3 Ways to Automatic Plan Irrigation System using Microcontroller
irrigation is defined as artificial application of water to land or soil. Irrigation process can be used for the cultivation of agricultural crops during the span of inadequate rainfall and for maintaining landscapes. An automatic irrigation system does the operation of a system without requiring manual involvement of persons. Every irrigation system such as drip, sprinkler and surface gets automated with the help of electronic appliances and detectors such as computer, timers, sensors and other mechanical devices.
An
automatic irrigation system does the work quite efficiently and with a
positive impact on the place where it is installed. Once it is installed
in the agricultural field, the water distribution to crops and
nurseries becomes easy and doesn’t require any human support to perform
the operations permanently. Sometimes automatic irrigation can also be
performed by using mechanical appliances such as clay pots or bottle
irrigation system. It’s very hard to implement irrigation systems
because they are very expensive and complex in their design. By taking
some basic points into considerations from experts’ support, we have
implemented some projects on automatic irrigation system by using
different technologies.
In this
article, we are describing about three types of irrigation systems that
work automatically and each system is an advancement of the previous one
as we go from first system to the next, and so on.
1. Automatic Irrigation System on Sensing Soil Moisture Content
The
automatic irrigation system on sensing soil moisture project is
intended for the development of an irrigation system that switches
submersible pumps on or off by using relays to perform this action on
sensing the moisture content of the soil. The main advantage of using
this irrigation system is to reduce human interference and ensure proper
irrigation.
The Microcontroller acts
as a major block of the entire project, and a power supply block is
used for supplying power of 5V to the whole circuit with the help of a
transformer, a bridge rectifier circuit and a voltage regulator. The 8051 microcontroller is programmed
in such a way that it receives the input signal from the sensing
material which consists of a comparator to know the varying conditions
of the moisture in the soil. The OP-AMP which is used as comparator acts
as an interface between the sensing material and the microcontroller
for transferring the moisture conditions of the soil, viz.wetness,
dryness, etc.
Once
the microcontroller gets the data from the sensing material – it
compares the data as programmed in a way, which generates output signals
and activates the relays for operating the submersible pump. The
sensing arrangement is done with the help of two stiff metallic rods
that are inserted into the agricultural field at some distance. The
required connections from these metallic rods are interfaced to the
control unit for controlling the operations of the pump according to the
soil moisture content.
This automatic irrigation system can be further enhanced by using advanced technology that consumes solar energy from solar panels.
2. Solar Powered Auto Irrigation System
In
the above figure, the power from utilities is required to operate the
system. As an extension to the above discussed system, this system uses
solar panels to power the circuit. In agricultural field, the proper
usage of automatic irrigation method is very vital due to some
shortcomings of the real world like scarcity of land reservoir water and
scarcity of rainfall. The water level (the ground water table) is
getting reduced due to continuous extraction of water from the ground
and thus gradually resulting in water scarcity in the agricultural zones
slowly turning them into barren lands.
In
the above irrigation system, solar energy generated from the solar
panels is used for operating the irrigation pump. The circuit comprises
moisture sensors built by using OP-AMP IC. The OP-AMP is used as comparators. Two stiff copper wires are inserted into the soil to know whether soil is wet or dry. A charge controller circuit is used to charge the photovoltaic cells for supplying the solar energy to the whole circuit.
A
moisture sensor is used for sensing the soil condition – to know
whether the soil is wet or dry, and the input signals are then sent to
the 8051 microcontroller, which controls the whole circuit. The microcontroller is programmed by using KEIL software. Whenever the soil condition is ‘dry’, the microcontroller sends commands to the relay driver and the motor gets switched on and supplies water to the field. And, if the soil gets wet, the motor gets switched off.
The
signals that are sent from the sensors to the microcontroller through
the output of the comparator operate under the control of a software
program which is stored in the ROM of the microcontroller. The LCD
displays the condition of the pump (on or off) interfaced to the
microcontroller.
This automatic irrigation system can be further enhanced by using GSM technology to gain control over the switching operation of the motor.
3. GSM Based Automatic Irrigation System
Nowadays
farmers are struggling hard in the agricultural fields round the clock.
They do their field work in the morning section and irrigate their land
during night time with intermittent intervals. The task of irrigating
fields is becoming quite difficult for the farmers due to lack of
regularity in their work and negligence on their part because sometimes
they switch on the motor and then forget to switch off, which may lead
to wastage of water. Similarly, they even forget to switch on the
irrigation system, which again leads to damage to the crops. To overcome
this problem, we have implemented a new technique by using GSM technology, which is explained below.
The
GSM Based automatic irrigation system is a project in which we get
update status of the operation carried out in the agricultural fields
via SMS with the help of a GSM modem. We can also add other systems such
as LCD displays, web cam and other smart controlled devices. In this project, we are using LEDs for indication purpose.
In
this project, we are using soil moisture sensor which is used to sense
the moisture level in the – to know whether it is dry or wet. The
moisture sensor is interfaced with the microcontroller. The input data
signals from the moisture sensor are sent to the microcontroller and
based on that it activates the DC Motor
and switches the motor on with the help of a motor driver. After the
soil gets wet, the Motor gets switched off automatically. The status of
the agricultural fields can be known from the indication of the Light Emitting Diode (LED)
or through the message sent to the GSM modem placed at the field.
Simultaneously it is possible to send messages through a mobile to kit
through the GSM modem. Thus, the irrigation motor can be controlled by
using a mobile and a GSM modem.
3 comments:
nice article
GOOD INFORMATION ABOUT DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM
THANKS FOR SHARING
KEEP IT UP!!!!!
IRRIGATION INFO
nice article!!!
IRRIGATION INFORMATION
it helps farmers to supply proper water to each plant in farm.
Hello hi, it's a very interesting BlogSpot.irrigation essentially means the watering of land to make it ready for agricultural purposes. Thank you for sharing it For some more interesting projects For engineering Students Electronics Engineering Projects
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