Remember when the weed eater was invented or the first home leaf blowers. These were revolutionary in their impact and almost immediate in their spread.
I note these introductions not to show how ancient I have become, but rather to compare how the appearance of new-fangled products change outdoor horticulture. If you doubt this, note the arrival of another revolution brought on by the spread of the 'smart home'.
Apple, Amazon, Google and the IoT
For those who are out of the loop, Apple, Amazon, Google and others have developed the "internet of things" into the ability for us to use our phones to operate these various "things" from afar. It started with thermostats and lights, moved on to security cameras and door locks, spread to baby monitors and lately, refrigerators, stoves and ovens. All of this is lumped into a category known as the 'smart home'.
And this year, welcome to the 'smart yard'. The biggest attempt will be to get all of us to switch from our tractors and push mowers to, you got it, "smart lawn mowers." The automatic, indoor vacuum comes to the lawn in the form of GPS-guided mowers that you turn on and walk away from while they continuously groom your yard.
Then there are automatic sprinklers. Sprinklers have been automated for a long time, but now you can use your phone to turn yours on or off. Or, have it set up to a weather station and monitor that tells it when to go on or off.
Watering lawns is not really a problem but an auto watering system in the garden beds might make some sense if you are away from them enough to justify the cost. Sprinklers can be connected to your other home systems like your thermostat, and you can even use voice control via your phone.
Silicon Valley is pushing data monitors to gather information about growing sites. The idea is to use one to find out what will grow best in the area you choose for your garden. Maybe these are kind of silly as you seemingly have to wait a whole year to gather information. I am sure there are times when one might become useful, however.
A Garden Sensor will monitor existing gardens; it also will tell you what you need to do. Does this take the fun out of gardening? Or do you couple it with an automatic watering tool so you can be notified and then act when your garden needs water and you are not there? Every garden has different needs.
Finally, check out the lighting options that are now available for your yard. We know Phillips, for example, makes the Hue, which are controllable and come in colours. Using these or similar systems, you can create your own outdoor light shows.
I wonder what will be next? Surely the "smart yard" is an area ripe for development. Let's see if they figure out a way to automate those leaf blowers (but first, please make them quieter). In any case, take a bit of time this week to travel around the internet checking out the up-and-coming smart yard.
Whether you find something you like, or not, the impact of these connected tools is bound to be great once they permeate our horticulture culture. There are many smart homes already using those little speaker assistants, and these are less than a year old. I know there must many folks who are looking forward to saying "Hey Siri (or Alexa), mow the lawn." You might also ask your assistant if there are any new smart yard tools.
By: Jeff Lowenfels
https://www.whatsorb.com/agri-gardening/smart-agriculture-will-be-data--ai--driven-agriculture