Irrigation is of the method to watering the plant and to improve the quality of crops. Automatic irrigation is a modern method that used for watering vegetables, fruits and farm crops. This project paper will describe “automatic plant irrigator” designed by using microcontroller. The main purpose of this project is to design an automatic watering device by sensing the soil conditions. In addition, the project also aims to design a soil moisture sensor that can be easily integrated with a microcontroller. To achieve this objective, some research and studies has been done in some previous similar project. Based on the review, the methodology that used in this project are divide into two, which is hardware and software parts. Both development are involving design, experimentation, simulation and construction to get an expected result which meets the project objective. Data analysis for this project will proceed after the completion of the hardware and the software procedure. This is for the purpose to ensure the project can achieve the objective and also to ensure the reliability of the system.
C(iii)
Detailed proposal of project:
Cadangan maklumat projek secara terperinci:
(a) Introduction
Pengenalan
When it comes to agricultural activities, irrigation in one of the vital process. Irrigation system is an essential important element for plant growth. It also one of major effect in any plant cultivation as it may affect on the growth of plant. Irrigation in agriculture term is defined as an artificial application of watering of the arable land or soil.
Water is most important to our life and we cannot survive without it. Water also is essential ingredient of plant. Most of gardener usually uses manual technique to watering their plant. This technique system is inefficient. Sometime, the possibility to over watering is high when use this technique.
In order to overcome this problem, Automatic plant irrigator is used. Automatic plant irrigator or better known as an automatic plant watering system is a system that is introduced not only provide a programmable watering system but also a continuous monitoring system. The main goal of this project is to design an automatic plant irrigator where the system is equipped with a reliable soil water level or moisture sensor. This system is applicable for small or medium agricultural-industry. This system will be divided into three main units which are sensing element, control element and final control element. Sensor such as soil moisture detector are use to control the watering system
(b) Problem statement
Pernyataan Masalah
Nowadays, automatic plant irrigator system is commonly applied in agriculture such as domestic gardening. In this industry, automatic plant irrigator system usually used to supply water to maintain soil moisture so plants can grow well.
Unfortunately, there are still gardeners or farmers who maintained use manually watering technique because not all of them afford to buy the system. Over-watering possibility would occur if this manual process is still practiced. It will caused the plants drown if supply too much water for them. Sometime this manual technique also make the process water late reaches or does not reach the roots of plants and this will cause the plant get dried. Lack of water can be harmful to the plant or even can render it withered. The effect of this lack of water can also slow down the process of plant growth and will also affect the light weight of the plants. In the conventional system, farmers also need monitor the irrigation timetable, as each plant has a different time in terms of watering time.

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An automatic plant irrigation monitoring system is the good solution to overcome this problem. This irrigation system is not only provides a good hydration system for plant but also provides the controller that allows the user to set their irrigation system operation. Users also can set the level of moisture that is allowed according to the specification in the soil so their crops will always have a maintained moisture level.
(c) Objective (s) of the Project
Objektif Projek
To compare the sensitivity of two type of sensor probe that was made of stainless steel and copper
To design reliable soil moisture sensor
To design automatic plant irrigator monitoring system
(c) Project Scope
Skop Projek
This project will be focus to design low cost automatic plant irrigation. The project involves the evolution of manually watering techniques to automatic watering techniques. The controlling of the automatic watering system in an agricultural. To complete this project in such systematic and organized manners, some scope and limitation should be set accordingly.
Sensor used to control the watering system is soil moisture sensor. There are several software will be used, the software is livewire that been used to simulated the circuit. The second software that will be used in this project Visual Basic 6 that been used to implement the graphical user interface for PIC as the system controller.
The communication between Visual Basic and automatic plant irrigator system will be determined by using an address to give or receive digital or analog signal.
(e) Literature Review
Keterangan latar belakang projek kajian literature
Soil moisture sensor
Sensor is a device which used to measure a physical quantity and convert this information into a signal that can be read by the observer or a tool. [1]
The Sensor converts one form of energy into another form because the sensor is a transducer. For this reason, the sensor is categorized according to the type of energy transfer that they detected. Soil moisture measurement provides very useful information to agriculture, such as agriculture farm, soil stability, soil moisture and construction activities. [2]
The probe selection for sensor is very important. This is because the material that used in the probe. Sensor sensitivity is depending on the material that used to construct the probe and also depends on how the sensor operates. Typically, soil moisture sensor is based on the resistance value of the soil. Water is a type of electric conductance. So generally, if the resistance is low, the soil is dry and vice versa. [3].
Gypsum block is a product of the low cost soil moisture monitoring. Their low cost and ease of interpretation make this block is particularly suitable for seasonal crops. There are two electrodes embedded in the gypsum block. When gypsum wet, it will conduct electric easily and when gypsum dry, it is a poor conductor. A pair of electrode within the block will measure the change in the resistance. It is possible directly using a pair of electrode measure the resistivity in the soil but the measurement will influence by changes in soil conductivity brought about by salt and other ingredients. The ion gypsum provided a buffer against the effects of salt and nutrients. It is very effective for prevention of salt ions from reaching the electrode and to ensure the sensor is only responding to moisture level. [4]
PIC
Microcontroller is a computer on- a- chip. It is a type of intelligence processor that can be programmed for collecting data from input. Microcontroller frequently uses in automatically control devices such as remote control system, toys and hardware. [5]
PIC is used as the main brain system in a moisture monitoring system. Technically, PIC is used to converts analog signals to digital signal that can be read by computer that provided the view of monitoring system. In the measurement of soil moisture, the soil moisture sensor potential to measure the difference (voltage) across the probe and transmit the measure to the PIC. PIC will convert the reading into the soil moisture level. This is achieved by setting the conversion unit into the PIC programmed.[6]
Irrigation System
The main purpose of “Automatic irrigation management system” is proposed to offer the following benefits: first, it is able to provide the amount of water needed by plants in the field. Second, it can eliminate the time and scheduling system for watering plants. Third, it also managed to contain the pressures caused by over-watering plants. In conclusion, this system is to promote the save and production water. [7]
With the increasing needs for agriculture, human start to realize that agriculture activity are needs plentiful source of water just like how they need water to survive. As time goes by, the increase in population and the area of settlement grows wider. So, human has created a device that allows them to get water even they are far from the water source. The earliest system known as aqueducts. [8]
Soil Moisture Monitoring Software
The software is designed to monitor system operation. This is to record the measurement of soil moisture so that can be used as a reference for plant watering strategies to produce better yields. The data recording is very important since different patterns in the irrigation schedule do affect the crops growth. [9]
The concept of monitoring system is also beneficial to operators to help them monitor for any abnormalities in the system during operation. The software also provides a graphical display system operation. The display helps the operator to determine the level of soil moisture and watering system conditions during operation. This will ensure the system is healthy and operate normally. [10]
Soil water percentage experiment
Before starting the experiment, the method of calculation needs to be determined first. For this project, the water percentage will be calculated by referring to the mass of dry soil. This method will apply three general equations which are normally used to determine the water percentage using the oven dry method.
(d) Methodology
Kaedah projek
For sensing unit, the design stage is started with the soil moisture sensor circuit design. In this project, the voltage divider circuit is used. After the soil moisture circuit has been confirmed, the next step is determining the material that is used as a sensor probe. Here are two types of probes were used which is stainless steel and copper. Experiment and analysis will be conducted on both of the probe. Result from both of the probe will be taken and compared to determine which probe more suitable as a sensor probe.
The selection of reliability sensor is depend on the high electric conductivity and also has a high corrosion resistance. The sensor probe is build of two rods which are separated for 2 cm. The two rods are separated so that when the probe is inserted into the soil there will be a potential difference across them. These potential difference is varies with the soil resistivity.
The microcontroller used in this project is the Duemilanove Arduino. The Arduino is equipped with the Atmega328 PIC with a built in USB interface which provides an easy serial connection between the controller and computer to provide the GUI display. The Arduino is programmed to obtain the voltage reading from the sensing unit and display it.
Action unit in the project is automatic plant irrigator system. This unit consists of two small units which is water pumps and dripping system. Water pumps supplying 240V power supply and its operation is controlled by a relay. That is triggered by the arduino.
(g) References
Application of sensor manual, Principles and Basic, 1999
R.Frank, Research on the soil moisture sensor, 2000
C.C. Shock, R. Flock, E. Feibert, C.A. Shock, A. Pereira, L. Jensen, Irrigation Monitoring with Soil Water Tension. Oregan State University, 2005
Model KS-D1 owner’s manual, DELMHORST INSTRUMENT CO.
Application of Microcontroller manual, Principle and the BASIC Stamp, 1999
. Juang, J.-N.; Ekong, D.U.; Carlson, C.; Longsdorf, W.; Miller, M.; , “A Computer-Based Soil Moisture Monitoring and Hydrating System,” System Theory, 2007. SSST ’07. Thirty-Ninth Southeastern Symposium on , vol., no., pp.142-144, 4-6 March 2007
Julie S.Chang. Western Washington University. 10-22-2006
C. Brouwer, K. Prins, M. Kay, M. Heibloem. Irrigation Water Management: Irrigation Methods, Rome, Italy: Publications Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1988
C. O. Akinbile, M. S. Yusff, Growth, Yield and Water use Pattern of Chilli Pepper under Different Irrigation Scheduling and Management, Asian Journal of Agricultural Research, 5(2), pp 154 – 163, 2011.
Y. Zhao, J. Zhang, J. Guan, W. Yin, “Study on precision water-saving irrigation automatic control system by plant physiology,” Industrial Electronics and Applications, 2009. ICIEA 2009. 4th IEEE Conference on , vol., no., pp.1296-1300, 25-27 May 2009
D
ACCESS TO EQUIPMENT AND MATERIAL / KEMUDAHAN SEDIA ADA UNTUK KEGUNAAN BAGI PROJEK INI
Equipment
Peralatan
Location
Tempat
E
BUDGET /BELANJAWAN
Please indicate your estimated budget for this project
Sila nyatakan anggaran bajet bagi cadangan projek ini
Budget details
Butiran belanjawan
Amount requested by applicant
Jumlah yang dipohon
oleh pemohon
Comment by panel
FYP 1
PSM 1
(RM)
FYP 2
PSM 2
(RM)
E (i)
Project Materials & Supplies
Bekalan dan Bahan Projek
Copper rods
(Rm5.00)
PCB BOARD
(RM2.00)
E (ii)
Maintenance and Minor Repair Services
Baik pulih kecil dan ubahsuai
E (iii)
Professional Services
Perkhidmatan Ikhtisas
E (vi)
Accessories and
Equipment
Aksesori dan Peralatan
TOTAL AMOUNT
JUMLAH BESAR
RM7.00
F
Declaration by candidate / Akuan Calon
(Please tick ( √ )): / (Sila tanda ( √ )):
I hereby confess that:
Saya dengan ini mengaku bahawa:
All information stated here are accurate, Supervisor and panel has right to reject or to cancel this proposal without prior notice if there is any inaccurate information given.
Semua maklumat yang diisi adalah benar, Penyelia dan panel berhak menolak permohonan atau membatalkan tawaran cadangan ini pada bila-bila masa sekiranya keterangan yang dikemukakan adalah tidak benar.
Application of this Project Proposal is presented for a FYP 1 seminar.
Permohonan cadangan projek projek ini dikemukakan untuk Seminar PSM 1.
Date : Candidate’s Signature :
Tarikh : Tandatangan Calon : ___________________________
G
Recommended by FYP Supervisor
Perakuan Penyelia PSM
Please tick ( √ )
Sila tandakan ( √ )
Recommended:
Diperakukan:
A. Highly Recommended
Sangat Disokong
B. Recommended
Disokong
C. Not Recommended (Please specify reason)
Tidak Disokong (Sila Nyatakan Sebab)
Comments:
Ulasan:
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Name: Signature:
Nama: Tandatangan:
Date:
Tarikh:
Appendix A: Flow Chart of Project Activities
Start
Proposing a project title:
Development of monitoring system for Automatic Plant Irrigator
Literature Review
Soil Moisture Sensor
PIC
3. Irrigation System
Design the system
System block diagram
Soil Moisture Sensor Circuit
3. Programming PIC
System Construction
Run simulation for sensor circuit using LiveWire Pro
System hardware and software construction
System testing and analysis
Final report writing and submission
End
Appendix B: Project Schedule of Project Activities (Gantt chart)
Project Planning
List major activities involved in the proposed project. Indicate duration of each activity to the related month(s).
2012
2013
Project Activities
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mac.
Apr.
May
June
Finding out the project title and proposal submission
Search for relevance information with the project
Designing and testing of the sensing unit
Designing and testing of the action unit
Integrating the sensing and the action unit
Run testing and analysis
Final report writing
Appendix C: TURNITIN Report must be attached