Smart Irrigation System with Soil Moisture Sensing

Problem statement

Manual irrigation or fixed timing based irrigation does not consider actual soil moisture, which leads to over irrigation or under irrigation and wastage of water.

Abstract

The smart irrigation system uses soil moisture sensors and a microcontroller with Wi-Fi to control a water pump automatically. The controller decides when to turn the pump on or off based on moisture levels and user defined thresholds. Moisture readings and pump status are visible on a mobile app or web dashboard.

Components required

• NodeMCU ESP8266 / ESP32 or Arduino with Wi-Fi module
• Soil moisture sensors
• Relay module to drive pump
• Water pump and water tank
• Power supply unit
• IoT platform or custom mobile app
• Jumper wires and PCB

Block diagram

Working

The microcontroller periodically reads soil moisture values from the sensors. When the value falls below a dry threshold for a certain time, it turns on the pump through the relay. When the moisture reaches the wet threshold, it turns the pump off. Moisture readings and pump events are sent to the cloud, where the user can also force manual control or adjust thresholds.

Applications

• Small farms and kitchen gardens
• Greenhouses and nurseries
• Lawn and landscape irrigation
• Training project on smart farming