Disadvantages of automatic plant irrigation system

disadvantages of automatic plant irrigation system using microcontroller

Automatic plant Irrigation (AT89C2051)

The Project presented here waters your plants regularly when you are out for vocation. The circuit comprises sensor parts built using op-amp IC LM324. Op-amp's are configured here as a comparator. Two stiff copper wires are inserted in the soil to sense the whether the Soil is wet or dry. The Microcontroller was used to control the whole system it monitors the sensors and when more than two sensors sense the dry condition then the microcontroller will switch on the motor and it will switch off the motor when all the sensors are in wet. The microcontroller does the above job it receives the signals from the sensors, and this signals operated under the control of software which is stored in ROM.

In present days, in the field of agriculture farmers are facing major problems in watering their crops. It’s because they don’t have proper idea about the availability of the power. Even if it is available, they need to pump water and wait until the field is properly watered, which compels them to stop doing other activities – which are also important for them, and thus they loss their precious time and efforts. But, there is a solution – an automatic plant irrigation system not only helps farmers but also others for watering their gardens as well.

This automatic irrigation system senses the moisture content of the soil and automatically switches the pump when the power is on. A proper usage of irrigation system is very important because the main reason is the shortage of land reserved water due to lack of rain, unplanned use of water as a result large amounts of water goes waste. For this reason, we use this automatic plant watering system, and this system is very useful in all climatic conditions.

Automatic Plant Irrigation System

The power supply consists of a step-down transformer, which steps down the voltage to 12VAC. By using a bridge rectifier this AC is converted to DC, then it is regulated to 5v using a voltage regulator which is used for the operation of the microcontroller.

When the soil condition is less than the reference voltage, i.e., 5v, then the soil is considered as dry and instantly the 555 timer sends the logic signal 1 to the microcontroller. The microcontroller then turns on the motor driver circuit and prompts the motor to pump water to the plants. When the soil condition is greater than the reference voltage, the soil becomes dry. Then the timer sends the logic signal 0 to the microcontroller, this turns off the motor driver circuit and prompts motor to pump water to the fields. Finally, the condition of the motor and soil are displayed in the LCD display.

Circuit Diagram of Plant Irrigation System

The main component used in this automatic plant irrigation system is 7404 Hex Inverter. The main function of the inverter output is proportional to input. It means, if the input of the inverter is low, then the output of the inverter will be high, and the inverter will give low output if the input is high. The Hex inverter 7404 IC includes six independent inverters and the range of operating voltage is around 4.75V to 5.5V, and the Supply voltage is 5V. They are used in many applications such as drivers, inverting buffers, etc. This IC is available in different packages like quad-flat package and dual-inline package.


PROJECT DESCRIPTION
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The project is designed to develop an automatic irrigation system which switches the pump motor ON/OFF on sensing the moisture content of the soil. In the field of agriculture, use of proper method of irrigation is important. The advantage of using this method is to reduce human intervention and still ensure proper irrigation.

The project uses an 8051 series microcontroller which is programmed to receive the input signal of varying moisture condition of the soil through the sensing arrangement. This is achieved by using an op-amp as comparator which acts as interface between the sensing arrangement and the microcontroller.

Once the controller receives this signal, it generates an output that drives a relay for operating the water pump. An LCD display is also interfaced to the microcontroller to display status of the soil and water pump. The sensing arrangement is made by using two stiff metallic rods inserted into the field at a distance. Connections from the metallic rods are interfaced to the control unit.

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. We can also control the pump through SMS.