“Recent advances in
technology, like Raspberry Pi,
Arduino, and other off-the-shelf
products, have made a plethora of
options available for low-cost sensors
and controls to assemble do-it-yourself
systems that will facilitate crop optimization.”
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Little recently returned from the Global Forum for
Innovations in Agriculture in Abu Dhabi, where he
presented his research on low-cost technology His
message was: “Recent advances in technology, like
Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and other off-the-shelf products,
have made a plethora of options available for low-cost
sensors and controls to assemble do-it-yourself
systems that will facilitate crop optimization.”
Little has built units that will sense low light and
open a shade for more sun, or gas sensors that will
monitor air quality, or note the presence of methane.
He’s used the simple technology to rig a small container
farm with integrated systems, everything from water
quality monitoring to measuring pH, temperature, and
dissolved oxygen, adjusting humidity, and even a fogger
application to keep mushrooms moist. He’s rigged
drones with a cheap camera system to automatically
pollinate date palms.
In Glendale, AZ, he’s working on solving a bird problem
at a dairy. “It’s biblical,” he says, “so many birds they blot
out the sky. We created a bank of Raspberry Pi cameras
and a control module that implements computer vision to
detect the birds — and emit some sort of deterrent to send
them on their way.”
Bottom line for Little is the DIY way for smaller-scale
growers can be a viable alternative to commercial
systems but, he adds, “By no means is a DIY system on
par with a Hortimax controller.”
The old adage “size doesn’t matter” really does apply
in this case with Little conveying the caveat he’s
promoting the inexpensive, do-it-yourself approach “for
small- and medium-scale food production.”
Bottom line? If you’re a small grower who likes to exper-
iment, you belong to the group of backyard pioneers, the
Carpe Diem group — seize the day. If your operation is
larger, to the point where any sort of a process malfunc-
tion could damage crops beyond the required market
quality condition, you probably belong to the Caveat
Emptor sector — buyer beware.