Master's Engineering Final Project: Solve a real world problem

#1

Hi,

I was not sure in which category to put this, but I guess I am looking for advice about farming since we all appreciate the people that grow our food a lot.

For our final project in IoT in an electrical engineering course, my team decided we’d make a product that would solve a major issue in farming.

So far, we have thought that a leak detection system that could help figure out if you’re wasting water might be useful. Maybe something for livestock tracking (I heard cows are expensive and are being stolen more frequently now).

So, I want to open it up to you all:

What major problems are there in farming?

Thank you!

1 Like
#2

here. let me give you a practical problem to solve. It involves engineering in a mechanical and digital sense.
Problem to solve: I as a goat farmer want to be able feed my stall fed goats automatically.
The solution required: A feed shoot that drops the programmed quantity of feed at various intervals of time. Collects data on how much feed was left behind if any. (in weight). And all such data should be identified with IRFD tags of goats. So i would know which goat has eaten how much. And there are other data points which can be collected. BUT if at least we can have a feeder which is filled once for say a week’s worth of feed and served automatically, it would be great. This is something i need. You can extend this to water as well but that is not so crucial at this juncture.

Another problem: I would want to know the electricity in my soil by shoving a thermometer kind of stick in the ground. So that i would know do i have to water the soil or not. A digital handheld device would do.

Let me know if this excites you. and if you decide to take it up.

3 Likes
#3

I think the current metal tags attached to the ear lobe of goats are not efficient,I would like a smart phone readable tag printed on the earlobe with an harmless ink.

3 Likes
#4

Thanks for your input. That would certainly be an interesting project to pursue.

Can you clarify the second problem you mention: I would want to know the electricity in my soil by shoving a thermometer kind of stick in the ground

Thanks!

#5

I think what you are thinking of is a QR code inked onto the ear of your livestock. I think this would be pretty easy to do. Take a look at how you can make a QR code here: https://www.qr-code-generator.com/how-to-create-a-qr-code/

#6

Are you located in southern California by any chance? It would be awesome if we could test out our product on a farm to see if it works. We could work out a way to give you whatever we make for free.

#7

60% of the irrigated land is fed by bore wells.

We need to measure at what depth the water is available at the borewell over period of time to understand the underground water table.

This is a common resource to be optimally used.

Currently there are no low cost equipment to check at what depth the water is available in a bore well

R Chandramouli

#8

Hi,I am working in Kerala India,an agricultural graduate presently working as a farm manager for a farm owned by state department of agriculture,we maintain 100 goats in our farm and face problem with present metal tags as most of them fall off while they they graze and they are very important for claiming insurance amount in case the goat dies.

#9

In India we use millions of metal tags as we have huge cattle population and most of them are insured.The insurance companies issue the tags to government vet doctors who are supposed fix it on animals earlobe.

#10

If animal dies insurance companies presently asking photos of vet dr performing the postmortem for settling the claim as there were many fake claims before.But this is very inconvenient as in most of the cases vet dr will not be available for conducting postmortem when the animal dies and owner will loose the amount,I want a solution for this.

#11

HEy Tom can we have a call some time tomorrow!

Please call me by +91 99868 85788

#12

This sounds like a great project, but would fall outside of my area of study.

#13

This sounds like a worthwhile issue. What technological solutions might help with this issue? Would an implanted RFID chip work?

Why can’t you just bring your dead goat to the vet when the vet has time? Do you have to bring the goat to the vet within a certain amount of time?

#14

Hi,

We want to pursue your idea. Do you have time for a call sometime this week?

Charlie

#15

hi. glad you found it interesting.the second part is bout electric current in-ground. let me explain. the plants produce sugar and the microbes in the soil have minerals etc. they exchange this for mutual benefit. This exchange is possible when the ions can be exchanged and for that to happen certain moisture needs to be there. But getting to know the moisture is not as efficient as knowing the electric conductivity…EC of soil. Such instruments exist but are not easily available. Read up on EC role in the microbial life of soils.

#16

No. i might sound like a southern californian because of my sins…ha ha. But no i am in 3rd world country called India. ha ha. Thanks for the offer though.

#17

Pleasant greetings Mr. R. Chandramouli,

To monitor the water level in the borewell or in your farmland over the period of time, you may drill a piezometer borehole of 4” inch diameter with a sensor which shall be available at a very reasonable cost, alongwith online data logger which would send you the live feeds with graphs, quantities etc on your PC or mobile.

For any further queries, please feel free to write in queries to us.

All the Best & Happy Drilling

#18

There is already RFID / NFC based Tags available which you can read having your phone close to the tag it dont need to have QR code