Work

Preliminary Steps Towards a Low Power Integrated Circuit for AgriTech: a Relaxation Oscillator for Stem Impedance Monitoring

Year: 2025

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: The main challenges in modern agriculture involve addressing the disruptive environmental effects caused by crop and livestock production, which are essential for human survival. Emerging trends point towards a world of pervasive IoT (Internet of Things) nodes, where low-cost, low-power, and in-vivo plant sensors can detect abiotic and biotic stresses at the earliest stages. This paper presents a preliminary study of an integrable, low-power relaxation oscillator, consisting of a Schmitt trigger in a feedback loop with the plant’s stem to evaluate its health status. Simulations have been conducted to compare the energy consumption of this circuit with state-of-the-art electronic sensors, focusing on energy usage per measurement. The results indicate that this new solution can sense the plant’s health status with an energy consumption below 10 µJ per measurement, which is at least an order of magnitude lower than existing electronic systems found in the literature.

Source: IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems proceedings

DOI: 10.1109/iscas56072.2025.11042932

Authors: Mattia Barezzi, Stefano Calvo, Luca Rolle, Danilo Demarchi, Umberto Garlando

Institution: Politecnico di Torino

Language: English

Topic: Analog and Mixed-Signal Circuit Design

Subfield: Biomedical Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Zero hunger, Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: green

Funders: European Commission, NextGenerationEU