SBIR Phase I: Innovative Low Cost Agricultural Soil Sensing

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是创建一个新的低成本决策支持工具，以帮助种植者优化资源和种植更多的作物每滴。该公司正在开发极低成本的环境传感器，使种植者能够在田间捕获高度精细的环境数据，并通过数据科学的应用获得最佳的灌溉策略。水是作物产量的主要贡献者，种植者努力应对水资源短缺和质量问题，以及土壤和灌溉系统的变化。通过使用数据驱动的闭环决策支持工具，种植者将能够更好地应对变化，做出更好的资源使用决策并提高作物产量。这种新方法有可能使种植者在保持或减少用水量的情况下将产量提高15%。这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将使用基于磁性的低成本土壤水分传感器检测土壤中的水分和土壤质地。种植者依靠田间数据，包括土壤湿度，来做出影响植物健康的日常决策。最重要的决定是什么时候浇水以及浇水的量。目前以自动化方式检测土壤水分（和其他土壤特性）的方法既昂贵又不可靠，使种植者寻找替代品。该项目的目标是开发一种灵敏、准确和可靠的传感器，使用一种新的基于磁性的方法测量土壤湿度。在项目期间，该团队将构建原型传感器，在实验室和田间环境中对其进行测试，开发用于校准传感器的算法，并探索以便于理解和决策的方式向种植者呈现多维田间数据的新方法。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to create a new low cost decision support tool to help growers optimize resources and grow more crop per drop. The company is developing extremely low cost environmental sensors that will enable growers to capture highly granular environmental data in the field and derive optimal irrigation strategies through the application of data science. Water is a major contributor to crop yields and growers struggle to deal will water scarcity and quality, coupled with variability in the soils and irrigation systems. Through the use of a data driven, closed loop decision support tool, growers will be better equipped to deal with variability, make better resource use decisions and improve crop yields. This new approach has the potential to enable growers to increase yields by as much as 15% while maintaining or reducing water use.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will enable the detection of moisture and soil texture in soils using a low cost soil moisture sensor based on magnetics. Growers rely on field data, including soil moisture, to make daily decisions that impact plant health. The most significant decision is when to apply water and in what quantity. Current approaches to detecting soil moisture (and other soil characteristics) in an automated fashion are expensive and unreliable leaving growers searching for alternatives. The objective of this project is to develop a sensitive, accurate, and reliable sensor that measures soil moisture using a novel, magnetics based approach. During the project the team will build prototype sensors, test them in lab and field environments, develop algorithms for calibrating the sensor, and explore new approaches to presenting multidimensional field data to growers in a manner that facilitates understanding and decision making.