03/05/2023
FarmBeats for Students
Today's farms are beginning to look a lot more like smart cities. Growers are using modern techniques like sensors, computer vision, and artificial intelligence to acquire a more complete view of their crops. These methods help them make better decisions, discover inefficiencies, and unlock new insights into improving food production. The FarmBeats for Students program brings these modern tools into the hands of today's learners.
Using FarmBeats for Students, students learn about AI, Machine Learning, and the Internet of Things (IoT) by building a garden monitoring system. They assemble a Raspberry Pi equipped with atmospheric and environmental sensors to understand their soil's health, analyze data, and make decisions. The student-built IoT devices connect to custom Excel workbooks that collect real-time data using Excel’s Data Streamer. Using Lobe.ai, students are introduced to building their own Machine Learning models, applying the technique to predict nutrient deficiencies in their plants, and identifying pests in their garden. The program ends by introducing a responsible AI framework, engaging students with some of the social and ethical challenges raised by this new technology.
