Purdue University professor turns smart phones into smart sensors
Dr. Krishna Nemali, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist at Purdue University, has developed an easy-to-use, affordable smart sensor that’s proving valuable to indoor farmers for improving farm productivity and crop quality. Using only a smart phone and a connection to Dr. Nemali’s apps, users can quickly and precisely monitor/measure a wide variety of production and growth parameters including light efficiency, germination rate, plant size (area, height, weight), color (intensity, progression), damage (nutrient deficiency, insect), biochemistry (chlorophyll, nitrogen and other micronutrients), and stress index. Dr. Nemali plans to make his smart sensor tool available in January 2022 for a nominal annual fee, which will support the development of future applications. For more information: http://scri-optimia.org/showcafe.php?ID=111113
Indoor Ag Science Café is an outreach program of the OptimIA project, funded by the USDA SCRI grant program. Interested parties can join the free café forums, live or recorded (http://www.scri-optimia.org). The café forum is designed to serve as a communication platform among scientists and indoor farming professionals.
