Water flow measurement with Nordic53

[theanalystnz]

Hi guys I am new to Nordic, just made a DevZone as the technology isvery interesting to me. So far I have been playing with ESP series but I know nordic is in a class of its own so I wish to explore this further.

I want to make a water flow measurement IoT device with the nrf53. It will have a 4G backhaul. This project will take place at scale. I have a few questions, will the nrf53 interface with a flow meter of this kind:

- Flow Meter: 
https://www.digikey.co.nz/product-detail/en/seeed-technology-co.,-ltd/114991176/1597-1517-ND/7387421?utm_adgroup=Flow%20Sensors&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping_Product_Sensors%2C%20Transducers&utm_term=&productid=7387421&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9O6HBhCrARIsADx5qCQGsn9G3kqIU214GnoTGAKROyJag9yLmKuBug73BqeZ20VQFHZf-VwaAlnfEALw_wcB

Also there are many such flow meters that will be installed a few meters apart from each other. Can I have them all interact as a mesh and have a 4G sim card on one of them at the end to send data back? So essentially a BLE mesh with a 4G Backhaul.

I don't wish to use the nrfCloud, can I send the data back via mqtt to my own IoT portal which I will design?

I also wish to find out what form factor does the production chip come in vs dev board. What sources of power does it require and if powered by battery only, say a 2500mAh LiPO, how long can it go on a single charge? (Appreciate that this is dependent on data transfer rates, say once a month /BLE nrf53.

I really appreciate the assistance in advance.

Regards
Gaurang

[Kenneth]

I would say all your assumptions are doable, though you may for instance need to look into the power supply if the nRF52 require max 3.6V and the flow meter is min 5V. Maybe you need some level shifters and/or resistors dividers for the interface depending on whethers it's input/output.

Having one device that accumulate and then forward the data periodically is also possible, either through BLE or using proprietary RF protocols. It depends also on the distance you need between the devices.

Typically a device in idle mode will only draw in the very few uA range, it's only when exchanging data over the radio that the peak current is up 10mA, but that is typically only for a short period of time (e.g. us to ms). Average current will typically be close to idle current if only need to exchange data every few seconds.