A Genesis controller mounted on a post in a commercial greenhouse, with drip irrigation lines running along the crop row behind it

Genesis industrial IoT controller

Four modular sensor ports, cellular, battery and solar. Genesis is built for sites where a cabinet, a mains feed and a panel builder are not on offer. You set what each port reads from the dashboard instead of rewiring it, so one unit handles a Modbus probe, an analogue transducer, an I2C sensor and a 1-Wire string at the same site. It runs for months between charges and it switches relays and solenoids as well as reading them.

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OMNI-GENESIS

Any protocol RS485, analogue, I2C, 1-Wire, SDI-12, UART
Months off-grid Battery and solar, under 30 µA asleep
Drives outputs Relays, latching, bistable solenoids
Fault detection A bad sensor publishes an error, not a reading

Why specify Genesis over the controller next to it

Plenty of field controllers read Modbus and run on a battery. These four are the ones that change what a deployment costs to install and what the data is worth once it arrives.

Every port takes every protocol

The same physical connector carries an RS485 probe, an analogue transducer, an I2C sensor or a 1-Wire string, depending on how the port is set in the dashboard. Swapping what a port reads is a configuration change rather than a site visit, and it does not involve a second part number. Fixed-function controllers make you buy, stock and swap an IO card to do the same thing.

Control outputs, on battery power

Switched 5 V and 12 V outputs drive standard relays, latching relays and bistable solenoids over an H-bridge, with rules and dwell timing handled on the device so a valve still closes when the network is down. Pulse actuation is what makes that survivable on a battery: a relay held energised would flatten the cells in days. Most battery powered cellular devices in this category monitor and stop there.

Bring the sensors you already own

Over fifty sensor types are supported today and more are added on request. This category normally sells you the box in order to sell you the probes for the next ten years, which is the cost that compounds. Keep the instruments your team already trusts and already calibrates, and keep them in service.

Faults are detected, not averaged in

A disconnected analogue input does not read as an error, it reads as noise, and noise lands on a chart looking like data. Genesis checks every port before it samples, by current draw, address acknowledgement, presence pulse or rail collapse depending on the sensor family. A port that fails the check publishes a fault code, and the chart shows a gap instead of a number somebody might act on.

Protocols on every port

Assigned per port from the dashboard. The two data lines take on the signals of whichever protocol the port is set to.

  Port APort BPort CPort D
RS485 Modbus RTU
Analog
Digital
I2C
1-Wire
SDI-12
UART

Every cell is filled, and that is the whole point. On a fixed-function controller this grid is mostly empty: a port is an analogue port or a serial port, decided in the factory. Here it is decided in the dashboard, and changed again later.

Sensor power is switched 5 V or 12 V, applied only while a port is being read, at the voltage that sensor needs. Addressed devices share the bus and are read individually.

OmniCloud is included, and so is the option to ignore it

Every controller in this category makes you pick a platform. One vendor ships data to any endpoint and leaves you to go find the endpoint; another puts you inside theirs and keeps you there. Both routes below are supported for the life of the product, and neither one is an upsell.

Use the dashboard

A multi-tenant cloud with role based permissions, charts, reports, thresholds, alerts with push notification, and device sharing across accounts, so an operator owns the hardware while their service provider sees it and nobody buys the device twice.

Or drive it yourself

An open REST API with scoped service tokens covers what the dashboard covers: device management, per port configuration, permissions, and control commands that fire the relay. Build your own front end, or feed the data straight into the system you already run.

How multi-tenant works →

Specifications

Sensor ports 4 modular ports, configured from the cloud
Protocols RS485 Modbus RTU, Analog, Digital, I2C, 1-Wire, SDI-12, UART
Sensor power Switched 5 V or 12 V, applied per reading cycle
Control outputs Relay, latching relay, bistable solenoid via H-bridge
Power supply Dual 18650 Li-ion, rechargeable
Solar and DC input 6 to 32 V DC
Sleep current Under 30 µA
Connectivity 4G-LTE cellular, Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth 5.0
Expansion slot Takes external LoRa, LoRaWAN and GPS modules
Offline buffering Readings held locally and backfilled in order on the next successful transmit
Timekeeping On-board real-time clock, network synced, clock-aligned wake slots
Firmware updates Over the air by cellular, or locally from the device access point
Operating temperature -20 °C to +70 °C
Storage temperature -40 °C to +85 °C
Enclosure Sealed, customised PC/ABS, UV stable and weather resistant

Frequently asked questions

Can I use my own sensors, or only yours?

Your own. Over fifty sensor types are supported today and more are added on request. If an instrument speaks one of the protocols on the list, it is a candidate, and the ports are configured rather than rewired.

How long does it actually run on a battery?

It depends on the two intervals you set, and both are set from the dashboard after the unit is already in the field. Always on is about two days. One transmit a day with hourly collection is years. Sleep current is under 30 microamps, and the solar input keeps the rechargeable cells topped up.

Does it replace a PLC?

No, and it should not be sold as one. A PLC has a deterministic scan cycle, ladder logic and a safety rating, and Genesis has none of those. A PLC is for the machine. Genesis is for everything between the machines: distributed points with no mains, no cabinet and no panel build, where a PLC is uneconomic.

What happens when the network drops?

Readings go to local storage and are sent in order on the next successful transmit, so an outage leaves no gap in the chart. The on-board clock keeps real time through sleep and through the outage, so a reading buffered offline still knows when it happened.

Can one controller cover more than one location?

Yes, and this is the reason the long cable runs pay. Location is bound to the sensor rather than to the controller, so two separate points on one unit stay separate in every chart and report. The location is stamped on each reading when it is written and never rewritten, so moving a sensor later does not falsify the history.

How do firmware updates work in the field?

Remotely over cellular in the normal case. When there is no network at all, hold the button and the unit raises its own Wi-Fi access point, and firmware goes on from a phone or laptop standing next to it. No flashing rig, no serial cable, and the enclosure stays sealed.

Tell us what you need to measure.

Send the sensor models, the number of points and where they sit. You get back whether the ports cover it and what the deployment looks like.

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