Experimental investigation of remote control via Android smart phone of arduino-based automated irrigation system using moisture sensor

Climate change because of the greenhouse effect has been authenticated. Fallouts like the 2015 Chennai floods suggest techniques like precision agriculture that includes automation in the irrigation system are important. This paper suggests an economical and easy-to-use arduino-based automated irrigation system that utilizes the Android smart phone for remote control. The system design includes a soil moisture sensor that provides a voltage signal proportional to the moisture content in the soil which is compared with a predetermined threshold value obtained by sampling of various soils and specific crops. The outcome of the comparison is that appropriate data are fed to the arduino uno processor. The arduino is linked wirelessly via the HC-05 module to an Android smart phone. The data received by the Android smart phone from the arduino is displayed on the User Interface (UI) (S2 terminal application). The UI in the Android smart phone allows the user easy remote control of the irrigation drive system that involves switching, on and off, of the drive motor by the arduino, wired to its controller, based on commands from the android smart phone. Studies conducted on a laboratory prototype suggest that the design is viable and can be easily adopted for real time application.