A Potential Study on Radio Tomography to Localize the Moisture Distribution in Rice Silo

Nurul Amira Mohd Ramli, Mohd Hafiz Fazalul Rahiman, Latifah Munirah Kamarudin, Latifah Mohamed, and Ammar Zakaria

Abstract

As the rice grains are naturally hygroscopic, their quality post-harvesting revolves around their level of moisture content. In Malaysia, it is challenging to maintain and preserve the rice quality for long-term storage due to our hot, humid climate with a relative humidity of approximately 80%. Besides, the current moisture measurement method is unreliable because it is a single-point assessment, whereas the moisture build-up inside the rice silo is indefinite. In this manuscript, we proposed a radio tomography system capable of localizing the moisture distribution inside the silo. Radio tomography is a well-known technology for its imaging generated based on the attenuated radio signals caused by the objects within the wireless sensor network. Several positions of moisture profile were simulated to evaluate the performance of the system. The reconstructed image using both LBP and FBP algorithms has established the findings where the approach adequately reconstructs the 2D images of the moisture profiles.