Heat and drought are becoming an ever-increasing problem for agriculture worldwide, because if plants suffer from drought stress, this leads to losses in yield and quality. Smart farming uses automation technologies to optimize cultivation and harvesting.
Irrigation systems moisten the soil as needed. Depending on the method – mobile irrigation machines, circular irrigation or drip irrigation – different results are achieved. Although drip irrigation requires high investments, at the same time the lowest water losses and the highest yields occur. Numerous parameters can be measured with this method.
Irrigation systems work fully automatically. The control center of the irrigation system is a control PC like the DA-1100, which is offered by the industrial PC specialist compmall. The basic properties of the control PC are robust, fanless and reliable. The processor does not have to belong to the elite, a solid Intel Pentium N4200 and a DDR3L working memory, which offers up to 8 GB, are completely sufficient. SSDs are integrated via a 2.5-inch SATA slot and an mSATA slot.
The interfaces are decisive: A DVI port is used to connect a monitor that visualizes the measured parameters. Two Ethernet ports connect the PC to the network. If a CFM module is integrated, the LAN ports support the Power-over-Ethernet function so that cameras are supplied with power via the Ethernet cable. Optional WiFi connectivity is possible.
USB and RS-232/422/485 interfaces and digital inputs/outputs are used to integrate sensors into the system. The sensors provide data on temperature, humidity, light intensity, soil composition, soil pH and soil moisture. Depending on the type of plant and the climatic conditions, the right amount of water is distributed in a targeted manner. But also the time of fertilization and the amount of fertilizer is determined automatically.
The control PC can be used in the temperature range between -40°C and 70°C, so that neither cold nor heat limit its functionality.