In a continuing effort to usher their spa into the 21st century and stay top of mind with customers, Bozeman Hot Springs set out to provide real-time pool temperature data for their customers. They found an off-the-shelf solution with Technologic Systems which could integrate with their existing commercial automation controllers and serve temperature data over a REST API. Home
About Bozeman Hot Springs
For more than 100 years, visitors have come to relax and rejuvenate in these natural hot springs. A small pool enjoyed only by a few in the late 1800’s, has evolved into a destination for area residents and tourists seeking a unique Montana experience with friends and family. They also offer a full fitness facility for those who like to get the ultimate workout experience.
http://www.bozemanhotsprings.co
https://www.facebook.com/BozemanHotSprings
Challenges
Regular customers are dialed into their ideal soaking temperature, and they’ve been requesting easy access to pool temperatures from the Bozeman Hot Springs website. The road block has been the lack of a system which can read this data from sensors and send it out over the network. There has also been hesitation to invest in the design and programming and searching of talent to build such a system. Manual updating of the website would’ve been taxing on employees and expensive to maintain in the long run. Home
From the perspective of ownership and pool maintenance, it’s been a challenge to keep a watchful eye on pool temperatures. Employees regularly have to break from helping customers at the front counter to manually measure temperatures of the pools. Historical temperature data is non-existent and there is no way to send out emergency maintenance alerts in case a large fluctuation in temperature occurs.
How the TS-7680 Helped
The TS-7680 provided Bozeman Hot Springs with an off-the-shelf solution with all of the power requirements, network connectivity, and analog to digital interfaces necessary to connect to all three of their automated controllers which sense and regulate pool temperatures. The TS-7680 was not only able to read sensor data from the 0 – 10 VDC outputs of the three controllers, it also has the ability to use the TS-1700 Modbus peripheral for future expansion to include eight additional pools. The wireless networking interface made it easy to connect the system to the network from within a confined and remote area. The preloaded Linux OS and example source code made it relatively easy to get a solution up and running. The TS-7680 provided a solid and reliable foundation for reporting and recording pool temperatures for both customers and maintenance employees with room for growth.
Results and Future Plans
“Partnering with Technologic Systems on this project has been frictionless and easier than I would’ve anticipated. Our visitors have complimented us on our accomplishments in bringing our pools into the 21st century and our employees have found value in this easily attainable data. I’m looking forward to expanding our system to the other pools and completing this high tech vision.” — Andy Barham, General Manager, Bozeman Hot Springs
With instant access to pool data over a simple REST API served by the TS-7680 (see project writeup), Bozeman Hot Springs customers can now read the current temperature of their favorite pool from any browser on any device. Furthermore, employees now have access to historical temperature data and receive alerts via SMS or email for when a temperature threshold has been exceeded. With a technical foundation now in place, further plans involve replacing dry erase boards with digital displays and adding more sensors for maintenance to use for decision making. Home