The OSA IoT Lab finds, tests, documents, and maintains low-cost open source tools so small and mid-sized farms gain the same kinds of insight large operations buy.
Why open source
Open data formats and interoperable designs keep sensor readings, maps, and farm records portable, so a grower can change hardware, dashboards, or service providers as needs evolve. Open designs invite low-cost hardware, community-built improvements, and transparent pricing. Because the code, schemas, and documentation are visible, local teams and apprentices can understand, maintain, repair, and extend the tools themselves.
How we work with farmers
- Farmer data stays with the farmer. Minimal collection, local storage by default, and opt-in sharing only. No cloud or proprietary data.
- Local first. Arduino, Raspberry Pi, phones, older laptops, LoRaWAN radios, and offline operation suited to rural connectivity.
- Community review. Our community IoT protocol invites farmworkers and community members to review tool designs and use cases, compensates them for their time, and asks a simple question of every draft: does this ring true?
- Apprentices as the support team. Apprentices install, maintain, and troubleshoot tools on partner farms.
For technologists and developers
The lab offers a real-world testbed across diverse small-farm settings. We review and adapt existing open-source tools, contribute improvements back to original projects as a maintainer partner, and publish hardware designs, data schemas, curricula, and playbooks under permissive licenses. Our repositories are public on GitHub.
Adopt, Adapt, and Steward
Giving proven farm tools a longer life
Many open source agriculture projects worked well enough to prove an idea and then stopped growing because their builders got busy or moved on. We look for those projects and move the strongest ones toward real use on farms, vineyards, ranches, orchards, gardens, and community food sites.
Our process
- Find open-source IoT and AI projects related to agriculture.
- Sort them by area, such as water, soil, pest and disease, climate, computer vision, and regenerative practice tracking.
- Review each with a practical rubric covering activity, documentation, usability, farm relevance, and openness.
- Select candidates for adoption, adaptation, updating, documentation, or stewardship.
- Test them on implementation farms and improve them through use.
Over time this builds a practical library of tools examined through real agricultural use. Some become workshop examples, some become partner-farm pilots, and some become long-term stewardship projects.
Produce Grading and Direct Sales
Grading at the sorting table, priced with public market data
We are developing an open source produce grading station for small and mid-sized farms. It evaluates the exact lot being sold at the sorting table and compares the result with current USDA Market News wholesale pricing for the commodity and region. A grower can see an anticipated grade, a confidence score, and a suggested price range before a sales conversation.
- Built for working farms: low-cost hardware, offline-first operation, a browser-based mobile interface, and local data control with no paid API keys.
- Estimated hardware cost: about $200 per site, excluding an optional accelerator.
- Open development: all products fall under under the MIT license.
We welcome farmers, educators, developers, engineers, and post-harvest practitioners who want to test grading methods, refine pricing links, and strengthen direct market access.
