Niagara College’s Research & Innovation division will offer the media a glimpse into what automation and wireless sensor technology can contribute to the farm of the future.
Led by Dr. Mike Duncan, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Industrial Research Chair in Precision Agriculture and Environmental Technologies, the team of researchers will demonstrate developments they have made in helping mitigate the effects of oncoming weather threats.
The ongoing work will be showcased to the media on Wed., Oct. 5, 2016, starting at 10:30 a.m., in t he vineyard behind the Wine Visitor + Education Centre at the NOTL Campus. It will involve Dr. Duncan, and students and graduates of Niagara College. The demonstration, which will include a remote-controlled rover and an aerial drone.
Background
This research has been made possible by a contribution from NSERC of $135,710, for equipment for Niagara College’s Agriculture & Environment Innovation Centre, through the Applied Research Tools and Instruments Grants (ARTI). These grants are used to support the purchase of applied research equipment and installations to foster and enhance the ability of colleges to undertake applied research, innovation and training in collaboration with local companies.
The Niagara College grant will be used to build and install six micrometeorological/weather measurement stations in fields, orchards and vineyards in southern Ontario. The wireless sensor technology will collect data to be used in analytics for precision agriculture, particularly in developing and programing algorithms that will identify oncoming weather threats.
Each station has been constructed to measure values specific to the individual farm operations. For example, the station in the soy bean field will be a base station accompanied by a remote-controlled rover that travels around the field sampling the heat and humidity of the crop, since soybeans are most sensitive to moulds.
“The overall objective is to find the types of technologies that will comprise the tools needed on the family farm 30 years in the future,” notes Dr. Mike Duncan, NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Precision Agriculture and Environmental Technologies, and project lead. “What will the future farm look like? How much automation versus manpower will be present? Will the manpower be in the form of a tele-presence? Each of these likelihoods has its roots in what we can build today.”
