@dornawcox @dbuckmas posted about the IEEE smartAg workshop in Detroit in August - wondering if it’s worth getting a student to at least start a proposal specification over the summer with the aim of seeing what that community thinks about it?
If so would you agree with the following blurb I wrote in application for students:
2 IoT spec for Agriculture (cube sat for IoT Ag)
This would more require a mechanical engineering student with an interest in electronics and perhaps some programming. In community with GOAT the student would be tasked with researching relevant specifications and proposing a mechanical and electrical specification for production farm appropriate internet of things modules (sensors, actuators, networking, and power components). There is a plethora of IoT devices being created for both home and industrial use but these are (a) generally not rugged enough to endure the environmental rigors of an operating farm environment, and (b) are being created within proprietary walled gardens severely limiting interoperability. In contrast, given these factors many farmers, both small and large scale, are self developing custom sensor systems for their needs and there is a thriving open source Agriculture technology community. A common open specification that takes into account the environmental requirements of an operational farm, and standardised module level electrical and mechanical interfaces, would allow this community to more easily pool their efforts, share designs that will be guaranteed to be interoperable, and accelerate design work through a refined design space. The created specification would be presented to the GOAT community for practicing farmers to comment and provide feedback on.