We are living in a technology based society where we have lots of innovative ideas day by day. These new innovations in IoT communications-based projects, strive constantly to share and gather insight on the latest trends in the industrial IoT landscape. Here we focus on the IoT-based smart agricultural system that can perform and even monitor a host of farming tasks.
Agriculture is an age-old economic activity that plays a vital role in the growth of our country. Over these years, cultivation methods have changed significantly depending upon the characteristics of the physical environment, technological know-how, and socio-cultural practices. Smart Farming utilizes the modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into agriculture, referred to as the Third Green Revolution. As we all know that the growth in the agriculture sector has been stagnant over the past few years, it is necessary to introduce new technologies in this sector to improve food production. This project proposes the practice of modern farming techniques where plants can be grown without the need for soil by means of nutrient solutions.
Hydroponics is a fully automatic system that can be integrated into agriculture while introducing business skills. The system enables automatic monitoring and control of environmental factors such as light intensity, pH, electrical conductivity, water temperature, and relative humidity via sensors and actuators onto the system. The maintenance and automated monitoring are performed by the IoT that are used to transfer and retrieve data to the internet (mass storage). The mobile app is used to communicate the current status of the hydroponic system to the user through the use of the internet on their mobile phones.
OBJECTIVES OF PROPOSED SYSTEM:
• To cultivate vegetables and fruits from your own home with the help of a Hydroponics VertiCulture Technique.
• To design and develop an algorithm for an automated system to mix proper nutrients with water for the Hydroponics VertiCulture.
• To design an IoT architecture with suitable sensors for automated watering, and monitoring of crops.
PROPOSED SYSTEM:
  Hydroponics is a form of gardening that uses no soil, but instead grows plants in a solution of water and nutrients. A hydroponic system can grow plants and vegetables faster and year-round with efficient use of resources. Plants grown this way usually yield more, require less space, and conserve soil and water.Â
  This technique can be considered as the best alternative in areas where serious soil and water problems like soil-borne pests and diseases, soil and water salinity, chemical residues in soil and water, shortage of water, etc. exist. In hydroponics, plants are grown by directly supplying the optimum amount of nutrients in the water. The composition of nutrient solution, electrical conductivity, pH, and oxygen concentration has a direct influence on the yield and quality of crops grown under hydroponics. If any of these factors are non-optimal, crops express stress symptoms. Throughout the growing process, one needs to control several factors such as lighting, water quality, air circulation, and more. Here we use Deep water culture (DWC) which is a hydroponic method of plant production by means of suspending the plant roots in a solution of nutrient-rich, oxygenated water. Â
WORKING PRINCIPLE:
In this proposed system, the various sensors for monitoring pH, EC, and liquid temperature of the water-nutrient solution are controlled by the Arduino UNO whereas the NodeMCU takes care of luminous intensity, temperature, and humidity of the surrounding air. We also control the LED bulb switching with NodeMCU with a 5V relay which isolates the AC circuit from the DC circuit.
The sensors being used here to monitor surrounding air parameters along with the water quality essential for plant growth. Digital Humidity and temperature sensor DHT-11 which provides temperature in degrees celsius and humidity in percentage. Light-dependent resistor LDR to calculate the luminous flux in lux which is directly related to luminous intensity in lumens. pH sensor indicates the acidity or alkalinity of water-based solutions. The EC sensor measures the electrical conductivity in a solution to monitor the number of nutrients, salts, or impurities in the water. In short, this IoT based Hydroponics system features:
- Automated Watering system for hydroponics system
- Internet monitoring and control (using Android app, Web)
- Compact and cost-effective Hydroponics VertiCulture system
- Cultivation of vegetables and fruits for household needs
HARDWARE REQUIRED:
- Arduino Uno:
Arduino Uno is an open-source based on the Microchip ATmega328P developed by Arduino. cc. The current version of Arduino Uno comes with a USB interface, 14 digital I/O pins, 6 analog pins, an ICSP header, 16 MHz ceramic resonator, a power jack, and reset button. And an Atmega328 microcontroller is used to connect with external electronics circuits.
- NODEMCU
The Latest NODEMCU Esp8266-12 Wireless IoT Board designed based on an integrated chip specifically to fulfill the needs of a new connected world. This Module is capable of either hosting an application or offloading all Wi-Fi networking functions from another application processor. This wireless module is completely addressable over SPI and UART protocols. As a result grants permission to connect your sensors or project directly to it through its GPIO.
- DHT11 TEMPERATURE & HUMIDITY SENSOR:
A temperature sensor is designed as an electronic device that measures the temperature of its environment and converts the input data into electronic data to record monitor or signal temperature changes. The DHT 11 is a low-powered electronic device that lets us get the value of the temperature and the moisture. The sensor consists of a capacitive humidity sensor and a Thermistor connected to a high-performance 8-bit microcontroller.
pH SENSOR:
Plants require water on a regular basis for proper growth.pH measures the sample’s acidity by measuring the potential activity of hydrogen ions (H+) in the sample. pH measurements operate on a range of scales from 0 to 14, with 7.0 considered neutral. Solutions with a pH below 7.0 are acidic in nature. Whereas the Solutions with a pH above 7.0, up to 14.0 are considered as base.
- LDR:
Light Dependent Resistors (LDR) also referred to as photoresistors are simple and low-cost Sensors. It’ is also called a photoresistor or a photoconductor. It basically works on the principle of Photoconductivity. A photoresistor may be a passive component that decreases resistance with reference to receiving luminosity (light) on the component’s sensitive surface.
- DS18B20 TEMPERATURE SENSOR:
DS18B20 Temperature Sensor Module is defined as a 3-wire digital temperature sensor, with 9 to 12-bit resolution. These sensors easily connect to Arduino with only one 4.7K resistor, base 1 Ground 2 Output Base 3 to the positive of the source, with resistance to base 2 connected.
- LCD DISPLAY:
Displaying information is one of the crucial steps in electronic projects. So using LCDs has always been one of the most popular ways to display information. This 1602 LCD module is a very popular display. 16*2 LCD module consists of 16 columns and 2 rows, so it has 32 (16*2) characters in total.
- RELAY:
A relay is designed as an electrically operated switch. Many relays operate with an electromagnet to mechanically operate a switch. Relays functions where it’s necessary to regulate a circuit by a low-power signal. This is performed with complete electrical isolation between control and controlled circuits, or several circuits that should be controlled by one signal. This 5V Relay is an automatic control circuit and to control a high-current using a low-current signal. The input voltage of the relay signal ranges from 0 to 5V. This 5V RELAY is controlled directly by Microcontroller Arduino.
ADVANTAGES OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM:
- No soils needed
- Make better use of space and location
- Climate control
- Hydroponics is water-saving
- Effective use of nutrients
- pH control of the solution
- Better growth rate
- No weeds
- Fewer pests & diseases
- Less use of insecticide, and herbicides
- Labour and time savers
- Hydroponics is a stress-relieving hobby
CONCLUSION:
The main aim of this IoT-based proposed system is the practice of modern farming techniques where plants can be grown without the need for soil by means of a nutrient solution known as Hydroponics Farming. This smart system can be considered as the best solution in areas where serious soil and water problems like soil-borne pests and diseases, soil and water salinity, chemical residues in soil and water, shortage of water, etc. exist. In hydroponics, plants are grown by directly supplying the optimum amount of nutrients in the water. And also the use of pesticides and fertilizer reduces while overall efficiency will rise. IoT technologies enable better food quality leading to increased food safety. It will also be beneficial for the environment by more efficient use of water, or optimization of treatments and inputs.
The Internet of Things (IoT) enables remote monitoring of this hydroponics system in a non-intrusive and effective fashion, promising significant improvements in farming method. In short, this smart farming offers a real potential to deliver more productive and sustainable form of agricultural production, based on a more precise and resource-efficient approach.