Case Study: 
IoT Intelligent Farming System

IoT-based intelligent farming system - interface
Amazon AWS logo
Amazon AWS
PHP developers
PHP
Google Maps logo
Google Maps
GPS icon
GPS Integration

The goal

Create software that can manage and track offline mechanical equipment, extract and process relevant data, differentiate cultivated from uncultivated land

How to achieve

Develop a 3-part interconnected system based on IoT technology

Technologies used

AWS, GPS, Google Maps, PHP, NodeJS

The Results

20+ farms have been connected onto this system so far, 150+ connected machines, 700+ Gb data processed

Requirement

NuPoint, our client, who is a farming software solutions provider from Australia, understood that farmers needed a powerful, unified, intelligent farming system that connects all the relevant touchpoints and processes the received data to streamline the farming processes. In order to optimize all the farming processes and bring abundant harvests, this new farm cultivation system needed to:

Our client already created a hardware prototype based on the Internet of Things approach and would address the requirements and solve the problem farmers encountered. They wanted to extend their software development capacity and found Shinetech’s experience suited them perfectly, so we started a long-term collaboration.

The Solution – bring a IoT-based intelligent farming system into the industry

We assembled a four-developer team who undertook all the software development and hardware integration tasks, including:

Intelligent farming system - tractor cultivating the plants autonomously
IoT - Intelligent farming system - tracking machinery in the field

Develop a working solution in three months

Through our unique approach to how we work with the clients and develop the software, Shinetech managed to send the product to the client in just three months.

The overall development process was entirely transparent for the client, and they knew exactly where the software stood during its development phases. Through the use of daily email updates, instant messaging platforms, and project management tools, the customer understood the development progress directly and, based on it, provided adequate feedback on time. Our team was very keen on receiving the said feedback as it helped tremendously improve the submitted functions and quickly solve the issues our team encountered. It also provided the appropriate support for coordinating the resources.

We also established weekly video conferences to further strengthen the customer and the Shinetech team’s contact. Not only did constant and consistent communication build trust and provide support for both sides, but it was also the key to delivering great working software at a steady pace. Our client relied on receiving updates regularly as it helped them with their daily operations.

Continuous integration by Two-week Iteration Process

We needed to ensure that the intelligent farming system consistently met the client’s needs. To achieve this goal, we adopted the ‘continuous integration, two weeks iteration’ practice so that we could enable the client to use, evaluate, and voice their thoughts in all software development stages. That’s established the development phase that consisted of several bi-weekly sprints. After completing each development sprint, we received extensive feedback and then promptly implemented it into our software. The received feedback, in turn, allowed our team to find and solve problems effectively, thus achieving higher development efficiency and mitigating the potential risks.

Leon Weng visits NuPoint to gather data for the intelligent farming system

Working in the field

Our experts accompanied machine operators in the cabins and experienced first-hand how the hardware was used. While being in the cabin with the drivers, they thoroughly tested the system, discussed all the details with the end-users, and examined how the system and all its parts performed under poor network connectivity. We then established frequent visits to retest the system and ensure all the components worked as intended.

The Results - a fully functional intelligent farming system

The software Shinetech built supports more than 20 farms today; the system connects over 150 cultivation machines and has processed more than 700 Gb of data. The project is still active, and our experts are working on expanding it further, so we expect these numbers to increase in the near future.

Lance Nuttall CEO, NuPoint

“Leon and his team were responsible for developing our software system and the hardware integration. His technical knowledge, leadership and experience working in software technology has been impressive. The team are talented, efficient, dedicated and extremely resourceful, they have developed a system which is adaptable to any industry.” 

NuPoint

The Development team

Leon Weng
Project lead: Leon Weng

Leon is a veteran team leader in Shinetech; he has worked with ten clients in the past several years. Leon is always keen to think about problems on a business level and puts himself in the perspective of a product owner so that he can plan the project with the client. Leon has been specializing in IoT for the last three years and has already led several IoT projects in the Asia Pacific, Australia, and the US.

Coco Li
Senior Full-stack Developer: Coco Li

Coco was deeply integrated with both the team and the client for this project. Because of this, she developed a deep understanding of the client's business and helped implement new ideas while delivering software of the highest quality. Coco's ability has grown with Shinetech; she continuously learns new skills and is always eager to help others.

Django Wong
Senior Project Manager: Django Wong

Django has been an essential member of the NuPoint team for over four years; he always designs excellent architecture and helps with team mobilization. The client has given him a perfect rating and has used Django to help improve other areas of their business. Django’s knowledge of several programming languages is impeccable, some of which are PHP, NodeJS, VUE, and Python.

Leon Weng
Project lead: Leon Weng

Leon is a veteran team leader in Shinetech; he has worked with ten clients in the past several years. Leon is always keen to think about problems on a business level and puts himself in the perspective of a product owner so that he can plan the project with the client. Leon has been specializing in IoT for the last three years and has already led several IoT projects in the Asia Pacific, Australia, and the US.

Coco Li
Senior Full-stack Developer: Coco Li

Coco was deeply integrated with both the team and the client for this project. Because of this, she developed a deep understanding of the client's business and helped implement new ideas while delivering software of the highest quality. Coco's ability has grown with Shinetech; she continuously learns new skills and is always eager to help others.

Django Wong
Senior Project Manager: Django Wong

Django has been an essential member of the NuPoint team for over four years; he always designs excellent architecture and helps with team mobilization. The client has given him a perfect rating and has used Django to help improve other areas of their business. Django’s knowledge of several programming languages is impeccable, some of which are PHP, NodeJS, VUE, and Python.

Do you have an IoT-based project in mind? We’d love to hear about it! Contact us!

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