A sensor network system for the measurement and prediction of apple production volume from orchard to warehouse

This paper is a case study on the measurement and prediction of agricultural production volume using a sensor network system from orchard to warehouse. The sensor network system is comprised of a communication unit and a sensor tag, while a management system was constructed for measuring apple production volume in an orchard. In addition, a sensor for a PVC container was constructed and applied for measuring production volume based on the container used for storing and harvesting agricultural products. Moreover, for transmitting and receiving large amounts of sensing data smoothly, a monitoring system was proposed and constructed to control the entire system, as well as the protocol between a base station and the sensor tag comprehensively. In an in-situ test, the measurement (recognition rate 85.4%) and prediction data were obtained by detecting the transport information of agricultural products between the orchard and a warehouse. Real-time data of distribution channels or transportation were also obtained.