Internet of Things (IoT) Device Management in Rural Areas to Support Precision Agriculture

Abstract

Internet of Things (IoT) devices have an important role in supporting precision agriculture systems, namely acting as the first layer consisting of several nodes in a limited network group as a producer of land, environmental and plant parameter data that will be processed at the next level. This node is an embedded system consisting of sensors, microcontrollers, power supplies and wireless communication media. The challenge that arises is when the number of new nodes that will be connected to the concentrator in a limited network group is quite large and is still done manually by the user, so that it has the potential to cause complexity and errors in configuration. The purpose of this research is to design a self-registration scheme from each new node to the concentrator in a restricted network group automatically. The method used by new nodes for self-registration is to read the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) value from the concentrator, then exchange metadata according to the OCF (Open Connectivity Foundation) standard. The concentrator will refer to the maximum number of nodes allowed to join the group and check the metadata of the new node. If the registration process is successful, the new node will gain access rights to communicate with the concentrator and its closest neighbours in the network group. This mechanism will help farmers in rural areas to be able to configure Internet of Things (IoT) devices easily and provide benefits in supporting precision agriculture.