Biodegradable Soil Sensor Network for Crop Health Monitoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for assessing crop health and detecting chemical spills rely on indirect measurements, such as remote sensing, which are influenced by soil type and provide low resolution data due to bulky and expensive sensors, leading to inaccurate information and potential environmental damage.
Innovation Solution
A biodegradable soil sensor system that takes direct measurements from the soil and wirelessly transmits data to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for high-resolution data correlation and analysis, enabling precise corrective actions for crop health improvement and immediate chemical spill detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If remote sensing methods are used to assess crop health, then large areas can be monitored, but the measurement precision is low due to indirect measurements and soil type variations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces biodegradable soil sensors as an intermediary device that directly measures soil conditions (moisture, nutrients, pH) at the root zone level. These sensors act as mediators between the plant and the monitoring system, providing accurate direct measurements that are then correlated with aerial imagery to achieve both high precision and broad coverage
Solution Approach 2:
The monitoring system is segmented into two complementary components: (1) biodegradable soil sensors planted throughout the field that provide high-precision local measurements, and (2) aerial vehicles that capture broad-area imagery. The data from both segments are correlated using GPS coordinates to create a comprehensive monitoring system that achieves both high precision and large area coverage
2Reliability
If bulky and expensive chemical detection sensors are used, then chemical spills can be detected, but the device complexity and cost increase, reducing the quantity of sensors deployable in an area
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs biodegradable soil sensors that are inexpensive and can be deployed in large quantities. These sensors are designed to be disposable - they perform their detection function and then naturally decompose in the soil, eliminating the need for complex retrieval systems and reducing overall device complexity while maintaining high detection reliability through dense deployment
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using a few complex expensive sensors, the system uses many simple, low-cost biodegradable sensors distributed throughout the area. Each sensor is a simplified version that detects specific chemical parameters, and the collective network of these simple sensors provides comprehensive monitoring coverage that would be impossible with fewer complex sensors
Data Source
AI summary
An in soil data collection and analysis system and process is disclosed where the data from a plurality of in soil sensors is combined with other data that is acquired by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to create a fused data set that can be used to determine an appropriate corrective action or response to the fused data.