ASSOSA UNIVERSITY

DECLARATION
This is to certify that Report entitled “AUTOMATIC IRRIGATION SYSTEM USING SOIL
MOISTURE SENSOR” is submitted by us, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for final
project in Electrical and computer Engineering Stream of power engineering to Assosa
University comprises only our original work and outstanding acknowledgement has been made
in the text to all other materials used.

Group members:
No Name Signature
1 AbdulmenanNesiru_____________
2 IyasuDawit ______________
3 LemessaLeta______________
4 SenaMulisa _______________
5 TemesgenGudeta______________

Advisor Signature____________________________

Examinerssignature____________________________

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
At first we are greatly praise to GOD for successful completion of our graduate project.
We are very grateful to our Advisor Mr.Nugussie N. department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering at college of Engineering, who laid the time bound program for the successful
completion of this project. He initiated, channeled our thoughts and extended timely suggestions
for which we are deeply indebted to his suggestion. We are grateful for his comments and
insights in the preparation of this report.
Further, we would like to thank all the staff members of department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering for their humble cooperation and support. We would also take this opportunity to
give thanks to all others who have helped us throughout our project.

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ABSTRACT
The main theme of this project is to design a simple, easy to monitor and indicate the level of soil
moisture that is continuously controlled in order to achieve maximum plant growth and
simultaneously optimize the available irrigation resources. A simple op-amp based comparator
circuit is used coupled with relay units which control the water pumps. The use of easily
available components reduces the manufacturing and maintenance costs. This makes the
proposed system to be an economical, appropriate and a low maintenance solution for
applications, especially in rural areas and for small scale agriculturists.

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ACRONYMS
Op-amp..........................................................................................................Operational Amplifier
SR……………………………………………………………………………Set-Reset
V…..…………………………………………………………………………Voltage
DC……………………………………………………………………………Direct-current

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Table of Contents
DECLARATION ................................................................................................................................................ I
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................................................... II
ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................................. III
ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................................................... IV
List of the figure .......................................................................................................................................... VII
List of the table .......................................................................................................................................... VIII
CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 1
1.2 Background .......................................................................................................................................... 2
1.3 Statement of the problem .................................................................................................................... 2
1.4 Objectives of the project....................................................................................................................... 3
1.4.1 General Objective ............................................................................................................................ 3
1.4.2 Specific Objective ......................................................................................................................... 3
1.5 Scope of the project ............................................................................................................................ 4
2.3 System Model ..................................................................................................................................... 6
2.4 Sub system and components ............................................................................................................... 7
2.5 Circuit diagram description ................................................................................................................. 8
2.6 Sub-system description ....................................................................................................................... 9
2.6.1 Sensor........................................................................................................................................... 9
2.6.2 Comparator ................................................................................................................................ 11
2.6.3 SR-latch ...................................................................................................................................... 13
2.6.4 Amplifier..................................................................................................................................... 14
2.6.5 Relay ........................................................................................................................................... 15
2.6.5 Indicators ................................................................................................................................... 16
CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................................................... 18
3.1 Methodology..................................................................................................................................... 18
CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................................................... 19
4.1 Results ............................................................................................................................................... 19
4.1.1 Simulation results using Multisim: ............................................................................................. 19
4.2 Observations after design:..................................................................................................................... 22
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CHAPTER FIVE ........................................................................................................................................ 23

5.1 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 23
5.2 Recommendation .............................................................................................................................. 24
References .................................................................................................................................................. 25

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List of the figure

Figure 1: block diagram of the system ........................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 2: Circuit diagram description ........................................................................................................... 8
Figure 3:Sensor ............................................................................................................................................. 9
Figure 4 : Comparator block ....................................................................................................................... 11
Figure 5:SR-latch ........................................................................................................................................ 13
Figure 6:Amplifier circuit ........................................................................................................................... 14
Figure 7:Relay pin connection .................................................................................................................... 15
Figure 8:structure of methodology.............................................................................................................. 18
Figure 9:Circuit simulation snap for dry soil .............................................................................................. 20
Figure 10:Circuit simulation snap for excess wet soil ................................................................................ 21

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List of the table

Table 1: List of components used ................................................................................................................. 7
Table 2: Comparator logic .......................................................................................................................... 11
Table 3:SR latch logic ................................................................................................................................. 14
Table 4:Operation of relay for various soil moisture conditions ................................................................ 16
Table 5:LED and corresponding indication .............................................................................................. 17
Table 6:Simulation results .......................................................................................................................... 19
Table 7:Results obtained after hardware implementation ........................................................................... 22

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CHAPTER ONE

1.1 Introduction
Proper irrigation management is essential for high yields and to avoid stress from excess or
scarcity of water. Appropriate soil water level is a necessary pre-requisite for optimum plant
growth. Also, water being an essential element for life sustenance, there is the necessity to avoid
its due to usage. Irrigation is a dominant consumer of water. This calls for the need to regulate
water supply for irrigation purposes. Fields should neither be over-irrigated nor under-irrigated.
Over time, systems have been implemented towards realizing this objective of which automated
processes are the most popular as they allow information to be collected at high frequency with
less labor requirements. Bulk of the existing systems employ micro-processor based systems.
These systems offer several technological advantages but are unaffordable, bulky, difficult to
maintain and less accepted by the technologically unskilled workers in the rural scenario.

There are different methods that are used for realizing this.

Meters and Sensors: Sophisticated devices like sensors measure some physical property that is
related with soil moisture. Some portable sensing tools are pushed into the soil directly or into an
access tube planted in the soil. Other systems rely on buried sensors that are wired to a fixed
meter. Being an automated process, this provides accurate results and is highly efficient.

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1.2 Background
Indeveloping countries like Ethiopia automatic irrigation system is not much familiar rather than using
labor system and it is not much effective and all the system is controlled by humans and if it is dry or
moisture content the persons can not exactly detect or identify it.In past,irrigation system was
applicable by using the fuels and grid electric system but the cost of fuels are very expensive and it
has environmental air pollution and electricity are not suitable for mountain areas. Now we are
interested to design a simple,pollution free,cost effective,and easily maintenance project to over the
problem.

1.3 Statement of the problem

Problem encountered in looking after plants are under or over water. Most commercialsystem
work by either drip watering at fixed periods via programmable timer.Neither most common of
these solutions is suitable if users wish to leave their plants un attended for long periods of time,
as the watering needs of the plants will vary.Moreover most automatic watering system uses
electrical energy which cost consuming. Therefore, an automatic plant watering system is used.

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1.4 Objectives of the project

1.4.1 General Objective
 The general objectives of this project is to design and construct an automatic watering
system by using soil moisture sensors
1.4.2 Specific Objective
The specific objective of this project is:

 To make irrigation system reliable by using soil moisture sensor which is commercially
available
 To develop a cost effective and automated model to monitor and regulate the moisture
level of a soil sample mainly aimed to cater to the needs of technologically ignorant rural
farmers.
 To design software model system
 To design circuit diagram based automatic irrigation
 To analysis of the system model automatic irrigation
 To use soil moisture sensor in order to control the process of irrigating system.

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1.5 Scope of the project

In order to achieve the objectives of the project, there are several scope had been outlined. In this
project, it trying to simulate the model by using multisim program in computer application.The
simulation of this project is depends on multisimsoftware. The project has ability to light and
showing the result on the screen.It is used to test the whether the soil is dry or wet by using soil
moisture sensor.

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CHAPTER TWO

2.1 Literature review

Micro irrigation according to it’s an artificial supplying of water to the roots of plant.Irrigation
has been used to assists in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of large escapes, and
re-vegetation of disturbed soil in dry areas and during periods of an adequate rainfall.In crop
production,irrigation helps in protecting plants against frost,suppressing weed growth ingrain
fields and preventing soil consolidation [1].

The old method used for irrigation was the uses of watering cans, watering channels that have to
be opened and closed manually or back pack sprinklers. In this case, a lot of water is wasted in
process. There is need for improvement on existing or old form of irrigation. An automated
irrigation system needs to be developed to optimize water use for agricultural crops An
intelligentautomatic irrigation system has to have all the components that autonomously monitor
and control the level of water available to the plant without any failure or human intervention[4].

The purpose of this is to explain the perspective and method that is used in previous research or
project and, then now, how we going to do it and classify how much this project is related with
those research and theory. In our project we are trying to see so many papers deals about
automatic irrigation system using sensors. It is very expensive for rural areas and for irrigation
purpose compared with its profit. The other paper what we have seen is that it uses a micro
controller to control the whole system bases on the program that the users enter according to the
moisture content [2].

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The problem of previous project is, requires a high maintenance and also high cost. After we
observe this problem we are interested to design cheap, simple and which requires minimum
maintenance and we use less cost moisture sensor and we are using SR latch and comparator in
order to control the whole system rather than micro controller [1].

2.3 System Model

Change in resistance
Soil Potential change in voltage
moisture dividerarrangeme Comparator
sensor nt

Change in Logic: high/low

Soil water closed loop system

Level

contact State(set-reset) SR-latch

Water pump
Relay

230v AC supply

Figure1: block diagram of the system

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2.4 Sub system and components

Table1: List of components used

S1.No Sub system Components Specifications Quantity

1 Sensor Variable resistance 1
2 Comparator IC LM 358D 2
3 SR-latch IC 4011BD,4049BD 2,1
4 Amplifier IC LM 358D,potentiometer 1,1
5 Relay Relay 12v dc 1
6 Indicators LEDs Red,blue,white 1,1,1
7 Water pump HJ-1000 model,submersible 220v/50Hz,20w,10001/h 1
pump

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2.5 Circuit diagram description

Water pump

230V AC supply

Figure2: Circuit diagram description

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2.6 Sub-system description

2.6.1Sensor

Connecting leads

Output (given to
comparator circuit)

Figure 3:Sensor

The parameter which is importance is moisture content in the soil. A reliable indication of soil
moisture levels is provided by electrical resistance blocks. These are a cost-effective
cost effective tool for
effective management of irrigation. They evaluate soil moisture tension by measuring the
electrical resistance between the two electrodes emerging out of the block. The blocks absorb
and release moisture as the soil wets and dries respectively. This electrical resistance is recorded
with the help of a portable meter that is attached to the
the wire leads coming out from the moisture
sensors.

Functional
nctional Description of Sensor:

1. For conversion of change in resistance to change in voltage, the sensor is connected with
a 200kΩ
kΩ resistor in series to form a potential divider arrangement.

2. It gives a voltage output corresponding to the conductivity of the soil. The conductivity of
soil varies depending upon the amount of moisture present in it. It increases with increase in
thewater content of the soil. The higher the water contents of the blocks, the lower the
electrical resistance.

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3. The voltage output is taken from the output terminal of this circuit.

The moisture sensor is immersed into the specimen soil whose moisture content is under test.
The soil was examined under three conditions:
 Dry condition:

The sensor is placed in the soil under dry conditions and embedded up to a fair depth of the
soil. In dry condition, as there is no conduction path between the two copper leads the
sensor gives a high resistance value (nearly 700kΩ).

Optimum condition:
When water is added to the soil, it percolates through the successive layers of it and spreads
across the layers of soil due to capillary force. This increases the moisture content of the soil.
Thus a conductive path is established between the two copper leads. This leads to a decrease in
resistance of sensor. The optimum condition of the soil can be set manually depending on the
type of soil.

 Excess wet condition:

With the increase in water content beyond the optimum level, there is drastic increase in the
conductivity of the soil and the sensor resistance is further decreased. The voltage output of the
potential divider in this case ranges from upper optimum level (5 V) to 10

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2.6.2Comparator

Figure 1 :: Comparator block

For the comparator circuit, we are using IC LM 358 which has two op-amps.
op amps. We have selected
two thresholds: 5 V for logic high and 3 V for logic low. These two levels are set at the positive
terminal of each op-amp.
amp. The output of the potential divider is given to the negative terminals of
the op-amps. The two op-amps
amps are arranged such that when the output of the potential divider
circuit falls below the preset value of lower op-amp
op the lower op-amp
amp gives logic 0 and the
upper op-amp gives logic 1.

When the output of potential divider circuit is in between range (5 V and 3V), then both op
op-amps
give logic 1 and when output of potential divider circuit is above the set value of upper op
op-amp,
then the upper op-amp gives
ves logic 0 and lower op-amp
op gives logic 1.

The output of the comparator circuit is fed into a SR Latch. The various op-amp
op amp outputs with
varying soil conditions has been tabulated as below.

Table 1: Comparator logic

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(NOTE: Here upper preset level is taken as 5 V and lower preset level is taken as 3 V)

S1 No Range of Soil condition Logic of Op- Logic of

voltage amp 1(upper) Op-amp
2(lower)
1. >5v Excess wet 0 1

2 >3v &<5v Optimum 1 1

3 <4v Dry 1 0

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2.6.3 SR-latch

Figure 2:SR-latch
It is constructed using two
wo NAND gates. Each gate has one outputs, Q and Q'
Q', and one inputs,
named set and reset respectively. This type of memory element is referred to as an SR flip-flop
or SR latch.. When Q=1 and Q'=0, it is in the set state (or 1-state).
state). When Q=0 and Q'=1, it is in
the clear state (or 0-state).
state). The outputs Q and Q' are complements of each other and are named as
the normal and complement outputs, respectively. The binary state of the flip-flop
flop is taken to be
the value of the normal output.
When the potential divider output is above higher level the flip flop output will be zero. When
the potential divider output is in between two set levels the output of flip flop will not change.
When
en the potential divider output is below lower level then output of flip flop will be 1.

The output of the latch for various soil

soi conditions is tabulated below:

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Table 2:SR latch logic

S1 NO Voltage Soil S R Q State Q’

range Condition
1 >5 Excess 1 0 0 Reset 1
wet
2 >3v Optimum 1 1 0 No 1
&<5v 1 1 1 change 0
3 <3v Dry 0 1 1 Set 0

2.6.4 Amplifier

Figure 3:Amplifier circuit

Since the analog output voltage signal from the SR latch is not high enough to drive the relay,
hence the need for amplification. The signal
s is amplified using IC LM 358D O
Op-amp and then
fed to the relay.

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2.6.5Relay

Figure 4:Relay
:Relay pin connection

A relay is an electrical switch that opens and closes under the control of another electrical circuit.
The output of flip flop is connected to a relay. The contact of the relay is connected with the
power supply to water pump. When this relay will be on, then the water pump will start and
when it is offf then the power supply to water pump will be cut off and hence it stops. The
working of the relay for various test conditions is tabulated below.

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Table 3:Operation of relay for various soil moisture conditions

S1. No Voltage Soil Q Amplifier Relay Rely Water

Range Condition Out Put reference contact pump
(digital) pin operation
voltage
1 >5v Excess 0 1 1 Open OFF
wet
2 <5v & Optimally 0 1 1 Open OFF
wet
Optimally 1 0 0 Closed ON
>3v Dry
3 <3v Dry 1 0 0 Closed ON

2.6.5Indicators
Three LEDs have been used for indication of the various soil conditions.
1. BLUE for indicating excess wet condition
2. RED for indicating dry condition
3. ORANGE for indicating 'ON' condition of water pump

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Table 4:LED and corresponding indication

S1 No Color of LED that glows Indications

1 Blue Excess wet soil

2 Red Dry soil

3 Orange Water pump ‘ON’

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CHAPTER THREE

3.1 Methodology
For the success of our project:
 Collect data about irrigation system specially automatic soil moisture sensor.
 Identify the required materials for the completion of this project.
 Studying about the properties and parameters of the identified device such as: diode,
relay, comparator, sensor, indicator, SR-latch.
 Develop the structure by using the software multism.
 Verifying by simulation.

Understand the Study Identify material

concept background required

Construct the Develop the Study the

circuit structure parameter

the result Check

Figure 5:structure of methodology

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CHAPTER FOUR

4.1 Results
4.1.1Simulation results using Multisim:
By varying the resistance (700 kΩ) in the potential divider circuit as a representation for the
dry/wet condition of the sample soil, the circuit was tested and the results are tabulated below

Table 5:Simulation results

S1.No Soil moisture level Output of the sensor Output of the main
circuit(in volts) pump controlling
circuit(in volts)
1 Dry soil level 3.894 10

2 Wet soil level 7.001 10

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The simulation schematics are shown in figures below:

a) When the sensor senses low moisture

 Water pump ON [Indicate Orange]
 High resistance
 LED X1ON
 LED X2 OFF

Figure 6:Circuit simulation snap for dry soil

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b) When the sensor senses high moisture

 Water pump OFF[Indicate White]

 Low resistance
 LED X2 ON
 LED X1 OFF

Figure 7:Circuit
:Circuit simulation snap for excess wet soil

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4.2 Observations after design:

By varying the dry/wet condition of the sample soil, the circuit was tested and the results are
tabulated below:
Table 6:Results obtained after hardware implementation

Voltage from sensor Indication Color of LED that Action

output glows
Less than3.894 Dry soil Red + Orange Water pump ON

Greater than7.001 Excess wet soil Blue Water pump OFF

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CHAPTER FIVE

5.1 Conclusion
Amethodological approach has been followed in designing the op-amp based system for
measurement and control of the plant growth parameter, i.e. soil moisture. The results obtained
from the measurement have shown that the system performance is quite reliable and accurate.
Circuit design has shown that soil moisture sensors are very useful in diagnosing the changes
needed and to fine-tune irrigation practices. Relatively minor regulations in irrigation practices
can pay large dividends in terms of increased yields or water savings. The key to proper
irrigation management using soil moisture sensors is regular monitoring of the sensors to track
the soil moisture level and provide irrigation when the readings are in the determined range for
the particular soil type.

Thus, this system eliminates the drawbacks of the existing set-ups mentioned in the previous
section. Also a cost analysis report has been prepared to compare the effective costs of the
proposed model and microprocessor based system. Thus it has proved to be an easy to maintain,
flexible and low cost solution.

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5.2 Recommendation
Generally, based on our standard of knowledge we tried to designed this new invention to our
country to improve the series problem of our community, but when we will enough matured
enough knowledge regarding to this project we will extend our broad invention in the future.

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References
[1] www.irrigation.com

[2] Skinner. A.Hignett. C., and Dearden. J., “Resurrecting the Gypsum Block for Soil Moisture
Measurement”,AustralianViticulture,October/November1997.(http://www.sowacs.com/sensors/g
ypsum.txt)
[3] Morris. M., “Soil Moisture Monitoring: Low Cost Tools and Methods” NCAT Energy
Specialist, ATTRAPublication#IP277,2006.(http://attra.ncat.org/attrapub/PDF/soil_moisture.pdf)
[4] Daniel K. Fisher,HirutKebede, "A microcontroller-based system to monitor crop temperature
and water status", Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 74 (2010)
[5] Richard Allen, “Soil Water Monitoring with Inexpensive Equipment”, University of Idaho,
2000 (www.kimberly.uidaho.edu/water/swm)

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