Benefits of Hydroponics System Using IoT
Benefits of Hydroponics System Using IoT
Centre for Internet of Things(C- IoT) Centre for Internet of Things(C- IoT) Centre for Internet of Things(C- IoT)
PES University PES University PES University
Bengaluru, India Bengaluru, India Bengaluru, India
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Authorized licensed use limited to: PES University Bengaluru. Downloaded on June 28,2024 at 07:13:54 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
IV. METHODOLOGY 8) Soil moisture sensor: A device that passes an electric
current through the soil and observes resistance to measure
A. Hardware the volumetric content of water [2][9].
1) DHT11 sensor: A temperature and humidity sensor 9) ESP32 microcontroller: It is one of the development
as shown in Fig. 1 which measures the temperature and boards of the Esp32 series [13]. The module is shown in
outputs temperature and humidity as the output [1][5]. The Fig. 3 which has built-in Wi-Fi connectivity and the ability
sensor works on a range of 3V to 5V voltage. Light sensors to drive the entire system through power allocation and is
are used to measure ambient light levels [14]. For crops, involved in sending data continuously [10]. Other
light is the primary energy source for photosynthesis. When microcontroller boards such as Raspberry Pi can be used to
using a Light Dependent Resistor (LDR), remember that store data in a cloud. Through IP address, the stored data
resistivity drops as the light intensity rises and vice versa. can be accessed efficiently [15].
The voltage divider circuit is made to detect resistance as a
result of changes in light intensity. With a rise in light
intensity, the voltage level rises. On the board, the analog
reading is taken. It is suitable for use in greenhouses [11]
when artificial lighting is provided by any incandescent
lamp [9].
B. Software
In order to enable functionality and resource
Fig. 1. DHT11 Sensor heterogeneity, the suggested IoT software architecture must
perform satisfactorily. Various software and application
2) pH sensor: A sensor that measures the hydrogen ion designs to perform analysis or to inform updates to users
concentration [1][7] in the water according to equation (1) include the ones listed below:
[11]. Arduino IDE: It is an open-source application that
3) Water level depth sensor: A high-level or drop allows to code programs to ESP32 board and it runs on
recognition sensor that measures the volume of water (in Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux [10]. The ESP32 board
cm3) in order to determine the depth or the water level, with several data pins is easy for connecting various
helps to determine the amount of water still in the storage accessories.
container, and provides accurate reports to prevent empty Thingspeak: A cloud platform that helps in remote
water containers, which will lead to hydroponic plants that monitoring of applications built over IoT and builds MatLab
lack water, [11] and helps to find out how much water is models to perform analysis of the data [4].
still there. Blynk IoT: A mobile application that used control
4) Water pump (5V DC pump): Solenoid 2-valve water applications built over IOT via Internet [1][4]. Provides the
pump which pumps the water into the system when the user with the desired information through a graphical user
depth of water reaches below a specified threshold value [1]. interface or human-machine interface [16].
5) Relay: A electromechanical switch that is used to
control the water pump [1] and controls the movement of C. Block Diagram
the fan which is done through voltage switching [14]. The
relay module is the electrical switch for mains voltage to
turn on or off or let the current go through or not [9] and can
be connected to the ESP32 board as shown in Fig. 2.
Authorized licensed use limited to: PES University Bengaluru. Downloaded on June 28,2024 at 07:13:54 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
D. Approach allowed the same to grow hydroponically. The second set
In the flow chart mentioned above Fig. 4, It is evident included identical plants that were raised in a typical habitat
that a set of sensors are connected to the ESP32 (without utilizing a created system). With the help of
microcontroller through which data and analog pins are characteristics like temperature variation, water use, etc.,
connected. 2 breadboards have been used in this system some interesting graphs were created utilizing the data that
which is powered by the ESP32 board shown in Fig. 3 as was collected in Thingspeak. For roughly a week, the model
positive, and negative terminals, and these breadboards are was left to run on its own. During that time, it was able to
used in turn to power up the sensors. record the plant's daily growth height, and the MatLab
The compiled code will initially be run via uploading it Analysis Tool was used to do the following analysis.
to the ESP32 which is powered by a 12V battery or mains A. Discrete sequence Plots
power source, which also powers on all of the sensors and
causes them to begin reading data from their interfaces and 1) Variation in solution’s pH:
Different nutrient solutions are more effective in certain
loading it into ESP32. The water level depth sensor is used
hydroponics systems. On the other hand, because different
in the first step of the process, reading the amount of water
nutrient solutions break down into ions in ions, they give
in the pipe (in cm3) and sending data back to the ESP32
[10], where the received value is compared with the varied conductivity values. The ability of plants to absorb
threshold value that is given in the code. The motor is set to solutions typically depends on the pH of the solution [1][7].
Plants absorb nutritional solutions through their roots. Acid
be switched ON through the relay if the value is less than
solutions, for instance, encourage the absorption of
the threshold., in which for every 2 seconds, it checks the
hydrogen, the pH value can be found as mentioned in
status of the flag in the code and works accordingly [16], the
equation (1) [11].
same principle applies to the temperature sensor (DHT11),
which measures temperature in Celsius and compares it to a pH = -log[(H3O+)] (1)
predetermined threshold value. If the ambient temperature From point of Analysis, keen observational analysis was
exceeds the threshold, the other relay condition is set to performed on the data that was collected from the
high, and the fan motor is switched on as a result (this Thingspeak cloud which contained 4000 data points taken
comparison is made every two seconds). Using the ESP32's across 2 days. At first, the solution will be acidic because of
built-in Wi-Fi function, it is able to upload data from these the presence of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Sodium (also
sensors to the Thingspeak cloud, where analyses were known as NPK). At first, as the water supply starts water
carried out and graphs were created to collect more tries to neutralize the solution hence the value of pH goes on
information and crucial data that facilitated the plant's rapid increasing because of more water content [6]. After a
growth. Despite the fact that any application can be created Certain Point when the threshold value is reached, supply
with enough technology, connecting to Blynk-IoT was done stops and that’s where a gap can be observed in Fig. 5 in the
in order to send data. Thanks to the Bluetooth functionality graph, later when plants start to absorb the solution and
of the ESP32, any application can be developed with an hence water content goes on decreasing, the presence of
appropriate front-end [9], and for some sensors, users were NPK dominates so pH gradually decreases. And this process
able to remotely control the system's functioning with a goes on as and when water needs to be pumped
stable network connection [6]. Certain notifications were
sent to users' mobile devices.
V. APPLICATIONS
Smart hydroponic systems can be used for many
different things. They can be used for a variety of tasks, like
collecting plants from the earth and cultivating them in
space stations. The well-known ideas of the Internet of
Things can be combined with traditional farming methods to
build smart systems. Organic farming has received a lot of
attention recently. Restaurants grew their meals using
hydroponics in the subway networks of several southeast
Asian nations [17]. Terrace farming, which can be employed Fig. 5. Sequence Plot of pH
on space stations where the grown food can serve as an
astronaut food source because it takes up little space and
guarantees a healthy atmosphere, can be used to use it in a 2) Variation in Water Level
range of constructions [16]. It was one of the base conditions for maintaining a
supply of the nutrient solution. Initially, the threshold was
VI. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS set to 2500 cm3 So whenever the water supply reached the
The complete project Model was created using the threshold value [12], the supply stops by turning the motor
earlier discussed methodology, which used a drip system to off, and when water was being consumed (level goes down),
deliver solutions effectively [7]. For Comparative analysis, the water supply began by turning the motor on, thereby
the experiment was carried out using two sets of plants to maintaining an average threshold [4]. The same can be seen
evaluate the concept [6]. One of the sets contained a few of in Fig. 6 where alternate data points are observed going in
the plants such as tomato, coriander, and lettuce [7], and alternating up and down trends.
Authorized licensed use limited to: PES University Bengaluru. Downloaded on June 28,2024 at 07:13:54 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
C. Two Y-Axes Plot
These plots help identify underlying relationships, and
patterns observed among any 2 given parameters.
1) Temperature against pH:
From the graph Fig. 9, It is evident that, initially,
whenever the temperature (represented in blue color) was
observed to be more, plants consumed more of the solution,
and a bit of evaporation in the solution can be expected, and
hence the value of the solution’s pH (represented in red
color) can be observed to be a bit higher [6], this can be
attributed due to the fact that more of water content was
Fig. 6. Sequence plot of water level (in cm3) consumed leaving NPK behind and resulting in a solution
which is highly acidic nature.
B. Histograms
1) Temperature variation:
The graph Fig. 7 showcases a plot of a histogram
wherein data taken over 72 hours is been depicted on the y-
axis (across 3 days) [12], and the temperature scale is
depicted on the x-axis, It is evident that in the first 10 hours
maximum temperature of 26 degrees was observed and in
the next 10 hours, it has increased to 26.5 degrees on
average and so on [4].
2) pH
Graph Fig. 10 indicates that initially on providing the
solution, water content gradually increases. Hence an
increase in pH is observed as the presence of NPK is
neutralized, later as the solution is consumed by plants, pH
gradually decreases, this can be attributed due to low watery
content and higher nutrient concentration (NPK), hence the
solution is more acidic which indicates less pH value
Fig. 7. Variation in Temperature (C)
observed in Right-hand side of the graph Fig. 10.
2) Variation in Soil moisture:
Graph Fig. 8 showcases a plot of a histogram that
depicts data that was collected for around 83 hours (3+
days). Although soil is not used in the project, the cocopeat
soil was used only to give support for the growth of plants.
Hence when the presence of solution in the tank, interacts
with this soil, soil moisture data was recorded. One can
observe an upward/downward trend which depicts the usage
of the nutrient solution by plants every now and then.
Fig. 10. Variation in pH across two days
Authorized licensed use limited to: PES University Bengaluru. Downloaded on June 28,2024 at 07:13:54 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
Under varied conditions, plants were hydroponically and necessary data into the Thingspeak cloud as well as the
cultivated, and some of the morphological data were Blynk-IoT mobile application [1][3][9][12][16] wherein the
measured and analyzed. the usage of blue light LED-treated user is notified with appropriate messages and also notifies
plants resulted in a greater accumulation of biomass, leaf about the actions that need to be taken [13][14]. For
density, leaf area, and pigment content were the results of example, the below table (TABLE II) shows some
additional LED light [17]. notifications that were obtained while experimenting
according to the scenario of the system. The mobile
interface is shown in Fig. 15.
TABLE II. User Notifications
Condition/status of the system Notification through App
Water level (<2500) Low Plant Water level
Temperature (>25 degrees) Fan turned ON.
the Motor is ON/OFF Motor ON / OFF
The Ph of supply below a set
Supply Improper
threshold
Fig. 12. Growth rate of Coriander (in cm) Fig. 13. Implemented Circuit
TABLE I. Growth rate Comparison of Plants with and without using IoT
Techniques
Plants Height pH Temp Height
With Range Range achieved
non-IoT using IoT
approach approach
In 7 days In 7 days
(in cm) (in cm)
tomato 28.6 4.9-5.6 21- 29
26°C
Fig. 14. Complete Developed Project
lettuce 18.5 5.2-6 21- 18.8
24°C
coriander 26.2 4.9-6.3 25- 26.6
30°C
Authorized licensed use limited to: PES University Bengaluru. Downloaded on June 28,2024 at 07:13:54 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
of farmers with the plant system can be minimized. With the REFERENCES
help of the sensor bulk amount of data can be collected and [1] Kanhekar, Vaibhav, Tejas Deshbhratar, Yogeshwari Matey, Kamlesh
various sorts of analyses can be done to bring out results and Kalbande, and Atul Deshmukh. "Hydroponic Farming using IoT." In
parameters which can improve the conditions and 2022 International Conference on Edge Computing and Applications
(ICECAA), pp. 583-586. IEEE, 2022.
production of the hydroponic system by monitoring the
[2] Joshitha, C., P. Kanakaraja, Kovur Sarath Kumar, Polavarapu
system by knowing the IP address to access the Dashboard Akanksha, and Guduru Satish. "An eye on hydroponics: The IoT
[15]. In the mindset of the growing population, the self- initiative." In 2021 7th International Conference on Electrical Energy
sufficient system can be introduced to create a hydroponics Systems (ICEES), pp. 553-557. IEEE, 2021.
farm system to cover all the waste place in creating a local [3] Pawar, Smita, Shreya Tembe, Rujuta Acharekar, Sahar Khan, and
hydroponic environment which reduces the dependence on Sheetal Yadav. "Design of an IoT-enabled Automated Hydroponics
system using NodeMCU and Blynk." In 2019 IEEE 5th International
other systems. Moving further, Ultra-Violet (UV) based Conference for Convergence in Technology (I2CT), pp. 1-6. IEEE,
LED lights can be used to harness an adequate amount of 2019.
light energy being supplied to plants appropriately [17]. [4] Boonnam, Nathaphon, Jumras Pitakphongmetha, Siriwan
Installation of insecticide solution spray can be included Kajornkasirat, Teerayut Horanont, Deeprom Somkiadcharoen, and
Jiranuwat Prapakornpilai. "Optimal plant growth in smart farm
right above the plants to ensure the quality of yield. One can hydroponics system using the integration of wireless sensor networks
even ensure that more carbon dioxide can be supplied to the into the internet of things." Adv. Sci. Technol. Eng. Syst. J 2, no. 3
plants by passing through various filter membranes, which (2017): 1006-1012
can act as Air-Filter A system of sensors along with working [5] Munandar, Aris, Hanif Fakhrurroja, Irfan FA Anto, Rian Putra
mechanical models can be used farm over the hydroponic Pratama, Joni Winaryo Wibowo, Taufik Ibnu Salim, and Muhammad
Ilham Rizqyawan. "Design and development of an IoT-based smart
system to avoid human interaction. With a large amount of hydroponic system." In 2018 international seminar on the research of
data being gathered Certain concepts of big data [5][8][15] information technology and intelligent systems (ISRITI), pp. 582-586.
can be applied to process these and concepts of Machine IEEE, 2018.
Intelligence can be applied to know the quality, and quantity [6] Palande, Vaibhav, Adam Zaheer, and Kiran George. "Fully automated
hydroponic system for indoor plant growth." Procedia Computer
of yield. In the development of hydroponics, a hybrid Science 129 (2018):482-488.
system of water and soil can be introduced to generate a [7] Bakhtar, Nikita, Varsha Chhabria, Iptisaam Chougle, Harsha
more approachable and economical way. An Aquaponic Vidhrani, and Rupali Hande. "IoT based hydroponic farm." In 2018
system can be implemented International Conference on Smart Systems and Inventive Technology
(ICSSIT), pp. 205-209. IEEE, 2018.
II. CONCLUSION [8] Kularbphettong, Kunyanuth, Udomlux Ampant, and Nutthaphol
Kongrodj. "An automated hydroponics system based on mobile
Hydroponics is trending around the world as a application." International Journal of Information and Education
viable and feasible alternative to various other techniques of Technology 9.8 (2019): 548-552.
growing plants for all the right reasons. The better yield of [9] P. Rajalakshmi and S. Devi Mahalakshmi, "IOT based crop-field
plants is a very attractive feature for farmers around the monitoring and irrigation automation," 2016 10th International
Conference on Intelligent Systems and Control (ISCO), 2016, pp. 1-6,
globe to implement this system. Soilless cultivation of doi: 10.1109/ISCO.2016.7726900.
plants is extremely useful in urban household gardens and [10] Babiuch, Marek, Petr Foltýnek, and Pavel Smutný. "Using the ESP32
other places where land is scarce. Applying IoT principles to microcontroller for data processing." 2019 20th International
hydroponics amplifies the impact of these benefits and Carpathian Control Conference (ICCC). IEEE, 2019.
offers a user-friendly interface for viewing and managing [11] R. Perwiratama, Y. K. Setiadi and Suyoto, "Smart hydroponic
the system with minimal human involvement. Solar energy farming with IoT-based climate and nutrient manipulation system,"
2019 International Conference of Artificial Intelligence and
can be used to power the automated system created in this Information Technology (ICAIIT), 2019, pp. 129-132, doi:
way, allowing one to conserve natural resources and make 10.1109/ICAIIT.2019.8834533.
the system environmentally friendly. In locations where [12] Pitakphongmetha, Jumras, Nathaphon Boonnam, Siriwan Wongkoon,
gardening is not feasible, soilless culture and vertical Teerayut Horanont, Deeprom Somkiadcharoen, and Jiranuwat
hydroponics can be employed to provide proper food and air Prapakornpilai. "Internet of things for planting in smart farm
hydroponics style." In 2016 International Computer Science and
quality. Chlorophyll-enriched plants can be cultivated with Engineering Conference (ICSEC), pp. 1-5. IEEE, 2016.
the help of the right LEDs, which would result in improved [13] Ullah, Ahsan, Sadia Aktar, Nipa Sutar, Rafsan Kabir, and Afzal
growth and higher light absorption for photosynthesis. Hossain. "Cost effective smart hydroponic monitoring and controlling
By constantly monitoring the system, one can have system using IoT." Intelligent Control and Automation 10, no. 04
(2019): 142.
complete control over the nutrients while also using 15%
[14] Kularbphettong, Kunyanuth, Udomlux Ampant, and Nutthaphol
less area to develop. It is possible to use cultivation and drip Kongrodj. "An automated hydroponics system based on mobile
watering. It is possible to use a hydroponic system that application." International Journal of Information and Education
conserves resources and water. The growth rate of the plant Technology 9, no. 8 (2019): 548-552.
increases quickly in comparison to a conventional strategy [15] Ani, Akhil, and Prakash Gopalakirishnan. "Automated Hydroponic
since the roots of plants will always be in contact with Drip Irrigation Using Big Data." 2020 Second International
Conference on Inventive Research in Computing Applications
nutrient solution. The system created is user-friendly and (ICIRCA). IEEE, 2020.
doesn't require any prior system expertise. Hydroponic [16] Wan Azhar, Wan Ahmad Firdaus, et al. "Realtime control and
farming would be beneficial in a difficult environment since monitoring aquaponic system via Blynk." Journal of Electrical and
plants may grow quickly in isolated places like an arid Electronic Systems Research (JEESR) 16 (2020): 73-80..
desert or underwater (oceanic farming). Data is kept on the [17] Namgyel, T., et al. "IoT based hydroponic system with supplementary
LED light for smart home farming of lettuce." 2018 15th International
cloud, so analysis can be done there. Conference on Electrical Engineering/Electronics, Computer,
Telecommunications and Information Technology (ECTI-CON).
IEEE, 2018.
Authorized licensed use limited to: PES University Bengaluru. Downloaded on June 28,2024 at 07:13:54 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
Benefits of Hydroponics System using IoT
1st Shubham S 2nd Shuchith B U 3rd Siddarth M P
Centre for Internet of Things(C- IoT) Centre for Internet of Things(C- IoT) Centre for Internet of Things(C- IoT)
PES University PES University PES University
Bengaluru, India Bengaluru, India Bengaluru, India
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
4th Siddarth M 5th Revathi G P 6th Prasad B Honnavalli
Centre for Internet of Things(C- IoT) Centre for Internet of Things(C- IoT) Centre for Internet of Things(C- IoT)
PES University PES University PES University
Bengaluru, India Bengaluru, India Bengaluru, India
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Authorized licensed use limited to: PES University Bengaluru. Downloaded on June 28,2024 at 07:13:54 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.