US 11,842,245 B2
Automated soil moisture effects sensor with improved RFID system
Omid Salehi-Abari, Waterloo (CA); Srinivasan Keshav, Cambridge (GB); and Ju Wang, Montreal (CA)
Filed by Omid Salehi-Abari, Waterloo (CA); Srinivasan Keshav, Cambridge (GB); and Ju Wang, Montreal (CA)
Filed on Mar. 12, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/200,535.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/989,439, filed on Mar. 13, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0286961 A1, Sep. 16, 2021
Int. Cl. G01L 9/00 (2006.01); G06K 7/10 (2006.01); G05B 19/4155 (2006.01); A01G 27/00 (2006.01); A01G 25/16 (2006.01)
CPC G06K 7/10366 (2013.01) [A01G 27/003 (2013.01); G05B 19/4155 (2013.01); A01G 25/167 (2013.01); G05B 2219/40269 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computer-implemented method for measuring levels of soil moisture in a plurality of containers using passive Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) tags, wherein each one of the plurality of containers contains soil, the method comprising:
automatically wirelessly interrogating, by at least one RFID reader, specific passive RFID tags affixed to or inside of specific ones of the plurality of containers;
automatically monitoring at least one signal feature of the specific passive RFID tags affixed to or inside of the specific ones of the plurality of containers, based on the wireless interrogation of the specific passive RFID tags;
wherein the least one signal feature of a passive RFID tag further comprises a minimum response threshold of RFID reader transmission power to activate the passive RFID tag (“MRT”); and
automatically determining soil moisture levels of the specific ones of the plurality of containers based on the at least one monitored signal feature of the specific passive RFID tags, and effects of soilure moisture on electromagnetic fields of antennas of passive RFID tags.