An ‘internet of things’ for the farm that relies on an open platform promises to make real-time data affordable.
This particular approach is ‘disruptively’ different, relying on technology that doesn’t need an internet connection and which links to low-cost, home-made paddock sensors.
The result is a smart system that can display a visual ‘map’ of aspects that matter – soil moisture, trough levels, livestock weights, gate security and more. With a bit of ingenuity these ‘things’ can be made to talk to each other, improving efficiencies that previous generations on the land only dreamed about.
Last week a group of programmers and real life hackers congregated in an old wool shed on Mick Shannon’s South Coast property ‘Lowanna’, at Cathcart, crafting desire into code.
The pilot program involved 20 district producers who came to test and validate the work of the programmers, most of whom had never before stepped in warm manure.
In fact, South Coast grazier Mick Shannon reckons it’s about time primary producers were given the sort of digital attention they need so they can get their hands dirty creating solutions to their own farm’s connectivity.
Lowanna’s system was created during a ‘flash-build’ over just three days, from ideas on paper to digital reality. The team used 3-D printers to quickly create collars that hold sensors around the necks of cattle.
“This approach to technology is so disruptive, it’s tremendous,” said Mr Shannon. “In my grandfather’s day he taught himself to weld, or hired a bloke for a day who taught him, and away he went. With this approach to sensors connected to systems it’s much the same. We’ve been led to believe this technology involves hocus pocus but it doesn’t.”
“We have confidence in this system,” says Alex Herlihy, one of the ‘makers in residence’ employed by the University of NSW on this project. The platform is called ‘Farm Tag’ which is an Application Programming Interface’ or ‘API’ fronted by a basic ‘dashboard’, over which anyone can custom build over the top.
While the platform is designed to run in isolation, with a farmers’ data kept private, there is plenty of potential for the system to connect to the ‘cloud’ and perhaps share an area-wide map of things like paddock moisture, which might help monitor micro-climatic weather.
Mr Shannon, 31, already understands digital technology and uses different software on his 2000 hectare property to calculate weight for age when it comes to his herd of Angus and Angus/ Simmental. With another iPhone application he logs sheep movement as they are mustered into new paddocks. Unfortunately none of these innovations currently talk to the other.
“If you can’t collate data and use that to make a decision then it’s not working as it should,” he said.
The Farm Tag platform promises to marry those disparate programs into one visual ‘dashboard’.
At the heart of the system are a number of home-made sensors, gleaned from off the shelf parts and assembled for an average cost of $50.
Even the kids at St Joseph’s Primary school, Bombala, got the idea and some may earn pocket money putting them together.
Sensors that monitor trough water levels and flow, temperature and humidity in the paddock and weight of livestock can be connected to the API system through a variety of technologies – from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to low power wide area networking, or ‘LoRa’.
By linking technology already used in NLIS ear tags, along with two dollar Wi-Fi location ‘tiles’, cattle can be brought into the system as individuals. One sensor the crew developed will detect another animals’ tag from 20 metres, helping to prove mother and calf units.
The potential goes further with the potential to trigger switches that open and close gates to different parts of a paddock.
“Our job is to take research out of the lab,” said Mr Herlihy, “and make prototypes available to everyone.”
