Suraj Foundation's

Nav Krishna Valley Junior College, kupwad.

Electronics Laboratory
A
Project Report
On
“Soil Moisture Detector”
Submitted by

Miss. Nimbalkar

Under Guidance of

Miss.M.D.Bisurkar

Submitted to,

Maharashtra State Board of Secondary & Higher Secondary

Education, Pune

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 Suraj Foundation's

Nav Krishna Valley Junior College, Sangli

Electronics Laboratory

Certificate
This is to certify that
Miss. Nimbalkar

H.S.C. Seat No.

“Soil Moisture Detector”

This project is carried out under the guidance & supervision & the best
of my knowledge, is his original work & has not presented earlier.

Project Guide Principal

Mrs. M.D. Bisurkar

Internal Examiner External Examiner

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 Acknowledgement
It is with pleasure; I express our deep since of gratitude to
SANGITA PAGNIS mam, Principal, NAV KRISHNA VALLEY & JR. COLLEGE,
SANGLI. For their valuable guidance, stimulating discussion, constant
encouragement & timely advise through the present research work. To
express any thanking words he is to show poverty of words.
I am dedicating me sincere thanks to Miss. M.D.Bisurkar Madam
of Electronics for their encouragement to complete my project work.
I am also thankful to all TEACHING STAFF of Science
Department who offered their valuable guidance.
I am also thankful to all NON-TEACHING STAFFof the
department for their valuable co-operation.
I would like to mention our FRIENDS, who have helped us
directly or indirectly.
Lastly, I hearty thanks to all those who have helped us directly or
indirectly.
Place : Kupwad.
Date :
Thanking you,
Miss. Nimbalkar

Submitted Year

2018-2019

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 INDEX

Chapter No. Chapter Name Page No.

1 Abstract 5

2 Introduction 6

3 Block Diagram 7

4 Circuit Diagram 8

5 Component List 9

6 Working of a circuit 10

7 Component Discription 12

8 Application and Advantages 18

9 Result and Conclusion 19

10 References 20

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 Soil Moisture Detector
Abstract:
Water is a very precious resource and a driving force in irrigation. Optimal use of

water is a need of the hour. Efficient irrigation watering helps in saving water,

getting better plant yields, reduce dependency on fertilizers and improve crop

quality. Various methods, both laboratory and field are available to detect soil

moisture content, but the quickest and better one is with the use of electronic

devices. For successful irrigation, it is necessary to monitor soil moisture content

continuously in the irrigation fields. So to solve this problem we have described a

simple soil moisture detector circuit which will take care of your plants. This circuit

will sense the presence of moisture in soil and if moisture is sufficient it will

automatically switch on an LED and alarms a buzzer.

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INTRODUCTION:

Over-watering and under-watering both are harmful for plants. Roots need air as

well as water. If the soil is constantly saturated, air cannot reach the roots and they

suffocate. Also, excess water weakens the plant and makes it susceptible to various

diseases, particularly fungal attacks. Under-watering, on the other hand, is equally

harmful. Plants not receiving enough water droop from the top down and leaf

edges turn brown. A moisture monitor can make things better.

In this project, we are going to build a Transistor Based Simple Soil Moisture

Detector Circuit. In this circuit, we have used an NPN transistor to detect soil

moisture. This is very simple circuit. This Soil moisture sensor circuit can be used in

many applications like Automatic plant irrigation system, Greenhouse projects etc.

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Block Diagram:

Soil Moisture Transistor

LED and Buzzer
Sensor Circuit

This simple soil moisture detection circuit is based on commonly available

transistor BC547 and few more components. Moisture level is sensed by probes

which are embedded in the soil. These probes are connected to the base circuit of

a transistor. When sufficient amount of water is given to plant soil become moist

and resistance between probes is decreased. This will drive the Transistor into

saturation region and a transistor conducts. This will turn ON an LED and buzzer

to indicate the presence of moisture in the soil.

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Circuit Diagram:

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Component list:
1. BC547 transistor

2. Buzzer

3. Bread Board

4. 1k Resistor (4)

5. 50k POT

6. LED

7. Jumper wire

8. 9V battery or supply

9. LM7805 Voltage Regulator

10. Soil Moisture Probe

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Working:

This Soil Moisture Detector Circuit is very simple. Here we have used a soil

moisture detector probe to sense the moisture in the soil and an NPN transistor

to trigger the Buzzer and LED. This soil moisture detector is built using general

purpose PCB. Buzzer and LED are used as an indication of soil moisture

detection.

Working on this circuit is straightforward and clearly understandable. Here we

have connected one wire of probe directly to VCC and another probe to the base

of the transistor Q1 and 50k potentiometer RV1 is used for adjusting the

sensitivity of the circuit. Now when there is no moisture in soil then probes does

not allow 7805 to supply any voltage to the base of transistor Q1 so the LED and

Buzzer remain turned off. Now, whenever both probes will come in contact with

soil moisture or water then both the probe gets shorted because

water/moisture is the conductor of current. And when probes get shorted then

the base of the transistor gets connected to the output of 7805 IC.

As we know when we apply some voltage to the base of an NPN Transistor it

gets turn on and allow current to pass through the collector to emitter. And as

soon as transistor turns on it will trigger the Buzzer and LED. The buzzer will

beep until probes detect soil moisture.

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An LM7805 voltage regulator is used for limiting the input voltage to 5v. We

have used 9v battery to supply power to this circuit.

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Component Description:

Transistor: BC 547

BC547 is a NPN transistor hence the collector and emitter will be left open

(Reverse biased) when the base pin is held at ground and will be closed (Forward

biased) when a signal is provided to base pin. BC547 has a gain value of 110 to

800, this value determines the amplification capacity of the transistor. The

maximum amount of current that could flow through the Collector pin is 100mA,

hence we cannot connect loads that consume more than 100mA using this

transistor. To bias a transistor we have to supply current to base pin, this current

(IB) should be limited to 5mA.

When this transistor is fully biased then it can allow a maximum of 100mA to

flow across the collector and emitter. This stage is called Saturation Region and

the typical voltage allowed across the Collector-Emitter or Base-Emitter could

be 200 and 900 mV respectively. When base current is removed the transistor

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becomes fully off, this stage is called as the Cut-off Region and the Base Emitter

voltage could be around 660 mV.

Resistor:

The power rating of a resistor is the specification given with a resistor that

serves to tell the maximum amount of power that the resistor can withstand.

Thus, if a resistor has a power rating of 1/4 watts, 1/4 watts is the maximum

amount of power that should be fed into the resistor.

When current passes through electrical components, it normally generates heat.

If the current is small enough and suitable for the circuit, this heat is usually

negligible and unnoticed in a circuit. But if the current is large enough, it can

create a substantial amount of heat in a circuit. The current can melt

components and possibly create shorts in a circuit. This is why resistors are given

power ratings— to specify the maximum allowable amount of power that can

pass through it. If this wattage of power is exceeded, the resistor may not be

able to withstand the power and may melt and can create a short in a circuit,

which can lead to even greater hazards for the circuit.

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9V Battery:

The most common form of nine-volt battery is commonly called the transistor

battery.

These were introduced for the early transistor radios. This is a rectangular prism

shape with rounded edges and a polarized snap connector at the top. This type

is commonly used in pocket radios,smoke detectors, carbon monoxide

detectors, guitar effect units, electro-acoustic guitars and radio-controlled

vehicle controllers. They are also used as backup power to keep the time in

certain electronic clocks.

This format is commonly available in primary carbon-zinc and alkaline chemistry,

in primary lithium iron disulfide, and in rechargeable form in nickel-cadmium,

nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion. Mercury oxide batteries in this form have

not been manufactured in many years due to their mercury content.The most

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common form of nine-volt battery is commonly called the transistor battery,

introduced for the early transistor radios. This is a rectangular prism shape with

rounded edges and a polarized snap connector at the top. This type is commonly

used in pocket radios,smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, guitar effect

units, electro-acoustic guitars and radio-controlled vehicle controllers. They are

also used as backup power to keep the time in certain electronic clocks. This

format is commonly available in primary carbon-zinc and alkaline chemistry, in

primary lithium iron disulfide, and in rechargeable form in nickel-cadmium,

nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion. Mercury oxide batteries in this form have

not been manufactured in many years due to their mercury content.

7805 Voltage Regulator:

Voltage sources in a circuit may have fluctuations resulting in not providing fixed

voltage outputs. A voltage regulator IC maintains the output voltage at a

constant value. 7805 IC, a member of 78xx series of fixed linear voltage

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regulators used to maintain such fluctuations, is a popular voltage regulator

integrated circuit (IC). The xx in 78xx indicates the output voltage it provides.

7805 IC provides +5 volts regulated power supply with provisions to add a heat

sink.

7805 IC Rating:

Input voltage range 7V- 35V

Current rating Ic = 1A

Output voltage range VMax=5.2V ,VMin=4.8V

L.E.D:

A light-emitting diode (LED) is a two-lead semiconductor light source. It is a p–n

junction diode that emits light when activated. When a suitable current is

applied to the leads, electrons are able to recombine with electron holes within

the device, releasing energy in the form of photons. This effect is called

electroluminescence, and the color of the light (corresponding to the energy of

the photon) is determined by the energy band gap of the semiconductor. LEDs

are typically small (less than 1 mm2) and integrated optical components may be

used to shape the radiation pattern.

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Buzzer:

A piezoelectric element may be driven by an oscillating electronic circuit or other

audio signal source, driven with a piezoelectric audio amplifier. Sounds

commonly used to indicate that a button has been pressed are a click, a ring or a

beep.

A piezoelectric buzzer/beeper also depends on acoustic cavity resonance or

Helmholtz resonance to produce an audible beep.

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Applications:

1. In the irrigation, it can detect the rain and immediately alert the farmer.

2. In automobiles, when the rain detector detects the rain, it can immediately

active wipers.

3. In communication system, when there is raining, the power of the antenna

can be adjusted to increase the signal strength automatically.

4. For home automation.

5. Water level monitoring

Advantages:

1. The circuit is easy to design and implement

2. The circuit is easy to modify for different projects

3. Reduces the human intervention.

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Result and Conclusion:

The circuit is very sensitive to the moisture in the soil. The concept in

future can be enhanced by integrating GSM technology, such that

whenever the water pump switches ON/OFF, an SMS is delivered to the

concerned person regarding the status of the pump.

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References:

1. Principles of Electronics – by V.K. Mehta, S.Chand publication

2. www.circuitdigest.com

3. www.researchgate.net

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