ENGR 113 - Spring 2020
First-Year Engineering Design
“Automated Garden Irrigation System”
Project Design Proposal
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Date Submitted: April 24, 2020
Group Members: Natasha Karnoto, nk674@drexel.edu
Ali Zain Khan, ak3865@drexel.edu
Dylan Judge, dj499@drexel.edu
Jacob Kaczur, jrk363@drexel.edu
Technical Advisor: Dr. Prawat Nagvajara, nagvajap@drexel.edu
Abstract:
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The aim of this Freshman Engineering Design project is to design an ‘Automated Garden Irrigation System’ that can be used to monitor and regulate the watering of plants. Normal plant watering systems are wasteful and inefficient, and thereby cause harm to the environment. Additionally, because there is no way to regulate the quantity of water dispensed to the plants, these watering systems can dispense too much or too little water which is damaging for plant growth. However, by implementing a smart watering system through the use of microcontrollers, sensors, and computer programming, this project proposes a smarter, more efficient solution to the problem. The goal of this project is to use existing data and research regarding ideal humidity levels and soil moisture for ideal plant growth as parameters carried out in python language coding to build a working prototype capable of delivering water autonomously to plants whenever moisture levels become low. Expected challenges to the completion of a working model include a limited knowledge in python coding and circuit board construction. Moreover, due to a work-from-home situation, the team will have to develop communication skills and learn to collaborate and share information over long distances However, once completed, the Automated Garden Irrigation System can be effectively employed in gardens and farms to automatically regulate the watering of vegetation, without wasting valuable resources such as water and plant life.
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1 Introduction
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Current plant watering systems implemented in farms and gardens rely on qualitative human observation to determine if the adequate amount of water has been dispensed to the plants. These systems need to be switched on and off manually by human beings and imprecise judgement and observation can lead to too much or little water being given to plants. As a result, not only is water often wasted as it just seeps into the ground without being absorbed by the plants, but the excess moisture is also damaging to the plant itself.
The Automated Garden Irrigation System is proposed as a solution to this problem. The goal of this project is to develop an irrigation system that can function to water an area of land without the need for human intervention. Additionally, by using existing data and research regarding factors that impact ideal plant growth, the system can be configured to ‘smartly’ dispense water to the plants when moisture level falls below the optimum point. This can be achieved through a Python-based computer program that utilizes sensors placed in soil to dispense the adequate amount of water using a microcontroller. These sensors are capable of detecting moisture in a given patch of soil and report this data to the microcontroller, which then uses the Python program to run an algorithm to determine the optimum amount of water to dispense to keep the plants healthy and minimize water wastage.
Through this project, the group will gain an insight into the implementation of technology in the real world to solve problems. The project is an opportunity to experiment with microcontrollers, sensors, and Python programming. This project is also faced with the unorthodox challenge of requiring all group members to work from home and collaborate and present information from said space. Overcoming this challenge will allow the group to gain a better understanding of the importance of teamwork and collaboration in a professional environment.
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2 Deliverables
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At the conclusion of the project, the team will produce a functional prototype of the Automated Garden Irrigation System. This prototype will be capable of utilizing Boolean logic to determine the adequate amount of water to dispense to an area of soil, based on data from existing research about ideal soil moisture and humidity levels for plant growth. This will be achieved by a Python-based computer program which will also be delivered at the end of the project. Additionally, the team will draft a final report, product sheet and a presentation detailing the goals, technicalities, product costs, and findings of the entire project.
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3 Technical Activities
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The major tasks and technical activities involved in the project are discussed in detail below. These activities will allow the team to divide the project into tasks that can be performed over a number of weeks. In this way, the team will make steady progress towards the completion of the project by focusing on one task at a time. The first task is to conduct research on consumer needs, ideal plant growth parameters, and the working mechanisms of microcontrollers and sensors, from existing literature. This research will allow the team to gauge which problems to address during the testing and building phase and what the general design of the system should be. After this planning phase is over, the next step is to start testing and designing the sensor mechanisms and the python code. This experimentation phase will allow the team to focus on, design and test each part of the system separately before building the final prototype. Lastly, the results from this testing phase will be used to build a functional prototype of the system which is capable of providing a solution to the problem addressed by the project.
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3.1 Research and Preparation
This phase of the project includes a review of existing literature to determine how the final product is going to look like. A basic understanding of the electrical components and circuitry involved in the project will be gained. Research will be carried out to determine the optimum conditions required for ideal plant growth. The data collected from this literature review will then allow the team to make decisions regarding the final design and functionality of the working prototype. Additionally, this stage will also be used to plan and prepare a timeline for the project.
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3.2 Sensors
Sensors are a key component of the project. The system will make use of a variety of sensors to gather data from the environment and send it to the microcontroller. This data can then be run through the algorithm to regulate moisture levels. An understanding of the working of each sensor used in the project will be gained through lab testing each week. The sensors which will be implemented in the project are discussed below:
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3.2.1 Temperature Sensors
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Temperature sensors can be used to report environment temperature levels to the system. The system can then determine whether the recorded temperature meets requirements to activate the water dispensing system.
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3.2.2 Light Sensors
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Light sensors can be used to report light data to the system. The system can then determine whether the lighting conditions meet the requirements to activate the water dispensing system.
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3.2.3 Moisture Sensors
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Moisture Sensors can be used to report soil moisture levels to the system. The system can then determine whether the recorded moisture level meets the requirements to activate the water dispensing system.
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3.3 Circuitry
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Basic understanding of the components of the circuit board is needed in order to enable the system to work properly. This includes resistors to slow the flow of current so that the device is not in risk of overheating. This prevents the hardware from being compromised by a sudden surge of power that surpasses the device’s capacity. Additionally, there are two feather devices: one to connect the PC to the breadboard and one to store data and provide extra fuel for the device to carry out its tasks. The wires of different lengths act as pathways to the different attachments to the breadboard such as the soil sensor in order to create a continuous loop to transfer coding information and power. Tests carried out on the interface (LEDs) and the microcontroller will be used to determine the design of the final prototype.
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3.4 Algorithm Development
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Using Python programming, an algorithm will be constructed which can make decisions based off the data from the sensors. This algorithm will allow the microcontrollers to regulate the dispensing of adequate water to the plants. The data from the sensors will be run through the algorithm which will determine the amount of much water to be dispensed. A stepper motor will be coded to move at the right speed and positioning to dispense the adequate amount of water in the right areas.
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4 Project Timeline
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5 Facilities and Resources
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A variety of resources are required to ensure the project runs smoothly and is taken to completion. These include the basic equipment required for the construction of the prototype including wires, circuits, resistors, sensors, batteries, and memory cards among other things. In addition, familiarity with website creation, Python programming, and a basic understanding of the working and mechanisms of sensors, circuits, and microcontrollers is necessary to ensure that the project is taken to completion without interruptions, and a functional prototype is built.
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6 Expertise
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To ensure the completion of this project, the team members will be required to acquire certain skills. Primarily, these skills include familiarity with the working and mechanisms of sensors, circuits, microcontrollers, resistors, batteries, and other electrical components which will be used to build a functional prototype. The group will also need to have some prior knowledge of the Python programming language in order to develop an efficient algorithm capable to serving the purpose of the project. Some other skills which are necessary for the success of the project are teamwork skills which will allow seamless collaboration between group members, communication skills which will allow the team to communicate and discuss the results of the project, management skills which will be essential for planning the project, and engineering skills which will aid in the designing and building stages of the project.
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7 Budget
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