Final Report

We Use a variety of sensors to measure the existing environmental conditions for different crops; these measurements will be compared to "ideal" conditions for particular crops and then used to determine suitability of existing conditions

Things to Measure:

Temperature

Sunlight

Water content

Weight of harvested crops

Humidity

Motion

Air quality

Materials:

Temperature sensor

Arduino

Photocell

Ground Water sensor

Weight Sensor (for harvested crops)

Humidity sensor

Motion sensor (broad; must be calibrated) 

Air quality sensor

Sooraj Kumar, Hershel Davé Rege

WEEK THREE:

We received the Grove Starter kit which contained most of the sensors that we needed for our project. We downloaded the software needed for the Arduino. Then, we started to build the block diagram for the device.

Crop of Focus: Corn

WEEK FOUR:

Lower level block diagram created; parts list finalized; ideal conditions for crop determined. 

WEEK FIVE:

We tried to figure out which pins on the Arduino correlate to which pins on the shield that was provided for the grove starter kit. It was difficult and we still haven't figured it out since there isn't any specific instructions provided in the kit. We also improved out block diagram of the device and finalized out parts list for the device. 

WEEK SIX:

We continue to face challenges in trying to figure out which pins relate to which part of the shield. This is critical to our project as out device depends solely on the sensors and what it can tell poor farmers about the environment  crops are being stored in. 

WEEK SEVEN:

We gave a small presentation on how our project was going. We started work on our sensors again and made some small gains on understanding how to get appropriate values from it. We also started to conceptualize a final design for the device.

WEEK EIGHT:

 We still couldn't figure out how to get the sensors to give us appropriate values. Hershel and I decided to meet later in the week to try to figure out the sensor problems and also try come to a consensus on design. We came to a consensus on how our device should look. We decided that instead of the device being portable and handheld, it should be a separate sensor group placed at the field and the crop store house which relay the information via Wi-Fi to a computer.

WEEK NINE:

We drew up a design for our device. We continue to face problems gathering useful data from the device. This is worrisome since gathering data is the device's main purpose. We also decided to scrap the air quality sensor from our device since we don't have one.

WEEK TEN:

The sensors finally started giving us data! Each individual sensor that we needed for this project was tested for basic functionality, and once each sensor was confirmed to work properly, integrating them into one final solution becomes the next task. Hershel wrote and compiled code that reads data from each of the sensors and cycles the display of those values on the 4-digit display. Although this manner is trivial, it is necessary because we still don't have direct serial communication from the Launchpad to the Energia software, so obtaining these values through the readouts on the 4-digit display is the best method of displaying the data derived from each of the sensors.

Finally got serial communication as well, using COM5 as the connection port. The entire setup works as desired, now the next steps include displaying the data in a visually pleasing way and finalizing the overall design concepts and implementation. The temperature sensor still does not give us any data in the existing setup, so more fine-tuning must be made.

WEEK ELEVEN:

We brainstormed on some ideas for the final ideas since our sensors are working appropriately. The final design should be a sort of 'system' which relays the needed information to a laptop.

Some tweaking to the code allowed us to get accurate values from the temperature and humidity sensor, meaning all of our sensors are working appropriately. Next step for the data flow is to export all of the data into an easy to read interface, either through an Excel or text file. Ultimately, the goal for this project is to transmit the data from the sensors wirelessly to a remote location to allow for easy parsing of the relevant information.

WEEK TWELVE

We first decided to focus on suitable conditions for corn. Corn is a staple in American cuisine, and Illinois is famous for its massive corn fields. We first found the suitable temperature range for corn cultivation which is 15 to 30 degree Celsius (59 to 86 F). The temperature sensor measures average indoor temperature to be around 26 degrees Celsius. The moisture sensor we have only outputs 1 (water is present in soil) and 0 (water is not present in soil) to work with, which will allow us to recognize whether or not there is enough water content in the soil to trigger the sensor. Unfortunately, the sensor does not give us an analog measurement of the water content, so the data from that sensor is useful for only extreme conditions, such as very dry conditions versus moisture-heavy regions. The light sensor measures light intensity in units of lux. Research shows that the minimum intensity for outdoor crops is 12916.69 lux, while the maximum intensity is 43055.64 lux. The sensor measures average indoor lighting to be around 2100 lux. The ultrasonic sensor is used primarily to detect any motion that may cause harm to the crop, such as an animal that could consume the crop, so essentially any consistent motion should serve as a warning for disturbance to the ideal corn conditions. 

We still have not been able to export the data into a easily readable format, so future work should emphasize this aspect of the project as remote data transmission would make the operation much easier for practical use.