IoT Equips Winemakers With Autonomous Real-Time Tank Monitoring

A New Zealand wine optimization company says it has achieved an industry first – providing continuous, autonomous and real-time monitoring of wine fermentation.

Harnessing cloud-based technology and IoT in-tank sensors, Winely created a data-intelligence platform that offers winemakers in-depth data analysis and visualization of tank conditions. The platform was also designed to withstand extreme pressure conditions to make it applicable in any environment. 

According to Abbe Hyde, Winely’s co-founder and CPO, the latest updates enable “set and forget” capabilities, meaning the self-installed sensors can be left to their own devices in the tank.

“[The sensor] can withstand even the most rigorous red wine ferment and high-pressure conditions,” she said. “These create extremely difficult environments for technology to survive in, due to the intense pressures of reds. Which is a problem that the industry has been trying to solve for the better part of two decades now.”

The latest sensor updates also include longer battery life and improved signal strength to provide reliable data around the clock. 

Previous attempts to achieve autonomous fermentation monitoring relied on trial-and-error and often meant using expensive precision sensors. Winely, by contrast, worked to adapt its algorithm to continuously improve accuracy and hardiness. 

“We can continue to iterate our product and improve its accuracy, even in the middle of a vintage, whilst the device is still in the tank — thereby enabling continuous upgrades through cloud-based machine learning updates, rather than throwing away the hardware and starting discovery from scratch,” Hyde said.