COMPANY SPOTLIGHT:

Valarm is a software company based in Los Angeles, California, which makes awesome remote monitoring software that’s powerful, affordable, friendly, and solves real-world problems.

Their remote monitoring software is used in industries like water resources management, pollution and air quality monitoring, chemical distribution, tank monitoring, flood warnings and water monitoring, bridges and engineering, remote environmental monitoring, smart cities and government agencies, fluids and water usage, fleet vehicles, trucks and trailers loaded up with industrial equipment, machinery, pumps, and other assets.

Valarm in Depth:

Valarm was founded in early 2012, when Dr. Edward Pultar’s (founder of Valarm) brother, Lorenzo’s motorcycle was stolen. Lorenzo was forced to buy a new motorcycle and decided to create an anti-theft/tracking system to protect it and prevent further thievery. This new software inspired Edward to imagine the endless possibilities of using GPS-enabled sensor information.

Edward’s extensive geography background sheds light on the importance of geography in our everyday lives. He received his two Bachelor’s degrees in Geography and Computer Science (minor in Math) from the University of Utah. His Master’s degree in Geography is also from Utah. During his PhD program, Edward was awarded the Jack and Laura Dangermond GIS Fellowship, and also interned at Google, where he worked on Google Earth. In 2011 Edward received his PhD in Geography from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has served as a faculty member in the Spatial Sciences Institute at University of Southern California as well as in Spain as a visiting professor of GIS teaching technology courses in English and Spanish at Universitat Jaume I.

With Lorenzo’s past experience in software engineering and Edward’s background in GIS, Tools.Valarm.net was created to remotely monitor almost anything. Valarm’s software communicates with sensors made by any hardware manufacturer. The software may be used in a variety of industries including flood monitoring, air quality and pollution, water resources management, fluids and chemical distribution, fleet vehicles, trucks, trailers, natural resources, water usage and government. The possibilities of this technology are boundless and Tools.Valarm.net solves complex environmental challenges, mitigates air pollution and effectively monitors water resources.

Picture of a Valarm environmental sensor box, monitoring air, water, weather, and wildfire risk. Sensor data for graphs and maps is from Tools.Valarm.net

Flood monitoring systems are crucial for cities near coast lines, rivers, and other water sources with increasing water levels in order to ensure community safety and resiliency. Flood warning systems measure water levels using ultrasonic depth sensors. These systems send alerts and early warnings to coastal cities in danger. Flood monitoring systems like these are deployed on the east coast of the US, in cities like Newport News and Virginia Beach.

Another exciting, versatile field of Industrial IoT applications is cold chain monitoring, which can be used to monitor vaccines like ebola. Cold chain monitoring means that a product must be maintained within a specific temperature range to be usable. Vaccines must be temperature controlled to maintain their effectiveness. Tools.Valarm.net remotely monitors vaccines and any other assets, like ice cream, with GPS location and other sensors like humidity and temperature. This makes sure that products stay at the proper temperature while traveling so that the assets are still effective.

Flood monitoring system in Smart Cities in Virginia and beaches on the east coast of the United States. Flood warning systems monitor water levels in real-time to send critical alerts of storm surges, rising tides, and hazardous flooding conditions.

Monitoring water well levels in California helps mitigate drought and support sustainable water usage. Valarm installed these water well monitoring systems near a San Diego county golf course. This system ensures proper water well levels and water usage/flow.

Diagram showing how sensors work with Valarm monitoring box. This sensor is monitoring water well levels in California. A flow meter monitors water usage and a pressure transducer / level sensor monitors the depth of water in the well. Industrial IoT customers use this remote monitoring information to effectively monitor water resources, well drawdown, aquifer health, recharge rates, and other water sensor information.

Founder Edward Pultar envisions remote sensing software to be a significant player in monitoring air quality and mitigating health risks. Edward said air pollution “creates more health risks than we probably realize just yet. I think we’ll see an increase in smart cities and organizations needing to monitor environmental factors like particulates (PM2.5), dust, and gases like ozone (O3), nitrogen oxides (NOx, NO, NO2), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).” Valarm already helps monitor air pollution in cities like Kigali, Rwanda. An MIT researcher uses mobile air quality sensors to monitor for particulate matter and VOCs. The air quality sensor data is measured by motorcycle taxi drivers. Air monitoring systems like this have enormous implications for the future in helping mitigate climate change and reducing carbon emissions.

According to Edward, “remote water monitoring systems like those for flood warnings, water wells, flow meters, pressure transducers, water levels, and pumps, are a great fit for Industrial IoT, and we are seeing more organizations realizing that every day.”

To learn more about Valarm, click here.

Written by Danielle Bayer