EMoS Published: Wireless Sensor Technology

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EMoS Published: Wireless Sensor Technology

Agriculture

EMoS student Josephine Mbandi at CENIT@EA has make a remarkable contribution to wireless sensor technology by publishing her work Data Collection Using Wireless Sensor Networks and Online Visualization for Kitui Kenya in the African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation. The work was supervised by Centre Leader Dr. Kisangiri Michael.

In Kenya, small businesses and crop production represent 23% of the income within the country, which is at risk as soils become less productive.  Through Internet of Things (IoT) and specifically wireless sensor networks, we can change how we obtain and consume information. Small-scale farmers can collect data and in exchange receive useful information about their soils, temperature, humidity, and moisture content hence make better choices during crop production.

Connected end devices bring in data, which is currently sparse in relation to small-scale farming. IoT will enable analysis and informed decision-making including crop selection, support equipment, fertilisers, irrigation, and harvesting. The cloud-based analysis will provide information useful for policy making and improvement.

The paper presents a wireless sensor network (WSN) in mesh topography using XBee communication module, communication, and raspberry pi, combined with a cloud-based data storage and analysis. It successfully sets up a proof of concept to test a sensor node that sends information to a RPi and onto an online visualisation platform.