The new software update includes closed-loop automation, multi-user capabilities, improved user interface and an API
WaterBit releases updated software. (Credit: Pixabay/Joseph Fulgham)
WaterBit, an agriculture technology company, announced that it has added significant functionality through its latest release of the software.
The updated solution, which features closed-loop automation, multi-user support along with improved user interface and an application programming interface (API), allows growers to irrigate remotely and precisely.
WaterBit CEO Andrew Wright said: “This release, and automated irrigation specifically, are major steps forward on WaterBit’s journey to enable growers with precise autonomous, but grower-guided, irrigation.
“With input from growers, our solution can tell where and when a crop needs water and apply that water automatically.”
With closed-loop automation, growers of speciality crops such as wine grapes and almonds can use the solution to remotely monitor soil moisture in their fields and control the flow of irrigation. The solution users can now set soil moisture levels to automatically trigger irrigation application.
Historically, growers had to visit each field to evaluate soil moisture and manually open and close the valves to start and stop irrigation. WaterBit claims that its technology allows the growers to achieve consistent soil moisture levels automatically and remotely, improving crop quality and yield, while saving on water and optimising labour.
Growers can add multiple users with specific permissions
Generally, farms have several people getting involved to manage irrigation. The latest version of the WaterBit solution allows a single account to have multiple users, all with specific permissions such as executive management, to farm managers, to irrigators. Such a system allows each user to have the appropriate level of access and control to the solution and its functionalities.
With improved user interface functionality, WaterBit users will now have the ability to add annotations to charts within the WaterBit Dashboard. It allows the growers to note insights or concerns directly within soil moisture or irrigation application chart and make it a single source of information.
The notes can further be used to identify patterns or interesting events and the observations could be shared with other users of the WaterBit Dashboard.
The WaterBit API allows growers to download their data from the WaterBit Dashboard for reporting and analysis, or so that it could be used with another system.
As there are several agtech solutions currently being deployed in most farms, it is important that the information does not have stay within each system, WaterBit stated.
The solution has been developed around WaterBit Carbon, an Internet of Things (IoT) device that uses long-range radio (LoRa) to send data from the field to the cloud via a cellular gateway.
Carbon is a palm-sized, solar-powered device that stays out of the way and works even in low light conditions. The solution pairs Carbon devices with soil moisture sensors, valves, pressure sensors and flow metres to monitor and control irrigation remotely.