Instituto Superior Técnico · Engineering Capstone

IoT Cold Chain
Integrity Monitor

Temperature and humidity monitoring every 60 seconds inside each transport box. Powered by supercapacitors, our ultra-low power BLE solution eliminates blind spots in the cold chain.

Explore the Architecture → See Validation Results
~10hSupercap Autonomy
60sMonitoring
4Industry Partners
Why It Matters

The Problem vs. Our Solution

The Problem
  • ✕

    Zero Real-Time Visibility

    Legacy loggers record data locally with no live alerts, leaving excursions undetected for hours or even days.

  • ✕

    Manual, Error-Prone Processes

    Staff must physically retrieve and download data from each device, which is slow, unreliable, and impossible to scale.

  • ✕

    Rigid, Proprietary Hardware

    Closed ecosystems lock operators into expensive vendor contracts with no customization or integration options.

  • ✕

    Massive Spoilage & Cost

    Missed temperature excursions result in entire shipments of perishable goods being written off, causing a direct hit to the bottom line.

Our Solution
  • ✓

    Continuous Live Monitoring

    Sensors stream data in real time to a cloud dashboard, where excursions trigger instant alerts for immediate action.

  • ✓

    Fully Automated Pipeline

    Data flows automatically from sensor to cloud, meaning no manual downloads, no human error, fully scalable.

  • ✓

    Open & Flexible Architecture

    Modular design with standard protocols (BLE, LPWAN) means easy integration and zero vendor lock-in.

  • ✓

    Waste Elimination & ROI

    Proactive alerts prevent spoilage before it happens, dramatically cutting product loss and operational expenses.

Cross-Industry Impact

Built for Critical Supply Chains

Pharma & Labs

Safeguard vaccines, biological samples, and reagents with precise, auditable temperature records that meet regulatory compliance.

Food Logistics

Protect fresh produce, dairy, and frozen goods across the entire distribution chain, from warehouse to supermarket shelf.

Chemical Industry

Monitor temperature-sensitive chemicals and hazardous materials throughout transport, ensuring safety standards and regulatory adherence.

Who Benefits

Who's Benefiting?

Warehouse Management

Giving managers better tools for inventory and safety monitoring across cold storage facilities.

Logistics & Operations

Empowering teams to track fresh produce in real-time across the entire distribution chain.

Quality Assurance

Providing data-backed proof of product integrity for audits, compliance, and consumer trust.

Innovation Comparison

Initial Solution VS ChainGuard

Initial Solution ChainGuard
Disposable battery (1-3 yr) Supercapacitor (infinite recharge cycles)
Fixed to truck wall or inside storage Inside each box (eliminates blind spots)
Battery replacement needed Zero maintenance (wireless recharge)
Disposable electronics waste Sustainable, zero battery waste
Partner Feedback

Partners Requirements Identified

INSA

Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge

  • • Traceable temperature records for biological samples
  • • Automated data upload (replace manual USB download)
  • • ±0.3°C accuracy for regulatory compliance

Transaire

Flexibilidade em Logística

  • • Withstand vibration & temp cycling (−25°C to +40°C)
  • • Easy clip-on installation (no tools needed)
  • • Waterproof enclosure (IP65+), data survives power loss

Pharmacies

Duarte & Raimundo, Moderna

  • • Sealed transport boxes for distributors
  • • Per-box monitoring (not just per-truck)
  • • Simple visual indicator that cold chain was maintained
System Architecture

How It Works

A four-stage journey pipeline that intelligently reads, stores, and transmits data in a fully automated process.

01

Initialize Trip

The Departure Gateway configures limits in Firebase and authorizes the MCU via BLE to start the loop.

02

Sense & Store

Si7021 captures data every 60s. The PCF8523 RTC timestamps the data, which is saved to internal flash (LittleFS).

03

BLE Advertising

The MCU broadcasts a BLE signal for 10 seconds to allow the Arrival Gateway to connect and pull data.

04

Deep Sleep or Clear

If no gateway connects, it sleeps for 50s (~5µA). If data is successfully delivered, the flash is securely cleared and it enters infinite deep sleep until the button is pressed to start a new journey cycle.

View Photos & Videos View Detailed Flowchart
Real-World Validation

Proven with Testing

Our system was tested to ensure that the results were reliable.

~10h
Supercap Autonomy
60s
Monitoring Cycle
Ultra
Low Power Deep Sleep
±0.2°C
Thermal Accuracy

Our Industry Partners

Validated alongside leading institutions and enterprises in Portugal.

Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge
Instituto Nacional
de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge
Transaire
Transaire
Farmácia Moderna
Farmácia Moderna
Farmácia Duarte & Raimundo
Farmácia Duarte
& Raimundo
Lessons Learned

Encountered Challenges

Business & Product Decisions

  • Target Market Identification

    Focusing on pharmaceutical and food logistics where cold chain integrity is strictly regulated.

  • Feature Prioritization

    Evaluating if features like location tracking were necessary, or if they'd compromise our core goal of a compact, ultra-low power logger.

  • Optimal Device Placement

    Designing a device small enough to operate directly inside transport boxes and pallets, eliminating thermal blind spots.

Technical Trade-offs

  • Power Architecture Pivot

    Deciding between a standard 3-year battery system versus an innovative, maintenance-free supercapacitor design.

  • Energy vs. Autonomy

    Balancing the supercapacitor's limited capacity with the need to guarantee 24 hours (which in our case we only achieved an autonomy of ~10 hours) of continuous autonomy, forcing strict Deep Sleep firmware optimization.

The People Behind The Tech

Meet the Team

Engineering students from Instituto Superior Técnico, driven by innovation and real-world impact.

Francisco Motta

Francisco Motta

Vasco Oliveira

Vasco Oliveira

João Ferreira

João Ferreira

Francisco Mendonça

Francisco Mendonça

Filipe Lavos

Filipe Lavos

José Guita

José Guita

LC
Project Mentor
Prof. Luís Caldas de Oliveira
Project Presentation

Our Presentation

Explore our full project presentation

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