Last updated 2 months ago
IoT data in agriculture is at risk of being falsified, potentially affecting crops IoT data is still centralized, making it vulnerable to attacks and falsification for malicious purposes
We will develop a system that leverages Hydra and the Cardano blockchain to verify and store crop cultivation data in Iot system for agricultural product traceability.
This is the total amount allocated to Smart Agriculture & Product Traceability with IoT on Cardano.
Please provide your proposal title
Smart Agriculture & Product Traceability with IoT on Cardano
Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA
100000
Please specify how many months you expect your project to last
12
Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated
No
Original Language
en
What is the problem you want to solve?
IoT data in agriculture is at risk of being falsified, potentially affecting crops IoT data is still centralized, making it vulnerable to attacks and falsification for malicious purposes
Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?
No
Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'
No dependencies
Will your project's outputs be fully open source?
Yes
License and Additional Information
Fully open
Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal.
IoT
Describe what makes your idea innovative compared to what has been previously funded (whether by you or others).
Our project is the first to integrate Hydra and Cardano Blockchain into the IoT field in farming and agricultural traceability in the world. This is a unique solution that applies the strengths of Blockchain to IoT to solve the major problems of IoT today: Data security, Data transparency and decentralization.
Describe what your prototype or MVP will demonstrate, and where it can be accessed.
We will be running the Prototype of this project on Marlowe's playground. The Marlowe Playground is an interactive, web-based development environment for designing, simulating, and analyzing Marlowe smart contracts, a domain-specific language tailored for financial contracts on the Cardano blockchain.
It provides accessibility and experimentation even for those without much programming knowledge or experience.
Link: https://playground.marlowe-lang.org/
Describe realistic measures of success, ideally with on-chain metrics.
In 2024, the number of connected IoT devices is forecasted to reach around 18.8 billion (https://market.biz/internet-of-things-statistics/)..) Assuming only 0.1% of these devices connect to our system, our project will have the opportunity to reach approximately 1.88 million IoT devices globally. Each device transmits and receives on average once a minute, which means there are 2.7 billion transactions per day on Hydra and the Cardano Blockchain.
Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem
Challenges of Traditional IoT
1. Data easily falsified or altered
Many IoT devices (sensors, cameras, moisture meters, etc.) are low-cost and lack strong security features. Data is often transmitted without encryption or digital signatures. Hackers or third parties can intercept and modify the data before it reaches the server.
Example:
A soil moisture sensor is hacked and sends false readings, causing the automatic irrigation system to operate at the wrong time and damage crops.
2. Centralized management → vulnerable to attacks
Traditional IoT systems often rely on a single central server or cloud platform to store and process data. If that server is attacked or goes down, the entire system is disrupted.
Example:
A smart farm uses a single provider’s server. If it fails or is hacked, all sensor data is lost or inaccessible.
3. Difficulty in traceability and data verification
Data passes through multiple devices and intermediaries without mechanisms to ensure who generated the data and whether it has been tampered with.
Example:
A batch of vegetables is labeled with a QR code linked to IoT sensor data, but if the original data is altered at the central system, consumers cannot know the truth.
4. Security vulnerabilities in communication protocols
IoT protocols like MQTT, CoAP, Modbus, LoRaWAN are optimized for speed and low power, sometimes at the expense of strong security. Without proper configuration, attackers can eavesdrop or send spoofed commands.
Example:
An attacker intercepts LoRaWAN signals from a temperature sensor and sends fake commands, causing the cooling system to operate incorrectly.
**Our Solution **
To solve these problems, we build an IoT system combined with Hydra and Cardano Blockchain to be able to operate the IoT system and store crop information. This system will help protect data and store IoT data in a decentralized manner. The data will not be changed or tampered with.
How does it work?
Crop conditions such as humidity, sunlight, pH, etc. of crops will be collected by sensors on the farm.
Data will be connected to a a gateway device (e.g., Raspberry Pi, ESP32) for initial processing.
The gateway or IoT device uses a pre-issued private key to digitally sign the data, providing proof that the data originates from a trusted source. A timestamp is added to record the exact time the data was generated.
These data will be transmitted to Cardano's Hydra in real time. We create Smart Contracts on Hydra to trigger automated actions when IoT data meets certain conditions, for example: Automatically activate irrigation when soil moisture < 30%. Send alerts if the temperature exceeds the safe threshold for crops/livestock.
Raw data can be stored in off-chain storage systems such as IPFS or cloud databases. On the blockchain Cardano, only the hash and essential metadata are stored to reduce costs.
After the crops are harvested, the agricultural products will be labeled with a QR code. This QR code links to a report of crop data from seeding to harvest on the Cardano blockchain. Users can easily scan and check this information.
Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community
Our system integrates Hydra and Cardano Blockchain into IoT to solve many major problems of current IoT systems in agriculture.
The system's data is almost impossible for hackers or third parties to intercept data or change parameters thanks to the use of a pre-issued private key to digitally sign the data.
Cardano Blockchain helps important data to be stored and processed in a decentralized manner. This helps avoid interruptions in operations or data loss when the server has problems.
Agricultural product data is public, transparent and cannot be changed. This contributes greatly to the process of tracing the origin of agricultural products. It helps increase consumer confidence in the product.
Hydra helps operations take place safely, continuously and without interruption at a very reasonable cost. Meanwhile, Smart Contract on Cardano provides a secure, safe and unforgeable automation solution. It helps IoT systems operate automatically and safely
What benefits does Smart Agriculture & Product Traceability with IoT on Cardano bring to the Cardano ecosystem?
Expanding Real-World Utility of Cardano: Positions Cardano not only as a financial blockchain but also as a platform for IoT applications in smart agriculture and product traceability. Demonstrates that Cardano can solve real-life problems, not just in DeFi but also in AgriTech and supply chain management.
Growing the Community and Attracting New Users:
Engages farmers, agricultural businesses, and distribution organizations into the ecosystem. Creates opportunities to onboard thousands of IoT devices and consumers onto the Cardano network.
Hydra enables low-cost, high-speed IoT transactions. Smart Contracts can be used to:
The model can be extended to logistics, healthcare, renewable energy, and smart city management. Positions Cardano as a multi-industry infrastructure platform, not limited to finance.
What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?
We have 7 funded proposals in fund 8, 9, 11 and 12 all of those proposals were successfully completed on time
We are one of the greatest team in Developer Ecosystem Challenge in fund 8 & 9
We are Admins of Vietnamese Cardano Communities
We are fully capable and reputable to complete this proposal.
Milestone Title
Sensing and Perception Layer Architecture
Milestone Outputs
Sensing Layer Architecture Design
This layer is the foundation of an IoT system. It’s where physical environment data is captured.
The perception layer comprises sensors responsible for measuring everything from temperature and humidity to motion and light. Actuators, another part of this layer, are used to translate digital signals into physical actions. For example, turn on the light or the air conditioning system in response to the certain data obtained.
The IoT device architecture essentially bridges the physical and digital worlds, collecting raw data.
Acceptance Criteria
Sensing Layer Architecture
Evidence of Completion
Sensing Layer Architecture:
Delivery Month
3
Cost
25000
Progress
30 %
Milestone Title
Network and Connectivity Layer Architecture
Milestone Outputs
Network Layer Architecture Design
The IoT network architecture layer enables the connection and communication between IoT devices and the platform. It’s possible owing to communication protocols like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, MQTT, HTTP, Zigbee, and cellular networks.
Based on the protocols, we will choose the appropriate hardware and connection method between the sensor and the Internet.
Acceptance Criteria
Network Layer Architecture
Evidence of Completion
Network Layer Architecture
Delivery Month
6
Cost
25000
Progress
50 %
Milestone Title
Data Processing and Analysis Layer
Milestone Outputs
This is the layer that is responsible for filtering, aggregated, processed, and interpreted the data transmitted from the sensors.
We will integrate Hydra and the Cardano Blockchain into the IoT system in this layer to process, store data, and trigger the system on the farm automatically.
Milestone Outputs: Data Processing and Analysis Layer Design
Acceptance Criteria
Data Processing and Analysis Layer Design:
Evidence of Completion
Video demo of logic and data flow that is processed, stored and controlled for farm devices.
Figma's Links to Data Processing and Analysis Layer Design Diagram
Delivery Month
10
Cost
35000
Progress
80 %
Milestone Title
Execution Layer + Final Milestone
Milestone Outputs
After the data is processed and stored on the Blockchain, the Smart Contract on Cardano will receive the processed data from the sensor and then activate control commands for the devices on the farm based on the logic.
These control commands will be transmitted to the devices on the farm and control the farm's operations automatically.
Acceptance Criteria
Execution Layer Design
Final close-out report
Final closeout video
Evidence of Completion
Delivery Month
12
Cost
15000
Progress
100 %
Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources
In this proposal, we not only build a proof-of-concept of the system but also want to test the system to collect data and execute the control of the devices in the farm. Therefore, we will test this system in practice on a small scale to prove that our concepts can work in practice.
The cost of this proposal will include the cost of building the Proof-of-Concept and the cost of actual implementation on a small scale.
Types of sensors in the system
Total: $12,306
Central processing unit
Total: $498
Cost for system architecture design experts
1. Project Manager (12 months)
Cost: $2,000/month
Total: $24,000
2. IoT Hardware Engineer (6 months)
Cost: $2,000/month
Total: $12,000
3. Embedded Systems Engineer (6 months)
Cost: $2,000/month
Total: $12,000
4. IoT Network Architect (6 months)
Cost: $3,000/month
Total: $18,000
5. Cardano Blockchain Developer (4 months)
Cost: $3,000/month
Total: $12,000
6. Agriculture Expert (5 months)
Cost: $2,000/month
Total: $10,000
Proposal's total cost: 100,000ADA (rate 1ADA = $1)
How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?
A farm with an IoT system will have about 20 types of sensors and the number of sensors will depend on the area of cultivated land. Each hectare of land will have about 100 - 500 sensors. Each sensor will have a data transmission frequency of about 1 time per minute => A sensor can transmit data 1,440 times a day. Therefore, 1 hectare of farm can perform about 150,000 - 750,000 transactions on Cardano (We use Hydra to reduce operating costs).
Our IoT system will also record information regularly once a day on Cardano's mainnet to store on-chain information of crops
With the agricultural land area with the potential to operate IoT systems currently at 1.9 billion hectares, our project has the potential to bring millions of transactions to the Cardano Blockchain and billions of transactions on Hydra every day.
Supposing that only 1% of agricultural land uses our Cardano Blockchain integrated IoT system, this system can be applied to nearly 20 million hectares of agricultural land. With a minimum of about 100 sensors per hectare, this system can generate 3,000 billion transactions per day on Hydra. With each hectare recorded as a transaction on the Cardano mainnet once a day, the system can also generate 20 million transactions per day for Cardano. With Cardano's transaction fee of 0.17ADA, this system can generate 3.4 million ADA transaction fees per day on Cardano.
Therefore, this project brings huge potential for the development of the Cardano ecosystem.
Terms and Conditions:
Yes
1.Mr. Thanh Ngo - Project Manager
2.Mr. Suman Bharti - IoT Hardware Engineer
3.Mr. Tam Ho - Embedded Systems Engineer
4.Mr. Vishal Shinde - IoT Network Architect
5.Mr. Minh Nguyen - Cardano Blockchain Developer
6.Mr. Robert Blair - Agriculture Expert