Doctoral student Vinay Pagay holds
one of the chips
Whether you're growing wine grapes or
mixing cement, there are some situations in which it's vitally important to
monitor moisture content. Normally water sensors are used, although these can
be both large and expensive. Now, however, a team from Cornell University has
created a water-sensing silicon chip that's not only tiny, but is also
reportedly "a hundred times more sensitive than current devices."
What's more, the chips might be possible to mass-produce for just $5 a pop.
Known as a "lab on a chip" device, the
chip contains a tiny water-filled cavity. Once placed in soil, inserted in the
stem of a plant, stuck in a cement matrix or put somewhere else, the chip
exchanges moisture from that cavity with moisture in its environment via a nonporous
membrane. The chip measures any changes in the pressure within the cavity, that
result from water either entering it or being drawn out.
In order to relay the data it
gathers, the chip must be connected to a Wi-Fi card, a data logger, or some
other device that can either transmit or record information. One chip can
reportedly last outdoors for at least a few years, although freezing
temperatures may cause it break.
The Cornell researchers are now
establishing how moisture readings made by the chips translate to plant growth,
so that users can make sense of their data.
Already, Welch's juice company and
the Ernest and Julio Gallo winery have expressed interest in the technology.
Source : Gizmag.com
