Module Code & Module Title
CC4003NI Introduction to Robotics and IoT
<<Project Title Here>>
Assessment Type
50% Development Report
Semester
2023 Autumn
Group members
London Met ID Student Name
Assignment Due Date: Sunday, 5th May 2024
Assignment Submission Date:
Word Count:
I confirm that I understand my coursework needs to be submitted online via Google Classroom under the
relevant module page before the deadline in order for my assignment to be accepted and marked. I am
fully aware that late submissions will be treated as non-submission and a mark of zero will be awarded.
Acknowledgement
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to ING college for providing us with the
opportunity to work on this project. We are grateful for their support and trust in our
ability to design an IoT- based smart agriculture monitoring system that can help
optimize irrigation processes and conserve water resources. We would like to thank our
mentor and advisor for his guidance and expertise throughout the project. Their insights
and suggestions have been invaluable in helping us design a system that meets the
needs of ING farm. We hope that this IoT- based smart agricultural monitoring system
will help ING farm optimize irrigation processes, conserve water resources, and
maximize crop yields, contributing to sustainable agriculture in the region.
1
Abstract
Nepal has a tremendous potential for growth and development. And agriculture sector
plays a vital role in the country’s economy, providing employment opportunities and
contributing significantly to the country’s GDP. In 1975, the agriculture industry in Nepal
accounted for 65% of the country’s GDP but since then it only accounts for 23.95% as
of 2022. And there are many factors that can be taken to account for such downfall for
this sector as numerous challenges could be faced such as water scarcity, land plotting,
lack of modern technology, climate change, and low productivity due to outdated
farming practices. Therefore, there is a dire need to introduce modern technology in the
agriculture sector to enhance its productivity and efficiency. This project presents an
IOT Based Smart Agriculture Monitoring System aimed at increasing agricultural
productivity in Nepal by automating and optimizing crop management. The system uses
various sensors to monitor environmental conditions in real-time, including soil moisture,
temperature, and humidity. The data collected is processed by a microcontroller and
transmitted wirelessly to a web application that provides farmers with visualized
information about their crops. The system is designed to be affordable and easy to use,
allowing farmers to monitor their crops remotely and take necessary actions to optimize
their growth. By providing farmers with real-time data on their crops, the system can
help them make informed decisions regarding water and fertilizer usage, pest control,
and harvesting times. This, in turn, can lead to increased crop yields, reduced costs,
and improved profitability. The project also has future implications, including the
integration of machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to further optimize
crop management. With the increasing demand for food production and the need to
address the challenges of climate change and food security, this project serves as a
promising solution for sustainable agriculture in Nepal. (Mishra, 2023)
2
Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................................3
1.1. Current scenario.........................................................................................................................3
1.2. Problem Statement and Project as a solution............................................................................3
1.3. Aim and Objectives.....................................................................................................................3
Case Study...............................................................................................................................4
1.4. Introduction...............................................................................................................................4
1.5. Problem Statement....................................................................................................................4
1.6. System Analysis..........................................................................................................................4
1.7. Recommendation.......................................................................................................................4
1.8. Conclusion..................................................................................................................................4
Background.............................................................................................................................5
1.9. System Overview........................................................................................................................5
1.10. Design Diagrams.........................................................................................................................5
1.11. Requirement Analysis.................................................................................................................5
Case Study...............................................................................................................................6
Development...........................................................................................................................7
Results and Findings................................................................................................................8
Future Works...........................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................10
Appendix...............................................................................................................................11
1.1. Appendix A: Source Code.........................................................................................................11
1.2. Appendix B: Screenshots of the system...................................................................................11
References.....................................................................................................................................12
3
Introduction
1.1. Current scenario
ING Farm, a dedicated agricultural establishment, faces the persistent
challenge of managing water resources efficiently while ensuring optimal crop
growth.
1.2. Problem Statement and Project as a solution
In Nepal, a nation grappling with developmental challenges, agricultural
issues are prevalent and on the rise. Specifically, crop production encounters
numerous hurdles. To address these, a system can be developed using the
ESP32 module for real-time IoT monitoring. Some of the key challenges that
categorize irrigation development in Nepal are old infrastructure and poor
performances of the existing irrigation systems, poor system efficiently and
under-utilization of canal water. Additionally, due to riparian issues, in Nepal,
it has not been possible to tap the major river systems for irrigation
development, which discharge substantial amount of water even during the
dry season.
Thus, me and my team have a project that utilizes most the water and
irrigates the land by itself. It is a IoT based device which can monitor and
control irrigation activities remotely and optimize crop growth by monitoring
environmental conditions
1.3. Aim and Objectives
4
Background
1.4. System Overview
1.5. Design Diagrams
1.6. Requirement Analysis
5
Case Study
1.1. Introduction
About the case study, we have found a similar project that had been
developed by the students of BSC in the year 2023 as their final year project
titled as “IOT Based Smart Agriculture Monitoring System”. So, basically
these students from Pakistan, Islamabad knowing the significant agricultural
potential that their country had come up with an idea of constructing an IOT
based system that helped the farmers to monitor their crops and control the
amount of water that had been wasted to keep the crops healthy. After doing
some research they got to know that agriculture sector in their country was
the backbone which had been contributing to more than 20% of the country’s
GDP and employing nearly 45% of the labour force. According to their
condition Pakistan’s population had been increasing rapidly and because of it
the country heavily relied on its agriculture products. As they digged more into
it they got to know that this sector had been facing numerous challenges such
as water scarcity, climate change, and low productivity due to outdated
farming practices.
And to address these challenges these students come up an idea to use
advance technology to monitor and aimed at increasing agricultural
productivity by automating and optimizing crop management. They thought
that with the help of smart agriculture monitoring system they can
continuously monitor the plants behaviour for which they used a platform
called Thingspeak which is a real-time platform that allows for data analysis
and verification. The data gathered in Thingspeak is presented in a vibrant
and graphical style.
1.2. Problem Statement
Like Nepal, Pakistan is also a underdeveloped country that’s why Pakistan
faces many problems and agriculture happens to be the major topic where the
agriculture sector had been taking huge hits. There were many problems that
the agriculture sector had been facing such as water scarcity, climate change,
low productivity due to outdated farming practices and many toxic gases that
were flowing in the air. Water scarcity was and is a significant issue, with
agriculture consuming around 90% of the country’s freshwater resources.
Those areas where water was available in huge amount, Farmers provided an
excess amount of water to the crops, ensuring that they received the required
amount of hydration. However, this excessive water can have adverse effects
on the health of the crops. Climate change has also been affecting crop
yields, with rising temperatures and erratic rainfall patterns causing crop
6
failures and reducing productivity. Moreover, outdated farming practices, such
as manual irrigation and lack of real-time monitoring, contribution to low
productivity and inefficient resource use.
Excessive light can have major impact on crops health, even though
crops require a moderate level of light for photosynthesis. This is because
light is crucial factor in the process of photosynthesis, where crops convert
light is a crucial factor in the process of photosynthesis, where crops convert
light energy into chemical energy to fuel their growth. Therefore, it’s essential
to provide crops with the right amount of light for optimal growth and health.
1.3. System Analysis
The IOT Based Smart Agriculture Monitoring System which they have
developed contains various sensors to monitor environmental conditions such
as LDR sensor that measures the amount of light, MQ-135 a gas detecting
sensor which detects different gases, DHT11 sensor that collects temperature
and humidity level of the surrounding as well as soil along with some other
hardware components like LCD, I2C Module, Relay, Water Pump, Arduino
Cable, NODE MCU ESP8266 Module, Jumper Wires, Breadboard Power
Supply, Buzzer, and Arduino UNO Atmega328P.
The ATMEGA 328P is a kind of embedded micro-controller utilized in
the Arduino UNO board to transform data from atmospheric pressure sensors,
soil moisture sensors, temperature sensors, gas sensors, and LDR sensors
into digital form for easy understanding. In the project they used LDR (Light
dependent Resistor) as a light sensor. This device was used to measure the
quality of light that reaches a piece of land which means that it indicates the
presence or absence of light, or to measure the light intensity. Along with a
light sensor they have also used a gas sensor that detected different toxic
gases. The data that this sensor senses is in Analog form. So, it captures
some data in Analog form then sends to micro-controller. And to see the data
these students have included an LCD 16x2 display that was used to display
information such as temperature, humidity, and soil moisture levels. This
allows farmers to easily monitor the conditions in their fields without having to
constantly check their devices. Now as a switch they have used a Relay,
which is a electrically powered switch that was used to control circuits with
high voltage or current using signals with lower voltage or current. In an IoT-
based smart agriculture monitoring system, relays can be used to control
various devices such as irrigation systems, lighting systems, and ventilation
systems based on the information collected by the sensors. The project also
contains a water pump that was used to automatically provide water to crops
based on the information collected by the sensors. The main reason for using
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a water pump was that by using it in conjunction with sensors that measures
soil moisture, temperature, and humidity, the irrigation system can be
automated to provide water to the crops only when it is needed, improving the
efficiency of water usage and reducing waste. Also the pump can be
controlled remotely through the use of a microcontroller or other control circuit,
allowing farmers to start or stop the pump remotely. And finally NodeMCU
ESP8266, an open source software and hardware development environment
built around an inexpensive System-on-a-Chip (SoC). The goal for using this
device for thir project was that it offered an intuitive environment for quick
prototyping of IoT (Internet of Things) solutions.It is a low-cost, Wi-Fi-enabled
microcontroller with a built-in TCP/IP protocol stack. As the project is based as
smart and remotely controllable system, it is necessary to have a device that
has built in Wi-Fi and bluetooth connection. Also lastely, a Buzzer was used
so that it produces audible sounds or tones. The main purpose of this
hardware ocmponent is that it can be used to alert the user when a certain
level of gas concentration is detected or when the soil moisture is high. In
general, the buzzer connected to an Ardino can be programmed to produce
different sounds and tones depending on the application, and can be useful
tool for providing audible feedbacks.
Along with some hardware component, the software application that their
project contains are Arduino IDE, Thingsspeak and proteus. The software for
Arduino boards was programmed and developed using the software
environment known as the Arduino IDE (Integrated Development
Environment).It is a simple and user-friendly interface for programming
Arduino boards includes a code editor with syntax hightlighting and auto-
completion, a serial monitor for communicating with the board, and a built-in
library of functions and examples. After that, they useed an open spurce IoT
platform called Thingsspeak which was used to gather, examine, and display
data from IoT devices. This platform was used to gather and store data from
the many sensors and actuators utilized in the IOT Based Smart Agriculture
Monitoring System. Addditonally, the platform was used to set up alerts and
notifications when certain conditions are met, such as when the soil moisture
levels were too low, which could help farmers take immediate action to
address the issue. And for making a circuit diagram they used a software
called as Proteus which is a powerful and versatile software tool widely used
in the field of electronics for designing, simulating, and testing electronic
circuits. Because the proteus provides an intuitive environment for designing
electronic circuits using a vast library of components this software was added
as a tool for layout that could help to understand the working of the overall
system in an circuit format.
8
1.4. Recommendation
Based on the findings of this case study, we recommend that the IOT Based
Smart Agriculture Monitoring System which was invented by these BSC final
year students be implemented more widely in Pakistan's agricultural sector.
The system has the potential to significantly improve crop yields and reduce
water usage, leading to increased profitability for farmers and a more
sustainable agricultural industry. As for the hardware components we don’t
think that they could have done any better as all the components that they
used sync perfectly with the system’s nature and design. But for most part to
ensure the successful implementation of the system, it is recommended that
further research should be done to explore the potential for integrating
machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies into the system. This
could enable the system to make more accurate predictions about crop
growth and water usage, leading to even greater efficiency and productivity.
The IOT Based Smart Agriculture Monitoring System has the potential to
revolutionize the agriculture sector in Pakistan by automating and optimizing
crop management. The system can help farmers make informed decisions
regarding water and fertilizer usage, pest control, and harvesting times,
leading to increased crop yields, reduced costs, and improved profitability. To
maximize the benefits of the system, it is recommended to:
Integrate machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to
further optimize crop management.
Expand the system to cover larger areas and monitor a wider range of
crops.
Collaborate with government agencies and NGOs to promote the
adoption of the system in rural areas.
1.5. Conclusion
This project has the potential to significantly improve crop productivity and
water efficiency in agriculture sector without any wastage of water. By
providing the farmers with real-time data on crop health and environmental
conditions, the system enables them to make more informed decisions about
irrigation, fertilization, and other crucial aspects of crop management.
While the system has shown promising results in the study, there are still
challenges to be addressed in terms of scalability, affordability, and
integration with existing agricultural practices. However, with continued
investment and collaboration between farmers, researchers, and government
agencies, the IOT Based Smart Agriculture Monitoring System has the
potential to transform not only Pakistan’s agriculture sector, but numerous
developing countries have agriculture as their backbone and contribute to the
country’s long-term economic and environmental sustainability.
9
2.
10
Development
11
Results and Findings
12
Future Works
13
Conclusion
In conclusion, the IoT-based agricultural monitoring system for ING farm is designed to
optimize water usage and increase crop yields. The system uses sensors to monitor
environmental conditions like temperature, humidity, water tank level, and soil moisture.
This data is then sent to Blynk app which serves as the interface for remote monitoring
and control of the system. By accessing the app via the internet, farm management can
monitor and control irrigation activities even from a distance. This remote access
ensures efficient management of water resources and optimized crop growth. The
system’s design and implementation are supported by a detailed software requirements
list. This ensures that the system meets the specific needs of ING farm and can be
easily replicated or adapted for other agricultural applications.
Overall, the IoT-based agricultural monitoring system offers a promising solution
to the challenges faced by ING fam in managing water resources efficiently and
optimizing crop yields. By harnessing the power of IoT technology, the system can
provide valuable insights into environmental conditions and enable informed decision-
making in irrigation processes.
14
Appendix
1.1. Appendix A: Source Code.
1.2. Appendix B: Screenshots of the system
15
References
16
