IPB Inaugurates Smart Urban Farming Laboratory
In order to support the industrial revolution in agriculture, Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, IPB University (FMIPA IPB) partnered with PT. Dynamo Media Network (Kumparan) and PT. Solusi Dua Empat Tujuh signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Tuesday (28/5) in Meeting Room of Department of Computer Science, Floor 5, IPB Dramaga Campus, Bogor.
The event also officially opened the iSurf Lab (Internet of Things for Smart Urban Farming Laboratory) as a laboratory that will support student learning at the Department of Computer Science of FMIPA IPB in combining digital-based information that will be used for agriculture. “Hopefully this can be a motivation and the beginning of a good collaboration between IPB and PT Dynamo Media Network (Kumparan) and PT. Solusi Dua Empat Tujuh. I-Surf Lab is the work of students from the Department of Computer Science FMIPA IPB, “It starts from the awareness of space in the Department of Computer Science that has not been maximally utilized. Hopefully, this can be the beginning of good cooperation and can be developed in the future in generating innovation. Thank you to IPB for its continuous support,” explained Dr Ir. Sri Nurdiati, M.Sc, Dean of FMIPA IPB.
Meanwhile, IPB Rector, Dr. Arif Satria, expressed his welcoming remarks regarding Agromaritime 4.0 program. “Today we face the problem where Indonesian farmers are on average aged 47 years old and their children cannot be expected to become farmers. We need clear frameworks to realize Agromaritime 4.0, which are research framework, implementation framework, and regulatory framework. The preparation of technology must be done from now, so it will be ready when we prepare Industrial Revolution 4.0,” explained Dr. Arif.
i-Surf Lab has research development facilities related to agriculture 4.0 including the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, and knowledge about agronomy. The teaching staff of IPB, Dr. Ir. Sri Wahyuni in his explanation said that the Department of Computer Science of IPB could not do this alone, it needed to collaborate with other services such as the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, Department of Biology, and Department of Physics, IPB.
“The sensors that we use are for nutrition control, control for drip irrigation (soil moisture sensor), we also built a robot prototype to do watering, and replanting plants on certain plants. The challenge for us is to look for algorithms that are needed and in accordance with the system,” said Dr. Sri Wahyuni.
“We really appreciate the collaboration. The Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo) will be the facilitator, especially in the development of IoT which currently is in the peak. For us, IoT is like the sixth sense, its function can be developed to so many things, one of them is on the agriculture sector. The essence is the digital transformation. We need to realize that one of our strengths is that we have most unicorns in Southeast Asia,” said Adis Alifiawan, the representative from Kominfo.
