Field testing of IoT devices for livestock monitoring using Wireless Sensor Network, near field communication and Wireless Power Transfer

Abstract

There is a rapid growth in wireless communication devices, such as Wireless Sensor Nodes (WSN). While WSN has the abilities of sensing, processing and communication over distances, its abilities are limited by the capacity of its battery. To use the full functionalities of WSN, either the battery needs to replace or recharge in a periodically manner. However both solutions are not convenient for livestock monitoring system. The only way to solve the issue effectively and efficiently is to recharge the battery wirelessly. Due to the harsh operating environment, the sensor node has to be waterproofed within a sealed enclosure which then brings up a mind-boggling challenge of how to charge a battery when it is concealed? Therefore, Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) solution seems to be a sole solution to solve the issue in WSN for livestock farming. In this work, we propose a WSN livestock health monitoring system using Near Field Communication (NFC) to monitoring key parameters like temperature to monitor the health of livestock. WPT will also be discussed as how it provides a means for electronic devices to obtain power wirelessly without any physical connectivity to the WSN which is attached to the herds for health monitoring purpose.