IOT Based Smart Agriculture Monitoring System Project Using Arduino
The world population is increasing at a daunting pace. Providing the basic necessities of life for such a huge population is a great challenge. The most basic requirement for any human being is good nutrition. However, due to the increasing population, the old and traditional farming methods are proving insufficient for providing food in bulk quantities. Fortunately, we can increase efficiency and productivity to higher levels by making use of the latest agricultural techniques as well as smart electronics technology. And this will also ensure our food security. For the purpose of increasing the efficiency and productivity of agricultural crops, an IOT Based Smart Agriculture Monitoring System Project using Arduino is proposed.
Sensors used in IOT smart agriculture monitoring project:
The project consists of four sensors for the measurement of various parameters that are crucial for the proper growth of the crops. These sensors include a temperature sensor, a water level sensor, a light sensor, and a soil moisture sensor. Four sensors are present in the circuit which are used for measuring the ambient temperature, water level of the crop, the intensity of sunlight, and soil moisture level. All of these sensors give analog output and are connected to the analog input of the Arduino.
Temperature sensor: It measures the ambient temperature of the crop.
Water level sensor: It measures the water level of the crop.
Soil moisture sensor: It measures the level of moisture in the soil.
Light sensor (LDR): It measures the intensity of the sunlight.
Description of the IOT Based Smart Agriculture Monitoring System Project:
The IOT Smart agriculture monitoring project is one of the important Arduino based projects. It also contains a GSM modem. The data from the sensors is sent to an Arduino controller. The crop status can be monitored remotely by means of a remote IOT platform.
Arduino processes this data and then sends it to the IOT platform as well as the GSM module. The GSM modem is interfaced with the Arduino that sends the sensor values to the remote IOT platform using the IOT protocols. The GSM modem receives the sensor values from the Arduino board and sends these values to the user via SMS after every 5 minutes.
The output devices connected to the Arduino are a DC motor, a relay, and a buzzer. Based on the monitoring of these sensor values the smart agriculture monitoring system provides air and water to the crop. If any of the sensor values crosses a certain predefined threshold then the buzzer is activated to notify the user. The relay is connected to the fan while the DC motor is shown for the demonstration of the water pump.
The fan is turned on by the Arduino whenever the ambient temperature is too hot. This helps to maintain the desired temperature for the crop.
Arduino activates the DC motor (water pump) whenever the soil moisture level is low. Thus we can provide water to the crops.
Description of the block diagram
The project block diagram consists of the following sub-blocks and devices:
GSM modem: It sends SMS notifications to the user at an interval of 5 minutes. It sends the sensor values to the remote server using IOT protocols.
Arduino controller: It communicates with the GSM modem. It gathers data from the sensors and activates the output devices.
LCD Display: It displays various informative messages and the current status of the project.
Relays: These are used to turn on the fan as well as the water pump. This helps to maintain the temperature and moisture level of the crop.
Buzzer: It is activated when any of the sensor values crosses a certain threshold.
Applications, advantages, and future enhancements of the IOT Based Smart Agriculture Monitoring System Project:
We have built this project from easily available and reasonably priced components. Therefore, the cost is reasonable and maintenance is easy.
We can view the status of crops remotely on a smartphone or laptop using the internet. This helps to keep the farmer up to date even when he is away.
The project keeps the farmer updated regarding the status of the crop via SMS notifications. This keeps the farmer updated and conscious about the status of his crop.
We can add some more agricultural, chemical, and weather-related sensors to this system. This will help to achieve more effective and accurate monitoring from the smart system.
Block diagram of the IOT Based Smart Agriculture Monitoring System Project
Sofware specifications:
Arduino IDE software is used to develop the embedded C language code for IOT smart agriculture monitoring system.
EAGLE PCB Layout software is used to design the PCB layout of the IOT Smart agriculture monitoring project.
Any IOT platform or IOT website that can display the values of soil moisture, temperature, water level and light sensors in Graphical format.
Hardware Specifications / Components Required for IOT Smart Agriculture Monitoring System
Temperature sensor DS18B20
Soil Moisture sensor
Water level sensor
Light sensor
Arduino UNO
Piezoelectric buzzer
16 x 2 Alphanumeric Liquid crystal display (LCD)
GSM Modem Sim900 or Sim800
Resistors, capacitors, diodes, Transistors, and LEDs