Agricultural Internet of Things

Internet of things (IoT) is a new type of network that combines communication technology, expanded applications, and physical devices. Among them, agriculture is one of the most important areas in the application of the IoT technology, which has its unique requirements and integration features. Compared to the information technology in traditional agriculture, the agricultural IoT mainly refers to industrialized production and sustainable development under relatively controllable conditions. Agricultural IoT applies sensors, RFID, visual capture terminals and other types of sensing devices to detect and collect site information, and with broad applications in field planting, facility horticulture, livestock and poultry breeding, aquaculture and agricultural product logistics. It utilizes multiple information transmission channels such as wireless sensor networks, telecommunications networks and the internet to achieve reliable transmission of agricultural information at multiple scales and intelligently processes the acquired, massive information. The goals are to achieve (i) optimal control of agricultural production process, (ii) intelligent electronic trading of agricultural products circulation, and (iii) management of systematic logistics, quality and safety traceability.

This book focuses on three levels of agricultural IoT network: information perception technology, information transmission technology and application technology. 

Dr. Yong He is the Dean of Biosystems Engineering & Food Science of Zhejiang University, the Director of Digital Agriculture and Rural Area Informatization Research Center of Zhejiang University, and the Director of the Key Laboratory of Spectroscopy of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, PRC. Based on his expertise and contributions, he was selected one of the Chief Experts of the China’s "12th Five-Year" national 863 Projects on "Digital Agriculture Technology and Equipment", and one of the national Top Talents. His research interests include digital agriculture, rural area informatization, agricultural aviation and intelligent agricultural equipment. Dr. Yong He has published more than 500 research articles, more than 20 books and textbooks, and awarded over 150 Chinese Patents with 50+ software copyrights. He has won one First Prize of National Education Achievement Award, one Second Prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award, six First Prizes and 11 SecondPrizes of Provincial or Ministerial level Science and Technology Progress Awards. He was ranked as a Clarivate Analytics global Highly Cited Researchers in 2016-2018. Dr. Yong He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Agricultural Engineering from Zhejiang Agricultural University, and his Ph.D. degree in Biosystems Engineering from Zhejiang University. He is the Editor-in-Chief for Journals of Computers and Electronics in Agriculture and Agriculture and Food Research. Dr. Yong He serves at many international professional societies, such as the International Commission of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (CIGR), and a Fellow of the International Academy of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (iAABE).


Dr. Pengcheng Nie is a Vice Dean of Internet of Things Industry Research Institute of Zhejiang University, the Director of Intelligent Agriculture and Intelligent Equipment Research Center of Zhejiang University-Shandong Institute of Industrial Technology.An Executive Member of China Internet of Things Industry Alliance, an Executive Member of the Aviation Branch of Chinese Agricultural Engineering Society. His research interests are in the areas of artificial intelligence, Internet of things and intelligent agricultural equipment. He has developed a number of spectral plant and soil detection instruments, intelligent equipment of Internet of Things and cloud service platforms with independent intellectual property rights. He has published 28 papers indexed by SCI, awarded nine Chinese Patents. He has also won eight provincial and ministerial science and technology awards including the National Second Prize for Progress in Science and Technology and the Zhejiang Science and Technology Award. Dr. Pengcheng Nie received his B.S. degree in Electronic Information Engineering from Wuhan University of Technology, his M.S. degree from East China Jiaotong University, and his Ph.D. degree from Zhejiang University, all in China.


Dr. Qin Zhang is the Director of the Center for Precision and Automated Agricultural Systems (CPAAS), and a Professor of Agricultural Automation in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering, of Washington State University (WSU).  His research interests are in the areas of agricultural automation, agricultural robotics, and off-road equipment mechatronics.  Prior to his current position, he was a faculty member at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, worked at Caterpillar Inc., and taught at Zhejiang Agricultural University in China. Based on his research outcomes, he has authored/edited eight books, written more than twenty separate book chapters, edited three conference proceedings, published over 180 peer reviewed journal articles, and been awarded 11 U.S. patents.  He is currently serving as the Editor-in-Chief for Computers and Electronics in Agriculture.  Dr. Qin Zhang received his B.S. degree in engineering from Zhejiang Agricultural University, China; M.S. degree from the University of Idaho and Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Dr. Qin Zhang is a Member of Washington State Academy of Science, a Fellow of the International Academy of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (iAABE), a Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), a Full Member of the Club of Bologna (a World Task-force on the Strategies for the Development of Agricultural Mechanization), and an Honorary Vice President of the International Commission of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (CIGR). Dr, Zhang has guest lectured over 60 universities in more than 20 countries.

Dr. Fei Liu is the Deputy Director of Institute of Agricultural Information Technology of Zhejiang University (ZJU), Deputy Director of the Key Laboratory of Spectroscopy Sensing of  Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and a Professor of Agricultural Engineering in the Collegeof Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, ZJU.  His research interests are in the areas of spectral/hyperspectral imaging and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) for soil-plant-agricultural products information detection, remote sensing and agricultural IoT.  He also worked as a Visiting Scholar at Hokkaido University, Japan. He has authored/edited 5 books, published over 70 peer reviewed journal articles, and been awarded 35 Chinese Patents.  Dr. Fei Liu received his B.S. degree in Engineering from China Agricultural University (CAU), and his Ph.D. degree from Zhejiang University (ZJU), both in China. Dr. Fei Liu has been awarded National Second Prize for Progress in Science and Technology in 2015, three First Prizes of Zhejiang Provincial Science and Technology Awards in 2012, 2014 and 2016, and two Frist Prizes of China Ministry of Education Science and Technology Progress Award in 2014 and 2019. In addition, Dr. Fei Liu has been awarded for been nominated for Chinese Outstanding Patented Invention and DaBeiNong Science and Technology Awards-Intelligent Agriculture Award, both in 2017. He has also been nominated for the very prestigious National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Award in 2013.