MOISTURE SENSOR FOR

WATERING POTTED PLANTS

Team Members:
S.N

ROLL NUMBER

NAME

O
1.

AM.EN.U4ECE13021

G. NAVYA

2.

AM.EN.U4ECE13047

P.TEJA

3.

AM.EN.U4ECE13052

T.ROHITHA

4.

AM.EN.U4ECE13163

T.VIJAYA LAKSHMI

Course

ENV 200 Environmental Studies

Batch Semester

S6 ECE-A

Program

Amrita School of Engineering

Electronics and communication

Department

Instructor
Taught in
(Semester)

engineering
Dr. Smitha Chandran.S

S6

ABSTRACT:
As far as the environment is concerned plants play
a vital role. So we planned to do a project that is helpful
for watering the plants without the human effort.
In this project we use a moisture sensor that is used
to keep a track of moisture level in the soil. In this, user
puts a minimum moisture threshold value and code the
moisture sensor. When the moisture level is below the
threshold value moisture sensor indicates to the water
supplier and automatically device starts to water the
plants.
In this way one can design a watering device that
can water the plants and useful when people are
unavailable to take care of plants.

Introduction:
In the world of advance electronics, life of
human beings should be simpler. Hence to make life
simpler and convenient, we have made AUTOMATED
WATERING SYSTEM. A model of controlling irrigation
facilities to help millions of people. Watering is the most
important cultural practice and most labor intensive task
in daily greenhouse operation.
Watering systems ease the burden of getting water
to plants when they need it. Knowing when and how
much to water is two important aspects of watering
process. Irrigation accounts for 55-70% of water usage in
India. Nearly 60% of the water used in irrigation is
wasted. This model uses sensor with microcontroller to
make a smart switching mechanism of Water using
sensors from any part of field by sensing the moisture
present in the soil.

Background:
The motivation for this project came from the
countries where economy is based on agriculture and the
climatic conditions lead to lack of rains & scarcity of
water. The farmers working in the farm lands are solely
dependent on the rains and bore wells for irrigation of the
land. Even if the farm land has a water-pump, manual
intervention by farmers is required to turn the
Pump on/off whenever needed.
The aim of our project is to minimize this manual
intervention by the farmer, which is why we are using a
Micro-controller (ATmega328).

Need:
The micro-controller based Automated Irrigation system
will serve the following purposes:

1) As there is no un-planned usage of water, a lot of

water is saved from being wasted.
2) The irrigation is d only when there is not enough
moisture in the soil and the microcontroller decides when
should the pump be turned on/off, saves a lot time for the
farmers. This also gives much needed rest to the farmers,
as they dont have to go and turn the pump on/off
manually.
Scope:
Future expansions might include:
- Creating awareness on Water scarcity and introducing
the moisture sensor watering system to conserve the
water.
-Using pulsed, red-and-blue LED grow lights to
significantly increase efficiency.
-Adding a solar panel and batteries to remove any need
for a power grid.
-Testing for soil ph level and air CO2 content.

Concept Definition:

Today, India ranks second in the world in farm output with

64% of cultivated land dependent on monsoons. Irrigation
accounts for 55-70% of water usage in India. Nearly 60%
of the water used in irrigation is wasted.

Project Tasks and Timeline Sample:

S. Task
No Descriptio
.

Start End
Date Date

Extent

Person

Complet Responsi Comments

ed %

ble
We have some
difficulty in

Surfed the
1.

getting the

net for

7/3/1 25/4/1

working of

60

All

components on

members time and

the device

replacing the
component as
it got burnt

Searching
for
2.

availability
of the

10

All
members

components
.
3.

Model
Fabrication

4. Model

Navya and
10

vijayalaks

10

hmi
Teja and

5.

testing
Report
writing

10

rohitha
Teja and
rohitha

Project
Description:
Arduino Uno:
The Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board based on the
ATmega328 .It has 14 digital input/output pins (of which 6
can be used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz
crystal oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP
header, and reset button. It contains everything needed
to support the microcontroller; simply connect it to a
computer with a USB cable or power it with a battery to
get started.
Usb cable:
This is a standard USB cable, for USB 1.1 or 2.0. Perfect
for connecting a PC to your Arduino .

JUMPER WIRES:
A jumper wire, is a short electrical wire with a solid tip
at each end , which is normally used to interconnect
the components in a breadboard.They are also used to
transfer electrical signals from anywhere on the
breadboard to the input/output pins of
a microcontroller.
Variation of jump wires with insulated terminals as
per male-female combinations:
Male - Male
Male Female
Female female

WATER PUMP:
The water pump is used to artificially supply water
for a particular task.It can be electronically controlled by
interfacing it to a microcontroller. It can be triggered
ON/OFF by sending signals as required. The process of
artificially supplying water is known as pumping.

SOIL MOISTURE SENSOR:

Soil Moisture Sensor as the name suggest ,can detect
amount of moisture in soil (roots of a plant).It is a low
tech sensor but ideal for monitoring an urban
garden,or your pet plants water level.This sensor is
compatible with Arduino UNO,Arduino mega2560,
Arduino ADK etc.
Working Principle:
Strictly Speaking moisture sensor does not measures
moisture but measures conductivity or resistivity of
soil.
Moisture Sensor has two probes to pass current
through the soil. It then reads
resistance(conductance) in the soil.
Less moisture (water) in soil results in higher
resistance i.e. dry soil.
More moisture (water) in soil results in lesser
resistance and sensor thus relates moisture content.
Features:

This sensor has low power consumption, and high

sensitivity.
Operates on low Voltage of 5v.
Operates on low current <20mA.
Weighs only 3 gram.
Disadvantages:
Depth of detection is only 37mm.
Working temperature is only 10-30 Celsius.
Less accuracy.

Soil moisture sensor and interface:

Yl - 38 interface:

Outcomes:
The main outcome of the project is water
conservation by providing only sufficient water whenever
it is needed and reduced the human effort.
Implemented in our homes and tested and it gives
the best results to save water.

Experiences:
It was a learning as well as fun experience. . This
project has taught us teamwork, coordination and taking
up responsibilities. We also learned aurdino programming
which can be used in our future.

References:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_moisture_sensor
2. http://www.gardena.com/uk/water-management/watercontrols/soil-moisture-sensor/
3. http://www.instructables.com/id/Automatic-PlantWatering-and-Soil-Moisture-Sensing/