SBD member company uWatch secures funding to develop IoT systems to help agricultural industry tackle crime

uWatch Ltd, based in Cholsey, South Oxfordshire, have spent the past four years developing a generic, sensor rich, battery powered IoT hub called “The Cube”, that has many applications especially in rural areas. The Cube attained SBD accreditation in 2018, having achieved Police Preferred Specification.

The funding, supported by the European Union Development Fund and led by Rothamsted Research, will see uWatch working with the electronics department at University College London for six months with the aim of dramatically increasing The Cube’s remote sensor range from 20 metres to significantly longer, doubling the battery life and enabling it to interface with intelligent sensors that will be able to detect polluting gases, sample water quality and detect gates being opened to a farm when they shouldn’t be.

The Cube is already at the forefront of fighting rural crime, as it is an instantly deployable device which operates without the need for Wi-Fi or mains power, and will alert your smartphone in under 30 seconds if there are any intruders.

Louis Bennett, Product manager at uWatch Ltd commented “The Cube is unique. It has a range of sensors including PIR, GPS, Shock, Temperature, Bluetooth and a Day/Night Camera. We can get 400 alerts from one set of AA batteries and it works anywhere using its in-built roaming SIM.

“Rural Crime is one of many applications for what is a sensor rich computer that fits in your hand, which can be redeployed to different locations and reconfigured in seconds, straight from your smart phone. The rural community can use The Cube to combat rural crime together and share information to protect themselves”.

uWatch currently operate in numerous markets including: pest control, home monitoring, and numerous reals of security such as rural crime, shipping containers, vans, caravans, boats and much more. You can find out more about uWatch and their SBD accredited product here: https://www.securedbydesign.com/member-companies/sbd-members?view=companydetail&sbdoldcompanyid=884

You can find out more about The Cube on www.uwatch.co.uk and you will be updated with regards to the project across uWatch’s various social media platforms. Prices start at £245 + VAT which includes a full 12 months SIM contract, unlimited data and cloud storage.

SBD Development Officer Doug Skins said: “The uWatch Cube is instantly deployable security that can be used in a wide range of settings – agricultural, vans, sheds, caravans and boats to name a few. I am delighted that this funding will enable uWatch to develop The Cube’s functionality even further, this can only be good news to those involved in tackling crime”.

David Wrighting, owner of To Die For Events and uWatch Customer said: “I use The Cube system to protect a shipping container containing high value items in a very rural location that has no mains power or Wi-Fi. I have two devices monitoring both the outside and inside of the container and I now have full peace of mind knowing I will be alerted in real time if anyone tries to break in”.