RFID-integrated Multi-Functional Remote Sensing System for Seedling Production Management

Abstract

A multi-functional remote sensing system (MFRSS) integrating Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology with remote spectral imaging and environmental sensing was developed to enhance seedling production and management in greenhouse. Consisted of a management traceability system (also known as management resume) and an environment traceability system (also known as environment resume), a traceable production management system is highly desirable for automated operations in greenhouse. This study is the first application of RFID to an automatic greenhouse seedling production system. The advantages of the MFRSS system are twofold: First, the production management information can be made traceable by establishing passive RFID on the multi-functional remote sensing system during variable boom cruising in the greenhouse. The spectral images were acquired using a color camera and a monochrome camera with a 780 nm optical filter, with the exposure time and signal gain controlled through an IEEE-1394 interface. Secondly, an automatic exposure algorithm eliminating interferences caused by sunlight variation was developed using Matlab 6.5 and LabVIEW 7.1. The tray position data were transferred to the look up table and delivered to the water management module through a DataSocket server and wireless network. The environment-sensing sub-system, including temperature, relative humidity, and photo-quantum measurements, was developed with a PCI-6023 interface to analyze their spatial distribution in the greenhouse. Not only does the mechanism established in the present study provide a basis for developing an automatic seedling production system, the environmental factors and facility status captured by the RFID-integrated MFRSS also enable a traceable seedling production management database, which is a crucial constituent for practical applications.