Experts in the information and communications technology sector have stressed the need to harness Raspberry Pi to develop innovative solutions for real life problems, including agriculture.

This is as a 26-year-old embedded system developer, Jude Nkereuwem, created a ‘Driver Drowsiness Detection System’ designed to prevent accidents caused by drivers falling asleep at the wheel.

Speaking at the Raspberry Pi event in Lagos, Nkereuwem stated that the system uses a Raspberry Pi 5-based computer with a camera to monitor the driver’s eyes and detect drowsiness.

“The device tracks and monitors the driver’s eyes to check if they’re closed or not,” Nkereuwem explained. “Once the system detects that the driver is sleeping, it makes a very loud noise using a buzzer to try and wake them.”

Nkereuwem also used Raspberry Pi to train a group of female students on how to apply AI and Internet of Things (IoT) in farming.

He noted that the system, which uses sensors to monitor soil conditions, temperature, and plant health, enables farmers to receive real-time updates on their farm’s status through a mobile application.

“We built a system that uses sensors to monitor dryness and wetness of the soil and how hot the farm is. The device has a camera that monitors the color of the leaves to check if they’re healthy or not. An AI model was then trained to take the values gotten from the sensors and the real-time feed from the camera, run an inference, and predict to the farmer the current state of their farm.

Also, Co-founder of AgriSync Solutions Limited, Cofie Abraham, noted the potential of Raspberry Pi in achieving agricultural sustainability.

He noted that his company has developed innovative solutions integrating IoT and Integrated Precision Agriculture (IPA) to optimise farm practices, leading to enhanced crop yields and improved resource allocation.

“With the AGRISYNC solution, we’re able to monitor various activities on the farmland in real-time, gaining valuable insights into the state of the farm,” Abraham said.

“Our IoT system collects data from diverse sensors, including soil temperature and moisture content, air temperature and humidity, light intensity, and spectral analysis.”

Speaking, Raspberry Pi’s Chief Commercial Officer, Mike Buffham, Raspberry stated that there are plans to focus on Nigeria, Morocco, Kenya and other African countries over the next year.

According to him, the products are designed and developed for high performance with low cost, making them an attractive solution for individuals and organisations looking to build their own solutions to address specific challenges.

Sales Manager for Middle East and Africa at Raspberry Pi, Ken Okolo, stated that the product aims to address the growing demand for computing platforms in various industries, including agriculture.

“Our products address large, fast-growing markets for computing platforms. We have ready-built subsystems that incorporate processor, storage, and networking.

“With its affordability, flexibility, and ease of use, Raspberry Pi is poised to revolutionise the agricultural sector and provide real-life solutions to everyday problems.