Frontier Fellow 2023-2024:
Eric Vetha
Title of Research Project: “Developing a Low-cost In-ground Soil Moisture Sensing System Using Backscatter Tags for Sustainable Agriculture”
Summary:
Revising a sensing system design of a backscatter tag system to measure soil moisture for greater adoption of soil moisture measurements by farmers, resulting in decreased water consumption and still maintaining crop yields.
Eric David Vetha is a senior in the Robotics Engineering B.S. program at the Baskin School of Engineering. Upon
graduation, Eric aims to pursue a graduate degree in Electrical Engineering with a concentration in Robotics,
Controls, and Cyber-Physical Systems. His ultimate aspiration is to make significant contributions to the field of
robotics research, leveraging his knowledge in robotics engineering to advance the development of new
technologies.
This Frontier Fellows project aims to revolutionize soil moisture sensing for precision agriculture by harnessing low-cost, low-power, wireless underground backscatter tags. Our belief is that implementing a backscatter tag system for soil moisture measurement has the potential to revolutionize the agricultural landscape. By offering an affordable, scalable, and efficient solution for soil moisture monitoring, we anticipate increased adoption by farmers. This, in turn, can lead to reduced water consumption while maintaining crop yields. Although soil moisture sensing is not a novel concept, the introduction of backscatter tags as a method represents a groundbreaking innovation. Through iterative design and extensive field testing, we aspire to create a robust and compact system for accurate soil moisture measurement. This endeavor holds immense potential to make a tangible impact on agricultural practices and environmental sustainability.
Our primary deliverable for the Earth Future’s Fellowship Program will be a publishable manuscript that documents the revised design, evaluates the accuracy of the new backscatter tags in comparison with oven-based ground-truth measurements under different types of soil, and documents any further testing done on more optimized system designs.