WIRELESS SENSORS FOR AGRICULTURAL MODULES
One variation of a method for deploying sensors within an agricultural facility includes: accessing scan data of a set of modules deployed within the agricultural facility; extracting characteristics of plants occupying the set of modules from the scan data; selecting a first subset of target modules from the set of modules, each target module in the set of target modules containing a group of plants exhibiting characteristics representative of plants occupying modules neighboring the target module; for each target module, scheduling a robotic manipulator within the agricultural facility to remove a particular plant from a particular plant slot in the target module and load the particular plant slot with a sensor pod from a population of sensor pods deployed in the agricultural facility; and monitoring environmental conditions at target modules in the first subset of target modules based on sensor data recorded by the first population of sensor pods.
1 . A sensor device comprising:
a base configured to be received within a receptacle of an agricultural module that retains a plurality of plants;
an upper mast extending from the base to a top distal end that includes one or more ambient sensors; and
a lower mast extending from the base to a bottom distal end that includes one or more aqueous sensors.
2 . The sensor device of claim 1 wherein the one or more ambient sensors include a light level sensor.
3 . The sensor device of claim 1 wherein the one or more aqueous sensors include at least one of a water temperature, a water level, a dissolved oxygen, a pH or a nutrient level sensor.
4 . The sensor device of claim 1 wherein the upper mast has an adjustable length to change a distance between the one or more ambient sensors and the base.
5 . The sensor device of claim 1 wherein the lower mast has an adjustable length to change a distance between the one or more aqueous sensors and the base.
6 . The sensor device of claim 1 further comprising a rechargeable battery and a wireless communications module arranged to receive power from the rechargeable battery.
7 . The sensor device of claim 6 further comprising a solar cell arranged to recharge the rechargeable battery.
8 . The sensor device of claim 6 further comprising a processor arranged to receive data from the one or more ambient sensors and transmit the data to a remote computing device via the wireless communications module.
9 . The sensor device of claim 1 further comprising an insect trap arranged to retain one or more insects.
10 . The sensor device of claim 9 further comprising an insect sensor arranged to detect the one or more retained insects.
11 . An apparatus comprising:
a base arranged to be received within an agricultural module, wherein the agricultural module is arranged to support a plurality of plants above an aqueous solution;
an upper mast extending from the base to a top distal end that includes one or more ambient sensors; and
a lower mast extending from the base to a bottom distal end and including one or more aqueous sensors.
12 . The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the one or more ambient sensors include a light level sensor.
13 . The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the one or more aqueous sensors include at least one of a water temperature, a water level, a dissolved oxygen, a pH or a nutrient level sensor.
14 . The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the upper mast has an adjustable length to change a distance between the one or more ambient sensors and the base.
15 . The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the lower mast has an adjustable length to change a distance between the one or more aqueous sensors and the base.
16 . The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising a rechargeable battery and a wireless communications module arranged to receive power from the rechargeable battery.
17 . The apparatus of claim 16 further comprising a solar cell arranged to recharge the rechargeable battery.
18 . The apparatus of claim 16 further comprising a processor arranged to receive data from the one or more ambient sensors and transmit the data to a remote computing device via the wireless communications module.
19 . The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising an insect trap arranged to retain one or more insects.
20 . The apparatus of claim 19 further comprising an insect sensor arranged to detect the one or more retained insects.