SMART IRRIGATION

RVCE

This project is about a moisture-sensing, automatic plant watering system using Arduino UNO. In this system, a soil moisture sensor is used to detect and check the moisture content of the soil. Based on the readings displayed, the motor is turned on only when the moisture level is below the set limit. As soon as the moisture level rises above the set point, the system switches off the pump.

Model Development

Design Specifications

    The hardware requirements are Arduino UNO, jumpers, soil moisture sensor, USB connector and a motor.

    Arduino UNO Board

    The program of this microcontroller is considered as unstable due to the flash memory technology. The applications of this microcontroller involve a wide range of applications like security, home appliances, remote sensors, and industrial automation.

    Soil Moisture Sensor

    Soil moisture sensor is one kind of sensor used to detect the soil moisture content. This sensor has two outputs like the analog output as well as the digital output. The digital o/p is permanent and the analog o/p threshold can be changed. The working principle of soil moisture sensor is open & short circuit concept.

Objectives Image

Methodology

All the hardware will be assembled to Arduino, which is the microcontroller that is used to control all the hardware attached to it. The soil moisture sensor measures the level of moisture from the soil, and it is transferred to the Arduino board to process and make the decision. Based on the soil moisture level from the soil, the system will let the water pump to automatic water the plant when it is too dry and turn off the water pump when the soil of the plant is wet.

Data Collection

Working

Acquisition block

This block consists of one soil moisture sensor which takes the data from the soil. It depends on the moisture level of the soil whether to send high or low voltage to the microcontroller to show that it is wet or dry. When the soil is wet, it will send the low output voltage, whereas when it is dry, it will send the high output voltage. This sensor is directly connected to an Arduino microcontroller.

Microcontroller block

In this block, Arduino Uno is the microcontroller which is the core hardware of this project. It receives the input from the soil moisture sensor and processes the input based on the requirement coded in the microcontroller.

Data Collection

Automatic functional block

This block includes the automated watering function of the system. The automated function consists of two main controlling hardware, which is the relay module and the DC watering pump. The relay is an automatic electric switch that uses an electromagnet to move the switch from OFF to ON or vice versa. The switch controls the electric signal that passes through the water pump. When the moisture level is below the threshold level, Arduino sends a signal to the relay module to automatically open the path for the electric to pass through the water pump to water the plant. After the system detects the sufficient level of the water in the soil, the relay will close the path for electricity and thus the water pump will stop immediately pumping the water.

Training and Evaluation

Results and Conclusion

The main purpose of this project is to propose an automated irrigation system that irrigates the plant without any human control. The automated irrigation system implemented is found to be feasible and cost effective for optimizing water resources for agricultural production. Besides the automated irrigation system, the proposed system also provides the monitoring function where users are able to check the soil moisture based on the reading displayed on screen. The proposed system has been designed and tested to function automatically. For future works, the automated irrigation system can be configured to measure the moisture level according to the moisture requirement of the different plants.