ENGR132: Transforming Ideas to Innovations II

( Approach 3 - Determination of Soil Water Content)

Assignment 2-Project Deliverable

Index Name ID Major Section

1
2

(Course Professor)

Date: XXX
Summer 2021
Abstract:
The determination of the water or moisture content of soil, land or ground is important for civil
engineers to estimate the amount of moisture so that the structures which have to be
constructed can be done without any issues relating to the land or soil. Thus, the determination
of the amount of moisture in the sand, soil or land is critical for engineers. This project involves
to design such a device which can help the civil engineers to estimate the amount of moisture in
the soil easily. The current device or appliances used for this purpose are very expensive. They
use heavy equipment's with high precision, accuracy and resolution and thus are very expensive.
Therefore, the aim of this project is to present a cost-effective solution by using high-quality and
industrially manufactured components. For this project, a microcontroller is used to control the
moisture sensor and then display its value on an LCD screen. The microcontroller used for this
project is the Arduino UNO microcontroller. It is a great microcontroller for prototyping and
allows features such as easy integration, simple programming and prototyping feasibility. The
project is developed on software and hardware. All the schematics, flowcharts, diagrams and
results have been performed correctly, thus ensuring the working of the project and it is
presented in this project report.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction: ............................................................................................................................. 4
1.1. Problem Statement: ........................................................................................................... 4
1.2. Objectives: .......................................................................................................................... 4
1.3. Discussion: .......................................................................................................................... 4
2. Proposed Solution: .................................................................................................................... 5
2.1. Solution Details: ................................................................................................................. 5
2.2. Equipment: ......................................................................................................................... 5
2.3. Constraints: ........................................................................................................................ 5
2.4. Detailed Inputs & Outputs Used: ....................................................................................... 7
2.5. Flowchart: ........................................................................................................................... 7
2.6. Solution Algorithm: ............................................................................................................ 8
3. Conclusion: .................................................................................................................... 11
4. References: .................................................................................................................... 11

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1. Introduction:
1.1. Problem Statement:
To present a feasible solution for the detection of moisture of soil using Arduino
microcontroller.

1.2. Objectives:
1. To connect the moisture sensor with Arduino and take readings.
2. To connect the LCD module with Arduino.
3. To perform programming so that the values of moisture sensor can be displayed on the
LCD module.

1.3. Discussion:
A prototype to design and implement a hardware solution for the detection of the
moisture of soil is done in this project. It is important to measure the moisture of soil so
that so that the structures can be constructed easily without any complications. This
project uses the Arduino microcontroller as the main controller. The moisture sensor is
connected with the Arduino, which reads the observations. An LCD module is also
connected to the Arduino and the reading from the moisture sensor is displayed on the
LCD module. Such programming is to be done which takes the analog or digital input from
the moisture sensor and reads it in the form of electrical voltages. Then these
corresponding voltages are displayed on the LCD module

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2. Proposed Solution:

2.1. Solution Details:

This project integrates the moisture sensor and the LCD module with the Arduino
microcontroller. The reading from the moisture sensor is read by the Arduino UNO and displayed
on the LCD module.

2.2. Equipment:

1. Arduino UNO microcontroller.

2. FC28 moisture sensor.
3. LCD display module.

2.3. Constraints:

The constraints of this prototype are mentioned as follows:

1. Functional Constraints:
• The components have a functional constraint in terms of range and accuracy.

2. Safety Constraints:
• There are no safety constraints because there is no issue of electrical shock.

3. Manufacturing Constraints:
• There can be manufacturing constraints because these devices are made by
industries and factories and the limitations have been faced by them.

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 4. Economic Constraints:
• Cost effective components are being used in this project and thus there are not
much economic constraints.

5. Quality Constraints:
• High-quality components are used and thus there are no quality constraints.

6. Aesthetic Constraints:
• There are no aesthetic constraints because the whole project can be assembled
as a single device

7. Legal/Ethical Constraints:
• There are no legal constraints because the work done is in accordance with the
laws of the country.

8. Sustainability:
• This project is sustainable if all the requirements are met without any issues

9. Timing Constraints:
• The timing constraints are due to the use of battery. Otherwise, if AC supply is
given then there is no issue.

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 Standards:

• ISO 11461:2014 Soil Quality Standard (International Standard)

• ISO 15709:2002 Soil Water and the Unsaturated Zone Standard (International
Standard)

• A5TM D 2974-87 Moisture and Ash Content Standard (International Standard)

2.4. Detailed Inputs & Outputs Used:

Component Number Digital/Analog Input/Output Quantity

Arduino UNO Both Both 1
Moisture FC Both Input 1
Sensor
Breadboard Medium - - 1
Battery 9V Digital Input 1
Wires Jumper Both Output -
LCD Module 16x2 Both Output 1
Resistors Many - - -

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2.5. Flowchart:
The following figure presents the flowchart of the whole prototype process:

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2.6. Solution Algorithm:

The solution algorithm consists of the code and the schematic diagram of this prototype. The
hardware image and the results are also presented.
Code:

const int Pin=0;

const int limit=480;
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
pinMode(13,OUTPUT);
// put your setup code here, to run once:
}
void loop() {
int value;
value=analogRead(Pin);
Serial.println("analog value:");
Serial.println(value);
delay(1000);
if (value<limit)
{
digitalWrite(13,HIGH);
}
else
{
digitalWrite(13,LOW);
}
// put your main code here, to run repeatedly:

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Circuit Diagram:
The following figure shows the circuit diagram of the project:

Hardware setup:
The following figure shows the hardware setup of the project:

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Results:
The following figure shows the result of the project:

3. Conclusion:
The project of designing and implementing a hardware project for the determination of soil
moisture content has been successfully performed. The project has also been implemented on
hardware and relevant results have been presented in this report.
The future work involves using different sensors and microcontrollers having different
specifications and features so that a much better product can be achieved. Furthermore, a
housing can also be designed to put a casing on the whole project to prevent it from external
factors such as air, dust, wind, rain, snow, etc.

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4. References:

Arduino. (2018). What is Arduino? Retrieved from Arduino:

https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/Introduction
EL-PRO-CUS. (n.d.). Soil Moisture Sensor Working and Applications. Retrieved from EL-PRO-CUS:
https://www.elprocus.com/soil-moisture-sensor-working-and-applications/
Engineers, L. M. (n.d.). Interfacing 16×2 Character LCD Module with Arduino. Retrieved from Last
Minute Engineers: https://lastminuteengineers.com/arduino-1602-character-lcd-tutorial/
goks_lf. (n.d.). Arduino Soil Moisture Sensor. Retrieved from
https://www.instructables.com/Arduino-Soil-Moisture-Sensor/

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