I-Corps: Internet of Things (IoT)-based Irrigation Sensor Monitoring System

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是灌溉管理技术的潜在发展。 灌溉农场仅占美国耕地总面积的6%，但灌溉农产品销售额占美国农业总销售额的39%，2016年价值超过1520亿美元。灌溉可以减少不稳定的降水，长期干旱的影响，并导致植物水分胁迫。由于这种好处，灌溉已被用于种植各种作物，如玉米，大豆，蔬菜，饲料，果园，棉花，小麦，高粱，水稻和燕麦。美国的许多地区都经历了干旱，降水更加不稳定，以及对粮食安全的担忧。这个拟议的项目可以帮助农民做出更好的水和疾病管理决策，以最大限度地提高作物产量和质量。这个I-Corps项目是基于开发基于物联网（IoT）的灌溉管理包（硬件和软件（网站和智能手机应用程序））。所提出的技术连续测量土壤水分水平、叶片湿润时间、温度和湿度。数据使用嵌入式蜂窝调制解调器发送到物联网云网络服务器。这使得农民可以使用他们的电脑或智能手机在任何地方访问数据。收集的传感器数据使用人工智能（AI）进行处理，以确定灌溉时间和数量，以及杀菌剂喷洒时间。马铃薯种植者对提高灌溉水利用效率和病害管理的兴趣越来越大。马铃薯受益于灌溉管理，因为灌溉对产量和质量都有显著影响，包括产量损失、畸形块茎、血管坏死或空心缺陷。不适当的灌溉时间表或不必要的灌溉会浪费资源，并可能增加植物病害的潜在风险，从而降低产品的产量和质量，包括在储存期间，这对生产的可持续性和经济性产生负面影响。 正确的水管理对于最大限度地减少马铃薯生产中潜在的疾病风险以及潜在地提高马铃薯质量和产量至关重要。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the potential development of an irrigation management technology. Irrigated farms comprise only 6% of the U.S. total land under cultivation but irrigated farm product sales make up 39% of total U.S. farm sales, worth over $152 billion in 2016. Irrigation can reduce the effects of erratic precipitation, prolonged dryness, and resulting plant moisture stress. Because of this benefit, irrigation has been used to grow a wide variety of crops such as corn, soybean, vegetables, forage, orchards, cotton, wheat, sorghum, rice, and oats. Many areas in the U.S. experience droughts, more erratic precipitation, and concerns with food security. This proposed project could help farmers make better water and disease management decisions to maximize their crop production and quality. This I-Corps project is based on the development of an IoT (Internet of Things)-based irrigation management package (hardware and software (website and smartphone app)). The proposed technology continuously measures soil moisture levels, leaf wetness duration, temperature, and humidity. The data is sent to an IoT cloud webserver using an embedded cellular modem. This allows farmers to access the data anywhere using their computers or smartphone. The collected sensor data is processed using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to determine irrigation timing and amount, as well as fungicide spray timing. There is growing interest in improving irrigation water use efficiency and disease management by potato farmers. Potatoes benefit from irrigation management because of the significant effect of irrigation on both yield and quality including yield loss, misshapen tubers, vascular necrosis, or hollow heart defects. Improper irrigation schedules or unnecessary irrigation can waste resources and can possibly increase the potential risk of plant diseases which can reduce yield and quality of product, including during storage, which negatively affects the sustainability and economics of production. Proper water management is critical to minimize the potential disease risk in potato production and to potentially improve potato quality and yield.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.