Design and Field Validation of a Multi-Functional Embedded Edge Control Platform for Real-Time Environmental Monitoring and Closed-Loop Control

This study presents the design and field validation of a multi-functional embedded edge-control platform for real-time environmental monitoring and closed-loop control. The proposed system provides a hardware–software infrastructure capable of collecting heterogeneous environmental data, transmitting it via a UART-based wireless communication link, and executing adaptive control actions under outdoor conditions. The embedded control board integrates a microcontroller-based architecture with isolated digital and analogue interfaces, dual serial communication channels, a watchdog-supervised reliability mechanism with an 18 ms timeout interval, expandable memory, and remotely adjustable hardware parameters. The developed embedded platform itself was deployed outdoors in a 240 m2 grass-covered irrigation field in Ankara, Türkiye, and operated autonomously without manual intervention throughout the April–May 2024 field season. To evaluate real-world performance, the proposed system was compared against a conventional timer-based irrigation approach applied in the same field in a preceding season (April–May 2023). During this deployment, no communication interruption was observed throughout the experimental period, actuation commands were executed with an overall latency of approximately 25 ms, and the AI-assisted irrigation strategy achieved an observed water saving of approximately 15.7% relative to the conventional timer-based approach used in the preceding season, under conditions of higher ambient temperature. These results indicate that the platform functions as a general-purpose intelligent automation node, providing a reusable hardware infrastructure for future AI-assisted environmental control applications.