A wireless tower at Iowa State University’s Ag Engineering/Agronomy Farm west of Ames is loaded with hardware sending radio waves across the countryside, creating wireless internet connections for rural users.
There are more poles, antennas and cabinets full of electronics on the roof of the Economic Development Core Facility at the Iowa State University Research Park. And bolted to the top of Wilson Hall, a 10-story residence hall. And hanging from the top of a wooden utility pole at Iowa State’s Curtiss Farm south of town.
There are also electronics and lower-to-the ground antennas next to research fields and in a sheep barn. There’s equipment going through the roof of a dairy barn. There are even hardware cabinets on the roof of a CyRide bus.
The deployment of all this infrastructure in and around Ames means the $16 million ARA Wireless Living Lab for Smart and Connected Rural Communities is moving to a public testing phase. The project’s progress will be celebrated during a launch event Sept. 6-8 on the Iowa State campus, including field trips to ARA deployment sites.
The event will feature technical presentations, including:
“ARA-Enabled Teleoperation of Automated PhenoBots,” by Lie Tang, an Iowa State professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering and a Plant Sciences Institute faculty scholar
“ARA-Enabled Livestock Health Monitoring” by Joshua Peschel, an Iowa State associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering
and, “ARA-Enabled Agriculture Automation” by Matthew Darr, the John Deere Endowed Chair in Agricultural Innovation and leader of Iowa State’s Digital Ag Innovation Lab.
Source: eurekalert.org
Photo Credit: federal-reserve-bank-of-kansas-city
Categories: Iowa, General