Students at Novosibirsk State Technical University (NSTU) are creating a device for monitoring soil conditions in fields. The agricultural sensor will help determine the optimal timing of sowing, fertilizing and processing crops.
The starting point of the project was a request from farmers from Kazakhstan to the Prometheus Student Design Bureau about the need for a compact device that can be used to measure soil parameters in fields and transfer data to a computer. Soil condition monitoring is necessary for timely agricultural work: sowing crops, fertilizing the soil.
"The measuring unit of the device includes five stainless steel electrodes that are immersed directly into the soil. To avoid mutual interference between the measurement channels, the soil parameters are recorded sequentially. Temperature is measured by a thermistor, humidity is measured by a capacitive method at a frequency of 80 MHz, which minimizes the effect of dissolved salts and ensures the reliability of the results. The electrical conductivity of the soil is assessed using a conductometric method, and the acidity (pH) is a potentiometric method based on measuring the potential difference between two electrodes. The content of macronutrients - nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium - is determined by a calculated analytical method based on a set of measured physico-chemical parameters," said project manager, 4th year student of the Faculty of Radio Engineering and Electronics Alexander Sinkevich.
He notes that knowledge of the acidity and alkalinity of the soil affects the effective selection of fertilizers, since the ability of plants to absorb nutrients depends on these parameters. Regular monitoring of the soil will reduce the cost of fertilizers due to their proper selection, avoid excessive application and preserve soil fertility, and increase crop volume.
The prototype device works autonomously and provides wireless transmission of soil condition data. This allows to receive them remotely.
At the end of May 2026, the developers plan to conduct field tests to confirm the actual data transmission range, as well as battery life on a single battery charge.
Earlier, NSTU-NETI developed an eco-friendly gel that ensures seed safety, increases germination energy and field germination.