UAV-Assisted VLC Using LED-Based Grow Lights in Precision Agriculture Systems

Abstract

The reliance on precision agriculture facilitates improving farming outcomes by using information technology in managing resources. The dependence on light-emitting diode (LED)-based grow lights enables further enhancement of farming outcomes because they offer flexibility in growing plants throughout the year by supporting their illumination needs while offering cost and energy-efficiency advantages. Using grow lights also allows adopting visible-light communication (VLC) to provide simultaneous illumination and communication. In this work, we propose using LED-based grow lights to provide unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-assisted VLC in precision agriculture systems. The advantages include achieving efficient resource use by relying on grow lights to support communication needs in Internet of Things devices and plant growth needs in areas associated with limited sunlight while minimizing radio frequency interference. We present an overview of the system design and highlight the influence of optimizing UAV locations on system performance before discussing directions for future research.