NICTA unveils new wireless monitoring platform

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 28 September 2005 10:00

Your IT - Home IT

Government funded ICT research group, National ICT Australia Ltd (NICTA), has developed its first prototytpe, a wireless sensor network technology platform. The new platform is touted as having exceptional potential in agricultural applications.

The NICTOR platform, the first product prototype developed by NICTA, will be used for monitoring and control of critical infrastructure in Australia's horticulture and agriculture industries.  According to NICTA, the locally-developed technology has the potential to boost the quality and yield of Australia's farming produce, and address the challenges associated with on-farm water management.

The NICTOR platform was developed as part of the Water Information Networks project within the Sensor Networks program at NICTA's Victoria Research Laboratory.

The NICTOR platform 1st stage prototype took eight months to develop, building on past research, and NICTA expects that commercial trials will begin later this year.  

'The development of the NICTOR platform showcases NICTA's commitment to developing technologies that benefit Australians,' said Professor Rob Evans, director of NICTA's Victoria Research Laboratory. 'Its application in the area of water management has exceptional potential in a climate like Australia's.'

Sensor networks are made up of small, relatively inexpensive electronic devices spread around a location to monitor factors such as temperature, moisture, and pollutant levels. Each sensor is equipped with a radio transceiver, a microcontroller and an energy source; the information gathered is transferred to a monitoring facility for analysis.

Intelligent sensor networks, such as those based on the NICTOR platform, have the potential to create systems that can monitor what is happening in their immediate environment, communicate with each other, and take action if necessary.

Analysts have predicted the market for sensor networks to be worth as much as US$39 billion by 2010. However, issues of cost, power, security, maintenance, and communication have affected the development of such systems.

To address these issues, the NICTOR team has carried out research in the areas of interference avoidance, including cognitive radio capabilities, configuration minimalisation, enhancement to medium access control, power efficient routing, and security.

'One application area for the NICTOR platform is in agricultural water management, a significant issue for a dry continent like Australia', said Dr Stan Skafidas, program leader of NICTA's Sensor Networks program, 'Horticulturalists could benefit from NICTOR by placing sensors near trees to monitor variables such as soil moisture and temperature.

'The system's ability to measure variables local to individual plants means it can deliver water where it is needed and even detect abnormalities in plant development. Using intelligent systems in this way can improve fruit quality and crop yield.'

Dr Skafidas said that dairy farmers could also benefit from the NICTOR platform by using the platform to measure pasture soil moisture and control irrigation. This has the potential to result in improved pasture quality and increased milk production and farm productivity.

Other industries that could potentially benefit from the NICTOR platform are transportation, mining, and environmental monitoring of air and water quality. NICTOR also has possible applications in infrastructure monitoring and security.