Abstract

The main goal of this Bachelor of Engineering project titled Embedded system using Bluetooth Low Energy sensors for smart farming applications is to create a prototype of a system consistent with Agriculture 4.0 concept using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology. Developed solution shall be easy in implementation and its main functionality shall be periodic gathering of data from environmental sensors and displaying it on a dedicated web page.

A market research was performed at the beginning of the project. It focused on products already on the market that were similar to our goal. Knowledge about existing solutions was used to develop an innovative product idea and one that hopes to stand out among competition. The target system shall be a viable solution for small private greenhouses, small farms, as well as big agriculture companies.

The main focus of this work is the developed prototype. Multiple stages of development allow for verification of requirements set by product design and system models.

The prototype is developed using existing development platform solutions. An XDK (Cross Domain Development Kit) device manufactured by Bosch was used as a sensor board and a singleboard computer - Raspberry Pi 3 B+ - as a hub. Both devices have a built-in BLE controller which was used in the project. The idea of the system is to use multiple sensor boards placed across a certain area to monitor environmental changes and deliver the measurements to a hub which analyzes and displays the data.

Successful development allowed for performing a field test to check basic functionalities and how the system behaves in different sensor board placement scenarios. Data gathered by sensor boards and then transferred to the hub is seen on a web page which proves the correct operation of the prototype and success of the project. Additionally gathered signal strength measurement in different scenarios allowed for noticing certain shortcomings of the prototype and form possible improvement for next iteration of the product prototype.

Acknowledgement: This paper is a result of the AFarCloud project (www.afarcloud.eu) which has received funding from the ECSEL Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 783221. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden.

The document reflects only the authors' view and the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

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