SitS NSF-UKRI: Wireless In-Situ Soil Sensing Network for Future Sustainable Agriculture
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Abstract
This research proposes a paradigm shift in low-cost, long-life, wireless in-situ sensing networks for the study of soil health and future sustainable agriculture. The sensing network will be enabled through wireless powering by autonomous ground and aerial vehicles. This approach will result in much lower cost underground sensors with no need for battery replacement, thus enabling data collection on far higher spatial and temporal densities than is now possible. The novel sensing network will be demonstrated in a study on the effect of irrigation with alternative water sources. With the world's population expected to surpass 9 billion by 2050, increasing food production threatens soil security, presenting one of the grand challenges of the 21st century. Sustaining high levels of food production depends on irrigated agriculture, which consumes over 70% of freshwater reserves in many regions of the world. Due to the diminishing freshwater sources, alternative water sources, for example reclaimed water, surface water, and coastal water, have been considered and used for agriculture. However, alternative water sources contain contaminants of emerging concern and/or excess nutrients and salt contents. Their impact on soil health and related contaminant effects on the soil ecosystem and productivity remain largely unknown. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop soil sensing technologies that can effectively indicate the health condition of soils being irrigated using different alternative water resources. The prototype system developed in this project will be demonstrated in such a study, investigating effect of irrigation with alternative water sources. The research results will not only be critical for developing better soil maintenance, protection, and management practice, but also for enabling a wide range of research on soil health and associated links to sustainable agriculture.
The research team plans to achieve the proposed objectives through the following tasks. (1) Develop low-power, low-cost, underground, in-situ soil sensor modules and achieve a reduction in power and cost by one to two orders of magnitude compared to commercial products. Low-power electronics in both discrete and ASIC forms will be designed and fitted to existing sensor probe technology. (2) Develop wireless power transfer and data telemetry systems that can wirelessly transfer power from a source above the ground to an underground sensor module, charging a rechargeable battery or enabling a battery-less underground sensing operation. This approach can greatly simplify the system installation and maintenance. (3) Demonstrate the proposed system operation from a controlled laboratory environment and open field testing. Sensor modules calibration and stability will be investigated to ensure long-term reliable operation. (4) Deploy the wireless sensor technology to investigate irrigation effect on soil health by using alternative water sources. Soil moisture, temperature, and salinity will be measured in-situ and collected wirelessly. Soil pH, ammonia, organic carbon and nitrogen will be measured from collected soil samples. These parameters can indicate soil intrinsic conditions due to different irrigation practices. The research will carry an important impact of soil health to address global food security and sustainable agriculture.
The research team plans to achieve the proposed objectives through the following tasks. (1) Develop low-power, low-cost, underground, in-situ soil sensor modules and achieve a reduction in power and cost by one to two orders of magnitude compared to commercial products. Low-power electronics in both discrete and ASIC forms will be designed and fitted to existing sensor probe technology. (2) Develop wireless power transfer and data telemetry systems that can wirelessly transfer power from a source above the ground to an underground sensor module, charging a rechargeable battery or enabling a battery-less underground sensing operation. This approach can greatly simplify the system installation and maintenance. (3) Demonstrate the proposed system operation from a controlled laboratory environment and open field testing. Sensor modules calibration and stability will be investigated to ensure long-term reliable operation. (4) Deploy the wireless sensor technology to investigate irrigation effect on soil health by using alternative water sources. Soil moisture, temperature, and salinity will be measured in-situ and collected wirelessly. Soil pH, ammonia, organic carbon and nitrogen will be measured from collected soil samples. These parameters can indicate soil intrinsic conditions due to different irrigation practices. The research will carry an important impact of soil health to address global food security and sustainable agriculture.
Planned Impact
The proposed sensing network and study could enable far more efficient use of fresh water resources in irrigated agriculture. Furthermore, the proposed sensing paradigm could be applied to a wide range of soil health studies with direct societal impact by helping improve soil conditions and agricultural productivity. The project brings together several different disciplines to solve an important problem and will, therefore, train a multidisciplinary cohort of graduate and undergraduate students in a convergent manner. Students will interact with faculty in microbiology, soil science, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering. Undergraduate students will be incorporated into the project through integration with an entrepreneurially focused senior design program. Middle and high school students will be engaged through participation in science competitions. The team will engage stakeholders early on in the research to ensure that research efforts are grounded in the real practical needs of end users. Research results will be shared with stakeholders through educational programs organized through Utah State University Extension. Finally, research results will be shared at a national meeting of Extension professionals and through the development of online resources.
Publications
Polonelli T
(2020)
A Flexible, Low-Power Platform for UAV-Based Data Collection From Remote Sensors
in IEEE Access
Qian Q
(2021)
Optimal Recharge Scheduler for Drone-to-Sensor Wireless Power Transfer
in IEEE Access
Pandiyan A
(2021)
Optimal Dynamic Recharge Scheduling for Two-Stage Wireless Power Transfer
in IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics
Arteaga J
(2021)
Load Characterization in High-Frequency IPT Systems Using Class EF Switching Waveforms
in IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics
Description | 1. MHz wireless power is able to penetrate soil for energizing underground sensors to a depth of 10s of cm. 2. The system operates well when the soil is wet and dry and efficiency only drops off when the soil is both wet and salty. 3. Induced voltage estimation in the transmit coil can be used to characterise the type of soil, and moisture content. 4. MHz wireless power transmitters can be attached to flying drones (given the very light weight of the hardware) making the solution far more practical than kHz IPT 5. Bidirectional power transfer can be obtained by phase adjustment and frequency synchronisation between the two sides of a link, and allowing a drone to be charged, or the drone to charge other objects. 6. Ultra-wideband (UWB) provides a convenient and efficient means to wirelessly communicate between mobile agents (e.g., UAVs) and embedded sensing devices for the purposes of data transfer and highly accurate point-to-point localisation. The latter is particularly important when designing a precision localisation solution to enable maximum efficiency wireless power transfer, where there exists a combined optimum distance and orientation between transmit and receive coils. 7. Using mobile agents, i.e., UAVs, to collect data from and wirelessly charge UAVs can be characterised as a hybrid of Travelling Salesman and Orienteering Problems. This is an NP-hard nonconvex nonlinear integer programming problem, best practically solved using metaheuristic optimisation algorithms. We have found that existing algorithms (such as Guided Local Search) can be improved using a Black Hole-inspired algorithm to yield more reliable solutions. Additionally, we have found that it is possible to incorporate real-time state information to adjust flight plans online in order to reliably complete missions while maximising the data collected and power transferred. Our proposed Rapid Online Metaheuristic-based Planner (ROMP) that captures this solution is under review for publication in IEEE TMC. [Preprint https://arxiv.org/pdf/2203.04595.pdf] 8. Autonomous flight in unknown environments with unpredictable environmental dynamics (e.g., aerodynamic forces) is a challenging problem that may be solved using distributional reinforcement learning (DRL) as part of the flight control framework. We have found that integrating a DRL disturbance estimator for a priori unknown aerodynamic effects with a stochastic model predictive controller can significantly improve the performance of quadrotor UAV tracking control systems over the comparable art, in addition to balancing trade-offs between high performance and safety constraints. Our proposed approach is under review for publication in the IEEE Transaction on Automation Science and Engineering. [Preprint: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2302.11694.pdf] |
Exploitation Route | There are attractive opportunities for industry to develop products based on these findings, and for farmers to adopt these to enhance soil health and consequntly the sustainability and productivity of their farms. We are working with suitable organisations to advance these possibilities. There are also opportunities for this technology in other sectors, such as defence and security, which we are also exploring with other partners. |
Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Electronics |
Description | The work of the grant has contibuted to the creation of a start-up company, Bumblebee Power (see associated entry). |
First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Energy |
Impact Types | Economic |
Description | CHEDDAR: Communications Hub For Empowering Distributed ClouD Computing Applications And Research |
Amount | £2,028,049 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/X040518/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2023 |
End | 06/2026 |
Description | Collaboration with MIT |
Organisation | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We provided a test rig circuit for testing MHz multi frequency inductors for high efficiency. |
Collaborator Contribution | They designed and manufactured the high efficiency inductors. |
Impact | Publication in APEC 2024 |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Collaboration with University of Aberdeen on wireless soil sensors |
Organisation | University of Aberdeen |
Department | School of Biological Sciences Aberdeen |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Development of novel wireless sensing technology for agriculture. |
Collaborator Contribution | Testing and evaluation of sensing systems, design and development of use cases. |
Impact | None yet. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Collaboration with University of Utah on wireless soil sensors |
Organisation | University of Utah |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The University of Utah, PI Dr Shad Roundy, are our partners on a joint NERC-NSF UK-US award on sensors for soils. This collaboration begain in 2020 and involves co-development of sensing technology, and shared testing and evaluation. |
Collaborator Contribution | Expertise on sensing technology and on soil science, access to facilities, sharing of results. |
Impact | No joint outputs yet. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Company Name | Bumblebee Power |
Description | Bumblebee Power develops wireless charging technology. |
Year Established | 2018 |
Impact | Bumblebee Power has, to date, announced a cooperation with Voi (rental scooters) to investigate the use of wireless charging for the scooters on the streets. They are also in discussions with several designers/users of automation. All the employees in the company but one are technical (scientific / engineering). |
Website | http://www.bumblebeepower.com |