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Field testing esp32 devices
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More field testing at further ranges.
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Burhan holding a esp32 device.
Inspiration
We were talking to our friend who has a farm in California. He was mentioning how it would make his life so much easier if he had an automated irrigation system in his farm. That was the spark that started our research into sensor based devices that could be deployed in agricultural fields.
What it does
AsterLink is at its core, a connection of sensor based devices, connected through Wi-Fi mesh, reporting data at periodic intervals which can further be analyzed and reviewed. It also allows the farmers to provide the satellite images of their fields and get the optimum position of devices based on the field layout.
How we built it
We built this using React.js and Node.js. We built our API using SpringBoot and Azure which connected to our SQL database. We used various libraries like WiFi.h and other meshing libraries which helped us develop our framework and connect to other devices.
Challenges we ran into
One of the earliest challenges we faced was that while setting up the Wi-Fi mesh network, we could either transmit data through Wi-Fi or maintain the mesh network. After trying a lot of different options, we finally arranged it such that the W-Fi would connect at certain intervals, transmit data and the mesh network would be restored. Another struggle was maintaining the hardware components and ensuring that they were not damaged and the wires properly attached. We soldered a majority of them to fix this and increase the stability of our devices.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We are proud of deploying our API to Azure and learning to work with ESP32s, solder and other important frameworks. We also are proud of staying to work all 36 hours even though it was extremely tiring.
What we learned
We learned to adapt quickly to challenges and change. When the WiFi mesh would not cooperate with our hotspot we quickly adapted to the new situation and changed our schema to fit this new problem. We also learned new systems like Azure, Arduino IDE and
What's next for AsterLink
We are planning to conduct field testing to enhance the features of our device like battery source. We are considering a farm in California for this purpose where we can also get very valuable feedback from the farmers about the ease of availability and understanding of the data from the sensors. We are also adding additional features like different graphs for a field having multiple crops, connecting the soil moisture information to an automated irrigation system, pH sensors, etc. Once we scale up in the agriculture industry, we are also planning to venture into other areas where large scale Wi-Fi mesh network would be helpful like SOS signals in remote regions and mobile communications network.
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