2018 Joint 7th International Conference on Informatics, Electronics & Vision (ICIEV) and

2018 2nd International Conference on Imaging, Vision & Pattern Recognition (icIVPR)

Automated Aeroponics System for Indoor Farming

using Arduino
Ferdousi Rahman, Israt Jahan Ritun, Md.Ryad Ahmed Biplob, Nafisa Farhin, Jia Uddin
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
BRAC University
66 Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh
{ferdousirahman707, isratritun, rb147258, nafisafarhin}@gmail.com, [email protected]

Abstract— This paper approaches with an effusively indoor automation of this process, the placement of this system in
cultivation system based on the modern farming concept called indoors, fresh harvests can be produced by general people with
aeroponics, in a controlled environment using Arduino and ease. The previous works regarding this process described in
different parameter measuring sensors. Aeroponics is the modern the background analysis were complex to implement as well as
agricultural conception in which the plants are grown without maintain by common people. But our proposed model suggests
soil using a nutrient solution sprayed in the roots and is more a system with higher user friendly aspects for both setup and
efficient than traditional farming. The longstanding farming maintenance.
techniques are mostly dependent on the soil conditions and outer
atmosphere, but using this technology, the cultivation process is The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section II
more resourceful with better control system and data monitoring labels current research works in automated aeroponic farming
as well as convenient for general urban indoors. The proposed systems with sensor monitoring applications. In section III
system states easily available and user friendly components, resides presentation of our design and implementation of
allowing people to reproduce and modify without needing automatic aeroponic system using parameter measuring sensors
advanced technological skills and tools. and monitoring of data with IoT applications. Then, we
abridge our research work in section VI. Finally we have
Keywords- Aeroponics; Sensors; Arduino; Farming; Indoor presented our result in section V and concluded with future
I. INTRODUCTION direction in section VI.
Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, is one of the most II. BACKGROUND ANALYSIS
densely populated regions in the world, with a density of
The development technologies in the agricultural sectors in
23,234 people per square kilometer within a total area of 300
present era are not only intelligent and advanced but also it has
square kilometers according to the World Population Review
study of the year 2016 [1]. This massive growth indicates to the amplified the usage of resources such as human labor, land
fact that the environmental condition of the city is not in the etc. in the field of aeroponics system, as it is a very new
good turn to preserve enough cultivation space for fresh concept of cultivation and requires additional knowledge and
produce, nor the outer city fields can retain with the supply for technological support; the latest invention for the automation
this vast growing population. High population growth is on this sector is not only encouraged but also vastly accepted
putting further stress on natural resources, employment, and and used. Automation of the aeroponic system has found
housing and food supplies. In addition, an increased demand many researchers contribution. Aeroponic greenhouse system
for biofuels could further increase burden on inputs, prices of with data monitoring, controlling and data submission in
agricultural produce, land, and water and endanger a global server with a controlled environment using Raspberry PI has
food security. Aeroponics is cutting edge modern technology in been on a research in 2015 [4]. With a fully automated
the world of agriculture. Aeroponics is a hydroponic system in aeropnics structure of cultivation, not only plants and food can
which plant roots are adjourned in air and intermittently soaked be cultivated but also the data collection from the sensors can
with a nutrient-rich, mineral based solution [2]. Aeroponic be used for data monitoring for further survey and studies to
plants are generally planted on the outside of an enclosed enhance cultivation growth using the technology of IoT [5].
chamber. The nutrient solution flows or drips through the Regarding aeroponics, Jonas et al., developed an automatic
inside of the chamber. The nutrient solution flows onto the monitoring system to control the environmental and irrigation
roots of the plants and then drips down into a reservoir or conditions of a small aeroponic chamber using Arduino, which
collection pipe, where it is used again, lessening the water
controls the irrigation frequency based on the root chamber
usage to 95% compared to soil agriculture [3]. So by complete

978-1-5386-5163-6/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE

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moisture and all the information is send to a web server and plants when the natural light supplied by the environment is not
share in Twitter [6]. But most of the high level automation sufficient, which is measured by the light sensor. RTC module
processes are expensive and the technology is beyond the is used to keep the time period division persistent water spray
understanding and reach of the general people. But on control. Not only the data is conveyed to the ThingSpeak portal
December 2014, a group of teen developed a reasonable but also it is displayed in the LED display connected to the
solution for this system which was also tested by NASA [7]. Arduino.
Even if a cheaper approach exists, this system and its The nutrient solution used for this project has been brought
automation are not well known in our country. Using more from general plant market shops where a nutrient base in
economical devices and building user friendly home aeroponic powder form is available for gardening purposes and labeled
greenhouse box can be more efficient for spreading the usage with the amount of water it should be mixed. But one can also
of our approach, even the general people can also avail this compose his or her own nutrient solution by mixing some
system on their balcony [8]. This economic and user friendly chemical compounds in proper measurement as most plants
structure can also be implemented in farms for larger approach depend on the same macronutrients and micronutrients. The
[9]. most important elements are the various nutrient salts that will
serve as the base of fertilizer. Phosphorus, nitrogen, calcium
III. METHODOLOGY and all the other essential elements are available in solid
The proposed model of this paper uses shrewd and accurate crystalline form in any chemical store. Some electrical
sensing devices for controlling and monitoring the cultivation elements used in this project are shown in Figure 2.
system. The block diagram for the system elements are shown A. Arduino UNO
in Figure 1.
Arduino UNO is an advanced microcontroller that can
sense the environment by receiving input from a variety of
Display sensors and can affect its surroundings by controlling lights,
Sonar Sensor
motors, and other actuators [10,23] hence it is compatible with
this proposed model. The different pins interact with the
sensors and control the system as well as collect the data.

Pump
B. Sonar Sensor HC-SR04
Light Sensor
HCSR04 is an Ultrasonic ranging module which consists of
a transmitter, receiver and control circuit. It has four pins for
ARDUINO Relay VCC, GND, Trigger and Echo. The basic principle of work is it
RTC Module uses IO trigger for at least 10us high level signal, then Module
automatically sends eight 40 kHz and detect whether there is a
LED pulse signal back. If the signal back, through high level , time
of high output IO duration is the time from sending ultrasonic
to returning. This sensor works for the nutrient solution
Humidity measuring of this project [11]. This sensor is used to measure
& Temp
Sensor
the distance of the sonar devise and the water level of the
solution. Based on the result we determine whether the solution
Wi-Fi Module is sufficient and when it needs to be refilled. A specific value
for the distance between the sensor and water is set based on
the container and once below or equal to this value the user
Figure 1. Block diagram of the elements of proposed automated aeroponic
system receives a warning on the LCD Display to refill. Ultrasonic
sensors are great tools to measure distance without actual
For the base control unit microcontroller, Arduino UNO contact and used at several places like water level
has been used as it works very efficiently for interfacing with measurement, distance measurement etc.IR and Radar are also
the sensing devices as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module for used for distance measurement. But in order to use IR
data collection and transmission to the ThingSpeak portal. The sensor for measuring distances accurately, prior knowledge
arrangement of the aeroponic greenhouse box is attached with of the surface must be known which is not possible for
the pump that supplies water spray through the pipes around water surface [19]. Radar is also not used as the correlation of
the inside surfaces of the box. The sensors that are used are the target detection with real objects is not satisfactory all the
Humidity and Temperature sensor and sonar sensor. The time.
humidity and temperature sensor measures the surrounding
environmental factor reading and transfer it to the ThingSpeak The placement of the sonar sensor was challenging as the
portal so that the location can be adjusted with proper project involved water. So within the project container we had
atmosphere. The sonar sensor measures the nutrient solution to establish a different chamber and place the sonar on the
height inside the box that is pumped and sprayed and at a below surface of the container concealment. The chamber
certain level it signals the user for refill. Relay is connected to allowed water within from the bottom of the chamber so that
interface the AC components. The programmable LED light the water level is same in the container and rigorous
strips fulfill the light application needed for the growth of the measurement of distance is possible.

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C. Humidity and Temperature Sensor - RHT03
The RHT03 (also known by DHT-22) is a low cost humidity
and temperature sensor with a single wire digital interface. The
sensor is calibrated and doesn’t require extra components so you
can get right to measuring relative humidity and temperature. In
this project this element plays a vital role for monitoring the
environment of the plantation as plant life require a fixed array
of humidity and temperature without which the proper growth
of outcome is not seen. The data is strictly used for observation
purposes and the system is moved to different environment
manually if the humidity is not within acceptable range, i.e. 60-
70% for most plants. According to the signal provided in the
display when the humidity is not in the required range, then the
user can change the environment as the proposed model is
portable and easy to handle.
D. Wi-Fi Module - ESP8266
The ESP8266 Wi-Fi Module is a self-contained SOC with
integrated TCP/IP protocol stack that can give any Figure 2. Elements used for our proposed automated aeroponic system.
microcontroller access to your Wi-Fi network. The ESP8266 is
capable of either hosting an application or offloading all Wi-Fi G. Light Sensor (LDR)
networking functions from another application processor. This The LDR (light dependent resistor) is a singular type of
module has a powerful enough on-board processing and device allowing higher voltages to pass through it (low
storage capability that allows it to be integrated with the resistance) whenever there is a high intensity of light & passes
sensors and other application specific devices through its a low voltage (high resistance) whenever it is dark. We used
GPIOs with minimal development up-front and minimal this LDR property for light sensing of our project environment
loading during runtime. For our project, this module gives the [18].
liberty to access the available Wi-Fi zone of the system and
upload temperature, humidity, light intensity, solution level The LDR gives out an analog voltage when connected to
data to the ThingSpeak platform [20]. VCC (5V), which varies in magnitude in direct proportion to
the input light intensity on it. That is, the greater the intensity
E. DS1307 RTC Module of light, the greater the corresponding voltage from the LDR
The module based on DS1307, The DS1307 serial real-time will be. Since the LDR gives out an analog voltage, it is
clock (RTC) is a low-power; full binary-coded decimal (BCD) connected to the analog input pin on the Arduino. The Arduino,
clock/calendar plus 56 bytes of NV SRAM. The clock operates with its built-in ADC (analog-to-digital converter), then
in either the 24-hour or 12-hour format with AM/PM indicator. converts the analog voltage (from 0-5V) into a digital value in
The DS1307 has a built-in power-sense circuit that detects the range of (0-1023). When there is sufficient light in its
power failures and automatically switches to the backup environment or on its surface, the converted digital values read
supply. Timekeeping operation continues while the part from the LDR through the Arduino will be in the range of 800-
operates from the backup supply. For keeping the track of time 1023 [17].
for the spraying of solution this module is connected directly H. 350GPH Bilge Pump (12V)
with the arduino.
The 350GPH water pump has a heavy duty 12V, 1.5Amp
F. Bluetooth Module HC-05 motor and a tough thermoplastic body. It’s totally submersible
The HC-05 module is an easy to use Bluetooth SPP (Serial and water-cooled (but it won’t burn out if run dry). The ¾"
Port Protocol) module, designed for transparent wireless serial connection will accept a 19mm ID hose [13]. It comes pre-
connection setup. The HC-05 Bluetooth Module can be used in terminated with heavy gauge no terminated 3ft long wire leads.
a Master or Slave configuration, making it a great solution for This pump is a major element of our project. The spraying for
wireless communication. the plant roots is done by this pump.
This serial port Bluetooth module is fully qualified I. LED Light Source
Bluetooth V2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) 3Mbps The LED lights are an essential power source for the
Modulation with complete 2.4GHz radio transceiver and system. The total automation depends on the proper light
baseband [12]. In our project, we need to collect the username supply to the plants in indoors. So the LED light satisfies that
and password of the Wi-Fi network connection that will be requirement based on the intensity of the light of the
used for the live data upload to the ThingSpeak platform [21]. environment’s condition sensed by the sensor. LED grow lights
This module will be used to gain the username and password offer the dual benefit of low energy-consumption and low heat-
verification and allow online access for data upload to the generation. LED grow lights are designed to stimulate
platform. photosynthesis by providing light in the frequencies that plants
primarily use for this critical biological process. For vegetative

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growth, blue LEDs are preferred, where the light has a IV. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
wavelength in the mid-400 nm (nanometer) range. For growing The proposed model is implemented using the below
fruits or flowers, a greater proportion of red LEDs is
circuit diagram shown in figure 3. This diagram is designed
considered preferable, with light very near 600-640 nm, the
exact number this wavelength being more critical than for the with software called fritzing. An external board box kept the
blue LED [18]. If the setup is completely within indoors then circuit connections safe from the main structure as it involves
this light supply is sufficient for plant growth to its maximum water. A bread board achieved the networking among the
capability. As throughout the whole time during day and night, sensors and Arduino. The circuit setup and actual structural
the light exposure is not good for plant growth, the shifting of model is shown in Figure 4 and Figure 5 respectively.
day and night is essential for healthy environment, so we have The Arduino has software called Arduino IDE that is used
connected the LED with a system timer which turns the light to command the arduino with our desired task completion and
on and off with the interval of night and day respectfully for this project we used the some built-in methods of
according to the daytime. During daytime, the system checks commands from the arduino library [14-16].
for a specific light intensity of natural light and if sufficient
natural light is not available then the system turns on the LED
grow light.

Figure 3. Circuit design of the proposed system

V. RESULT
Our suggested system has been set up with proper
measurements and has been observed throughout some
specific period of time for the growth progress and usage
interactions. It was a pronounced success to seen the growth
within 5 weeks timespan, which is shown in Figure 6.

Figure 4. Actual circuit setup for the proposed system

1st Week 3rd week 5th week

Figure 6. Growth progress of the plants of the proposed system
Figure 5. Structural design of the proposed system

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 With the proper maintenance of the environment with the [4] AeroFarms [online]. http://aerofarms.com/technology (Accessed 18
Nov, 2017).
system we were able to uphold a better growth compared to
[5] P Mithunesh, K. Gupta, S. Ghule, Prof. S. Hule, “Aeroponic Based
traditional farming with soil. According to a research review Controlled Environment Based Farming System”, IOSR Journal of
of NASA, plants grow up to 3 times faster in aeroponic Computer Engineering, Vol. 17, No. 6, Ver. II, 2015, PP. 55-58.
growing systems compared to in soil. Plus, yields are more [6] S. C. Kerns, Joong-Lyul Lee, “Automated Aeroponics System Using
consistent and with grow lights, year-round growing is IoT for Smart Farming,” 8th International Scientific Forum, ISF 2017,
possible [22]. The growth result of our setup shows the 7-8 September 2017, UNCP, USA.
successful application of the method. With some adjustments [7] Jonas P, Maskara A, Salguero A and Truong A 2015 Garduino: A
Cyber-Physical Aeroponics System (Preprint arXiv:1011.1669v3).
in the nutrient solution can result in further progress. Our
[8] [online]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2EzPN3rIn4 (Accessed
system also monitors the parameter data while it is kept 19 Nov. 2017.)
proceeding. From those data’s graphical presentation, we can [9] [online]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNHO05sNv_I (Accessed
come up with reviewing how the system is running and also 19 Nov, 2017.)
comment on the ratio of growth of plants according to those [10] [online]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_tvJtUHnmU (Accessed
parameters such that temperature, humidity etc. as an example, 19 Nov, 2017.)
humidity graph is shown in Figure 7. [11] Raut R., Varma H., Mulla C., Pawar V.R. (2018) Soil Monitoring,
Fertigation, and Irrigation System Using IoT for Agricultural
Application. In: Hu YC., Tiwari S., Mishra K., Trivedi M. (eds)
Intelligent Communication and Computational Technologies. Lecture
Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 19. Springer,Singapore.
[12] C.Jestop Jeswin, B. Marimuthu, K. Chithra, “Ultrasonic water level
indicator and controller using AVR microcontroller,” Int. Conference on
Information, Communication & Embedded Systems (2017)
[13] [online]. http://www.mybotic.com.my/products/350GPH-Bilge-
Pump/1816 (Accessed 28 Nov 2017).
[14] [online]. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-use-DHT-22-sensor-
Aruino-Tutorial/ (Accessed 30 November 2017).
[15] [online]. www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial (Accessed 30 November 2017).
[16] [online]. https://www.embarcados.com.br/esp8266-com-arduino/
(Accessed 30 November 2017).
[17] [online]. www.quora.com/What-is-ldr-sensor (Accessed 7 May 2018).
[18] [online]. maker.pro/arduino/tutorial/how-to-use-an-ldr-sensor-with-
arduino (Accessed 7 May 2018).
Figure 7. Humidity result collected from sensor.
[19] [online]. aeroponicsdiy.com/indoor-plant-lights-for-aeroponics
(Accessed 7 May 2018).
VI. CONCLUSION
[20] C. Weltzien, N. Diekhans, H. Heinrich Harms; “Distance Measurement,
The proposed system is an independent automated Applications with Automotive Radar Sensors in Agricultural
structure for the urban indoor small farming without the usage Environment,” CIGR World Congress, 2006 , Bonn, At Bonn, Vol.
VDI-Berichte Nr. 1958, 173-174
of soil or manual watering. With the integration of some
[21] [online] thingspeak.com (Accessed 13 May 2018).
technological advanced instruments, this mechanization will
[22] [online]
not only encourage supply of fresh produce of certain amount http://www.towergarden.com/blog.read.html/en/2015/4/5_research-
to the people not even being involved actively in gardening backedbe.html (Accessed 13 May 2018).
but also monitor the system status with the web service of the [23] A.M.M. Rahman, Q. Mehdi, R. Hossain, M. R. Shwon, and J. Uddin,
parameter data. To conclude our paper, we would like to “An Automated Zebra Crossing Using Arduino-UNO,” The
mention that, addition of a pH sensor to the system would International Conference on Computer, Communication, Chemical,
Material and Electronic Engineering (IC4ME2-2018), University of
make the arrangement more efficient and precise by Rajshahi in Bangladesh
measuring the quality of the nutrient solution as well. Then the
system would be more automated to another level. Otherwise
this suggested structure is very much appropriate for present
urbanized surrounding of our city, Dhaka.
VII. REFERENCES
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