SBIR Phase I: Wise-Irr: Smart Irrigation via Wireless Underground Sensors

这个小型企业创新研究计划（SBIR）第一阶段项目调查了用于实时农业现场监测的新型无线地下通信技术的可行性，以确定适当的灌溉时间和灌溉量，以获得最大的效果。现有的解决方案由于其高成本和破坏性操作而无法被广泛采用。SBIR第一阶段项目利用新型地下通信技术，将智能灌溉管理解决方案商业化，并验证商业假设，该技术是美国国家科学基金会CAREER奖的一部分。基于经验和理论的地下通信模型，对地下通信系统进行了创新。由此产生的地下通信设计用于提供从地下传感器到中心枢轴灌溉系统的通信范围高达85米。因此，该SBIR一期项目主要关注两个主要研究课题：(1)误差控制：设计自适应误差控制方案，以在不同环境条件下提供可靠的通信；(2)采样调度：开发有效的土壤湿度采样调度算法，以提高地下传感器网络的使用寿命，并最大限度地降低运营成本。在这些创新的基础上，设计的系统将为灌溉管理系统提供实时土壤信息，以改善滴灌作物。通过无线地下传感器提供的实时土壤信息，该项目在促进更有效的灌溉管理技术方面具有重大的广泛影响/商业潜力。目前，世界上40%的粮食是由灌溉农业生产的，70%的可用水用于农业灌溉。粮食需求的增加和淡水资源的日益短缺增加了市场对更有效的水管理工具的需求，以提高每滴水的产量。在美国5680万英亩的灌溉农田中，约53.7%（3050万英亩）是由中心支点系统灌溉的，内布拉斯加州的灌溉土地有850万英亩。适当的灌溉管理将有助于防止灌溉过量或灌溉不足造成的经济损失；营养物、农药和其他化学物质进入地下水和其他水体的运动；浪费水资源，消耗能源。与现有系统相比，新型无线地下通信技术显著降低了运行成本。因此，农民可以在不需要阻碍田间作业的工具的情况下做出更明智的灌溉应用（时机）决定，从而显著降低成本并提高用水效率。开发的无线地下通信解决方案将对在受限环境下运行的系统的商业开发产生重大影响。

This Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) Phase I project investigates the feasibility of novel wireless underground communication technologies for real-time agriculture field monitoring to establish the proper timing and amount of irrigation for greatest effectiveness. Existing solutions cannot be widely adopted due to their high costs and disruptive operations. This SBIR Phase I project leverages novel underground communication techniques developed as part of an NSF CAREER award to commercialize smart irrigation management solutions and validate business hypotheses. An underground communication system was innovated based on empirical and theoretical underground communication models. The resulting underground communication design is employed to provide communication ranges of up to 85m from an underground sensor to a center pivot irrigation system. Accordingly, this SBIR Phase I project focuses on two main research topics: (1) Error Control: An adaptive error control scheme is devised to provide reliable communication under varying environmental conditions and (2) Sampling Scheduling: Effective soil moisture sampling scheduling algorithms are developed to improve the lifetime of an underground sensor network and minimize operational costs. Based on these innovations, the devised systems will feed real-time soil information into irrigation management systems for improved crop for drop.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is significant in facilitating more efficient irrigation management technologies through real-time soil information provided by wireless underground sensors. Currently, 40% of the world's food is produced by irrigated agriculture, and 70% of all available water is used for agriculture irrigation. The increasing demand for food and the emerging scarcity in freshwater resources increase market demand for more efficient water management tools to improve crop per drop. Out of the 56.8M-acre of irrigated farm lands in the US, about 53.7% (30.5M acres) are irrigated by center pivot systems with 8.5M acre irrigated land in Nebraska. Proper irrigation management will help prevent economic losses caused by over- or under-irrigation; movement of nutrients, pesticides and other chemicals into the groundwater and other water bodies; and wasting water resources and energy consumption. The novel wireless underground communication techniques reduce the operation costs significantly compared to existing systems. Accordingly, farmers can make better-informed irrigation application (timing) decisions without the need for tools that obstruct field operations, thereby significantly reducing costs and improving water efficiency. The developed wireless underground communication solutions will have significant impacts on the commercial development of systems that operate in confined environments.