Xu Tao is a PhD candidate in the Department of Computer Science at University of Kentucky, KY, USA, under the supervision of Dr. Simone Silvestri. In prior, she worked as a researcher at the LINKS Foundation in Italy from 2018 to 2021. She holds an M.Sc degree in computer engineering from Politecnico di Torino, Italy, earned in 2018. Her research interest lies in harnessing the potential of Internet of Things, Cyber-Physical System and LPWAN Network to revolutionize smart agriculture.
Rapid advancements in Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) have revolutionized various domains by seamlessly integrating physical and computational elements. However, limited internet coverage in remote areas hampers CPS deployment in vital sectors like agriculture. To address this challenge, we consider utilizing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to extend the network connectivity and propose efficient data collection techniques for high precision crop monitoring. In addition, we explore the potential of LoRa, an emerging low-power, long-range communication technology as an ideal solution for communication in large-scale rural farms. Our focus lies in utilizing LoRa for image transmission, facilitating a broader of machine learning-based applications, such as crop diseases monitoring and insects detection without requiring extensive and costly communication infrastructure. Furthermore, we introduce novel and efficient image processing methods at the end device to reduce the amount of data transmission over LoRa, resulting in decreased transmission latency and high disease detection accuracy.