I-Corps: Translation Potential of a Resilient, Low-Cost Internet-of-Things (IoT) Monitoring Platform for Precision Agriculture

This I-Corps project is based on the development of an affordable sensing platform that helps agricultural producers and other land managers collect timely information about local conditions. Current monitoring systems are expensive, difficult to maintain, or dependent on reliable power and communications, limiting their use across large, remote, or resource-constrained areas. This technology combines adaptable field sensors, wireless communication, and data management tools to provide dependable, site-specific information while reducing the cost and complexity of agricultural and land monitoring. The platform supports decisions across agricultural and land management applications involving irrigation, crop management, weather-related risks, and air quality while users may include farms, agricultural service providers, researchers, and government agencies. The technology may improve resource efficiency, reduce operational losses, and strengthen resilience to extreme weather. This I-Corps project utilizes experiential learning coupled with first-hand investigation of the industry ecosystem to assess the translation potential of a modular Internet of Things (IoT) sensing platform designed for reliable, low-cost field deployment. This technology integrates configurable sensors, low-power electronics, wireless data transmission, and centralized data processing and visualization. It is designed to support multiple sensor types, distributed measurements, and operate in locations where conventional monitoring infrastructure or communications may be limited. In addition, it has a modular design that may allow users to expand or modify deployments as their operational needs change. This may give users more accessible, timely, and location-specific information for planning, risk management, and resource allocation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.