CYSF

Presentation
Problem
Method
Analysis
Conclusion
Citations
Acknowledgement
Attachments

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An Arduino microcontroller is used to monitor the soil moisture content so it can trigger a water pump when the plant is excessively dry and stop watering when it is at a good moisture level. This device allows for an automatic plant irrigation system.

Mariam Badawy Mayar Hamid

Grade 8

Presentation

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Problem

This project aims to solve a crucial issue in the field of agriculture in relation to achieving optimal soil moisture levels. Continuous moisture monitoring of the plants keeps them at an ideal moisture level, which prevents underwatering and overwatering. Watering plants is an excruciating task, and considering the world we live in full of complex gadgets and resources, an automatic system is a very convenient, beneficial, and straightforward add-on into our everyday lives. Controlling how much water reaches the plants is vital regardless of the weather—whether it's too hot and humid or too dry and wet. Therefore, using the concept of an automated plant watering system that provides water to plants only when needed will be effective and time saving.

This also gives a more efficient picture on optimal soil moisture levels and how every plant needs a different amount of water based on the type of plant, how big it is, what environment it’s in, and much more.

Method

In This Project The Materials We Will Be Using Are:

An Arduino Nano
Soil Moisture Sensor
5v Relay Module
Water pump
Tube/pipe
Jumper Wires (connectors)
Water
Bucket/container (to put the water pump in)

Once we connect all the wires, we will program the arduino nano using some coding. Following that, we will put the mini water pump inside a shallow bowl of water, insert the moisture sensor, and lay the water tube on top of the soil for easy access to the plant. The arduino’s red and green LEDs will flash red if the levels are down and green if the moisture levels are stable.

➯ The moisture sensor indicates if the soil needs more moisture. It shows that through the screen and arduino LEDs. The moisture sensor measures the resistance between the two metal probes which is later put into the soil to measure the resistance.

➯ When the resistance is low the red LED will turn on showing that it's dry and when it's high it will turn green showing that it has enough moisture.

➯ The arduino nano controls the entire system through coding and programming. The system is programmed to water the plant till it reaches an optimal soil moisture level.

Analysis

Hardware:

Arduino: Building electronics projects is done with an open-source platform called Arduino. With Arduino, you can write and upload computer code to a physical programmable circuit board (also called a microcontroller) using an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) piece of software that runs on your computer.

There's a clear reason why the Arduino platform has grown in popularity among experts for electronics. A USB cable can be used to load fresh code into the Arduino, unlike the majority of earlier programmable circuit boards, which require a separate piece of hardware known as a programmer. It is also simpler to learn to program because of the Arduino IDE's utilization of a condensed form of C++.

Soil Moisture Sensor: Before every scheduled watering time, the soil moisture sensor (SMS), which is attached to an irrigation system controller, analyzes the amount of moisture in the active root zone of the soil. If the soil moisture content is higher than a user-defined set point, the cycle is skipped.

Relay Module: Switches which open and close circuits electronically. In short, it is just an electrical switch that is operated by an electromagnet.

Water Motor Pump: Electric water pumps — specifically small ones — usually have small DC motors inside of them. The DC motor powers it with a small gear drive. The function of a water pump is to transfer water from one place to another (in our case through a tube).

Jumper Wires: Jumper wires are the connecting wires that connect two points to each other without soldering. Female jumper wires are plugged into and male jumper wires are plugged.

Advantages:

Eliminates manual operation
Achieves optimal soil moisture levels
Introduces new technology
Increased efficiency in water and fertilizer use
System is able to operate at night
System stops and starts exactly when required

Disadvantages:

Needs electricity
Can be expensive
Cheap systems require you to code yourself (which most people don’t know how to do)

The system can be adjusted with programming to fit your instructions which makes it accessible. It also adapts to different plants and how much soil there is in order to give the best results on what your specific plant needs.

This system was very easy to build and required no expertise at all. Although the coding process was a bit tedious it was all worth it because we think that this invention is surely one for the ages! It displays what plant watering really means and how just a simple idea can bloom into something wonderful.

Although an arduino board might be very expensive, users have begun to develop alternatives that are a little more affordable for buyers. For example, Elegoo (an electrical company) began to develop a board similar to an arduino uno with a more reasonable price range to wider buyer flexibility.

Conclusion

This automatic watering system can be adjusted/modified with programming. It also adapts to changing environments easily and effectively. It is very simple to operate and its time saving benefits add to the benefits/advantages. We think that this product can be improved much more in the future with better designs and upgrades.

The real time soil moisture level updates provide an opportunity to educate people as well as tell them what their plant needs. We also think that to further upgrade this project, an app can be developed to display moisture levels and overall just real-time information on how their plant is doing. Furthermore, the code could be modified in order to send updates via message or email.

Moreover, we hope that one day our product might make it to a big company for people to see what it is truly about. How some code and programming can turn into something for the ages.

This product can be used in the real world in a very effective way and it is always ready for improvement. This system is already making its way into people’s homes but we think that in order for it to become more popular and normal for everyday use it must be advertised and people must be educated because they might not know what arduino is and how this could affect their lives in whatever way they want it to whether that's positive or negative.

It can also prevent waste for our most precious source: WATER. Many countries till today including Sri Lanka, Niger, Mali, Chad, Uganda, Zambia, and many more have a lack of clean water in their countries so saving water with this system can have a positive impact on our environment and also on the people that need it most.

According to Polaris Market Research, the global irrigation automation market was valued at USD 3.64 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.87% during the forecast period. New innovations like this can help widen this market and refresh it with new ideas bound for the future.