Harvesting Insights: Combining the IoT and a WSN for Tomato Cultivation in a Greenhouse Farming Environment
Abstract
The aim of this research is to simulate a wireless sensor network (WSN) and implement an internet-of-things (IoT) system to measure environmental variables, such as temperature, relative humidity, and CO2 in greenhouse farming, and to compare the plant stem lengths of tomato crops cultivated in both soil-based and hydroponic systems. The research is composed of two main stages: design and simulation of WSN, which includes the optimal placement of sensor nodes and checking communication protocols for data exchange, and implementation of the IoT system in the greenhouse by deploying physical sensor nodes, configuring the gateway, and establishing communication channels. The novelty of the research lies in the design and simulation of a WSN under the TrueTime framework (MATLAB, Simulink) prior to implementation, allowing us to avoid data loss, latency, and unnecessary implementation efforts. In addition, the evaluation of the aforementioned variables in tomato crops cultivated simultaneously in soil-based and hydroponic systems within a greenhouse was conducted to determine the most suitable method for implementation under tropical weather conditions. The research showed results similar to those of other studies regarding the simulation of a partial or complete WSN using MATLAB/Simulink. Allowing identifying that, hydroponics initially accelerates growth but later faces limitations due to root space; meanwhile, soil-based crops exhibit more uniform growth and yield larger, faster-ripening fruits. Compared to other studies, this research minimizes device quantity, reduces cost and complexity, and also successfully achieved environmental measurements, corroborating findings from other studies that also highlight the use of MATLAB/Simulink for simulating a WSN and components. The study found a match between simulated data communication and real-world data exchange between sensor nodes and gateway nodes, which is crucial for the reliability and accuracy of the sensor network. This study found that soil-based crops experienced less temperature stress due to microclimate variations, leading to uniform growth, which is an essential finding for agricultural practices. In addition, evidence indicates that both hydroponic and soil-based systems showed variations in stem size, where soil-based crops had larger stems at the end of the study period.
Keywords: greenhouse, internet of things, wireless sensor network, Zigbee, crops.
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