A New Bi-Frequency Soil Smart Sensing Moisture and Salinity for Connected Sustainable Agriculture

Optimizing water consumption is a major challenge for more sustainable agriculture with respect for the environment. By combining micro and nanotechnologies with the offered solutions of IoT connection (Sigfox and LoRa), new sensors allow the farmer to be connected to his agricultural production by mastering in real time the right contribution needed in water and fertilizer. The sensor designed in this research allows a double measurement of soil moisture and salinity. In order to minimize the destructuring of the ground to insert the sensor, we have designed a cylindrical sensor, easy to insert, with its electronics inside its body to propose a low power electronic architecture capable of measuring and communicating wireless with a LoRa or Sigfox network or even the farmer’s cell phone. This new smart sensor is then compared to the current leaders in agriculture to validate its performance. Finally, the sensor has better performance than commercials, a better response time, a better precision and it will be cheaper. For the salinity measure, it can detect the level of fertilizer in the soil according to the need of farmers.

Advanced Thermopile IR Dual Line Sensor for Smart Home

This article presents all steps between the advanced design and the production of CMOS compatible thermoelectric effect infrared sensors dedicated to smart home applications. It will start by making a comparison between thermopile, bolometer and pyroelectric technologies. Although sensitivity performances available with bolometers appear to be better at first sight, it is found that thermopiles have non-negligible advantages that make them more suitable for this application field. Then the different steps necessary for the design will be described, starting from the thermoelectric model of the sensor (temperature gradient, electrical sensitivity, etc.) and considering all steps up to technological manufacturing in a clean room. The results obtained on the structures produced on a specific computer-controlled measurement bench (temperature regulation with an onboard preamplification card) will be presented. Finally, the results prove that the square structures have better performances (S = 82 V/W and NETD = 208 mK).

An Overview of Basics Speech Recognition and Autonomous Approach for Smart Home IOT Low Power Devices

Automatic speech recognition, often incorrectly called voice recognition, is a computer based software technique that analyzes audio signals captured by a microphone and translates them into machine interpreted text. Speech processing is based on techniques that need local CPU or cloud computing with an Internet link. An activation word starts the uplink;“OK google”, “Alexa”, … and voice analysis is not usually suitable for autonomous limited CPU system (16 bits microcontroller) with low energy. To achieve this realization, this paper presents specific techniques and details an efficiency voice command method compatible with an embedded IOT low-power device.

Design, Integration and Characterization of a Tracking Patch: Application to Elderly Monitoring

According to the latest studies, the French population witnesses a high level of elderly. It follows from this phenomenon health troubles, fragility, and for some people suffering from cognitive problems, a daily need of monitoring and tracking in the fugues cases. It is in this context that comes our research program SACHA (Search and Computerize Human Acts). Our ambition is to develop an electronic patch able to trigger alarms, detect falls and provide geolocation service. Our studies were focused on the conception and the integration of different antennas and functionalities of this system in aim to ensure a good compromise “integration/performances”. Several prototypes have been tested and validated in a nursing home.

Algorithm and Design Methodology to Develop a PIFA with Optimized Reflection Coefficient for the ISM 868 MHz Band

This paper presents a methodological approach to design a printed Inverted F antenna for the ISM 868 MHz band. For this design, the ground plane dimensions were kept fixed and the meandered radiating arm was modified to obtain the best compromise integration/performances. This approach was then generalized to design meandered printed inverted F antennas.

Development of a Printed Coil for Wirelessly Charging a Tracking Elderly Patch

Monitoring systems for elderly require a compromise between reduced size and operational autonomy. The latter to get a system as independent as possible and to fit with our application needs for daily use. Our patch is developed as a surveillance system for old people;we chose to equip it with a wireless charging system for greater ease of use, imperceptible in the everyday life and waterproofing. This paper presents the development of a printed receiver coil to be integrated in a wireless charger to be used in an elderly tracking patch. The proposed design is validated using simulation that presents a good agreement with measurement results: Simulation (@150 KHz: L = 10.74 μH;R = 3 Ω) and Measurement (@150 KHz: L = 10.8 μH;R = 3.16 Ω). The receiver coil is elaborated on a polyimide substrate in the cleanroom of our laboratory LAAS-CNRS (Laboratory for Analysis and Architecture of Systems-National Center for Scientific Research) and a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) charger prototype is fabricated to test its performances before the integration of the wireless charging property in the tracking patch. The proposed coil presents a good compromise between small size and efficiency. For a charging current of 7.5 mA, this coil can ensure the recharging of the patch up to a distance of 4.8 mm between the Qi transmitter and receiver which is more than enough for our application.