The ALTA Tilt Detection Sensor Configuration and Installation Guide

Overview

The ALTA® Wireless Tilt Detection Sensor uses a wireless accelerometer as a micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) sensor to measure tilt changes on a single rotation axis continuously.

The sensor has two modes of operation. The sensor is triggered in Up/Down mode when its pitch changes between user-configurable angles defined as Up, Down, and Stuck. In Delta mode, the sensor is triggered when the absolute difference between the current sensor angle and the last reported angle exceeds a user-defined Delta Value.

On a user-configurable time interval or Heartbeat, or when the sensor is triggered, the current measurement is sent to the gateway, making the data available in iMonnit or another approved data service.

Settings to Configure

The settings below are specific to the ALTA Tilt Detection Sensor.

• Name—A unique sensor name to easily identify it in many in-app views and notifications.
• Heartbeat Interval (Minutes)—The expected time between communication from the device to the gateway while in the Normal State and the absence of any data-triggering events.
• Aware State Heartbeat (Minutes)—The expected time between communication from the device to the gateway while in the Aware State.
• Down Angle Threshold—Angles at or below this point are considered Down.
• Up Angle Threshold—Angles at or below this point are considered up. The Up Angle Threshold should always be higher than your Down Angle Threshold.
• Delta Value—The change is permitted before triggering an Aware State and communicating immediately.
• Measurement Stability—The Number of measurements after entering a valid Up or Down region to wait until reporting the current pitch and status
• Stuck Time Out—The time the sensor will wait before measuring to determine if the reading is stable enough to measure after a change event. This prevents movement forces from affecting the resting pitch value.
• Rotational Axis—Used to select the axis of measurement. While the ALTA Tilt Detection Sensor can measure tilt on all three axes, it can only report readings from one with positive or negative polarity.
• Synchronize Off (Default)—The next report will occur one Heartbeat after the last report time. This allows the sensor to self-optimize network traffic patterns and reduce congestion.
• Synchronize On—Aligns the next report with UTC (Global) time, regardless of the last report time. This allows multiple sensors to generate reports in a synchronized manner. Aware State Transitions will still report on a threshold breach, but the following report will return to the next aligned report interval.

Calibrate

Allows for Pitch and Roll offsets to be placed on the sensor. To reset, save Pitch and Roll offsets as 0.

Installation Steps

If this is your first time setting up your Monnit system, you must set up your iMonnit account and connect your ALTA Gateway to iMonnit before registering your sensor. See this article for steps to start: Creating an iMonnit account.

Step 1.

Remove the sensor from the package. If installing an industrial sensor, attach the antenna.

Step 2.

Register the sensor in iMonnit. Do not install the batteries until told to do so in iMonnit. Refer to this walk-through guide and configure the sensor’s Settings and Scale information in iMonnit for your specific application or use case.

Step 3.

Determine the sensor’s installation location. We recommend placing the sensor in the location and ensuring it reports to the gateway before final installation. See this article if you’re using an ALTA Site Survey Tool to perform a site survey to determine sensor installation location.

Step 4.

After ensuring that the sensor is communicating with the gateway, mount the sensor using the supplied screws or double-sided tape.