Low-cost, high-resolution and no-manning distributed sensing system for the continuous monitoring of fruit growth in precision farming

Authors

  • Lorenzo Mistral Peppi DEI - Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering ”Guglielmo Marconi”, University of Bologna
  • Matteo Zauli DEI - Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering ”Guglielmo Marconi”, University of Bologna
  • Luigi Manfrini DISTAL - Department of Agricultural and Food Science, University of Bologna
  • Luca Corelli Grappadelli DISTAL - Department of Agricultural and Food Science, University of Bologna
  • Luca De Marchi DEI - Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering ”Guglielmo Marconi”, University of Bologna
  • Pier Andrea Traverso DEI - Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering ”Guglielmo Marconi”, University of Bologna

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21014/actaimeko.v12i2.1342

Keywords:

smart farming technologies, smart agriculture, agricultural IoT, autonomous sensor node, LoRa

Abstract

Accurate, continuous and reliable data gathering and recording about crop growth and state of health, by means of a network of autonomous sensor nodes that require minimal management by the farmer will be essential in future Precision Agriculture.

In this paper, a low-cost multi-channel sensor-node architecture is proposed for the distributed monitoring of fruit growth throughout the entire ripening season. The prototype presented is equipped with five independent sensing elements that can be attached each to a sample fruit at the beginning of the season and are capable of estimating the fruit diameter from the first formation up to the harvest. The sensor-node is provided with a LoRa transceiver for wireless communication with the decision making central, is energetically autonomous thanks to a dedicated energy harvester and an accurate design of power consumption, and each measuring channel provides sub-mm 9.0-ENOB effective resolution with a full-scale range of 12 cm. The accurate calibration procedure of the sensor-node and its elements is described in the paper, which allows for the compensation of temperature dispersion, noise and non-linearities. The prototype was tested on field in real application, in the framework of the research activity for next-generation Precision Farming performed at the experimental farm of the Department of Agricultural and Food Science of the University of Bologna, Cadriano, Italy.

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Published

2023-06-09

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2023)

Section

Research Papers

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Lorenzo Mistral Peppi, Matteo Zauli, Luigi Manfrini, Luca Corelli Grappadelli, Luca De Marchi, Pier Andrea Traverso

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