Design of monitor system for grain depots based on wireless sensor network

The safety of grain storage is a significant thing that concerns people's living quality and national economic development. It is exceedingly important for manager to timely master the grain storage condition. Improving the automation level of monitor system is the key to assure the safety of grain storage. A novel scheme of monitor system designed for grain depots is proposed based on wireless sensor network (WSN). This scheme utilizes sensor nodes deployed in barns, which compose an autonomous network, to collect environmental data of grain storage and then transmit them to remote control center by means of wireless and multi-hop communication. Due to using small, low cost sensor nodes and wireless communication, several problems in traditional monitor system are solved. These problems include large cable coverage, more opportunities of interference and lighting strike, high maintenance cost and so on. Consequently, the WSN-based system has good reliability, maintainability and cost effectiveness.