minimum. Simplicity of use allows for end user changes at minimum cost.
(IP54) 150A 6 x 30A 6 x 10A Dimmable 2 Control Inputs CAN/ NMEA / RVC
(IP 54) 40A
(IP68) 20A
40A (IP68)
4 x 10A Dimmable H-Bridge Capability 1 x RGBW Colour Capability
12 x 10A Dimmable H-Bridge Capability 2 x RGBW Colour Capability CAN / NMEA / RVC
2 x 10A Dimmable H-Bridge Capability CAN / NMEA
CAN / NMEA
55mm x 32mm x 15mm
70mm x 50mm x 22mm
(IP22) Secure Wireless 4 buttons Wall Surface Mount 4 year battery life WALL
CUSTOM
(IP22) Secure Wireless 4 buttons
(IP22) Secure Wireless 4 image button User Defined e-Tiles Wall Surface Mount 4 year battery life
(IP66) Phased radar liquids level
Long Range Bluetooth AI Auto-aligns Tank-Radar Filter Fresh / Black / Grey / Fuel
Can be custom engraved Panel and Surface Mount 5 year battery life
Connects to Victron Cerbo 5 year battery life
ADVANCED FUSELESS Controllers Short Circuit Protect in 80 us European sourced MOSFETS Integrated Intelligent Design 80 Millionths / Sec All
(IP22) 7 in Touch Screen Secure Wireless
(IP67) NMEA 2000 8 buttons Rubberised Tactile Buttons Will be Wireless 2025 - 20yr life
Digital Switching Victron System (WiFi) STAR-Tank
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Functionality of STARSHIP - Why it is so innovative
WiFi Matter OPEN PROTOCOL Native Home Control App on any of Apple, Android, Amazon, Samsung All sync together. Also accesses 2,000+ other compliant devices
Open Protocol Software Defines End Points IPv6 that match outputs 1-12
WiFi based “No Matter” 7in Touch Screen
Long Range Bluetooth OPEN PROTOCOL
CAN Wired J1939 OPEN PROTOCOL or NMEA 2000 PUBLISHED PROTOCOL
Three communication channels can occur in Harmony
Each switch button source points directly to the IPv6 end point which is wired output
Absolute simplicity
Reduces Cost
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Typical Cabin Configuration Using STAR-Light Wireless
Affordable: Switches Euro 48 / STAR-Light 330 Durable: Anodized Aluminium Controllers
From DC Switchboard 8mm Positive 8mm Negative Max current 40A
Breaker at Switchboard “Main Cabin”
From STAR-Light ( 12 x 10A ) 1. Under cupboard floor light White 2. Under cupboard floor light Blue (LED Strip is integrated white/blue) 3. Reading Spot White His side 4. Reading Spot White Her side 5. 12V Fan 6. USB Outlets both sides 7. TV raise/lower using H Bridge 1 8. TV raise/lower using H Bridge 2 9. Overhead light (s) 10. Head Overhead light 11. Vanity Sink Light 12. Spare
Simplicity and Savings NO Fuses from STAR-Light to all circuits out NO Breakers in Cabin Only one cable pair to cabin LED’s can be Switch/Dim positive or negative Has 2 x RGBW Colour Capability Switches are all battery wall mounted /portable Switches can be Engraved Switches can switch any devices elsewhere on boat 7 in Wireless Display show batteries and all devices
Wireless
Wireless
Wireless
either side of bed
bathroom Overhead Lights Vanity sink Lights (one press white, double press Natural, Tripple press warm white) Popular for ladies skin tone with makeup Rear Deck Aft light
portable TV Raise TV Close Fan Any other
Floor Light (one press White, double press Blue)
Reading Lights “His” On Second switch “Hers”
Underwater Lights Bathroom Light
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CONTACT / SUPPORT
GET IN TOUCH QLD HQ: 45/8 Distribution Court, Arundel QLD 4214 +61(07) 2102 25 53 service@safiery.com
SOCIALS Instagram.com/safiery.global youtube.com/@Safiery
FAQ on Support
1. Signal is showing 100% and LED is purple. If install on top of tank without penetration, ensure tank is NOT metal nor has a metal liner. Ensure it is not positioned above a baffle. Move the sensor and try again. Ensure sensor is at least 200mm in from vertical edge. 2. Sensor shows it is reading but Cerbo can’t detect. Ensure there is a Nano Bluetooth receiver in the USB receiver on the Cerbo. This must be the 2nd or 3rd slot away from the HDMI cable as the first one is reserved for power only to the Touch Screen. 3. Reading is showing full or empty when it is neither. Adjust the minimum and maximum level values in the Cerbo setup display. On the setup display you will read the tank depth “actual value’ in cm. The Min and max values must be either side of that value. 4. How do I calibrate accurately? If the tank is a regular shape, start with it empty and press button for the initialization described in this manual. Then fill the tank to 95% and check the full value limit. There is a 30mm deadband from the bottom of the sensor. When the liquid is within this zone, it will read 100% full. © Copyright Safiery Pty Ltd 2024
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