International Journal of Power Control Signal and Computation(IJPCSC)

Vol3. No1. Jan-Mar 2012 ISSN: 0976-268X

www.ijcns.com

Embedded based Remote Control Application using Mobile Phone in

Irrigation
S.Sumeetha1 D.Sharmila2
1
M.E.-Embedded Systems,
Bannari Amman Institute of Technology,
Sathyamangalam, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.
[email protected]
2
Professor and Head/EIE,
Bannari Amman Institute of Technology,
Sathyamangalam, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.

Abstract water to the fields are Surface irrigation, Sub-surface irrigation

This paper provides the development of mobile and Sprinkler irrigation. The stored or diverted water is
phones as remote control application for the induction conveyed to the agricultural fields through some suitable
motor-pump which is used in the agriculture for irrigation. distribution system. Hence, there are now pressing needs for
Due to frequent power cuts and abnormal voltage intelligent irrigation system.
conditions in India, it is necessary to distribute water The aim of this paper is to develop a cost effective solution
efficiently to the fields during normal conditions. This is that will provide remote control of induction motors through
carried out by exchanging the information between the user mobile phones using missed calls and messages. The mobile
phone and GSM in the form of missed calls and messages. user in the world has a tremendous rise during the past few
This system is developed with PIC16F877A Microcontroller years. Remote monitoring of processes, machines, etc., is
which in connected to the GSM, sensors and the motor. The popular due to advances in technology and reduction in
temperature sensor is used to detect the temperature of the hardware cost. Remote monitoring through Internet based
environment and capacitive sensor to sense the water flow monitoring is one of common approach [1]. This approach
in the pipe. The microcontroller includes the protection requires PCs (Client/Server) along with additional devices like
against over-current, dry running and single phasing. It is modems, buffers, etc. for internet connectivity and software
expected that this application provides easy access of motor support for TCP/IP protocols and control system interaction.
to a great extent. The cost of such system varies greatly depending on speed and
bandwidth requirements and hence is justified usually for bio-
Index Terms─ AT commands, Cell phone, GSM, Missed medical and industrial applications where intensive data
calls, Remote control, SMS. transfer is required. Cellular networks provide Short Messaging
Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS),
1. INTRODUCTION approach offers simple interface with only destination cell
phone address and message requirement without any header /
India is basically an agricultural country, and all its protocol overhead. So this method is suitable for remote
resources depend on the agricultural output. With the rapid monitoring of systems with moderate complexity. Wireless
development of agriculture in India, many automatic sensor networks also offers opportunity for remote
technologies have been introduced into agricultural productions. monitoring[5]. This consists of wireless network of sensor
The total rainfall in a particular area may be either insufficient, nodes connected to adjacent nodes and Base Station (BS). Each
or ill-timed. In order to get the maximum yield, it is essential to node consists of microcontroller, radio-transceiver and set of
supply the optimum quantity of water, and maintain correct sensors. BS acts as gateway for Internet connectivity. The
timing of water. This is possible only through a systematic deployment entails substantial investments in infrastructure.
irrigation system-by collecting water during the periods of Major applications are in field of environment monitoring,
excess rainfall and releasing it to the crop as and when it is defense, etc.
needed.
Irrigation is the science of planning and designing an 2. PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
efficient, low-cost, economic irrigation system tailored to fit
natural conditions. By the construction of proper distribution Many farmers use induction motor pumps to irrigate their
system, the yield of crop may be increased because of farms from wells, rivers and nearby streams. However, shortage
controlled water supply. The different methods of supplying of electric power in many states has resulted in unplanned load

76
 International Journal of Power Control Signal and Computation(IJPCSC)
Vol3. No1. Jan-Mar 2012 ISSN: 0976-268X
www.ijcns.com

User GSM RS 232

shedding of long durations in rural areas. Moreover, in villages, Cell Modem Interface
single-phasing connections have been implemented[3]. The Phone
electricity companies allocate lower priority to 3-phase power
supply to rural areas due to unpaid electricity bills running into Starter
millions of rupees. Most of farmers use sprinkler based or Motor (Motor
Pump
surface based irrigation. Three phase induction motors with Contactor
direct-on-line or star-delta starters are used. )
For sprinkle based irrigation, farmer first arranges set of
pipes with nozzles in the region of distribution of water and
then switches on the pump. He waits for specific duration to R YB
ensure that water is distributed in sufficient quantity and then 3φ Phase
shifts the set of pipes to other dry regions and repeats the Figure. 1 System Block Diagram
process. In many cases, the distance between location of pump
(water source) and the region of distribution of water (farm) A. Cell phone Interface
might extend to few kilometers. In case of power failure, farmer The GSM modem communicates with the user cell
has to go back to pump region and wait for power restoration. phone to intimate the condition obtained for the microcontroller.
For surface based irrigation, water is discharged through Serial Port Adapter works in data and AT modes and needs to
pipe at ground surface and gradient is created to distribute the be properly configured[8]. During power-on condition, SPA is
water through the various regions. There are frequent instances initially in data mode and by sending “///” characters within 3
of burning of motor due to unequal phase voltages and dry seconds, the device is moved into AT mode for
running of motor. Repairing cost of pump and non-distribution configuration[6]. In AT mode, series of commands are sent for
of water during motor failure period cause substantial reduction proper configuration. If match is found, it starts data
in yield of crop. communication between micro-controller system and GSM. AT
Conventional remote monitoring systems using cellular commands are sent by sending text strings ‘A’, ‘T’, along with
network use dedicated GSM modem for AT command interface. specified command strings through serial port to cell phone and
This modem sends the working condition of the motor to the are executed on receipt of carriage return[7]. The result codes
user cell phone as messages. This helps the users to control the are sent by cell phone to system (TE) to indicate the status after
motor using missed calls[2]. execution of command.
SMS Approach: SMS is store and forward way of
3. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION transmitting messages between cell phones. The major
advantage of using SMS is provision of intimation to the sender
A remote control application to control the motor using the when SMS is delivered at the destination and ability of SMSC
mobile is developed to reduce the risk of farmers. The motor to continue efforts for delivery of message for the specified
starts automatically when the power restoration occurs. The validity period if network is presently busy. The text message is
microcontroller controls the operation of the starter based on sent to cell phone using CMGS command. CNMI command is
the information from the sensors. When the temperature used to indicate to TE about the receipt of incoming SMS
decreases beyond the normal or when the voltage level is low message from the network. It is observed that most of current
or when there is no flow of water in the pipe after a particular cell phones do not support CNMI command.
period due to motor or starter fault or when there is insufficient Miscall Approach: The operational cost of
water level in the well, the motor gets off automatically and the communication between user and GSM is further reduced by
problem is intimated to the farmers through messages from using concept of miscall where in no charges are incurred by
GSM[4]. The GSM is connected to the microcontroller through using only ring signal for information transfer. A voice call is
the RS232 interface. The user can control the starter using treated as miscall when either calling party disconnects after
missed calls when needed or when abnormal conditions exist. receiving ring tones or called party does not respond to call
The block diagram of the system is shown in the Fig.1. The within specified time.
missed calls are received from the user mobile to perform
specific task. Based on the received signals and sensor
4. MICROCONTROLLER SYSTEM
conditions, the signals are sent to the microcontroller to switch
PIC16F877A microcontroller has RISC architecture
on/off the motor through the starter using the relays. The relay
with 512 kB of Flash Memory, 256 Bytes E2PROM, 2 kB
is controlled by the ports.
SRAM, 32-bit General purpose I/O, 8 channel 10-bit ADC,
USB, USART, SPI, JTAG interface support, etc[10-12].
To perform the various operations of sensing the
temperature, voltage and humidity, sensors are connected to the
microcontroller. The analog signals from the sensors are
converted to digital signals using the Analog to Digital
converter. These sensors ensures the indication of catastrophic

77
 International Journal of Power Control Signal and Computation(IJPCSC)
Vol3. No1. Jan-Mar 2012 ISSN: 0976-268X
www.ijcns.com
voltage falls outside the specified voltage band window. When
events like burning of motor due to any faults like over-current, the voltage level decreases beyond the level, the motor gets off
bearing breakage, insulation failure etc. so that preventive automatically.
measures can be carried out at substantially lower cost.
C. Liquid Level sensor
Liquid level sensor is used to check the flow of liquid
in the pipe. The water flow gets stopped, when the fault occurs
in the motor or starter. This can be sensed using E2K-L, a
liquid level Sensor that detects liquid level in a transparent or
non-transparent pipe reliably. E2K-L is available in 2 models, 8
to 11-mm-dia. and 12 to 26-mm-dia. hence it can be used for
pipes ranging from 8 to 26-mm-dia. E2K-L Senses liquid by
electrostatic capacity and is not influenced by the colour of the
pipe or liquid.

5. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK

Thus the developed system enhances the water
distribution in the field optimally. The system ensures
protection of motor against overloads, overheating and phase
imbalances. It also provides automated restarting if normal
conditions are re-established. Uniform distribution of water at
regular intervals, reduction in labour cost, prevention of
unwanted water spillage, minimization of occurrences of motor
faults and intimation to user about the completion of task are
the major advantage of this system. The use of mobile phone
has become more common among the farmers and hence used
Figure. 2 Microcontroller system Interfacing The system proves to be great boon to farmers whose pump sets
are located far away from their homes due to capability of
Interfacing diagram of micro-controller system is remote control using cell phone and intimation about any
shown in Figure 2. Port A is configured for analog inputs. AN0 abnormal conditions.
is connected to the Temperature sensor-LM-35. Port C is The system is designed to have cell phone with in-
configured to control the motor. The pin RC0 is responsible for built security against unauthorized users. Any cell phone model
the connection of Motor control. can be used for communication so that the system improves its
The MAX232 which converts the 12V DC into 5V Dc adaptability to use. Low operating cost using messages and
and vice versa is connected to the Port C. The transmitter and missed calls are the major attractions of this system.
Receiver of the Controller is connected to the 11th and 12th pin The future enhancement of this work is to develop the
of MAX232. system to help illiterate farmers using spoken commands [8-9].
The spoken commands are recognized and converted into text
A. Temperature Sensor message for SMS which helps them to identify the faults and
The LM35 is an integrated circuit sensor that can be commands easily. Moreover, in cases where non-deterministic
used to measure temperature with an electrical output response of SMS is not acceptable, dedicated voice based call
proportional to the temperature (in oC). Two temperature approach can be incorporated.
sensors (LM35) are used to ensure the reliability of the system. With introduction of MMS message support, it is
One temperature sensor is mounted on body of motor and possible to capture images from field using higher end cell
another temperature sensor is mounted at a suitable location to phone and disease-pest control management can be carried out
measure ambient temperature. Whenever temperature by analysis of these images by agriculturists Various
difference between these two sensors exceeds specified safety parameters such as temperature, humidity, water level etc., can
limit (250C), signal is sent to switch off pump to user cell phone be noted at regular intervals on daily basis and time duration of
to indicate probable fault occurrence. pump, amount and type of fertilizers, pesticides, etc., can be
decided based on analysis of acquired data. It is expected that
B. DC Voltage Sensor technological assistance to farmers can tremendously boost the
DC voltage sensors monitor input voltages ranging productivity of food grains and bring prosperity to this
from 3 to 500 volts DC with a trip point accuracy of up to 1% hardworking population.
in this application. Using internal electronic circuits to detect,
monitor and/or sense DC voltage, DC voltage sensors, monitors,
and voltage sensing relays can open or close a circuit when a
certain pre-set over or under voltage condition exists or the DC
78
 International Journal of Power Control Signal and Computation(IJPCSC)
Vol3. No1. Jan-Mar 2012 ISSN: 0976-268X
www.ijcns.com

REFERENCES

[1] Vasif Ahmed and Siddharth A. Ladhake, “Innovative Cost

Effective Approach for Cell Phone based Remote
Controlled Embedded System for Irrigation,” Intl. Conf. on
Communication Systems and Network Technologies, 2011,
pp 419-422.
[2] Vasif Ahmed and S. A. Ladhake, "Design of Ultra Low
Cost Cell Phone Based Embedded System for Irrigation,"
Intl. Conf. on Machine Vision and Human-machine
Interface, Kaifeng, China, 24-25th April 2010, pp 718-721.
[3] N. P. Jawarkar, Vasif Ahmed and S. A. Ladhake,
"Versatile Low Cost Cell Phone Based Monitoring," Proc.
4th IEEE Workshop on Advanced Experimental activities
on Wireless networks and systems, Kos, Greece, June 15-
19, 2009.
[4] Xu Meihua, Fei Yu, Zhao Fangjie and Zhu Qian, "A
Remote Medical Monitoring System Based on GSM
Network," IET Intl. Comm. Conference on Wireless Mobile
and Computing, Shanghai , China, pp. 381-384, 7-9 Dec
2009.
[5] Kim Yunseop, R. G. Evans and W. M. Iversen, "Remote
Sensing and Control of an Irrigation System Using a
Distributed Wireless Sensor Network," IEEE Transactions
on Instrumentation and Measurement, vol.57, no.7,
pp.1379-1387, July 2008.
[6] AT Commands Set for Nokia GSM and WCDMA
products, Version1.2, July 2005, available online:
http://forum.nokia.com.
[7] ETSI TS 127 007 V5.3.0 (2003-03) Digital cellular
telecomm. System, Universal Mobile Telecommunications
System (UMTS); AT command set for 3G User Equipment
(UE) (3GPP TS 27.007 version 5.3.0 Release 5, available
online: http://www.etsi.org.
[8] N. P. Jawarkar, Vasif Ahmed, S. A. Ladhake and R. D.
Thakare, "Micro-controller Based Remote Monitoring
using Mobile through spoken commands," Journal of
Networks, vol 3, No.2, pp 58-63, Feb 2008.
[9] N. P. Jawarkar, Vasif Ahmed and R. D. Thakare, "Remote
Control using Mobile through Spoken Commands," Proc.
IEEE-ICSCN 2007, MIT Campus, Anna University,
Chennai, Feb 22-24, 2007, pp 622-625.
[10]Microchip Technology (2001) PIC microcontroller [Online]
Available:http://www.PIC16F87X Data Sheet 28/40-Pin 8-
Bit CMOS FLASH.pdf.
[11] Yesu Thommandru , “Programming a PIC Microcontroller,
A Short Tutorial,” Iowa State University – ECpE, Nov, 2006.
[12] PIC Microcontroller Data sheet, [Online] Available:
http://www.scribd.com /doc /258205/PIC-16f877A-
datasheet.

79