Fully Digital Amplitude Estimation System for In-Vivo Stem Impedance Monitoring

Smart agriculture aims to improve food production and reduce the waste of water and chemicals by monitoring the crops with sensors. Direct and in-vivo crop monitoring can improve the information extracted and increase the impact of smart agriculture. Here, we propose a system to estimate the amplitude of a signal traveling inside a plant stem in vivo. The amplitude of this signal is strictly related to the impedance of the plant, a promising parameter to monitor plant status. This approach allows monitoring the plant impedance with an electric signal carrying other information. The plant stem will act as a communication channel, removing the need for wireless communication systems.