We present a new vision for smart objects and the Internet of Things wherein mobile robots interact with wirelessly-powered, long-range, ultra-high frequency radio frequency identification (UHF RFID) tags outfitted with sensing capabilities. We explore the technology innovations driving this vision by examining recently-commercialized sensor tags that could be affixed-to or embedded-in objects or the environment to yield true embodied intelligence. Using a pair of autonomous mobile robots outfitted with UHF RFID readers, we explore several potential applications where mobile robots interact with sensor tags to perform tasks such as: soil moisture sensing, remote crop monitoring, infrastructure monitoring, water quality monitoring, and remote sensor deployment.
In the context of agricultural sensing, remote crop monitoring (usually via camera imaging) has already proved useful @cite_19 , and it's even feasible to have UAVs obtain direct measurements for applications such as water quality monitoring @cite_16 . Inexpensive sensorized UHF RFID tags have the potential to augment or supplement existing remote-sensing systems to provide precise, direct measurements (eg. for calibration), and could even be used by existing farm equipment to opportunistically obtain relevant agricultural data. Direct sensing can make agricultural systems safer, more efficient, more accurate, and more productive @cite_17 @cite_21 . However, agricultural applications frequently involve large, expansive areas where wiring for communication and power is undesirable or impracticable. Wireless sensor networks have been used collect agriculture data by distributing sensors throughout a field, and transmitting information back to a base station @cite_12 , sometimes using more-advanced mesh networking techniques @cite_9 . These sensor networks have been shown to provide actionable data that can improve growing conditions and irrigation schedules @cite_13 , but they still suffer from battery and cost constraints. UHF RFID sensor tags are a compelling approach to provide direct measurements that enhance other remote sensing techniques.
@cite_9 @cite_21 @cite_19 @cite_16 @cite_13 @cite_12 @cite_17
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This paper presents an overview on recent development of wireless sensor technologies and standards for wireless communications as applied to wireless sensors. Examples of wireless sensors and sensor networks applied in agriculture and food production for environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, M2M-based machine and process control, building and facility automation and RFID-based traceability systems are given. The paper also discusses advantages of wireless sensors and obstacles that prevent their fast adoption. Finally, based on an analysis of market growth, the paper discusses future trend of wireless sensor technology development in agriculture and food industry. Efficient water management is a major concern in many cropping systems in semiarid and arid areas. Distributed in-field sensor-based irrigation systemsoffer a potential solution to support site-specific irrigation management that allows producers to maximize their productivity while saving water. This paper describes details of the design and instrumentation of variable rate irrigation, a wireless sensor network, and software for real-time in-field sensing and control of a site-specific precision linear-move irrigation system. Field conditions were site-specifically monitored by six in-field sensor stations distributed across the field based on a soil property map, and periodically sampled and wirelessly transmitted to a base station. An irrigation machine was converted to be electronically controlled by a programming logic controller that updates georeferenced location of sprinklers from a differential Global Positioning System (GPS) and wirelessly communicates with a computer at the base station. Communication signals from the sensor network and irrigation controller to the base station were successfully interfaced using low-cost Bluetooth wireless radio communication. Graphic user interface-based software developed in this paper offered stable remote access to field conditions and real-time control and monitoring of the variable-rate irrigation controller. Remote sensing by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is changing the way agriculture operates by increasing the spatial-temporal resolution of data collection. Micro-UAVs have the potential to further improve and enrich the data collected by operating close to the crops, enabling the collection of higher spatio-temporal resolution data. In this paper, we present a UAV-mounted measurement system that utilizes a laser scanner to compute crop heights, a critical indicator of crop health. The system filters, transforms, and analyzes the cluttered range data in real-time to determine the distance to the ground and to the top of the crops. We assess the system in an indoor testbed and in a corn field. Our findings indicate that despite the dense canopy and highly variable sensor readings, we can precisely fly over crops and measure its height to within 5cm of measurements gathered using current measurement technology. The aim of the present paper is to review the technical and scientific state of the art of wireless sensor technologies and standards for wireless communications in the Agri-Food sector. These technologies are very promising in several fields such as environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, cold chain control or traceability. The paper focuses on WSN (Wireless Sensor Networks) and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), presenting the different systems available, recent developments and examples of applications, including ZigBee based WSN and passive, semi-passive and active RFID. Future trends of wireless communications in agriculture and food industry are also discussed. Abstract Precision agriculture (PA) utilizes tools and technologies to identify in-field soil and crop variability for improving farming practices and optimizing agronomic inputs. Traditionally, optical remote sensing (RS) that utilizes visible light and infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum has been used as an integral part of PA for crop and soil monitoring. Optical RS, however, is slow in differentiating stress levels in crops until visual symptoms become noticeable. Surface temperature is considered to be a rapid response variable that can indicate crop stresses prior to their visual symptoms. By measuring estimates of surface temperature, thermal RS has been found to be a promising tool for PA. Compared to optical RS, applications of thermal RS for PA have been limited. Until recently (i.e., before the advancement of low cost RS platforms such as unmanned aerial systems (UAVs)), the availability of high resolution thermal images was limited due to high acquisition costs. Given recent developments in UAVs, thermal images with high spatial and temporal resolutions have become available at a low cost, which has increased opportunities to understand in-field variability of crop and soil conditions useful for various agronomic decision-making. Before thermal RS is adopted as a routine tool for crop and environmental monitoring, there is a need to understand its current and potential applications as well as issues and concerns. This review focuses on current and potential applications of thermal RS in PA as well as some concerns relating to its application. The application areas of thermal RS in agriculture discussed here include irrigation scheduling, drought monitoring, cro The development of microelectronics began in 1948 and continued with the miniaturisation of sensors during the last ten years. Today, microsystems which are used in silicon microtechnology are called microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Microsensors are defined as very small sized devices that convert humidity, moisture, temperature, pressure, pollutants, light intensity, etc. into electrical signal. Integration of MEMS with the radio frequency wireless communication technique put forward low power consuming, cheap and communicating small devices called wireless sensor networks (WSN). WSN have spatially distributed transceivers with microsensors that give the possibility of monitoring and collecting data easily and quickly. Nowadays, these devices are used in many different application areas like home automation, forest fire monitoring, traffic control, noise and pollutant detection in the crowded areas. Classical definition of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which is known by everybody is a computer based system that collects, stores, edits, analyses and displays spatial data. GIS is a powerful tool to access, analyse and evaluate large amounts of spatial data. The total time to get the results is a strategic part of the study. GIS is very efficient for reaching the correct conclusion in a fraction of time. WSN provides huge amount of data. If it would be possible to integrate the power of WSN with GIS, the data can be obtained in a very short time and the evaluation time can be decreased. In this study, integration of WSN with GIS is used for preparation of the soil moisture distribution map of the studied area. Wireless devices with moisture sensed sensors are located at pre Addressing the challenges of feeding the burgeoning world population with limited resources requires innovation in sustainable, efficient farming. The practice of precision agriculture offers many benefits towards addressing these challenges, such as improved yield and efficient use of such resources as water, fertilizer and pesticides. We describe the design and development of a light-weight, multi-spectral 3D imaging device that can be used for automated monitoring in precision agriculture. The sensor suite consists of a laser range scanner, multi-spectral cameras, a thermal imaging camera, and navigational sensors. We present techniques to extract four key data products  plant morphology, canopy volume, leaf area index, and fruit counts  using the sensor suite. We demonstrate its use with two systems: multi-rotor micro aerial vehicles and on a human-carried, shoulder-mounted harness. We show results of field experiments conducted in collaboration with growers and agronomists in vineyards, apple orchards and orange groves.