A WIRELESS sensor network to help farmers give their plants enough water – but not too much – will begin field trials next month.
The network, being developed at info-tech firm National ICT Australia in Melbourne, consists of a few hundred wireless nodes distributed around a 10-hectare field of stone fruit in northern Victoria. Each node contains a computer chip and a Wi-Fi transmitter, linked with multiple sensors to measure soil moisture, leaf temperature and evaporation. The measurements are relayed to a central server, which adjusts the water supply to different areas via wirelessly controlled irrigation pumps.
The team ultimately plans to…
