Do you have a rolled lawn?

It’s no secret that the natural turf of a quality football field is expensive. The golf course lawn is cheaper, but much larger. What they have in common is the requirements for controlling the condition of the soil: moisture, temperature, the level of hardness salts and saturation with fertilizers.

The main users of such facilities are accustomed to receiving the highest quality services. This implies a significant investment in the creation and maintenance of the proper quality of the grass cover of the fields. Owners quickly come to the logical conclusion that it is much more economically correct to extend the life of the lawn in an acceptable condition for as long as possible. This requires up-to-date information about the condition of the soil, its moisture content, temperature and the necessity of using mineral fertilizers. Indeed, for lawn grass, excessive moisture is more destructive than its lack.

How will IoT help?

When it comes to wireless systems for automating golf course maintenance, we must take into account the problem of long distances from cell towers and uneven coverage of the fields. It is also obvious that we cannot use technologies that require external power and wired infrastructure.

The solution proposed by iotji will help solve several problems at once: a network based on LoRaWAN technology, to which wireless soil condition sensors are connected (measuring moisture and temperature at different levels, indicating the appropriate time to use mineral fertilizers). The sensors come with their own battery that does not require replacement for several years, are easy to install and remove, and are also easy to find thanks to the built-in satellite-free geolocation system (TDoA).

In open areas, the reliable data transmission distance to base stations easily covers all needs, and the ability to install your own base stations in the right places ensures uninterrupted coverage.

How will we see the result?

The data is output to the centralized point of the agronomic service responsible for the state of the fields, and to the mobile devices of employees. This allows you to monitor the status of objects in real time, and the accumulated statistics makes it possible to make more informed decisions about the amount of watering and the level of fertilization. Reducing the amount of water used for irrigation is a welcome addition to the benefits of the LoRaWAN system.

At the second stage, it is possible to additionally introduce a tracking system for the location of lawn mowers, including non-self-propelled, irrigation installations, as well as an intelligent lighting control system.