LYCEUM OF THE PHILIPPINES UNIVERSITY CAVITE

LUNTIAN: AN ANDROID-BASED GARDEN MONITORING

APPLICATION USING ARDUINO
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A Capstone Project
Submitted to the Faculty of the
College of Engineering, Computer Studies, and Architecture
Lyceum of the Philippines University - Cavite

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements of the Degree
Bachelor of Science in Information Technology

ZYRA ALECXA P. BOBADILLA

LIANNE JOYCE B. BUTARDO
ALYSSA NICOLE A. FAINSAN
KEA R. ROMERO

August 2022

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

In a fast-paced world, humans generally tend to pick up activities that they could

do outside of their work. According to a study, having hobbies can be very beneficial to

people, especially to those who are in the working age as it can be conducive to their

mental health (Li, et al., 2019). It is said that one of the most helpful hobbies one could

take revolves around nature. Based on a study, associating nature in a neighborhood can

lower the risk of its residents having a poor mental health (Cox, et al., 2017). One of the

known hobbies associated with nature is gardening. Gardening pertains to having a

dedicated area of land for the purpose of growing plants (Herklots et al., 2020).

In the modern era, technology has become more advanced to the point that almost

everything can revolve or be controlled by a handheld device like a smartphone. Today,

everyone can communicate and gather data over long distances with just a simple tap

using mobile devices and the internet. With the device’s popularity, various mobile-based

applications have emerged in the market from simple calculators up to complicated

applications like human resource management. According to a study, mobile applications

can help increase productivity and save time for its users as it can do tasks while they are

moving or riding a vehicle (Islam & Mazumder, 2010). Although there are various

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software for different kinds of hobbies, very few of them are dedicated to gardening and

most of them only include garden planning or plant growth tracking. 

The proposed project: “Luntian: An Android-based Garden Monitoring System

using Arduino” will help plant enthusiasts and plant nursery owners in monitoring

whether their garden/greenhouse is still suitable for this specific plant planted in it or if

they need more moisture on the soil beds. The said project will integrate various sensors

connected to an Arduino that will then compile the data received and give continuous

data to the application about the garden’s humidity and soil moisture. The application that

will be developed will also include features such as plant growth tracker that will aid in

knowing how long this certain plant is planted, plant guide that will illustrate the dos and

don'ts in this type of plants, alarm reminder, garden planner with recommendations of

what type of plants is typically planted in this season, and an automated irrigation system

connected to the sensor that monitors the plant moisture.

PROJECT CONTEXT

Gardening revolves around allotting a plot of land solely for growing plants such

as flowers, herbs, or vegetables. According to Synge (2020), it can be considered both as

an art in terms of arranging plants in the area and as a science that involves the

cultivation of plants. This type of activity has always been present in human civilizations

even before time immemorial as part of their livelihood and culture. Sometimes, people

do gardening because they find it therapeutic. Gardening became more prominent during

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war times, specifically, during World War I where people helped in the war effort by

providing their own fruits and vegetables as at that time, manpower and transportation

were very limited. The gardens were pertained to by the government as “victory

gardens”. Although promotions for ‘victory gardens’ by the government soon stopped as

soon as the war ended. Until recently, gardening once again became widespread during

the COVID-19 pandemic wherein countries were subjected into weeks and months long

lockdown, limiting people’s activities and daily routines, this prompted people to explore

ideas that were once foreign to them which includes gardening.

Gardening cannot only serve as people’s pastime and fill their spare time; it also

has various effects on a person’s health. It is discovered that continuous engagement with

nature can help people to promote health and could act as preventive medicine against

potential health issues. According to Soga (2017), studies have demonstrated varying

effects of gardening on people’s psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and cognitive

performance. It is also observed that constant interaction with nature reduces stress,

fatigue, and anxiety symptoms. The usage of engaging with gardening for the purpose of

treating people with psychological health issues is then referred to as “horticultural

therapy”.

According to the study by McFarland et al (2018), the age group with the largest

number of participants were adults older than 55 years old that making up about 52% of

the respondents reasoning that they found gardening to be therapeutic and helpful for

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their health as it enables them to access fresh fruits and vegetables. But since most people

interested in gardening are those nearing their 60s, this limits their capabilities to do

gardening such as their ability to be able to check on the garden regularly. Second, they

might find it hard to lift heavy watering cans regularly twice a day when watering their

plants or bend their back to individually inspect the plants’ current conditions.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The proposed system aims to help gardeners and nursery owners by providing

means of monitoring their greenhouses/gardens’ condition without having to physically

check on them. The proposed system will feature functions that employ sensors that will

monitor the garden’s humidity, track the growth of plants, and scan the soil moisture. It

will also have a mini instruction guide for certain plants that will illustrate how to take

care of them and an automated irrigation system connected to the soil moisture sensor

that can be manually disabled based on what the user deems necessary.

The system's main platform would be based on Android keeping practicality and

convenience in mind. It is then connected in a single network or connection together with

the Arduino where the sensors are connected that will continuously give updates about

the garden to the user. Through the Android application, the user can check the current

state of the garden in real-time, if something were to happen such as a sudden humidity

change or lack of soil moisture, it will immediately alert the user of the situation through

the applications notifications.

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The Luntian will be of good use to those gardeners that are having a hard time

monitoring their greenhouses/gardens due to their busy schedules and having a garden

planner and guide will also be a huge help for those who are having difficulties

remembering things.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The researchers will develop an Android Based Garden Monitoring System that

will be used by gardeners and plant nursery owners in the Philippines 

Specifically, the project aims to: 

1. Design a Monitoring system that has the following features: 

a. Monitor the garden/ greenhouse’s humidity;

b. Set reminders/ alarms for the user;

c. Plant growth tracking - Manual tracking of the plant’s growth;

weekly by using a graphical representation to observe a plant's growth

rate;

d. Plants Guide;

I.) Planting Depth

II.) Growing Season

III.) How much water per week

IV.) Estimated days of harvest

e. Automated irrigation system;

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f. Soil moisture.

2. Create the project using Android Studio as frontend and SQLite

database as backend.

 It will run on Android Devices. 

3. Test and improve the developed system which are:

a. Functional Test

b. Compatibility Test

4. Evaluate the performance of the system (Android application) using

MARS with the standard criteria and measure it based on the following

criteria: 

a. Engagement;

b. Functionality; 

c. Aesthetics; 

d. Information; 

e. Subjective Quality 

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION OF THE PROJECT

The target user of the proposed system will be the gardeners and owners of plant

nurseries. It will provide a monitoring system capable of giving the users real-time update

of the situation inside the garden/greenhouse. The system can be accessible through an

application that is based on Android connected on a single network together with the

deployed sensors mainly operated by an Arduino board.

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The proposed system will not cover pest monitoring on plants and will only

include humidity, and soil moisture monitoring. There will also be a plant cyclopedia

which will only include the common garden plants. The proposed project will heavily

focus on the application aspect of the system and not on the hardware.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT

The purpose of the project is to develop a mobile application that provides the

user with a guide on how to monitor the garden. In this application, the user

would be able to know the proper way, requirements, guidelines, and preparation

needed to handle gardening. 

The following are the beneficiaries of the project:

Gardeners. The application can help them by monitoring the

garden and having proper knowledge about gardening, being able

to gather information about different kinds of plants and being able

to follow the garden planner.

Future Researchers. The application can serve as a guide to

future researchers who are interested in doing the same study. 

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