TABLE OF CONTENT

Chapter1: INTRODUCTION OF PROJECT……………… 5-6

Chapter2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE…………………….. 7-11

2.1 Hydroponics technology……………………………………. 7

2.1.1 Components and their importance ………………….. 8

2.2 Automation of hydroponics unit through remote sensing. 9

2.3 Microcontrollers and software technology………………….. 10

Chapter3: MATERIALS USED IN THE PROJECT…………. 12-18

3.1 Hardware………………………………………………………… 12

3.2 Software…………………………………………………………. 17

Chapter4: PROJECT DESIGN AND DESCRIPTION……….. 18-28

4.1 pH and EC automated hydroponics system for lettuce 18

cultivation ……………………………………………………..

4.2 Proposed system……………………………………………. 20

4.3 Prototype……………………………………………………… 28

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION…………………………………………. 31

Chapter 6: REFERENCE…………………………………………… 32

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1. INTRODUCTION

Farming is changing with time. New methods have made the foray into agriculture. Such

systems are revolutionizing the farming scene keeping the concept of efficiency in mind. One

system which is gaining a lot of positive reviews is Hydroponics. As a matter of fact, it is

already under application around the world. There are just a few obstacles with regard to using

this system, one of which is an advanced automated system. Being a mostly automatic system,

skilled labor is understandable but can still be minimized. An advanced automated hydroponics

system is the solution. Applying automated pH and EC in a hydroponic system helps in efficient

water use and reduced power consumption, it is a win-to-win situation

Experimental Learning Programme (ELP) is a programme that engages students in

critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making in contexts that are personally relevant

to them. This approach to learning also involves making opportunities for debriefing and

consolidation of ideas and skills through feedback, reflection, and the application of the ideas

and skills to new situations. It is the process of learning through experience, and is more

specifically defined as “learning through reflection on doing.” Hands-on learning or training can

be a form of experimental learning but does not necessarily involve students reflecting on their

comparatively

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passive role. The objectives of ELP programme includes the learner to be actively involved in

the experience, able to reflect on the experience, possess and use analytic skills to conceptualize

the experience, possess decision-making and problem-solving skills in order to use the new

ideas gained from the experience of the elements of experimental learning, develop guidelines

for teaching through experimental approaches and relate experimental learning to education for

sustainable futures.

Under this ELP programme different modules are offered andREMOTE SENSING AND

IoT IN AGRICULTURE (ECE 499) module is one of the important. Under this module, we

have learned about microcontrollers and sensers. Integrating iot and remote sensing take

agriculture to next level.

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CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 HYDROPONICSTECHNOLOGY

This chapter contains a particular review regarding the Automated pH and electrical

conductivity of the water in the hydroponic system of the Lettuce crop. Earlier before starting

the dissertation and it is very important to have an overview of the idea of the automation of

power of hydrogen [PH] and the electrical conductivity [EC] system in hydroponics and its

applications of the three dosing pumps. The important source of this literature review is from

the MDPI journals, IEEE Xplore and related transaction article papers. These articles and

papers belonging to some of those papers are below. This particular chapter of basic concepts

and the proposed theory of the papers.

What is Hydroponics?

Hydroponics or soil-less culture is an innovation for developing plants in supplement

arrangements that supply every supplement component required for the ideal plant

development with or without the utilization of a latentmedium, for example, rock, vermiculite,

shake fleece, peatgreenery saw tidy, coir clean, coconut fibre and so on to givemechanical

support.

2.1.1 COMPONENTS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE

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Chowdhury et al. (2020): Mainly the study of this paper is focusing on vertical hydroponics

with specified indoor farming with the implementation of the automated system and tested on

the internet of things [IoT]. The final goal of this work is to design and build up an indoor

automatic capable to grow common types of crops that can be used s a resource of food in

homes with no use of large fields or space of land. And the system was made after examining

various types of the vertical system of hydroponics related to power consumption and price and

to shape the suitability indoor automated system. A microcontroller was working as the main

part of the system which communicates with the different types of sensors to control all the

parameters of the systems and to minimize the intervention of the humans and an open IoT

platform is used to display the system of parameters and finally the graphical interface of the

remote access.

The system has overwhelmed the 230.59 and 120.59 kwh distinctly without an Ac controller

during the period of peak summer, which is equivalent to the running cost of the system 13.26

and 25.36 (QAR) Qatari Riyal respectively. The materials and the methods used in the system

are nutrient film technique structure along with the water flow path and the nutrition and the

platform of the internet of things. Along with the Isolation circuit, RTC circuit and air

conditioner controlling system with the microcontroller. Arduino platform to measure the

system’s important things such as temperature, humidity, and potential of hydrogen. The

detection of the system of the electrical conductivity of water then automatically the water level

decrease.

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Lakshmanan et al. (2018): Mainly the study of paper the horticultural lighting with the

specific related to the internet of things and the implementation of the using NodeMcu, MQTT,

Node-red, PCB, NFT [ nutrient film technique] and the sensors that were chosen by during the

selection of the component based on the requirement of parameters and throwing them to the

cloud to supervising /monitor and processed with a smart hydroponics system. An investigation

of the previous works and a review of IoT and hydroponic systems were done.

The methods used in the system of parameters are client slides with the measure of the pH level,

humidity and temperature of the room. The programming of the sensors and the microcontroller

together and the wiring and the supply of the power are assembled as one part with the 5V,

moreover, the used technique for hydroponics is the nutrient film technique. And also, with the

server side of setting the MQTT, Graphical user interface.

Domingues et Al. (2012): Mainly the study of this paper is to implantation of the automatic

controlling EC and the pH system reservoir. And the automation system of the control function

to get the signal output from the microcontroller. By using the linear line regression. For EC

and pH adjusting equation by using the three variables are target (output), EC or pH

measurement (input), and amount of the A&B solution of nitric acid (control process).

Palande et al. (2017): Mainly the study of this paper is related to automated hydroponics by

using the internet of this the certain growing of plants and vegetables in remote areas such as

deserts and the north pole and south pole can be a challenge with related to the extreme

temperature outside. The methods in this paper use the two Arduino boards for the analysis of

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data received and control of the data. In this system, the Raspberry Pi is used as an open source

of software automation which is called Domoticz. And also, consists of the hardware part.

Shetty Hariram M et al. (2021): Mainly the study of this paper is a fully automated

hydroponics system which can monitor the temperature, humidity, pH and electrical

conductivity without manual support. Although there are individual digital meters pH meters

and TDS meters are there to measure the nutrient solutions. But no individual system is there to

measure the parameters automatically. Every plant and everyone has very different ranges of

pH values and Electrical conductivity for different seasons and stages. And it has been designed

differently with the hydroponic growing chamber, a tray, water reservoir, nutrient solution,

delivery system or submersible pump.

Fuanthong et al. (2018):Mainly the study of this paper has implemented the method of

controlling the electrical conductivity and pH values at the appropriate level throughout the

whole planting time and some of the parameters proposed the application of the fuzzy logic

control for automatically controlling the EC and the pH values in the hydroponics planting. And

the planting fuzzy logic is applied to decide on adjusting the nutrient and the pH in steads of the

classical rule. And the so many researchers used automatic systems for the nutrient uptake of

hydronic plants by using the internet of things and the artificial intelligence of the software

Mehboob et al. (2019): Mainly the study of this paper plays an important role in the modern

life of human lifestyle which is going aims to enhance the performance of the automation and

control system of EC and pH for the indoor hydroponics system. Electrical conductivity and pH

of the solution of the nutrient are the major factors in hydroponics. So, in this proposed control
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system, the sensing network, data acquisition and decision-making are done by the mega

Arduino.

EC and pH values of the nutrient solutions are recorded by using one of the DF-ROBOT EC

and the industrial pH probes accordingly. So recorded EC and pH values are fed into the

Arduino mega which adjusts the values if it is required by the actuators.

Finally, the recorded values are simultaneously, sent to the raspberry-Pi for data logging using

the CAN bus protocol. The proposed system successfully electrical monitors conductivity and

pH automatically balances these factors.

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CHAPTER 3: MATERIALS USED

3.1 HARDWARE TOOLS USED

ArduinoUno, Relay Module, Ph Sensor, Water moister sensor, Dosing pump, Jumper wires, Breadboard, and
Battery are the hardware tools used in the proposed project.

3.1.1 ARDUINO UNO

The Arduino UNO is a standard board of Arduino. Here UNO means 'one' in Italian. It was named UNO to
label the first release of Arduino Software. It was also the first USB board released by Arduino. Arduinocc
developed the Arduino UNO [Link] UNO is based on an ATmega328P microcontroller. It is easy to use
compared to other boards, such as the Arduino Mega board, etc. The board consists of digital and analogue
Input/Output pins (I/O), shields, and other circuits.

The Arduino UNO includes 6 analogue pin inputs, 14 digital pins, a USB connector, a power jack, and an ICSP
(In-Circuit Serial Programming) header. It is programmed based on IDE, which stands for Integrated
Development Environment. It can run on both online and offline platforms.

Figure 1: Ardunio Uno

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3.1.2 THE4-CHANNEL RELAY MODULE

The 4 Channel Relay Module is a convenient board which can be used to control high voltage, and high current
loads such as motors, solenoid valves, lamps and AC loads. It is designed to interface with microcontrollers
such as Arduino, PIC and etc. The relay terminal (COM, NO and NC) is being brought out with a crew
terminal. It also comes with a LED to indicate the status of the relay.

Figure 2: 4Channel Relay Module

3.1.3 WATER PUMP

This DC 3-6 V Mini Micro Submersible Water Pump is a low-cost, small-size Submersible Pump Motor that

can be operated from a 2.5 ~ 6V power supply. It can take up to 120 liters per hour with a very low current

consumption of 220mA. Just connect the tube pipe to the motor outlet, submerge it in water, and power it.

Figure 3: 6 V DC Water Pump

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3.1.4 pH SENSOR

Industrial Grade Analog PH Sensor Kit. This probe can be used with this pH sensor module. The
Analog pH Sensor Kit is specially designed for Arduino controllers and has a built-in simple, convenient, and
practical connection and features. It has an LED that works as the Power Indicator, a BNC connector, and a
PH2.0 sensor interface. To use it, just connect the pH sensor with the BND connector, and plug the PH2.0
interface into the analogue input port of any Arduino controller. If pre-programmed, you will get the pH value
easily.

Figure 4:Analog PH Sensor Kit

3.1.5 WATER MOISTER SENSOR

This is Soil Moisture Meter, Soil Humidity Sensor, Water Sensor, and Soil Hygrometer for Ardunio. With this

module, you can tell when your plants need watering by how moist the soil is in your pot, garden, or yard. The

two probes on the sensor act as variable [Link] moisture sensor consists of two probes which are used to

measure the volumetric content of water. The two probes allow the current to pass through the soil and then it

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gets the resistance value to measure the moisture [Link] there is more water, the soil will conduct more

electricity which means that there will be less resistance. Therefore, the moisture level will be higher. Dry soil

conducts electricity poorly, so when there will be less water, then the soil will conduct less electricity which

means that there will be more resistance. Therefore, the moisture level will be lower.

Figure 5: Water Moisture Sensor

3.1.6 BREADBOARD

A breadboard is used to make up temporary circuits for testing or to try out an idea. No soldering is
required so it is easy to change connections and replace components. Parts are not damaged and can be re-used
afterwards.

Figure 6: Breadboard

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3.1.7 BATTERY

We have used A lithium-ion battery a type of rechargeable battery that is charged and discharged by lithium

ions moving between the negative (anode) and positive (cathode) [Link] Lithium-Ion PowerBrick+

battery 12V-12Ah offers a high level of safety through the use of cylindrical cells in Lithium Ferro Phosphate

technology (LiFePO4 or LFP). PowerBrick+ 12V-12Ah integrates an innovative Battery Management System

(BMS) in its casing to ensure a very high level of safety in use.

Figure 7: 12V Li-ion 18650 Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery

3.1.8 JUMPER WIRES

Jumper wires are simply wires that have connector pins at each end, allowing them to be used to connect two

points to each other without soldering. Jumper wires are typically used with breadboards and other prototyping

tools in order to make it easy to change a circuit as needed. Fairly simple. In fact, it doesn’t get much more

basic than jumper wires.

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 Figure 8: Jumper Wire

3.2 SOFTWARE TOOL USED

3.2.1 ARDUINO IDE

Introduction to Arduino IDE, where IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment - An official software
introduced by Arduino. cc, which is mainly used for writing, compiling and uploading the code in almost all
Arduino modules/boards. Arduino IDE is open-source software and is easily available to download & install
from Arduino's Official [Link] is available for all operating systems i.e., MAC, Windows, and Linux and runs
on the Java Platform that comes with inbuilt functions and commands that play a vital role in debugging, editing
and compiling the code.

A range of Arduino modules is available including Arduino Uno, Arduino Mega, Arduino Leonardo, Arduino
Micro and many [Link] of them contains a microcontroller on the board that is actually programmed and
accepts the information in the form of [Link] main code, also known as a sketch, created on the IDE platform
will ultimately generate a Hex File which is then transferred and uploaded in the controller on the board.

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The IDE environment mainly contains two basic parts: Editor and Compiler where the former is used for
writing the required code and later is used for compiling and uploading the code into the given Arduino
Module.

Figure 9:ARDUINO IDE

CHAPTER 4: PROJECT DESIGN AND DESCRIPTION

4.1 pH AND EC AUTOMATED HYDROPONICS SYSTEM FOR LETTUCE

CULTIVATION.

4.1.1 Hydroponics

Hydroponics is a word derived from Greek consisting of two words: ‘hydro’ meaningwater

And‘ponos’ meanslabour. It is a method of crop production in which plantsare grown without

soil, and nutrients required for plant growth, are supplied througha liquid nutrient solution. Nutrient

management is a method of using crop nutrients asefficiently as possible to improve productivity

without harming the environment. Inhydroponics, nutrient management is a very necessary step.

Total salt concentration,pH, alkalinity and nutrient concentration ratio are the four main

characteristics to focuson for nutrient management in soilless culture.

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4.1.2 What are pH and EC?

pH is a measure of how acidic or basic the solution is at the time of reading. Therange goes

from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral. If the Ph value is less than 7 it is said to

be acidic and if the ph value is above 7 it is basic.

Nutrients are applied in the form ofsalts, and when these salts dissolve into thewaterthey

break down into [Link] ions conduct electricity due to their positiveand negative ions. Thus,

the conductivity of the solution increases with added [Link], EC is a good measure of the amount

of salts in the solution. A higher EC meansa higher salt concentration, while a lower EC means a

lower salt concentration.

4.1.3 Importance of pH and EC maintenance in Hydroponic system

➢ In soil culture, soil acts as a buffer and helps to maintain a specific pH and EC suitable for plantgrowth.

This buffer is absent in soilless culture, so it is important to maintain an environment suitable for plant

growth artificially.

➢ The pH of a nutrient solution influences the availability of nutrients, so it should be maintained in the

optimum range. Nutrient solutions used for soilless culture should have a pH between 5 to 6 (usually

5.5), so the pH in the root environment ismaintained between 6 to 6.5. This is the pH range at which

nutrients are most readily available toplants.

➢ Excessively high levels of nutrients induce osmotic stress, ion toxicity and nutrientimbalance, while

excessively low values are mostly accompanied by nutrient deficiencies anddecreasing plant growth. In

soilless culture, the total salt concentration of a nutrient solution is themost important characteristic.

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4.1.4 Importance of Automation for pH and EC

➢ The pH and EC can be adjusted manually for small-scale operations, but for commercial
farms, the amount of solution used in hydroponics is very high, so pH and EC
management is time-consuming.
➢ An automated system has the benefits of labour savings,
➢ Avoiding nutrient shock to plants and
➢ Removing human error through auto dosing.

4.2 PROPOSED SYSTEM

We developed a simple automated system based on the Arduino platform to measure the
important system parameters pH and EC through sensors and the auto-dosing isdone according
to the preprogramming in the microcontroller.

Using the Arduino IDE software, the dosing conditions are programmed into the
microcontroller. The required conditions for the dosing pump to work for the Lettuce plant are:

➢ EC (m $/cm)= 1.2 to 1.8

➢ pH = 6.0 to 7.0
➢ If the pH ofthe nutrient solution in the mixing tank goes below 6 the dosing pump 1 will
be activated which opens with a pH up (alkaline solution) until the pHis back to 6.00.
➢ If thepH is more than 7.00 then the dosing pump 2 gets activated which provides pH
down solution (acidic) until the pH is back below 7.

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 Figure9. Block diagram of the designed system.

4.2.1 CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

F
i
g
u
r
e

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 0

4.2.2 PROGRAMMING OF ARDUINO

const int sensor_pin = A1; /* Soil moisture sensor O/P pin */

#defineSensorPin A0 // the pH meter Analog output is connected with the Arduino’s

Analog

unsigned long int avgValue; //Store the average value of the sensor feedback

int buf[10],temp;

void setup() {

pinMode(7,OUTPUT); //Acidic

pinMode(8,OUTPUT); //Basic

pinMode(12,OUTPUT); //Water

[Link](9600); /* Define baud rate for serial communication */

[Link]("Ready");

void loop() {

for(int i=0;i<10;i++) //Get 10 sample value from the sensor for smooth the value

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 {

buf[i]=analogRead(SensorPin);

delay(10);

for(int i=0;i<9;i++) //sort the analog from small to large

for(int j=i+1;j<10;j++)

if(buf[i]>buf[j])

temp=buf[i];

buf[i]=buf[j];

buf[j]=temp;

avgValue=0;

for(int i=2;i<8;i++) //take the average value of 6 center sample

avgValue+=buf[i];

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 float phValue=(float)avgValue*5.0/1024/6; //convert the analog into millivolt

phValue=3.5*phValue; //convert the millivolt into pH value

float moisture_percentage;

int sensor_analog;

sensor_analog = analogRead(sensor_pin);

moisture_percentage = ( 100 - ( (sensor_analog/1023.00) * 100 ) );

[Link]("Moisture Percentage = ");

[Link](moisture_percentage);

[Link]("%\n\n");

[Link]("PH Value is = ");

[Link](phValue);

if(phValue<= 6){

digitalWrite(7, LOW);

if(phValue>= 8){

digitalWrite(8, LOW);

if(moisture_percentage< 65){

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digitalWrite(12,LOW);

if(phValue> 6 &&phValue< 8){

digitalWrite(7,HIGH);

digitalWrite(8,HIGH);

if(moisture_percentage> 65){

digitalWrite(12,HIGH);

[Link]("\n");

delay(1000);

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 Figure 11 And Figure 12, Coding for Arduino Ide

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 4.3 PROTOTYPE OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM

We have taken a dutch bucket model of a hydroponics system to make the prototype.15 days
old two iceberg lettuce plants were taken for demonstration. pH meter is directly dipped into the
dutch bucket which senses the pH and sent the analogue value to Arduino Uno. Arduino is
programmed with the required conditions forpH andEC ( in terms of moister) which activates
the needed dosing pumps through the relay and cut off after a sufficient amount of dosing.

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4.3.1 PROJECT PROTOTYPE

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TEAM

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 Figure 15

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5. CONCLUSION

Every plant requires its own space for better establishment. This curbs the competition for

resources between their similar species as well as the weeds or the unwanted plants in the field.

To facilitate that we usually follow the concept of spacing in farming. As a result, the number

of plants that we can plant in a unit of land is limited. Now, let us replace the whole concept

with hydroponics. Here, the soil is not at all counted as a requirement. Water combined with the

nutrients is directly fed to the plants through a system of connected pipes, into which the plants

are suspended. This water can be recycled as much as you want because every time the water

will be replenished with essential nutrients. Again, the nutrients will be those required by the

plant at that specific time and place, so no overdose or under-nourishment.

6. REFERENCE

Domingues, D. S., Takahashi, H. W., Camara, C. A. P., & Nixdorf, S. L. (2012). Automated system developed to control
pH and concentration of nutrient solution evaluated in hydroponic lettuce production. Computers and Electronics in
Agriculture, 84, 53–61.

Rico, Amy Lizbeth. (2019). Automated pH Monitoring and Controlling System for Hydroponics under Greenhouse
Condition. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences. 15. 523-528. 10.36478/jeasci.2020.523.528.

Chowdhury, M.E.H.; Khandakar, A.; Ahmed, S.; Al-Khuzaei, F.; Hamdalla, J.; Haque, F.; Reaz, M.B.I.; Al Shafei, A.;
Al-Emadi, N. Design, Construction and Testing of IoT Based Automated Indoor Vertical Hydroponics Farming Test-Bed
in Qatar. Sensors 2020, 20, 5637. [Link]

Lakshmanan, Ravi, Mohamed Djama, Sathish Perumal, and Raed Abdulla. "Automated smart hydroponics system using
internet of things."
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Domingues, Diego & Camara, Carlos & Takahashi, Hideaki & Nixdorf, Suzana. (2012). Automated system developed to
control pH and concentration of nutrient solution evaluated in hydroponic lettuce production. Computers and Electronics
in Agriculture, v. 84, p. 53-61, 2012.. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. 84. 53-61.
10.1016/[Link].2012.02.006.

Palande, Vaibhav et al. “Fully Automated Hydroponic System for Indoor Plant Growth.” International Conference on
Identification, Information, and Knowledge in the Internet of Things (2017).

Shetty, Hariram M., Kshama Pai, and Navaneeth Mallya. "Fully automated hydroponics system for smart farming."
International Journal of Engineering and Manufacturing 11.4 (2021): 33-41

Peuchpanngarm, Chanya, et al. "DIY sensor-based automatic control mobile application for hydroponics." 2016 Fifth ICT
International Student Project Conference (ICT-ISPC). IEEE, 2016.

Domingues, Diego S., et al. "Automated system developed to control pH and concentration of nutrient solution evaluated
in hydroponic lettuce production." Computers and electronics in agriculture 84 (2012): 53-

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