Microcontroller Based Irrigation System

Abstract

Appropriate environmental conditions are necessary for optimum plant growth, improved crop yields, and efficient use of water and other resources. Automating the data acquisition process of the soil condition allows plant growth with less labor requirement. The existing systems employ PC or SMS-based systems for keeping the user continuously informed of the conditions of the field; but are unaffordable, bulky, difficult to maintain and less accepted by the technologically unskilled workers.

The objective of this project is to design a simple, easy to install microcontroller-based circuit to monitor and record the values of soil moisture and fertilizer level that are continuously modified and controlled in order to optimize them to achieve maximum plant growth and yield. The microcontroller (AT89C51) used is a low power, cost efficient chip by ATMEL. It communicates with the sensor modules in real-time in order to control the irrigation process efficiently inside a field by actuating a motor (to irrigate the field) according to the necessary condition of the crops. An integrated Liquid crystal display (LCD) is also used for real time display of data acquired from the sensor and the status of the various devices. Also, the use of easily available components reduces the manufacturing and maintenance costs. The design is quite flexible as the software can be changed any time. It can thus be tailor-made to the specific requirements of the user.

This makes an efficient system for optimization of yield with minimum use of water. This system is also economical, portable and user friendly.

Soil Moisture Sensor:

It gives the feedback of humidity level of soil to the controller. It uses copper leads for detection which is inserted in the soil.

Interfacing of circuit elements

The above diagram shows the interfacing of all elements in the system which includes: ADC 0808 Microcontroller (At89C51) LCD (16 x 2) Moisture sensor Pump, Sprayer