Smart Farms with LoRa-Ethernet Gateway

The Smart Farming project leverages LoRa Ethernet gateway and Machine Learning (ML) technologies to enable real-time monitoring and control

Introduction:

• Optimized Resource Utilization: Precision farming allows farmers to precisely apply fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation based on the specific needs of each plant. This prevents the overuse of resources and minimizes environmental pollution while maximizing crop growth.
• Cost Efficiency: By reducing waste and increasing productivity, precision farming helps farmers cut costs associated with inputs like fertilizers and water. Additionally, fewer wasted resources mean higher profitability.
• Environmental Conservation: The precise application of inputs prevents the leaching of chemicals into soil and water bodies, promoting soil health and water quality. This reduces the negative impact of agriculture on ecosystems.
• Reduced Environmental Footprint: Precision farming minimizes greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the use of energy-intensive inputs and optimizing machinery use. This aligns with global efforts to combat climate change.
• Customized Crop Management: Different parts of a field may have varying soil types, nutrient levels, and water retention capabilities. Precision farming allows farmers to adapt their practices to suit these variations, enhancing overall yield and quality.

• Sensor networks are the eyes and ears of precision farming, capturing a wealth of data from the field. These sensors are designed to monitor critical variables such as soil moisture, temperature, nutrient levels, and pest presence. By continuously collecting real-time data, sensor networks offer farmers a detailed understanding of their fields' dynamic conditions.
• The data gathered from sensor networks and processed through data analytics is presented in a comprehensible manner through visualization and remote control software. These user-friendly interfaces transform complex data into intuitive charts, graphs, and maps, allowing farmers to quickly grasp key information and take data-driven decisions. Many visualization platforms offer remote access, allowing farmers to monitor their fields and control connected devices from anywhere with an internet connection.

Our Solution

Basic Data Flow

Why LoRa?

• W5300 TOE Shield
• STM32 Nucleo-144 F429ZI
• Lora E5 Module

• Network Efficiency: The W5300 TOE shield offloads TCP/IP processing from the gateway's main microcontroller, allowing it to focus on LoRa communication and data processing. This separation of tasks improves overall network efficiency and reduces the load on the microcontroller.
• Reliable Data Transfer: The TOE shield's hardware-based TCP/IP stack ensures reliable data transfer over Ethernet connections. This is crucial for transmitting sensor data and control commands reliably between the farming devices and the cloud
• Low Latency: With TCP/IP processing offloaded to the shield, the gateway can achieve lower communication latency, which is important for real-time monitoring and control of agricultural processes.

Node

The specific animals that pose a threat can vary based on geographical location, ecosystem, and the type of farming being practised. Here I trained the Husky lens in a way that it will only detect Elephant and Wild Boar.

Data Visualisation And Control With Ubidots

curl -X GET 'https://industrial.api.ubidots.com/api/v1.6/variables/<variable_id>/values/?page_size=1' \  -H 'X-Auth-Token: Token'

void GetHttpRequest() {
int value;
Ethernet.begin(mac);
Serial.println("Getting Data From Ubidots");
if (client.connect(server, port)) {
Serial.println("Connected to Ubidots");
String httpResponse;
String headers = "GET /api/v1.6/variables/64d9ae5f30002d000e0d40db/values/?page_size=1 HTTP/1.1\r\n";
headers += "Host: industrial.api.ubidots.com\r\n";
headers += "X-Auth-Token: Token\r\n";
headers += "Connection: close\r\n\r\n";
client.print(headers);
while (client.connected()) {
if (client.available()) {
String httpResponse = client.readStringUntil('\n');
if (httpResponse.startsWith("{\"count\":")){
Serial.println(httpResponse);
deserializeJson(jsonResponse,httpResponse);
JsonObject root = jsonResponse.as<JsonObject>();
if (root.containsKey("results") && root["results"][0].containsKey("value")) {
value = root["results"][0]["value"];
Serial.print("Value: ");
Serial.print(value);
Serial.print("\r\n");
}
}
}
}
client.stop();
Serial.println("\nDisconnected from server");
} else {
Serial.println("Connection to Ubidots failed");
}
}

curl -X POST 'https://industrial.api.ubidots.com/api/v1.6/devices/<device_label>/'  -H 'Content-Type: application/json'  -H 'X-Auth-Token: token'  -d '{"variable1": value1, "variable2": value2}'

void PostHttpRequest(String variable1, String variable2){
Ethernet.begin(mac);
Serial.println("Start Sending Data");
if (client.connect(server, port))
{
Serial.println("Connected to Ubidots");
// Create the JSON payload.
String payload = "{\"variable1\":" + String(value1) + ",\"hvariable2\":" + String(value2)+"}";
Serial.println("Payload: "+ payload);
// Create the HTTP request headers.
String headers = "POST /api/v1.6/devices/w5300/ HTTP/1.1\r\n";
headers += "Host: industrial.api.ubidots.com\r\n";
headers += "Content-Type: application/json\r\n";
headers += "X-Auth-Token: Toke\r\n";
headers += "Content-Length: ";
headers += payload.length();
headers += "\r\n\r\n";
// Send the HTTP request to Ubidots using TCP.
client.print(headers);
client.print(payload);
// Print the server's response to the serial monitor.
while (client.available()) {
char c = client.read();
Serial.write(c);
}
// Close the connection.
client.stop();
Serial.println("\nDisconnected from server");
} else {
Serial.println("Connection to Ubidots failed");
}
}