Australian students win global software competition

Tag : water solution

The competition
The students were asked to build a complete software solution usingMicrosoft tools under the theme "imagine a world where technologyenables a sustainable environment".
Team SOAKs solution automates the various manual systems farmersuse to coordinate the pumps, drippers and sprinklers that watertheir crops. It tightly controls the irrigation on a given propertyusing a Zigbee-powered sensor network to detect such variables astemperature, dam levels, soil moisture and salinity or wind speed.
These sensors connect to a software system that is also fed byinternet weather forecasts and other external data sources relatingto the propertys water health. The system can, for example, holdoff on watering an area should rain be forecast the following day,but kick back in should rain not eventuate.
The solution is built on industry-standard hardware and Microsoftsoftware, using sensors that the team estimates could cost aslittle as AU$100. Current sensor networks, the students said, costtens to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The solution has been tested and showered with praise by theMorning Star Estate Winery in Victoria, and has also been lauded byboth the Victorian Farmers Federation and The National Party.
The students also claim to be in discussion with hardwaremanufacturer Hewlett-Packard about the potential for selling thesolution as a complete hardware and software package.
Celebrations ahead
The students, who have spent the last five months developing thesolution and the last week in intense competition, were ecstatic intaking out the prize.
Tonight they finally get a chance to let their hair down and enjoythe sights of Paris. Tomorrow, said Hooper, "we're going toDisneyland".