Introduction to Embedded System Based Implementation of Drip Irrigation Project:
Due to insufficient rains and lack of proper storage reservoirs there is a need to use the limited water resources effectively. By using drip irrigation system the water the wastage of water gets reduced as the water is directly supplied near the roots. But it is very difficult to supply water only where there is a requirement, so by using an embedded based microcontroller design it is possible. In this paper we will look into the design of system which monitors the drips present in the farm.
Brief on the design and working:
To make a design we should look into the type of soil and the amount of water to be supplied for each plant and the time intervals to follow for supplying water. We will be using temperature and moisture sensors which will be buried under the soil each line of drip. When the temperature and the moisture are reached to the required point then they transmit a signal to the microcontroller which drives the relays by making the pipe valves to turn off.
For this design we will be using an 89C51 microcontroller which has 8KB of flash memory which is best suited for programming our application. The microcontroller program is written in embedded c and is loaded into the flash memory by using keil software. A DC motor is used for regulating the flow of water through the pipes. A LCD is connected to the microcontroller which displays the lines where the drips are on. Amplifiers are connected to the sensors so as to energize the out coming signal the sensors.
Advantages:
This design is a low cost model and it can be easily installed. By employing this design we can reduce manpower and we can look after the water supply very easily. By using drip irrigation the wastage of water gets reduced and by supplying required amount of water to the plants we can yield more. This is error free design as we are using a microcontroller for monitoring the system.
Download Embedded System Based Implementation of Drip Irrigation ECE Project Abstract.