Environmental and Agricultural Sensors Research

Many applications exist for low-cost sensors for environmental and agricultural applications. Traditional sensor technologies, such as those fabricated with macro-machining or MEMS techniques often have long and expensive development cycles. These sensors can also be very expensive to manufacture in small quantities. Dr. Robert Dean at Auburn University has been developing a variety of low-cost sensors applicable to environmental and agricultural applications by using commercial printed circuit board (PCB) technology. This technology is mature, low-cost, and has short fabrication times. With this sensor technology, electrodes on the circuit board are designed so that they electromagnetically interact with the environment surrounding the circuit board. The presence or quantity present of a measurand results in a corresponding change in the circuit board’s impedance, which is easily detected with electronic circuitry. This sensor technology has been applied to various applications including drought monitoring, sea turtle nesting research, soil moisture content measurement, rust detection, etc.
Speaker(s): Prof. Robert Dean,
Room: G65, Bldg: 44 WR, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2109, Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/413415