Sensor network optimises asparagus harvest
Asparagus officinalis, as biologists name the plant, is typically grown in wall-shaped furrows, often covered by plastic sheetings to keep the temperature in the soil in the range between 18 and 22 degrees Celsius. One side of these sheetings is black, the other one white. To allow the sunlight to heat up the soil, the farmers turn the black side up; to cool it down in heat phases, they turn the white side up.
A network of temperature sensors within the furrows measures the soil temperature different depths and report them via cable connection to a nearby hub box. This small data acquisition system offers intermediate storage and transmits the measured values to the cloud. From there, an app installed at the smartphone of the farmers can retrieve the data, enabling the cultivators to track the temperature and thus the growth conditions of their asparagus, optimise the time to turn around the sheetings and determine the best point in time for the harvest.
The solution, developed by Bosch Deepfield Robotics, has been awarded the silver medal for innovation at the Agritechnica, the world’s largest trade fair for faming technology. The system increases the proportion of marketable goods, the award committee said. In addition, it helps farmers to save time and money because they can reduce their efforts. In terms of software, the development is based on the Bosch IoT Suite, a software platform with cloud storage and a set of tools to develop applications in the Internet of Things.
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