Avocados and agro-machines: effective control and monitoring systems for agriculture

In countries like Tanzania where agriculture is the backbone of the economy, efficiency and cost are key components to success. However, with limited access to electricity and complex infrastructure, most residents of these rural areas are forced to farm and harvest their products manually. In regions such as Arusha and Manyara in the northeast zone of Tanzania, they extract avocado oil using either diesel generators, which are complicated to use and produce lots of emissions, or electricity, a scarce and inaccessible commodity. 

The increasing use of locally made agricultural machines has led to the need for efficient systems that control these automations. Jema Ndibwile, assistant teaching professor in cybersecurity at CMU-Africa, and his collaborators from the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology saw this demand and began developing a solar-powered control and monitoring system for these "agro-machines" using the Internet of Things (IoT). A mobile app collects offline data from the machine motor which is then delivered to a cloud server for analysis.

"What we did is use the IoT-based technology to control the whole process and to get the best out of those agricultural products. We wanted IoT-based gadgets that can be operated automatically by setting time using a mobile phone as opposed to manually, which is less efficient. When you use something like a phone, it does all the controlling, the speed, the power to start the oil, and these kinds of insights we could derive from the IoT-based aspects," Ndibwile says.

Environmental and productivity concerns were the main motivators behind developing this system. The team focused on adhering to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) one, seven, and nine which pertain to ending poverty, finding clean and affordable energy solutions, and building innovative and sustainable infrastructure. Through the use of solar panels instead of diesel or electricity, they have created an effective system that relieves farmers from engaging in tedious manual labor while still yielding a high production rate.

The next step for this project is learning how to adapt this technology for different products. "What we did with the avocado was our pilot project. But, perhaps, there is a way to tweak a little or to customize the system for other products. For example, sesame seeds are very tiny compared to avocado so I think the operation will be very, very different and would benefit from a control and monitoring system," Ndibwile says.

To accomplish additional research in this area, Ndibwile says he first will need to secure funding. However, this work has been gaining traction and he hopes to expand the system and apply it to larger machines. The research won "Best Poster Presentation" at the First International Conference on Technological Advancement in Embedded and Mobile Systems and will be published in Springer Nature as part of the conference proceedings in May 2024.

Ndibwile says that he dedicates this work to his student, friend, and research collaborator, Eng. Gilbert Minja, who passed away in October 2023.