Resourceful selection-based design of wireless units for granary monitoring systems

The effectiveness of any granary system is grossly dependent upon the efficiency of its monitoring and control measures. The granary monitoring systems presently in use in most developing countries are based on wired networks with inevitable disadvantages that include high installation and maintenance costs. Most wireless granary monitoring systems previously developed were achieved without resort to resourcefulness of the composite units of the system. However, record information on the selection of best comparative components for wireless granary monitoring systems is not readily available. This paper designed a wireless sensor integrated system from comparison and selection of resourceful component units for monitoring temperature, humidity and light variations in stored bulk grains. The resulting composite units of the developed system were products of the best parameters trade-off in the selection of components and protocols. The sensing unit consists of the selected Grove-DHT22 Temperature/Humidity sensor with calibrated, linearized and stable digital signals output via 1-wire bus and a cheap low-power Grove-GL5528 light sensor. The resulting network had no hierarchy or parent-child relationship constraint. The low-power sleep configuration possibility of the sensor node was cyclic and synchronized.