An intelligent Edge-IoT platform for monitoring livestock and crops in a dairy farming scenario

• Published in: Ad hoc networks 2020-03, Vol.98, p.102047, Article 102047
• Main Authors: Alonso, Ricardo S., Sittón-Candanedo, Inés, García, Óscar, Prieto, Javier, Rodríguez-González, Sara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Distributed ledger technologies; Edge computing; Internet of things; Livestock monitoring; Precision agriculture; Smart farming
• ISSN: 1570-8705; 1570-8713
• DOI: 10.1016/j.adhoc.2019.102047

Today’s globalized and highly competitive world market has broadened the spectrum of requirements in all the sectors of the agri-food industry. This paper focuses on the dairy industry, on its need to adapt to the current market by becoming more resource efficient, environment-friendly, transparent and secure. The Internet of Things (IoT), Edge Computing (EC) and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) are all crucial to the achievement of those improvements because they allow to digitize all parts of the value chain, providing detailed information to the consumer on the final product and ensuring its safety and quality. In Smart Farming environments, IoT and DLT enable resource monitoring and traceability in the value chain, allowing producers to optimize processes, provide the origin of the produce and guarantee its quality to consumers. In comparison to a centralized cloud, EC manages the Big Data generated by IoT devices by processing them at the network edge, allowing for the implementation of services with shorter response times, and a higher Quality of Service (QoS) and security. This work presents a platform oriented to the application of IoT, Edge Computing, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain techniques in Smart Farming environments, by means of the novel Global Edge Computing Architecture, and designed to monitor the state of dairy cattle and feed grain in real time, as well as ensure the traceability and sustainability of the different processes involved in production. The platform is deployed and tested in a real scenario on a dairy farm, demonstrating that the implementation of EC contributes to a reduction in data traffic and an improvement in the reliability in communications between the IoT-Edge layers and the Cloud.