I came across a research report on development and implementation of a Raspberry Pi based IOT system for monitoring performance of an instrumented tractor published in the latest issue of Smart Agricultural Technology Journal.

I found the report interesting because tractors are most crucial in agricultural operations, specially in traditional farming setup, followed in India. Seventy per cent of the Indian economy is covered by the agricultural sector so if we have to enhance production in the agricultural sector then we have to optimize farm operations. This report is aiming to do just that.

"The tractor's power often remains underutilized due to a mismatch between the tractor and implement, considering specific field conditions. To enhance system output, it becomes vital to acquire data on performance-related parameters for the tractor-implement combination", the report revealed.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772375524001357

"In this study the team developed a real-time Instrumented Tractor Performance Monitoring System (ITPMS) using the Internet-of-Things (IoT). This system consists of a Raspberry Pi, a GPS sensor, a proximity sensor, a rotary potentiometer, and a three-point hitch dynamometer. The rotary potentiometer measures tillage depth, while the three-point hitch dynamometer used to measure data on draft force. Proximity sensors are installed on a two-wheel drive (2WD) tractor to measure forward speed and drive-wheel slip," the report said.

Data was stored on dedicated web servers from all sensors through Raspberry Pi. Additionally, a web interface and a mobile application were set up to provide real-time data generated from the sensors. Field experiments were done to evaluate and monitor the performance parameters of the tractor.

According to the report, the results demonstrated that the system was effectively able to monitor the performance parameters. The system's capability to update data to the IoT server in real-time was validated. Overall, the development and implementation of this Raspberry Pi based IoT system, provided a reliable and efficient solution for real-time performance monitoring of instrumented tractors.