University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus

San Gabriel, GMA, Cavite

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

AUTOMATIC WATERING PLANT SYSTEM

Aaron V. Patungcal
Aljoe D. Dojello
 University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus
San Gabriel, GMA, Cavite
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Since nowadays, in the age of advance electronics and technology, the life of human beings should
be simpler and more convenient, there is a need for many automated systems that are capable of
replacing or reducing human effort in their daily activities and jobs. An example of it is watering
the plants of your garden. It is acceptable to use a hose to help water the plants, but what if you
wanted to go to a vacation or there was an emergency that you have to attend to. You may not be
able to water your plants. This are some of the situation that people face in their everyday lives.
Here we introduce a system the automated sprinkler system which is actually a model of
controlling irrigation facilities that uses sensor technology to sense soil moisture with a
microcontroller in order to make a smart switching device to millions of people. Many new homes
come equipped with some form of clock driven automatic irrigation because this is a popular
amenity that buyers have come to expect.

Manual irrigation is more time and labor intensive and requires regular attention and vigilance. An
automatic irrigation system can be simply programmed turned on and left to run. Such a “hands
off” approach is not recommended as it almost always results in over-watering and water waste,
but there is no denying the convenience of an automatic irrigation system. An automation of
irrigation systems has several positive effects. Once installed, the water distribution on fields or
small-scale gardens is easier and does not have to be permanently controlled by an operator. It
doesn’t just help in maintaining your garden, it also can be used in the production of crops. There
is a continuous increase of food that requires the control in highly specialized greenhouse
vegetable rapid improvement in food production technology. In a production and it is a simple,
precise method for countries like India, where the economy is mainly based on irrigation. It also
helps in time saving, removal of human agriculture and the climatic conditions are isotropic, still
 University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus
San Gabriel, GMA, Cavite
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

error in adjusting available soil moisture levels and to we are not able to make full use of
agricultural resources. The main reason is the lack of rains & scarcity of land Irrigation is the
artificial application of water to the soil reservoir water. The continuous extraction of water from
usually for assisting in growing crops. In crop production earth is reducing the water level due to
which lot of land is it is mainly used in dry areas and in periods of rainfall coming slowly in the
zones of un-irrigated land. Another shortfall, but also to protect plants against frost. Very important
reason of this is due to unplanned use of Types of Irrigation water due to which a significant
amount of water goes to surface irrigation waste. Localized irrigation in modern drip irrigation
systems, the most significant Drip Irrigation advantage is that water is supplied near the root zone
of sprinkler irrigation. The plants drip by drip due to which a large quantity of water is saved. At
the present era, the farmers have been the conventional irrigation methods like overhead using
irrigation techniques in India through manual control sprinklers, flood type feeding systems

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective is to develop an automated irrigation system by implementing a controlled

technique to meet soil moisture requirement that will contribute to water conservation and
minimizing the labor in the field of gardening.

Specifically, the study aims to:

 Use a program using a microcontroller that will process the data from the sensor and control
the whole irrigation system.

 Identify the suitable amount of water to be delivered that will assist in maintaining the level
of water tank which stores the water that will aid in the irrigation system

 Test the effect of varying moisture content of the soil to the plants with the following
indications at than optimized level at optimize level and at higher than the optimized level.
 University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus
San Gabriel, GMA, Cavite
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

SCOPE AND LIMITATION

SCOPE OF THE PROJECT:

1) Helps in timely watering plants in the nurseries, offices, large landscapes, homes etc;

2) No need to store much water than the required quantity and can be filled when the system
requires. Also the wastage of water is also avoided;

3) No human interference except the initials settings;

4), all alarms and indication help the user to keep a watch whether the work is done.

LIMITATIONS OF THE PROJECT:

1) It cannot cover a large area to water;

2) It cannot detect the moisture content of the soil;

3) Maintenance for the project still requires human work;

4) Sensitive to weather conditions that may interrupt the soil’s moisture;

5), manual refill of the water tank to store and establish adequate amount of water, enough for
watering the plants.
 University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus
San Gabriel, GMA, Cavite
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDIES

The project generally relates to misting and watering system controllers and, in particular, to a
controller having a light sensitive detector for turning on the misting and watering system before,
at or after dawn and turning off the misting and watering system before, at or after dusk.

Misting or watering system controllers are used in the horticultural industry to control the
application of water to plants, including the application of water to plants, since such plants are
often delicate and subject to over or under watering, accurate water control is desired. Further,
since the amount of the light on the plants affects the amount of water that actually reaches the
roots of the plants a system is needed that provides accurate watering control with respect to sunrise
and sunset.

Presently system controllers are available that have a photo detector for detecting light and that
determine a time corresponding to when the sun rose in the morning and when the sun set in the
evening based on the detected light in turn, the controllers selectively start a misting or watering
sequence at some time after sunrise and selectively stop the sequence at some time after the sunset.
 University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus
San Gabriel, GMA, Cavite
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE
A simple approach to Irrigation control problem using Artificial Neural Network Controller. The
proposed system is compared with ON/OFF controller and it is shown that ON/OFF Controller
based System fails miserably because of its limitations. On the other hand, ANN based approach
has resulted in possible implementation of better and more efficient control. These controllers do
not require a prior knowledge of system and have inherent ability to adapt to the changing
conditions unlike conventional methods. It is noteworthy that ANN based systems can save lot of
resources (energy and water) and can provide optimized results to all type of agriculture areas.
Muhammad et al (2010)

The need for systems that make agriculture easier and more sustainable has increased within the
past few years. The ability to conserve two of the most important resources of a farmer, water and
time, has been the latest challenge. A system that provides this ability - through the use of efficient
and reliable methods such as wireless sensor networking, sprinkler irrigation, GSM, SMS
technologies and readily available mobile phone devices – is certain to help the farmers get a better
yield and on a larger scale, help the agricultural and economic growth of the country.

Kaylan et al (2011)

Water is one of nature's most important gifts to mankind, because of the increase in population
food requirement for human being is also increasing. Over the past few decade usage of water for
irrigation has increased hysterically. Water is polluted due to wastage and contaminants in the
industries. Saving water is more important. This ultimate aim can be achieved by using the exiting
ANN control system. It will provide a way to save flood water in the fields for future irrigation
purpose. Priscilla et al (2012)

This investigation demonstrates that there is an unquestionable growing tendency in the adoption
of artificial intelligence in agriculture. Computerized expert systems cover a broad area of farming
but their number and complexity vary considerably from country to country. Underdevelopment
 University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus
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COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

of the IT infrastructure in many countries is the first obstruction in using them, only around 30%
of the world population currently having access to these new technologies. Cosmin (2012)

STUDIES

Microcontroller based automatic plant watering system mritunjay ojha, sheetal mohite,
shraddha kathole & diksha tarware Department of Computer Science, F.C.R.I.T Vashi, Mumbai,
India; Watering the plant is the most important cultural practice and one of the labor intensive
tasks in daily greenhouse operation. Watering systems ease the burden of getting water to plants
when they need it. Knowing when and how much to water is two important aspects of watering
process. To make the gardener works easily, the automatic plant watering system is created. There
have a various type using automatic watering system that are by using sprinkler system, tube,
nozzles and other. This system uses watering sprinkler system because it can water the plants
located in the pots. This project uses Arduino board, which consists of ATmega328
Microcontroller. It is programmed in such a way that it will sense the moisture level of the plants
and supply the water when required. This type of system is often used for general plant care, as
part of caring for small and large gardens. Normally, the plants need to be watered twice daily,
morning and evening. So, the microcontroller has to be coded to water the plants in the garden or
farms about two times per day. People enjoy plants, their benefits and the feeling related to
nurturing them. However, for most people it becomes challenging to keep them healthy and alive.
To accommodate this challenge, we have developed a prototype, which makes a plant more self-
sufficient, watering itself from a large water tank and providing itself with artificial sunlight. The
prototype reports status of its current conditions and also reminds the user to refill the water tank.
The system automation is designed to be assistive to the user. We hope that through this prototype
people will enjoy having plants without the challenges related to absent or forgetfulness.

Review paper based on automatic irrigation system based on rf module by Ms. Deweshvree rane,
bdce, Sevagram, Wardha, India; In India, agriculture plays an important role for development in
 University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus
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COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

food production. In our country, agriculture is depending on the monsoons which is not sufficient
source of water. So the irrigation is used in agriculture field. In Irrigation system, depending upon
the soil type, water is provided to plant. In this paper, automatic irrigation system based on ARMs
and RF module. All the system will be setup using ARM and RF module. The most important
factor of this system is RF module which is used to send and receiving the message to the
controller. This system used three nodes which communicate each other and irrigate paddy field
automatically. The aim of our project is to modernizing agriculture technology by programming
components and built the necessary component for the system. The system is real time based and
extracts the exact condition of paddy field. There is one central node used which to control other
node. The main function of RF module is to pass the message to the node and operate the system.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

Checking
and
Moisture
Timer (Alarm) Timer to Sprinkler
Moisture activate
Sensor Water
Pump
 University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus
San Gabriel, GMA, Cavite
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

DEFINITION OF TERMS

 A Moisture sensor is used to read the Moisture content of the soil.

The LM35 Temperature Sensor reads the ambient temperature.

 An LCD is provided to monitor the Soil Status, Ambient Temperature and Status of
Water supply (Water Pump).

 Arduino UNO is the brain of this system and all the sensors and display devices are
controlled by it.

 Sprinkler provide a way to water your lawn and garden with very little effort.

 Solar Panel are an environmentally friendly way of producing electricity for your
home.

 Water Pump is any device for moving water.

 Plant in the Flowerpot is used to test our project.

 University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus
San Gabriel, GMA, Cavite
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

COSTING

Description Quantity Price Total Price

Moisture Sensor 1 P299.75

LCD 1 P264.00

Arduino UNO 1 P485.00

Rubber Hose 1 P50.00

Batteries 2 520.00

Flowerpot 1 --------

Water Pump 1 P130.00

Relay Module 1 P177.00

5-9.5v Charger 1 P140.00

RTC 1 P140.00

=P2,205.75
 University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus
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COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Methodology
A. Method of Research
Waterfall Model

Requirements
Definitions

Analysis

Design

Implementations

Testing
 University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus
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COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

B. SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM

Requirements of Definition

The automatic irrigation system was designed to continuously sense the moisture level of the soil. The
system responds appropriately by watering the soil with the exact amount of water required and then
shuts down the water supply when the required amount of soil moisture is achieved. The reference
amount of soil moisture is already fed to the microcontroller beforehand. The moisture sensor was
designed using probes made from corrosion resistant material which can be stuck into soil sample.
 University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus
San Gabriel, GMA, Cavite
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

C. BLOCK DIAGRAM
 University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus
San Gabriel, GMA, Cavite
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Chapter 4

A. TESTING

Test 1

In our first test there were complications in our lcd in showing time for our timer. It still runs as
we programed it but it doesn’t show the time, so we check the connection of the Arduino to the
lcd.
 University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus
San Gabriel, GMA, Cavite
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Test 2
In our second test the soil moisture sensor doesn’t respond even though we put in the water. The
connection was fine so we concluded that it has to do with the programming and adjust it.
 University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus
San Gabriel, GMA, Cavite
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Test 3

In our third test the water pump was the issue because it keeps on running even though the time it
is programmed to water plants is over.
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San Gabriel, GMA, Cavite
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Test 4
In our fourth test we had problems in the battery for the water pump. We solved it by putting a
charger for the battery.
 University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus
San Gabriel, GMA, Cavite
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Test 5
At our final testing, all the modules of our project is working correctly.
 University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus
San Gabriel, GMA, Cavite
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

B. Test Results

No. of Times % of Success % of Failure Percent Error

Tested
1 70% 30% 30%
2 75% 25% 25%
3 80% 20% 20%
4 85% 15% 15%
5 95% 5% 5%
 University of Perpetual Help System – GMA Campus
San Gabriel, GMA, Cavite
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Chapter 5

Conclusion

In our conclusion, the automatic watering plant system could also be used not just in common
households but also in agriculture especially to farmers. Even though it has a lot of flaws it could
also find serve in finding new ways improve it.