VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Jnana Sangama, Belagavi-590018

PROJECT SYNOPSISON ON
"Designing and Implementing the Arduino-based Nutrition
Feeding Automation System of a Prototype Scaled Nutrient
Film Technique (NFT) Hydroponics using Total Dissolved
Solids (TDS) Sensor"

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING IN COMPUTER

Submitted by:
YADUL (3BK21CS057)
MAHANTESH (3BK21CS020)
ADARSH (3BK21CS002)
VEERESH (3BK21CS056)

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

Hydroponics is a new breakthrough in farming because it no longer uses soil as a planting medium, and uses
water instead. In the hydroponic system, the fertilizer used is mixed into water, which is then referred to as
hydroponic nutrition or nutrient solution. The nutrient concentration in the solution, which is then indicated
by the electrical conductivity (EC), is very influential on crop production. The nutrient concentration usually
mixed manually by combining the fertilizer and the water in the right amount. Therefore, through this
research, a nutrition feeding automation system of a prototype scaled Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)
hydroponics is prepared. The system is designed with a control center using the Arduino UNO R3 board. The
system is equipped with GP2Y0A21 proximity sensor as a water level detector, TDS sensor as a detector of
electrical conductivity of the nutrient solution, and servo motor as an opening device of the faucet in the
nutrient container. The research resulted that the system is capable of performing water delivery
automatically when the water level is less than the minimum level, and add the nutrients automatically when
the nutrient solution concentration is below 800ppm.

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DEPARTMENTOFCSE,BKEC
 INTRODUCTION

Extreme weather changes and contaminated soil air are the cause of plant production problems in open field
crop production. Hydroponics is applied as a new breakthrough in farming because it no longer uses soil as a
planting medium, and uses water instead.

In the hydroponic system, the fertilizer used is mixed into water, which is then referred to as hydroponic
nutrition or nutrient solution [1]. The nutrition is distributed to the hydroponic system to be absorbed by the
roots of the plant. The concentration of the nutrients in the solution is very influential on crop production [2].
It is related to the amount of EC (Electrical Conductivity) from the nutrient solution. Electrical Conductivity,
which is also known as CF (Coductivity Factor), is an indicator of salinity in a nutrient solution. The EC
value gives an indication to the farmer about the nutrients contained in the solution and which is absorbed by
the roots. A low EC will give a low yield, which then increases to the maximum when EC is increased [3].

EC measurement aims to find out how much concentration of nutrients is absorbed. EC that is too
high to cause plants can not absorb nutrients because it is too saturated. The nutrient solution that is flowing
only passes without being absorbed by the roots. If the concentration of nutrient EC solution is too high then
there will be poisoning and cells will experience plasmolysis. EC nutrient solution can increase along with
time. This is presumably because nutrient solution loses some water due to evapotranspiration, so the nutrient
solution becomes more concentrated.

The plant growth is affected by the appropriate water and nutrient type and adequate aeration support. These
factors can increase nutrient uptake to produce energy. The energy required to produce sufficient oxygen in
the solution will be used by the roots to respiration and generate energy to absorb water and nutrients from
the solution. This affects the smooth process of respiration so that more nutrients can be absorbed by plants.
Excess water will reduce the amount of oxygen in the nutrient solution [4]. Increased nutrient intake will
increase plant growth [5].

The development of science and technology, especially computer technology occurs rapidly. The
scope of application of technology is also increasingly widespread, covering various aspects of human life so
that efforts to meet human needs are increasing and complex. Computer technology can be positively
correlated to improving the quality of life and human well-being. Rapid and accurate system automation is an
important requirement that encourages the creation of automated tools. Devices that are integrated with
various peripherals and other supporting devices make the performance of these technologies become more
applicable and functional [6].

In 2014, Qalyubi, Pudjojono and Widodo [8] conducted an experiment on the effects of water discharge and
the provision of nutrients to the growth of kale plants (Ipomoea aquatica forsk) in the hydroponics NFT
system. The results revealed that the EC or the concentration of hydroponic nutrition is very influential on the
growth of kale plants. EC amounted to 460 ppm indicates the deficit of solution concentration, so that the
kale plants grow slowly.

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DEPARTMENTOFCSE,BKEC
 METHODOLOGY:
This section explains the needs and methods used in system development. There are four stages: needs analysis, system design, system implementation,
and system testing. The first stage in system development is the identification of the system requirements. At this stage the data related to the needs of
system design is collected, such as selecting the sensors that will be used on the system. This stage is also a stage where the data related to the experiments
and literature studies is collected. The result of this stage is the list of functional and non-functional requirements of the system.
The functional requirements in the system design are the system is capable to keep the value of electrical conductivity of the nutrient solution not less than
800 ppm. The system is capable to add water automatically to the A-B Mix nutrient solution for NFT hydroponic. [9]. The system will perform data
readings when the water level is sufficient and the sensor plate is immersed in a nutrient solution. The system is capable of adding fertilizer A and B
fertilizer automatically to the
hydroponic nutrient solution until it reaches sufficient nutrient concentration. The system is capable to detect the electrical conductivity levels in a NFT
hydroponic nutrient solution container to determine when nutrients need to be added. The system is able to detect the distance from the sensor to the water
level on the NFT hydroponic nutrient solution container to determine when the nutrient solution should be added. The system is able to adjust the amount
of nutrients A and B that must be spent to achieve ideal conditions.
Non-functional requirements in designing this system are the system using ATMega 328 microcontroller on Arduino board as control center to read sensor
output value. The system runs with a 9V/1A power supply. The system gets input from existing sensors, and does not require input from user. The entire
system is one system that installed and connected directly to the NFT hydroponic nutrient solution container. The second stage is system design. This stage
is the result of the identification stage of the system needs performed previously.

Non-functional requirements in designing this system are the system using ATMega 328 microcontroller on Arduino board as control center to read sensor
output value. The system runs with a 9V/1A power supply. The system gets input from existing sensors, and does not require input from user. The entire
system is one system that installed and connected directly to the NFT hydroponic nutrient solution container. The second stage is system design. This stage
is the result of the identification stage of the system needs performed previously. The data obtained is then used as the design of nutritional automation
systems on a prototype-scaled NFT hydroponic to fit between the design of software and hardware. The result of this step is the hardware block diagram
and the flowchart of the software.

In the system design is also done the determination of an equation to convert analog voltage values to PPM units on TDS sensors. The experiment was
carried out by taking 11 solution samples with different amounts of dissolved solids. First, the PPM value of each sample is measured using TDS sensors
and TDS meters. Each sample was measured 5 times to determine the average of the value measured. This repetitive reading is done because the value
displayed by the sensor or TDS meter is fluctuating or changing very quickly. The comparison of the average data measured by sensors and TDS meter is
shown in Table

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DEPARTMENTOFCSE,BKEC
 Block Diagram:

2 X 16 LCD

Pump
motor-1
WiFi
Module
Arduino
UNO R3
Pump
motor-2

TDS sensor

Water level
sensor

DC
Power
supply

Fig: Block Diagram

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DEPARTMENTOFCSE,BKEC
 HARDWARE REQUIRMENTS :

1) Arduino UNO
2) Analog TDS Sensor
3) Ultrasonic Distance Sensor
4) Wi-Fi ESP8266
5) 16 X 2 LCD
6) Power supply

SOFTWARE REQUIREMRNTS :

1) Arduino IDE

ADVANTAGES OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM :

The proposed system is going to play an important role in future of agriculture system and hopefully it would
going to help in boosting the efficiency of growth and production of agriculture industry. Apart from that
some of the important advantages of the proposed system are listed below.
Easy to use
Easy to implement
More accurate results
Increase Fertility
Better Productivity
Focus is on important parameters

APPLICATIONS :

The project has a great application in agriculture sector and can be used in greenhouses, botanical gardens
and agriculture farms. Temperature monitoring and controlling action can be used in home or various halls
like conference room, seminar hall to control the temperature of room. With little modification, this project
can be used in Mechanical companies to measure various parameters of operating machines like temperature
and light.

CONCLUSION:

This research attempts to examine the design and application of the automatic NFT hydroponic at a
prototype-scale using TDS sensors. The research revealed that this system is able to detect the level of
electrical conductivity or solute in nutrient solution using TDS sensor in a PPM unit. This prototype scale
NFT hydroponics system could deliver nutrients automatically so that the nutrient content in the solution is
not less than the minimum limit of 800 ppm. The accuracy of the TDS sensor based on the voltage unit to
PPM conversion formula is 97.8%. The software developed could control the hardware systems according to
the results of the system requirement as identified.The design and application of the nutritional automation
systems on NFT hydroponics could meet all the functional requirements as planned.

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DEPARTMENTOFCSE,BKEC