Design and Implementation of Low-Power IoT Edge Node for Precision Agriculture Based on ESP8266

Abstract

Amid escalating resource management challenges, Smart Agriculture necessitates robust, energy-efficient monitoring solutions. However, traditional IoT nodes frequently struggle with excessive power consumption and unstable transmission in complex field environments. To overcome these bottlenecks, this paper presents a "Minimum Viable Unit" (MVU) edge node tailored for precision agriculture, integrating the ESP8266 controller with the industrial-grade CP2102 bridge. The proposed architecture employs a three-stage sleep strategy to dynamically optimize power usage and ensures stability under fluctuating supply voltages. Furthermore, the lightweight MQTT protocol is utilized to minimize bandwidth overhead and latency. Experimental results demonstrate that the deep-sleep current is successfully suppressed to 20μA, theoretically supporting over six months of autonomous operation on a standard lithium battery. In terms of reliability, the node maintains a packet loss rate below 0.5% even under indoor obstructed conditions (25 meters with wall penetration). This design offers a rigorous, verified hardware foundation for scalable, maintenance-free agricultural sensing networks.