Introduction

1.1 Increasing usage of technology in other sectors

The rapid growth in science and technology offers several advantages of using
integrated circuits, microprocessors, microcontrollers, embedded chips, etc., in
designing electrical and electronics projects and circuits by reducing their size, cost, and
complexity. Using these embedded chips and microcontrollers is increasing due to its
simplicity and benefits. The microcontrollers can be programmed to perform various
tasks based on requirement of the circuit operation. Thus, simply by changing program
instructions various tasks can be performed by a single circuit without changing any
hardware circuitry of the project. Thus, the application of microcontroller in science and
technology is increasing rapidly.

1.2 What is a microcontroller?

A microcontroller is a small computer on a single integrated circuit. In modern

terminology, it is similar to, but less sophisticated than, a system on a chip or SoC; a
SoC may include a microcontroller as one of its components. A microcontroller contains
one or more CPUs (processor cores) along with memory and
programmable input/output peripherals. Program memory in the form of ferroelectric
RAM, NOR flash or OTP ROM is also often included on chip, as well as a small amount
of RAM. Microcontrollers are designed for embedded applications, in contrast to
the microprocessors used in personal computers or other general purpose applications
consisting of various discrete chips.

1.3 Problems in irrigation in India

1.3.1 India’s Irrigation Efficiency is very poor
As per the Report of the Task Force on Irrigation (2009) constituted by the then
Planning Commission, for a gross irrigated area of about 91 mha, the water use is 634
BCM, which gives a delta of 0.68 m per ha of gross irrigated area. The average annual
rainfall is 1170 mm (1.17m). Taking 70 per cent of the rainfall as effective for crop
consumptive use, the gross water use is about 1.45 m (4.8 feet) per ha of the gross
irrigated area. This is very high compared to water use in irrigation systems in
developed countries, such as the USA, where water allocation is about 90 cm. This
overuse in the country reflects low irrigation efficiency, of about 25 per cent to 35 per
cent in most irrigation systems, with efficiency of 40 per cent to 45 per cent in a few
exceptional cases.

1.3.2 Competing demand for water is increasing rapidly

1
The demand for water for various purposes is increasing due to population growth,
urbanization and industrialization. Presently, the agriculture sector is using about 83 per
cent of available water resources, but demand from other sectors may reduce
availability for agricultural use to 68 per cent by 2050.

1.3.3 Overexploitation of surface water leading to drainage problems

Overuse of surface water leads to drainage problems, which in turn leads to
Waterlogging in some areas. Waterlogging, however, is mostly associated with unlined
or poorly maintained canal irrigation systems.

1.4 Desired Impact

Our project may bring a breakthrough change in current Indian system of irrigation if it is
implemented in a proper way. It can bring down labour and man power who were earlier
designated to do that job. It can save enormous amount of resources being wasted
unnecessarily. For example if a 7.5 H.P motor pump is run for an extra 1 hour due to
poor management around 5.5 KWH of electricity would get wasted but from our system
we can save that much of energy. When it comes to water if the head is 10 metres and
in the same 7.5 H.P motor with the pipe size of 80 mm 18 litres of water will be wasted
per second and 64,000 litres of water can be saved per hour from our technique which
would otherwise go wasted. Each crop requires sufficient amount of water, anything
more than the sufficient will go wasted and as engineers it is our responsibility to
prevent this from happening. This saved water could be the live of some people. It can
be supplied to many other urban or rural areas where people struggle for water.

2
Design and Implementation

2.1 Components used

2.1.1 Arduino Uno R3

Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega328P (datasheet). It has
14 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a
16 MHz quartz crystal, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header and a reset
button.

2.1.2 Soil Moisture Sensors

Soil moisture sensors measure the volumetric water content in soil.[1] Since the
direct gravimetric measurement of free soil moisture requires removing, drying, and
weighting of a sample, soil moisture sensors measure the volumetric water content
indirectly by using some other property of the soil, such as electrical resistance,
dielectric constant, or interaction with neutrons, as a proxy for the moisture content.

2.1.3 Filter Capacitor

A filter capacitor is a capacitor which filters out a certain frequency or range of
frequencies from a circuit. Usually capacitors filter out very low frequency signals.
These are signals that are very close to 0Hz in frequency value. These are also referred
to as DC signals.

2.1.4 Solenoid
A solenoid is a coil of insulated or enameled wire wound on a rod-shaped form made of
solid iron, solid steel, or powdered iron. Devices of this kind can be used as
electromagnets, as inductors in electronic circuits, and as miniature wireless receiving
antennas.

2.1.5 Resistor
A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical
resistance as a circuit element. In electronic circuits, resistors are used to reduce
current flow, adjust signal levels, to divide voltages, bias active elements, and terminate
transmission lines, among other uses.

3
2.2 Design

4
2.3 Implementation

5
Advantages

 Reduces water wastage

The proposed system uses at least 40% less water compared to the old system.

 Increases productivity
Automating the irrigation process allows the farmers to tend to other tasks, hence
highly increasing their average productivity.

 Adaptable
The system can be reconfigured to adjust to climate and weather changes.

 Cost efficient
Ultimately automating anything reduces operation cost.

Future modifications

 A GSM module can be added to alert the user about the status of pumps and
sprinklers.
 The system can be improved to automatically adjust itself to the climate changes
based on weather forecast.
 Can be extended to automating use of fertilizers based on soil composition.

Conclusion
The design was implemented and tested successfully. The soil moisture sensors were
placed at two different parts of land. The moisture content level was read and sent to
the microcontroller, which then automated the watering based on the levels.

The components used are minimum, cheap and don’t require much effort to set up. The
Arduino can be reprogrammed to work for bigger fields, different crops at different
places.

Hence by using this method, we hopefully reduce the amount of water and power being
wasted at least a little.