The decrease in the cost of sensors during the last years, and the arrival of the 5th generation of mobile technology will greatly benefit Internet of Things (IoT) innovation. Accordingly, the use of IoT in new agronomic practices might be a vital part for improving soil quality, optimising water usage, or improving the environment. Nonetheless, the implementation of IoT systems to foster environmental awareness in educational settings is still unexplored. This work addresses the educational need to train students on how to design complex sensor-based IoT ecosystems. Hence, a Project-Based-Learning approach is followed to explore multidisciplinary learning processes implementing IoT systems that varied in the sensors, actuators, microcontrollers, plants, soils and irrigation system they used. Three different types of planters were implemented, namely, hydroponic system, vertical garden, and rectangular planters. This work presents three key contributions that might help to improve teaching and learning processes. First, a holistic architecture describing how IoT ecosystems can be implemented in higher education settings is presented. Second, the results of an evaluation exploring teamwork performance in multidisciplinary groups is reported. Third, alternative initiatives to promote environmental awareness in educational contexts (based on the lessons learned) are suggested. The results of the evaluation show that multidisciplinary work including students from different expertise areas is highly beneficial for learning as well as on the perception of quality of the work obtained by the whole group. These conclusions rekindle the need to encourage work in multidisciplinary teams to train engineers for Industry 4.0 in Higher Education.

This article presents a hybrid demonstrative activity on precision agriculture, aimed at fostering digital green competences among engineering students. The activity lever-ages an IoT-based smart irrigation system-including ESP32 microcontrollers, environmental sensors, actuators, and cloud integration-as a hands-on learning context. Participants were introduced to the operational features of the system and engaged in configuring sensors, collecting real-time data, and visualizing environmental variables to optimize irrigation strategies. The educational experience was assessed using the SUTEEComp framework, which integrates digital and sustainability-oriented competences rooted in the European DigComp and GreenComp standards. This article analyzes how learners developed competences across areas such as data literacy, digital collaboration, creative problem-solving, and environmentally responsible action. The results suggest that demonstrative activities combining real-world IoT systems and structured competence assessment can effectively support the acquisition of digitally-enabled green skills in engineering education. Implications for course design and educational innovation in digital agriculture are discussed.

En la actualidad se están estableciendo huertos urbanos los cuáles adolecen de sistemas de automatización para la gestión de recursos. Dado el bajo coste que la sensórica está alcanzando, se están desarrollando sistemas aplicados a este nuevo concepto en los que la tecnología aplicada está marcando un papel primordial.Por este motivo se ha desarrollado un modelo de automatización en sistemas de riego localizado para pequeñas superficies. Dicho sistema consta de sensores de temperatura, humedad relativa, humedad de suelo, presión y caudal, así como de un actuador, como es el caso de la electroválvula, todo ello controlado por placas Arduino.Al tener una finalidad divulgativa, se ha instalado un aparto de medida analógico en paralelo por cada uno de los sensores digitales, tanto de presión como de caudal, de tal forma que se pueda comparar con relativa facilidad las medidas analógicas y digitales en cada uno ellos.Cada sensor tiene un microcontrolador asociado, los cuáles se encuentran conectados entre sí por un protocolo de comunicaciones Bluethoot/WiFi. Por medio de la programación de Arduino y en función de las medidas recogidas por los sensores, se establece la apertura o cierre de la electroválvula la cuál es la responsable de la apertura del circuito hidráulico que produce el riego. Igualmente, esta programación permite la presentación de resultados en una pantalla.Con este sistema se consigue una disminución del consumo de agua, gracias a la optimización del sistema de riego, ya que permite observar cuándo una planta necesita realmente ser regada y evitar así pérdidas innecesarias. ALTARES LÓPEZ, SERGIO; BARRADO AGUIRRE, SAMUEL; LOIZU CISQUELLA, MÁXIMO; TABUENCA ARCHILLA, BERNARDO; GARCÍA ALCÁNTARA, VICENTE; RUBIO CARO, JOSE MANUEL; GILARRANZ CASADO, CARLOS

Water resources are fundamental for human development in every possible sense; from natural development, since they are the main biological factor necessary for the development of life, to economic development, since they are essential for a large number of productive systems, especially in the primary and secondary sectors. This makes them a resource which, although at first glance may seem unlimited, is critical since their scarcity and unavailability compromise the whole of human development, greatly limiting productive and economic activity and, ultimately, social welfare. The current development of IoT technology, on the other hand, provides tools to face this problem in a technical way, allowing the adoption of distributed and automated solutions that, together with the knowledge provided by disciplines such as agricultural and alimentary engineering, make viable the development of a system that allows us to monitor and control water distribution networks (WDNs). Next, the situations that involve the mentioned problem will be detailed and different aspects will be proposed in which the implementation of the presented system is intended to have a direct impact.