This article is about a project done by our team, Team Fusion.
As a member of Team Fusion, I am proud to share that we have secured a place in the top 5 of the Spark Challenge 2021-22 organized by the Department of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering at the University of Moratuwa.
Our team recognized that food security is a pressing issue in Sri Lanka, where nearly 28.55% of the population is food insecure, according to the latest report by the World Food Program (2022). To tackle this challenge, we came up with a smart engineering solution.
We began by asking three fundamental questions: What are the areas that are currently cultivated in Sri Lanka? How can we increase the cultivation of those areas? What are the areas that are currently not cultivated but can be cultivated by controlling the environmental factors? Through research and analysis, we realized that we needed a technology that could monitor weather conditions from any place in the country and upload them to our servers. We would then analyze those conditions to gain a better understanding of the behavior of the environmental factors. The best part? We could replicate those monitored conditions exactly inside a closed environment in a remote location. We call this the MAC (Monitor, Analyze, Control) concept.
We didn't stop at the concept stage. We developed a working prototype as proof of concept, completing the weather monitoring part, server unit, dashboard, and humidity controlling part. We are currently working on testing parts for temperature and soil moisture control, with plans to develop the pH-controlling part and nutrition-controlling parts in the future.
Our technology isn't just a single product. It can be applied in many other places as well. For example, it can be used for research purposes, to collect datasets, to control store rooms, to enhance existing greenhouses, in zoos to give the exact home conditions for the animals, or to grow commercially valuable products like flowers and for animal farming as well.
The goal of the competition was to come up with products and technologies that could help the globe to achieve the United Nations' sustainable development goals.
One of those sustainable development goals is Zero Hunger, and we are proud to say that our product is making a direct positive impact on achieving this goal.
As a team, we worked together seamlessly to develop this technology. With me, My colleagues Yasiru Senerath, Saliya Dinusha, and Senuri Ranatunga did an exceptional job, and we couldn't have done it without the support of our mentors Sandushan Ranaweera and Muhammed Imdaad, who went above and beyond to assist us.
I am excited to see what the future holds for this technology and how it can contribute to addressing food security challenges not just in Sri Lanka, but around the world.
Comments