SBIR Phase I: Low-Power, Wireless Crop Quality Sensors for Grain Quality Preservation and Storage Automation

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是为农民增加谷物储存的回报，并减少由于毒素和虫害造成的总体收获后损失。100亿蒲式耳，超过美国谷物的一半，每年在农场储存3-12个月。在此期间，谷物容易变质、虫害和水分流失--所有这些都会影响农民在市场交割时收到的价格。没有一种简单的方法可以监测整个储藏季节的谷物质量变化，以优化最佳时间运行通风控制，以保存、调节或维护谷物。这给农民留下了一张肠子支票？开车到每个粮仓现场，爬上爬下单位的制度。由于粮食是根据水分基线定价的，农民基本上是在出售水分和重量，他们最终的价格结果可能会根据他们在整个储藏期内对粮食条件的管理情况而有很大不同。在美国，每年因毒素、虫害和水分管理不善造成的农作物价值损失达30亿至50亿美元(35%)，这可以通过引入负担得起的、可获得的监测技术来防止。拟议中的项目将推进物联网自动化和无线传感器应用，将其应用于生产农业和采后供应链。由于时间负担和缺乏可获得的信息来做出决策，某些农业生产的手工过程是费力的。监控粮食资产，农民的产品？在农场垃圾桶、商业仓库和驳船中的辛劳和全球粮食供应的安全网就是这样一个过程。感知何时发生丢失和损坏风险，但更重要的是，在数据存在之前连接数据并将其转化为自动化机会是本提案的目标。现有基于电缆的监控解决方案，但由于物理安装限制、电力/电力限制和投资成本，采用受到限制。该项目将验证低功率无线传感器的可行性，该传感器可以检测谷物状况，并持续完整的收获后周期(18个月)。这种设备将创造机会，跟踪整个农业价值链的谷物质量，从使用它来监控和自动化农场谷物储存开始。通过对电缆系统和谷物科学3D模型进行表征和测试，该项目将证明无线传感器S在这一第一个农场应用中的直接功能。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to increase the returns of grain storage for farmers and reduce overall postharvest loss due to toxin and insect damage. Ten billion bushels, over half of US grains, are stored on-farm each year for 3-12 months. During this period, grain is susceptible to spoilage, infestation, and moisture loss?all of which impacts the price a farmer receives at the time of market delivery. There is no easy way to monitor grain quality changes throughout the storage season to optimize for best times to run aeration controls to preserve, condition or maintain the grain. This leaves farmers with a ?gut check? system of driving to each grain bin site and climbing up and inside units. Since grain is priced based on moisture baselines, farmers are essentially selling water and weight, their final price outcome can vary significantly based on how well they managed grain conditions throughout the storage period. In the US, an annual $3 to $ 5 billion dollars (3 ? 5%) of crop value is lost due to toxin, insect and moisture mismanagement that could be prevented through the introduction of affordable and accessible monitoring technology.The proposed project would advance internet of things automation and wireless sensor applications as applied to production agriculture and the postharvest supply chain. There are certain, manual processes of farm production that are strenuous due to time burdens and the lack of obtainable information to make decisions. Monitoring grain assets, the product of farmers? toil and the safety net of global food supply, in farm bins, commercial storage, and barges is one such process. Sensing for when loss and spoilage risks occur, but more importantly connecting and turning the data into automation opportunities before they exist is the aim of this proposal. Cable-based monitoring solutions exist, but adoption is restricted due to physical installation limitations, electricity/power constraints, and investment costs. This project will validate the feasibility of a low-power, wireless sensor that can detect grain conditions and last a full postharvest cycle (18 months). Such a device will create opportunities to track grain qualities across the agriculture value chain, beginning with its use to monitor and automate farm grain storage. By characterizing, and testing against cable systems and within grain science 3D models, this project will prove the wireless sensor?s direct functionality within this first farm application.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.