MoleNet: A Wireless Underground Sensor Network Platform

MoleNet is a versatile Wireless Underground Sensor Network (WUSN) platform designed for education and low-power environmental monitoring. This repository contains all relevant resources, including PCB layouts, source code, and examples to test and evaluate the platform.

Further information can be found on the official MoleNet Website!

⚠️ Note: This is an active project. The files and directory structure are subject to change.

New ESP32-based MoleNet!

After a long journey, we are finally at a point where we are testing the current version on a larger scale. The latest version of MoleNet features several key improvements:

• ESP32-S3 microcontroller: A powerful yet energy-efficient processor that supports various development ecosystems including MicroPython, Arduino, and RiotOS
• SDI-12 sensor interface: Compatible with high-quality environmental sensors
• Micro-SD card support: Enables extensive local data storage
• SX1276-based LoRa transceiver: Provides long-range wireless communication
• On-board BME280 sensor: Measures temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity BME280
• Low-power design: Ensures long battery life for extended deployments
• qwiic connectivity: Simplifies integration of I2C-based sensors, as, for example, available here: Sparkfun

Documentation

The main documentation of MoleNet is available here in the doc directory. There, you can also find the FAQ.

Older Versions of MoleNet (pre-ESP)

In the past decade, we used and evaluated different microcontroller platforms for MoleNet. The documentation can be found in the corresponding directories:

• For ATMEGA-based boards
• For the STM32-based boards (STM32F411)

Changelog

The list of changes and the evolution of MoleNet is listed in the changelog.

Publications

The following list gives some MoleNet-related publications:

• Gellhaar, M., Dede, J., Koehler, H., & Förster, A. (2016, February). Design and Evaluation of Underground Wireless Sensor Networks for Reforestation Monitoring. In EWSN (pp. 229-230).
• Zaman, I., Dede, J., Gellhaar, M., Koehler, H., & Foerster, A. (2016). Molenet: A new sensor node for underground monitoring. IEEE SenseApp.
• Zaman, I., Gellhaar, M., Dede, J., Koehler, H., & Foerster, A. (2016, November). Design and evaluation of MoleNet for wireless underground sensor networks. In 2016 IEEE 41st conference on local computer networks workshops (LCN workshops) (pp. 145-147), 2016 IEEE 41st Conference on Local Computer Networks Workshops (LCN Workshops), Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2016, pp. 145-147.
• Dede, J., Helms, D., & Förster, A. (2021). MoleNet: An Underground Sensor Network for Soil Monitoring. Electronic Communications of the EASST, 80
• Sambo, D. W., Dede, J., Mitton, N., & Förster, A. (2023). FuzDeMa: A portable Fuzzy-based Decision-Making tool for reliable communication in Wireless Underground Sensor Networks. ITU Journal on Future and Evolving Technologies, 4(3), 419-433.
• Block, J., Könsgen, A., Dede, J., Förster, A. (2026, January). Precise Low-Current Measurement Techniques for IoT Devices: A Case Study on MoleNet. arxiv, Electrical Engineering and Systems Science > Signal Processing

I need Support or want to Contribute!

The development of MoleNet is mainly done on GitHub. You have the following channels:

• For discussions, we are currently trying to move from our mailing list to GitHub discussions. Feel free to join and open new discussions directly here!
• You found an issue? Open an Issue on GitHub!
• You already have a solution? Perfect! Feel free to create a Pull request on GitHub!

If you need support with the git fundamentals like cloning, forking, branching, the different copies of the code etc., please refer to the GitHub documentation.

I want to have MoleNet!

MoleNet is a dynamic project that is constantly evolving. At its current stage, we do not offer a ready-to-use, fully certified product with complete end-user support.

If you would like to contribute to the development of MoleNet and need hardware for testing and further development, you have two options:

1. Build the hardware yourself. All the necessary resources can be found in this repository.
2. Order evaluation boards from our partner Intergalactic Circuits for personal use.

Contributors

Many students and researchers contribute to the MoleNet project. See the full list of contributors in CONTRIBUTORS.md.