BACHELOR OF

ENGINEERING HONORS DEGREE IN

TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENGINEERING

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FACULT OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN

ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND CONTROL
SYSTEM FOR CENTRE PIVOT IRRIGATION SYSTEM

A PROJECT BY:
TATENDA BVUNZANI

STUDENT NUMBER: NT163797T

SUPERVISOR: T MAPURANGA

This Project Documentation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirement for the award of a Bachelor of Engineering honors Degree in
Telecommunications Engineering

Submission Date :
Table of Contents
TOPIC: Center Pivot control and monitoring system...............................................................................................3
1.1 Introduction.........................................................................................................................................................3
1.2 Background.........................................................................................................................................................3
1.3 Problem statement..............................................................................................................................................3
1.4 Aim.......................................................................................................................................................................3
1.5 Objectives.............................................................................................................................................................4
1.6 Justification.........................................................................................................................................................4
1.7 Literature Review...............................................................................................................................................4
1.8 Summary of the remaining Chapters................................................................................................................4
1.9 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................................................5
1.1 Introduction

In Zimbabwe, most livelihoods are dependent on the agricultural sector and its success is of great
importance to the economy. Internet of things, sensors and automated systems can help in the
increase of the productivity and the success in the industry. The project concept is a development
of the current system, which has no way of remote access or control. Every aspect of
functionality requires the user to be on site to have access and use of equipment. As of recent the
manufactures has no way to gather data and user assistance. The aim of this project is to look for
ways on how to mitigate physical attention and the need for the customer to be on site and
providing solutions to the manufacturer and customer leading to the requirement of minimum
interaction. Water-saving agricultural practices and sound water management strategies are
therefore urgently required to ensure the long-term viability of the agricultural sector.
Automation of center pivot irrigation systems has provided a positive promise of greater control
over the usage of water thus improving water use efficiency. Automated irrigation scheduling
systems require the use of soil, crop, or environmental sensors to determine the need for
irrigation and then either a controller or a computer to control the irrigation sequence [ CITATION
Kle04 \l 1033 ]

1.2 Background
The crop yields are highly dependent of factors such as adequate water supply and fertilizer
application and timing of irrigating plays a pivotal role in this. The agricultural investors of the
future will be highly demanding in their operations, and will want to minimize the production
risk by using technologies. Developing a system that enables a positive leap towards these goals
and helps assure the customer that they are able to control and monitor their site irrigating system
from where ever they are. However the proposed system will have an impact also on the work
force and will require them to recruit or reskill the current works to be able to operate the
equipment.

1.3 Problem statement

Currently the customer and manufacturer have no means to remotely control or access the status
of any pivots and because of the cost to acquire such equipment there is need to produce a way
that enables the parties involved to remotely control and monitor their equipment. It has been the
request of the customers to have a means of knowing the status of the pivots and have a viable
means of also controlling. The manufacturer also requires a solution to enable them to log data
and better their equipment thereby improving the services.

As of to date the center pivots being manufactured have no way to report or detect misalignment
or whether the water pressure is too low or too high , in which both incidents may lead to costly
faults and mechanical issues.

The manufacturer lacks a way of data collection. Most of the equipment is in remote places and
they rely on customer feedback and reports to as to address the issues that they are facing. The
process is proving to be less effective and costly to wait for incidents to reoccur in order for them
to have adequate data and solutions, which then go on to affect their clients.

1.4 Aim

To produce a web-based monitoring and control tools allow growers to monitor favorable
conditions and control irrigation processes remotely

To enable research and large-scale data logging for the manufacturer to enhance and better his
product.

To produce hardware that enables data collection, control and connectivity to the user and the
manufacturer

1.5 Objectives

1. Web connectivity of center pivots

2. To enable the manufacturer to collect real time data and monitor the equipment remotely
and to provide assistance as well as incident avoidance. To also produce data eligible for
research and to further the development of the equipment.
3. To facilitate remote assistance that responds to stimulus such as misalignment and
inadequate water pressure.

1.6 Justification
Over the years, development of pivot system was aimed at improving the efficiency of irrigation.
Adding a remote control and monitoring system helps the customers to be certain that they can
fully use their center pivots at any given time and anywhere as long, they have internet
connection. Customers will be able to access remote assistance through the same system.
The manufacturer has looked into bettering their center pivots in bid to eradicate common faults
and being a leader in the water engineering industry. This system can help them with data
research purposes and offsite or remote assist and diagnostics if there is need.
The research also is pivotal to the manufacturing company as they are always looking to improve
the current pivots and other equipment, which they indicate as partial to the actual work they
want to achieve. Basing on the projections of the agricultural sector, the enhancements and data
collection will legacy the knowledge and help equip the future farmers with enough knowledge.

1.7 Literature Review

R.Subalakshmi (2016) proposed a paper to make irrigation system simpler. According to her
paper, the complexities involved in irrigation could b
e tackled by use of an automation system using microcontroller and GSM. Based on the sensed
values from soil moisture, temperature and humidity sensors, the GSM sends message to the
farmer based on these parameters when exceeded some fixed threshold value set in the program.
A farmer can be updated on the mobile devices or web on status of the center pivots.

R.Subalakshmi (2016)
proposed a paper to make irrigation
system more simpler.
According to her paper, the
complexities involved in irrigation
can be tackled with automation system
using microcontroller
and GSM. Based on the sensed values
from soil moisture,
temperature and humidity sensors, the
GSM sends message to
the farmer based on these parameters
when exceeded some
fixed threshold value set in the progra
R.Subalakshmi (2016)
proposed a paper to make irrigation
system more simpler.
According to her paper, the
complexities involved in irrigation
can be tackled with automation system
using microcontroller
and GSM. Based on the sensed values
from soil moisture,
temperature and humidity sensors, the
GSM sends message to
the farmer based on these parameters
when exceeded some
fixed threshold value set in the progra
R.Subalakshmi (2016)
proposed a paper to make irrigation
system more simpler.
According to her paper, the
complexities involved in irrigation
can be tackled with automation system
using microcontroller
and GSM. Based on the sensed values
from soil moisture,
temperature and humidity sensors, the
GSM sends message to
the farmer based on these parameters
when exceeded some
fixed threshold value set in the progra
1.8 Summary of the remaining Chapters
This also include a cost effective analysis that in the following chapters the author will venture
into the selection of the resources he dims fit to produce a feasible system that tackles and
answers the enlisted problems . The remaining chapters also allude on how the system works and
the outcome, which was produced, and the developments that were added to the final product
inline, which the cost effective and feasible resources provisioned. Manual and the analysis will
be included in the topics to come in detail and how every objective is to be addressed.

1.9 Conclusion

The aim of the research is to develop a system that handles tasks in an efficient manner that helps
equip the manufacturer and customer with control and monitoring privileges thus improving
irrigation systems controls in the process improving the mechanization of the agricultural sector.

References
[ CITATION Dzi20 \l 1033 ]
[ CITATION Kle04 \l 1033 ]
R.Subalakshmi [ CITATION RSu16 \l 1033 ]