7Sense has developed an irrigation monitoring system that saves water, protects crops and frees up time for farmers.
Irrigation sensors reduce water loss on farms
Agriculture accounts for 70 per cent of freshwater use worldwide. Traditional irrigation systems in agriculture, however, are labour-intensive and require constant manual monitoring. They often consist of hundreds of metres of hoses, pipes and connectors, where many components can – and will – malfunction. Any malfunction could potentially lead to enormous water losses, as well as damage to fields and crops.
“Irrigation systems require a lot of manual operation and observation. Farmers irrigate during the night because of the conditions. This causes trouble for the farmers when it comes to sleeping. It’s a never-ending hassle during the summertime,” explains Tangen.
7Sense automatically detects water loss
7Sense has developed a wireless sensor that can be easily retrofitted to almost any type of existing irrigation system.
“One hot summer when we travelled around talking to farmers, the irrigation issue came up time and time again. We started to realise how terribly occupied farmers are with the irrigation process. It became clear to us that they needed a high-tech solution,” explains Tangen.
Using non-intrusive flow detection (international patent pending), the sensor detects any loss of water and alerts the farmer. This means manpower can be moved from monitoring irrigation systems to more productive tasks.
Using satellite navigation, the sensor also provides real-time information about where a sprinkler cart is, at which speed it is moving, and when it is expected to finish watering.
All the information is automatically fed into a farmer’s mobile device, which can easily be set up for different types of alerts.
See how we test the sensor in real-life lab environment:
