Project Rep Final

VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
“JNANA SANGAMA”, BELAGAVI – 590 018
A Project Report On
AUTOMATIC HYDROPONIC PLANT GROW POT
[18TEP83]
th
Submitted in partial fulfilment of 8 semester of
BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
IN
TELECOMMUNICATION ENGINEERING
Submitted By:
DIWAKAR SINHA (1MV18TE011)
MAYANK RAJ (1MV18TE022)
NIKHIL KUMAR MISHRA (1MV18TE024)
Under the Guidance of:

Mr. FAIZ MOHAMMAD KAROBARI
Assistant Professor, Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering.
SIR M. VISVESVARAYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATION
ENGINEERING
Academic Year 2021 – 2022
SIR M. VISVESVARAYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Krishnadevarayanagar, Hunasamaranahalli, Bengaluru – 562 157.
(Affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi)
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATION
ENGINEERING
Year 2021-2022
CERTIFICATE
Certified that the project work “AUTOMATIC HYDROPONIC PLANT GROW POT” is a
bonafied work carried out by DIWAKAR SINHA (1MV18TE011), MAYANK RAJ (1MV18TE022),
NIKHIL KUMAR MISHRA (1MV18TE024), students of SIR M. VISVESVARAYA INSTITUTE
OF TECHNOLOGY in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Bachelor
of Engineering in Telecommunication Engineering of Visvesvaraya Technological University,
Belagavi for the academic year 2021-2021. It is certified that all corrections and suggestions indicated
for internal assessment have been incorporated in the report deposited in the departmental library.
The project report has been approved as it satisfies the academic requirements in respect of
project work prescribed for the course of Bachelor of Engineering.
Mr. Faiz Mohammad Karobari Dr. E. Kavitha Dr. V.R Manjunath

Asst. Prof., Dept. of ETE, Prof. &Head, Dept. of ETE, Principal,
Sir MVIT, Bengaluru. Sir MVIT, Bengaluru. Sir MVIT, Bengaluru.
Name of the Examiner Signature with Date
1……………………. 1……………………
2……………………. 2……………………
i
DECLARATION
We hereby declare that the entire project work embodied in this dissertation has been carried out
by us and no part has been submitted for any degree or diploma of any institution previously.
Place: Bengaluru
Date:
DIWAKAR SINHA
(1MV18TE011)
MAYANK RAJ
(1MV18TE022)
NIKHIL KUMAR MISHRA

(1MV18TE024)
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The satisfaction and euphoria that accompany the completion of any task would be incomplete
without the mention of the people who made it possible, whose constant guidance and encouragement
ground my efforts with success.
We consider it is a privilege to express our gratitude and respect to all those who guided us in
completion of the project.
We express our deep sense of gratitude to our principal Dr. V. R. Manjunath who provided us
with an opportunity to fulfil our desired goal.
We whole-heartedly express our sincere thanks to our beloved Head of the Department,
Dr. E. Kavitha.
We are thankful to our internal guide Mr. Faiz Mohammad Karobari, Assistant Professor,
Department Telecommunication for his support, continuous guidance and valuable inputs throughout the
duration of our project.
We also extend our gratitude to our parents, staff of TCE and our friends for their moral support
and their encouragement, which motivated us towards successful completion of the project work.
DIWAKAR SINHA (1MV18TE011)

MAYANK RAJ (1MV18TE022)
NIKHIL KUMAR MISHRA (1MV18TE024)
iii
ABSTRACT
There is a method used for growing plants called hydroponics. In this method the crops are
grown on water, rich in essential nutrients. This method provides a solution to the problem in watering
the plants. Plants found in houses, workplaces and other public places will have persons to water the
plants manually. An automation system with moisture sensors provided near the plant pot is used to
detect whether the soil of the plant pot is wet or dry. The LCD notification board displays soil moisture
level on the screen. The Pump motor is used to pump water to the plant-based on the display in LCD
screen. Therefore, this proposed design will automatically monitor and control plants’ watering.
We here develop an indoor plant grow pot with integrated plant grow light to imitate sunlight,
water chamber with sensors to automatically feed water with nutrients to plant for indoor growing.
iv
Table of Contents
CERTIFICATE………………………………………………………………….……………… i
DECLARATION………………………………………………………………………………. ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……………….……………………………………………………. iii
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………. iv
1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………………………...1
2. LITERATURE SURVEY………………………………………………………………………...2
3. SYSTEM ANALYSIS………………………………………………………………....................5
3.1 Types of Hydroponics....................................................................................................................…………5
3.2 Selection of Crop..............................................................................................................................………. 8
3.3 Nutrients Required for Plants ......................................................................................................………..11
4. IMPLEMENTATION……………………………………………………………...…………….14
4.1 Proposed Idea.....................................................................................................................................……….14
4.2 Methodology......................................................................................................................................……....14
4.3 Hardware Requirements..................................................................................................................……...16
4.4 Software Requirements....................................................................................................................……...17
5. HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE DESCRIPTION.…………………………………………...18
6. EXPECTED RESULT…………………………………………………………….…………....25
7. CHALLENGES IN AUTOMATING HYDROPONIC SYSTEM…………………….…….….27
8. ADVANTAGES, LIMITATIONS AND APPLICATIONS………………………...……….…28
9. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE…………………………………………………….…29

10. REFRENCES…………………………………………………………………………….…….30
List of figures
Fig. no. Figure Name Page no.

3.1 Components of Hydroponic System 5
3.2 A Hydroponic System 6
3.3 Nutrient Film Technique 7
4.1 Block Diagram of the Proposed System 15
4.2 Flowchart of the System 16
5.1 Arduino UNO 18
5.2 Water Level Sensor 19
5.3 Soil Moisture Sensor 20
5.4 Mini Submersible Pump 20
5.5 Breadboard 21
5.6 Grow Light 21
5.7 Relay 22
5.8 LCD Display 23
5.9 Arduino IDE 24
6.1 Picture of the Prototype 26
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Conventional agricultural practices can cause a wide range of negative impacts on the
environment. “Conventional agriculture” has been historically defined as the practice of growing
crops in soil with proper irrigation technique is used. Some of the negative impacts of
conventional agriculture include the high and inefficient use of water, large land requirements,
high concentrations of nutrients and pesticides in runoff and soil degradation accompanied by
erosion. However, approximately 38.6% of the ice-free land and 70% of withdrawn freshwater is
already devoted to agriculture. Conventional agricultural systems use large quantity of irrigation
fresh water and fertilizers with relatively marginal returns.
Soil-based agriculture is facing some major challenges with the advent of civilization all
over the world such as decrease per capita land availability due to rapid urbanization and
industrialization. The uncertainties in rainfall pattern have lead to challenges in the conventional
irrigation techniques. In order to meet food demand and cater the needs of sufficient water for
irrigation, new technologies are to be adopted. Many alternative methods are available nowadays
which would make it easier for society to grow crops either for personal needs or for economic
purposes.
Hydroponics, aeroponics and aquaponics are modern agriculture systems that utilize
nutrient-rich water rather than soil for plant nourishment. Because it does not require fertile land
to be effective, those new modern agriculture systems require less water and space compared
with the conventional agricultural systems, one more advantage of those technologies is the
ability to practice the vertical farming production which increase the yield of the area unit. The
benefits of the new modern agriculture systems are numerous. In addition to higher yields and
water efficiency, when practiced in a controlled environment, those new modern systems can be
designed to support continuous production throughout the year.
DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 1

CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE SURVEY
[1] Mamta D Sardare et al., (2013), has conducted research on “A Review on Plant without
Soil – Hydroponics”. In 1960 with 3 billion population over the World, per capita land was 0.5
ha but presently, with 6 billion people it is only 0.25 ha and by 2050, it will reach at 0.16 ha. Due
to rapid urbanization and industrialization as well as melting of icebergs (as an obvious impact of
global warming), arable land under cultivation is further going to decrease. Again, soil fertility
status has attained a saturation level and productivity is not increasing further with increased
level of fertilizer application. Besides, poor soil fertility in some of the cultivable areas, less
chance of natural soil fertility build-up by microbes due to continuous cultivation, frequent
drought conditions and unpredictability of climate and weather patterns, rise in temperature, river
pollution, poor water management and wastage of huge amount of water, decline in ground water
level, etc. are threatening food production under conventional soil-based agriculture. Under such
circumstances, in near future it will become impossible to feed the entire population using open
field system of agricultural production only. Naturally, soil-less culture is becoming more
relevant in the present scenario, to cope-up with these challenges. The author concluded that
country like India, where urban concrete conglomerate is growing each day; there is no option
but adopting soil-less culture to help improve the yield and quality of the produce so that we can
ensure food security of our country. However, Government intervention and Research Institute
interest can propel the use of the present technology.
[2] Guilherme Lages Barbosa et al., (2015), has conducted a research on “Comparison of Land,
Water and Energy Requirements of Lettuce Grown Using Hydroponic vs. Conventional
Agricultural Methods”. The land, water and energy requirements for hydroponics were compared
with the conventional agriculture and crop production considered was lettuce in Yuma, Arizona
and USA. In this research the data considered were crop budgets, agricultural statistics given by
government and compared with theoretical data obtained by experimental hydroponic system by
generating engineering equations populated with literature values. Yields of lettuce per
greenhouse unit (815 m2) of 41 ± 6.1 kg/m2/y, water and energy demands of 20 ± 3.8 L/kg/y and

90,000 ± 11,000 kJ/kg/y (±standard deviation) respectively. In comparison, conventional

production yielded 3.9 ± 0.21 kg/m2/y of produce, with water and energy demands of 250 ± 25
L/kg/y and 1100 ± 75 kJ/kg/y, respectively. Hydroponics offered 11 ± 1.7 times higher yields but
required 82 ± 11 times more energy compared to conventionally produced lettuce. In the present
paper author concluded that hydroponic gardening of lettuce uses land and water more efficiently
than conventional farming and could become a strategy for sustainably feeding the world‟s
growing population, if the high energy consumption can be overcome through improved
efficiency and/or cost-effective renewable.
[3] G Pilatakis et al., (2013), has conducted a research on “The use of primary and secondary
treated municipal wastewater for cucumber irrigation in hydroponic system”. Municipal
wastewater may be used in agriculture but requires a careful monitoring of several hygiene
parameters. The impact of direct application of treated wastewater in plant growth and
development in hydroponically grown cucumber was studied. Cucumber seedlings used under 5
treatments of nutrient solution, which were basic nutrient solution (control), primary (PA) and
secondary (SA) wastewater with or without nutrient solution enrichment (NS). The author
concluded that use of PA+NS reduced plant height, leaf number and flowers produced as well as
leaf size in cucumber plants but increased stem diameter. When SA+NS used, no similar changes
observed. The increased fruit number and fresh weight, when PA and SA used, resulted in
increased yields as marked at the first week. The NS enrichment in PA reduced (up to 25%) plant
yield while no differences observed in total fruit number among the treatments. No differences
observed in plant biomass, root length and leaf chlorophyll levels among the treatments. The leaf
photosynthetic rate and stomata conductance increased in plant grown in PA+NS and SA, but
they did not differ in SA+NS. The use of wastewater resulted in disease spread in roots and fruits
(by cross-contamination). Further exploitation is necessary for microbial load reduction with
wastewater application.
[4] Arjina Shrestha et al., (2015), has conducted research on “Hydroponics” that
“HYDROPONICS” is the growing of plants in a liquid nutrient solution with or without the use
of artificial media. Commonly used mediums include expanded clay, coir, perlite, vermiculite,
brick shards, polystyrene packing peanuts and wood fiber. It has been recognized as a viable

method of producing vegetables (tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and peppers) as well as

ornamental crops such as herbs, roses, freesia and foliage plants. Due to the ban on methyl
bromide in soil culture, the demand for hydroponically grown produce has rapidly increased in
the last few years. In the present paper author explained about that commercial hydroponic
grower need a more accurate control of the components in a nutrient solution to achieve
commercial success. The macro-elements like Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium,
Magnesium and Sulphur having concentration range about 100-200, 30-15, 100-200, 200-300,
30-80 and 70-150 respectively and micro-elements like Boron, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Zinc
and chlorine having a concentration range about 0.03, 0.01-0.10, 2-12, 0.5-2, 0.05 and 0.05- 0.5,
respectively should be found in the nutrient solution. Author suggested that it can be used in
underdeveloped countries for food production in limited space and it is even feasible to grow
hydroponically in areas of poor soil conditions such as deserts. The desert sand serves as a good
growing medium and seawater can be used to mix nutrient solution once the salts have been
removed. The popularity of hydroponics has increased dramatically in a short period of time
leading to an increase in experimentation and research in the area of indoor and outdoor
hydroponic gardening.
[5] Dian Siswanto et al., (2017), has conducted research on “Design and Construction of a
Vertical Hydroponic System with Semi-Continuous and Continuous Nutrient Cycling”. The
hydroponic system was used adapts the ebb and flow system and the nutrient film technique
(NFT). It was constructed from four polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes with a length of 197 cm, a
diameter of 16 cm and a slope of 4°. The author concluded that in semi-continuous irrigation
treatment, nutrients flow, four to six times for each of ten minutes depending on plant
development and the estimated evapo-transpiration occurring, while in a continuous nutrient
system the nutrients are streamed for twenty-four hours without stopping at a maximum flow rate
of 13.7 L per second.

CHAPTER 3
SYSTEM ANALYSIS
The soil is a valuable component of agriculture, it provides support for the plants, it also
provides nutrient to the plants and the soil provide a home to some of the microbial organism
that forms a symbiosis relationship with the plants. However, all these ingredients can be
provided with hydroponics. Hydroponics is the process of growing plants without soil. Evidence
of hydroponics was found in the Egyptian wall painting. There are many benefits to hydroponics
it does not require soil, it is faster than traditional farming, it requires less space and can be
grown in any location, it is unaffected by seasonal change, little or no pesticides and herbicides
are needed Plants get complete range of nutrients they need at the quantity they need it, 7) Plants
are protected against diseases and pests, It can be used to isolate crops during experiments.
Fig 3.1 Components of Hydroponic System

3.1 Types of Hydroponics
Figure 3.2 shows a basic hydroponic system – all hydroponic systems can be developed
by modifying it. Hydroponic techniques are divided into seven types, Wick, Deep Water Culture
(DWC), Ebb and Flow (Flood and Drain), Drip (recovery or non-recovery), Nutrient Film
Technique (NFT), Aeroponics and Fogponics.
Fig 3.2 A Hydroponic System

3.1.1 Wick Hydroponic
As the name implies, the wick type hydroponics system feeds the plants with the nutrient
solution via a wick. The most widely used wicks are Pro-Mix, Vermiculite, Perlite and Coconut
Fiber. The system is easy to maintain because it is a passive system without any moving parts not
even an air pump since the plants’ roots are not submerged in the nutrient solution. However, its
biggest weakness is that the wick can only deliver a small quantity of water to the plants at a
time. Hence, bigger plants may be starved.
3.1.2 Deep Water Culture Hydroponics
DWC is also known as water culture hydroponics. In this system, the growth medium is
made up of Styrofoam, which floats directly on the nutrient solution. Oxygen delivery is the
difficult part of this system. Since the plants’ roots are completely submerged in the nutrients a

system of air pump and air stone provides them with oxygen. DWC is commonly used in plants
the need a large quantity of water to grow, such as lettuce.
3.1.3 EBB and Flow (Flood and Drain) Hydroponics

In this system, a submersible pump is installed in the nutrient solution where it pumps the
solution up and into the growth tray to flood it. A system is installed such that it allows the
solution to ebb back into the reservoir. The pump is controlled with a timer such that it turns on
the pump to fill the growth tray and then turn it off so that the solution flows back slowly into the
reservoir. This flood-ebb cycle allows the root to get a solution (during the flood cycle) as well
as oxygen (during the ebb cycle). However, plants’ root are susceptible to diseases. Since the
plants’ life entirely depend on the flood-ebb cycle, then by extension it means they depend on the
timer, the pump and the drain system, which significantly reduces the reliability of the system.
3.1.4 Drip Hydroponic
Here the system uses drip to feed the plants with the nutrients from the reservoir. Excess
nutrients are either fed-back into the reservoir or it is allowed to drain away or evaporate. The
earlier is known as recovery drain hydroponics while the latter is called a non-recovery drain
hydroponic system. The advantage of this system is that it can be tailored to any type of plant
since the flow rate of the nutrient can be adjusted. However, it is difficult to maintain because of
the pH shift in the recovery type.
3.1.5 Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)

NFT pumps nutrient solution to a tilted growth tray. The nutrient flow to the other end of
the tray where it is drained back to the reservoir. The system requires no growth medium and
timer. Furthermore, the air pump is not needed since the growth medium of the system is air.
Unfortunately, the plants are prone to wilting when the flow of nutrient flow stops because the
roots dry relatively fast.

Fig 3.3 Nutrient Film Technique
3.1.6 Aeroponics
This system gets rid of the barrier between the growth tray and the reservoir. The roots
are left dangling in the reservoir above the solution. A mist of the solution is sprayed to the roots
at regular intervals. Aeration is the primary advantage of this system. Also, a smaller amount of
nutrient is consumed compared to other systems. However, the system needs a shorter time
interval for the nutrient cycle. This is tantamount to more energy consumption. Moreover, the
plants’ root would quickly dry should the pump or timer fails.
3.1.7 Fogponics
A more advanced variant of aeroponics is Fogponics. Here too, the growth medium is air.
However, fog emitter (also known as fogger) is used to produce smaller droplets (ranging 5 − 30
µm) than in aeroponics. The fog produced delivers water and nutrients to the plants’ root.
Fogponics is better than aeroponics because; smaller (fog) droplets encourage more nutrient
absorption, the fog can also reach more parts of the plants’ root compared to spray droplets and
the lack of flowing nutrient solution allows for easier crop monitoring.

3.2 Selection of Crop

3.2.1 Types of Root System
The root system is the descending (growing downwards) portion of the plant axis. When
a seed germinates, radicle is the first organ to come out. It elongates to form primary or the tap
root. It gives off lateral branches (secondary and tertiary roots) and thus forms the root system.
It branches through large and deep areas in the soil and anchors the plant very firmly. It also
plays another vital role of absorbing water and mineral salts from the soil and transporting them
upwards. Root systems are mainly of two types: Tap root and Fibrous root.
A. Tap root system: It is the root system that develops from the radicle and continues as the
primary root (tap root) which gives off lateral roots. They provide very strong anchorage as
they are able to reach very deep into the soil. It is the main root system of dicots e.g. gram,
china rose and neem.
B. Fibrous root system: In this root system, the primary root is short lived. A cluster of slender,
fiber-like roots arises from the base of the radicle and plumule which constitute the fibrous
root system. They do not branch profusely, are shallow and spread horizontally, hence cannot
provide strong anchorage. Fibrous root system is the main root system of monocots, e.g.
maize, grasses and wheat.
3.2.2 Selection of Growing Media
One of the most important decisions a hydroponic farmer has to make is the type of medium
to be used. Different media are appropriate for different growing techniques.
 Diahydro: Diahydro is a natural sedimentary rock medium that consists of the fossilized
remains of diatoms. Diahydro is extremely high in Silica (87-94%), an essential
component for the growth of plants and strengthening of cell walls.
 Expanded clay: It is made by baking the clay pellets and known under the trade name of
'Hydroton' or LECA (light expanded clay aggregate). Hydroton or expanded clay pellets
are suitable for hydroponic systems in which all nutrients are carefully controlled in
water solution. The clay pellets are inert, pH neutral and do not contain any nutrient
value. The clay is formed into round pellets and fired at high temperature (1200°C) in

rotary klins. This makes the clay to pop-up and become porous. The main advantage of
hydroton is it is light in weight and does not compact over time. This is an ecologically
sustainable and reusable growing medium because of its ability to be cleaned and
sterilized by washing in solutions of white vinegar, chlorine bleach or hydrogen peroxide
and rinsing completely. But there is an opinion that clay pebbles are best not re-used even
when they are cleaned due to root growth which may enter the medium. Breaking open a
clay pebble after a crop has been grown will reveal this growth.
 Rock wool: Rock wool, also called mineral wool is the most widely used media in
hydroponics. It is an inert substrate for both free drainage and re-circulating systems. It is
produced by aerosolization of molten mineral compounds which results in a fibrous
medium accessible to capillary action that is not degraded by microbiological activity.
 Coir: Coco peat, also known as coir or coco, is the leftover material after the fibres have
been removed from the outermost shell of the coconut. Coir is a 100% natural growing
medium.
 Perlite: Perlite is made from volcanic rock after being superheated into very lightweight
expanded glass pebbles. It is used either loose or in plastic sleeves immersed in water. It
is also used in potting soil mixes to decrease soil density and facilitates drainage. Perlite
generally holds more air and less water. If not contained, it can float if flood and drain
feeding is used. It is a fusion of granite, obsidian, pumice and basalt. This volcanic rock
is naturally fused at high temperatures undergoing what is called "Fusionic
Metamorphosis".
 Vermiculite: Like perlite, vermiculite is another mineral that has been superheated until
it has expanded into light pebbles. Vermiculite holds more water than perlite and has a
natural "wicking" property that can draw water and nutrients in a passive hydroponic
system. If too much water and not enough air surround the plant roots, it is possible to

gradually lower the medium's water retention capability by mixing in increasing

quantities of perlite.
 Sand: Sand is the cheapest and easily available medium. However, the main
disadvantages of using sand are that it is heavy, it does not always drain well, and it must
be sterilized between use.
 Gravel/Quartz: Quartz or gravel of size <2mm can be used as a medium after washing it
with dilute acid and properly rinsing with water. Indeed, plants growing in a typical
traditional gravel filter bed, with water circulated using electric power head pumps, are in
effect being grown using gravel hydroponics. Although it is heavy but it has advantages
such as it is inexpensive, easy to keep clean, drains well and won't become waterlogged.
 Brick shards: Brick shards have similar properties as that of gravel. But they have the
added disadvantages of possibly altering the pH and require extra cleaning before re-use.
The clay pebbles has the property of maintaining pH and also have water holding capacity
hence, in this research clay pebbles are used in NTF system as growing media. The algae growth
was observed on 33 days hence, baby jelly was used to cutoff the sunlight contact with root
system of plant. But this affected the NFT performance which resulted in abortion of 3 plants.
3.3 Nutrients Required for Plants

3.3.1 Macronutrients
· Nitrogen: Nitrogen is central to plant growth. It is a major component of amino acids which
are the building blocks of all proteins including enzymes, which control metabolic processes.
Nitrogen is present in chlorophyll, the green pigment required for photosynthesis. It is also
responsible for the plant‟s overall growth, increasing seed and fruit production and leaf quality.
Calcium nitrate and potassium nitrate are major fertilizers used in most hydroponics mixes.
Ammonium nitrate and Ammonium sulphate are also used in small amounts to supply the
ammonium form of nitrogen.

· Phosphorus: Phosphorus is used in photosynthesis and in the production of flowers and seeds.
It also encourages root growth. Plants deficient in phosphorus can develop sparse dark green
leaves with brown or purple discoloration of the lower leaf surface. The most common fertilizers
used to supply phosphorus in hydroponics mixes are mono-ammonium phosphate and potassium
dihydrogen phosphate.
· Potassium: Potassium is necessary during all stages of plant development, particularly during
fruit development. It is absorbed by plants in larger amounts than any other nutrient except for
nitrogen and in some cases calcium. It is involved in the production of chlorophyll, sugars, and
starches and regulates stomatal opening in the leaves. The main fertilizers used to supply
potassium in hydroponics mixes are potassium nitrate and potassium dihydrogen phosphate.
Potassium sulphate and potassium chloride can be used to supply small amounts.
· Calcium: Calcium is used for the manufacture and growth of plant cells. It controls the
transport and retention of other elements as well as overall plant strength. The main source of
calcium in hydroponics mixes is calcium nitrate. Calcium chloride can be used in small amounts.
· Oxygen: Oxygen is required for plant respiration and for water and nutrient uptake. Plant roots
grown in water quickly exhaust dissolved oxygen and need additional air which can be supplied
by aerating the nutrient solution.
· Magnesium: Magnesium is essential for photosynthesis as it is central to the chlorophyll
molecule structure. It also helps activate many enzymes required for plant growth. Magnesium is
supplied in the hydroponics nutrient solution as magnesium sulphate or magnesium nitrate.
· Sulphur: Sulphur is essential for protein production. It promotes enzyme activation and is a
component of some vitamins, improving root growth and seed production. In hydroponics mixes
sulphur is supplied as magnesium sulphate and is often also supplied as part of many
micronutrients.
3.3.2 Micronutrients
While micronutrients are only needed in very small amounts, they are vital to healthy plant
growth as they are either involved in photosynthesis or important components of many enzyme
processes.
· Iron: Iron is important in both photosynthesis and respiration. It is needed for the plants to
make sugars and starches. Iron also has an important role in the activity of many of the

enzymes in a plant. Iron is supplied in the nutrient solution most commonly as iron chelate
EDTA. There are other types of iron chelates, such as iron EDDHA and iron DTPA which can
be used. Iron can also be supplied as iron sulphate.
· Chlorine: Chlorine is essential for photosynthesis. It activates the enzymes which release
oxygen from water. Chlorine is supplied in the nutrient solution, if necessary, with calcium
chloride, potassium chloride or manganese chloride.
· Manganese: Manganese is used in chlorophyll and is needed to make enzymes work. It is also
used by plants to take up nitrogen. Manganese is supplied in the nutrient solution as with
manganese sulphate or manganese chelate. Manganese chloride can also be used.
· Boron: Boron is important in flowers and pollen development. Boron is usually supplied in the
nutrient solution as sodium borate (borax) or boric acid.
· Zinc: Zinc is used by the plant to access stored energy. It is also part of enzymes and plant
hormones. Zinc is supplied in the nutrient solution as zinc sulphate or zinc chelate.
· Copper: Copper is used in a range of plant processes and is a component of enzymes. Copper
is supplied in the nutrient solution as either copper sulphate or copper chelate.
· Molybdenum: Molybdenum is used by the plant to process nitrogen. Molybdenum is supplied
in the nutrient solution as either sodium molybdate or ammonium molybdate.

CHAPTER 4
IMPLEMENTATION
4.1 Proposed Idea
There are two functional components in this paper. They are moisture sensor and motor
pump. Arduino board is programmed using the Arduino IDE software. Humidity sensor is used
to detect the soil moisture content. Motor / pump is used to supply water to plants. Soil moisture
and temperature predetermined range is set particularly for specific plants requirement, and
according to that system is being operated. Microcontroller (ATmega328) is the brain of the
system. Both humidity and temperature sensor is connected to the controller's input pin. Pump
and servo motor coupled to the output pin. In case of soil moisture value is less than threshold
system automatically triggers water pump on till sensor meets threshold and then sets off
automatically. The overall activity is reported to the user using mobile application.
4.1.1 Detecting Moisture Content
This will be achieved by soil moisture sensor. They are connected to an Arduino
microcontroller board. Arduino board is programmed using the IDE software. Humidity sensor
senses to indicate that the plant needs watering humidity levels in the soil and sends the signal to
the Arduino.
4.1.2 Automatic Watering to the plant
On receiving logic high signal, Arduino will notify the user by turning on the first buzzer. In
this work we have used an Arduino microcontroller in combination with relay control switch to
control the motor and overall functioning. Motor may be driven by external 9V battery with
interfacing to microcontroller.
4.2 Methodology
· Build System Relay We create connections to the solid-state relays, Arduino, and small
fountain pump system, Arduino allows the pump open or close automatically. A striped cut

through the inner tube of the pump segment insulated wire, only half. Install the new cut wire,
there are two output relays at both ends. We put on the bare electrical tape. Finally, the ground
relay is connected to the Arduino ground and relay input to the Arduino digital pins.
· Build up System Reservoir Submerged pump supplies a desired amount of water needed by
the plant in order to work properly. Automate this process, we use a float valve, which you
need to open whenever needed, close the connection when the water level rises and water
hoses. Drilling is high enough to ensure that the float valve chamber, sufficient to
accommodate the width of the tank float.
· Build System tubing and connect Connection to plastic lob feed pumps and drilling small holes
through which water droplets. All of the trunk circuit.
 Code Automated plant watering system is programmed using Arduino IDE software. Arduino
microcontroller checks soil moisture level, if low, triggering a water pump on until sensor
reaches threshold. After this, the system will re-check the soil moisture between periodic
intervals to see if you need more water. If the water in the initial inspection, no water or
comment, the system waits 24 hours, and repedat the process.
Fig 4.1 Block Diagram of the Proposed System

Fig 4.2 Flowchart of the system
4.3 Hardware Requirements

· Arduino Uno
· Water Level Sensor
· Soil Moisture Sensor
· Mini Submersible pump
· Breadboard
· Grow light
· Relay
· LCD Display
4.4 Software Requirements

· Arduino IDE

CHAPTER 5
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE DESCRIPTION
5.1 Arduino UNO

The Arduino uno is a microcontroller which is based on the ATmega328 datasheet. It has
14 digital inputs /output pins. It is an open-source microcontroller which is used to control relay,
simply connect to a computer with a USB cable or power it with a AC-to-DC adapter or battery
to get started. It is large assortment of included libraries for interfacing to wide range of
hardware. The Uno differs from all preceding boards in that it does not use the FTDI USB-to-
serial driver chip.
Fig 5.1 Arduino UNO
5.2 Water Level Sensor
The water sensor or water level sensor is used to detect water leakage, rainfall, tank
overflow, or to measure the water level.
The water level sensor has 3 pins:

· S (Signal) pin is an analog output that will be connected to one of the analog inputs on your
Arduino.
 + (VCC) pin supplies power for the sensor. It is recommended to power the sensor with
between 3.3V – 5V.
· - (GND) pin is a ground connection.
Simply, the more water the sensor is immersed in, the higher the output voltage in the
signal pin is.
Fig 5.2 Water Level Sensor
5.3 Soil Moisture Sensor
Soil moisture sensor measures the soil water content. Soil moisture probe consists of a
plurality of soil moisture sensors. Soil moisture sensor technology commonly used are:
•Frequency domain sensor, such as a capacitive sensor.
• Neutron moisture meter, characteristic of the use of water in the neutron moderator.
• Soil resistivity. In this project, we will use the soil moisture sensors which can be inserted into
soil to measure the soil moisture content.

Fig 5.3 Soil Moisture Sensor

5.4 Mini Submersible Pump
Water is used to perform a specific task of artificially pumping. It can be controlled by an

electronic microcontroller. It can be on 1 triggered by sending the signal and turned off as
needed. Artificial process is called Water Pumping Station. There are many varieties of pumps.
This project uses a small pump connected to the H-bridge
Fig 5.4 Mini Submersible Pump
5.5 Breadboard
Breadboards are temporary work boards for electronic circuits. The general shape of a
breadboard is shown in Fig. 6.3. Compatible with most breadboards, 24-gauge wire is used to
connect circuits; solid wire, not stranded. Sometimes, kits may be available with various colours
of fixed lengths to specifically fit breadboards. These are a nice convenience.

Fig 5.5 Breadboard

5.6 Grow Light
A grow light is an electric light to help plants grow. Grow lights either attempt to provide
a light spectrum similar to that of the sun, or to provide a spectrum that is more tailored to the
needs of the plants being cultivated. Outdoor conditions are mimicked with varying colour
temperatures and spectral outputs from the grow light, as well as varying the intensity of the
lamps. Depending on the type of plant being cultivated, the stage of cultivation, and the
photoperiod required by the plants, specific ranges of spectrum, luminous efficacy and colour
temperature are desirable for use with specific plants and time periods.
Fig 5.6 Grow Light
5.7 Relay
A relay is an electrically operated switch that can be turned on or off, letting the current
go through or not, and can be controlled with low voltages, like the 5V provided by the Arduino
pins.
The connections between the relay module and the Arduino are simple:
 GND: goes to ground
 IN1: controls the first relay (it will be connected to an Arduino digital pin)
 IN2: controls the second relay (it should be connected to an Arduino digital pin if you are
using this second relay. Otherwise, you don’t need to connect it)
 VCC: goes to 5V

Fig 5.7 Relay
5.8 LCD Display
An LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen is an electronic display module and has a wide
range of applications. A 16x2 LCD display is very basic module and is very commonly used in
various devices and circuits. A 16x2 LCD means it can display 16 characters per line and there
are 2 such lines. In this LCD each character is displayed in 5x7 pixel matrix. The 16 x 2
intelligent alphanumeric dot matrix display is capable of displaying 224 different characters and
symbols. This LCD has two registers, namely, Command and Data.
Command registers stores various commands given to the display. Data register stores data to be
displayed. The process of controlling the display involves putting the data that form the image of
what you want to display into the data registers, then putting instructions in the instruction
register. In your Arduino project Liquid Crystal Library simplifies this for you so you don't need
to know the low-level instructions. Contrast of the display can be adjusted by adjusting the
potentiometer to be connected across VEE pin.
Fig 5.8 LCD Display

5.9 Arduino IDE
The Arduino Integrated Development Environment - or Arduino Software (IDE) -

contains a text editor for writing code, a message area, a text console, a toolbar with buttons for
common functions and a series of menus. It connects to the Arduino hardware to upload
programs and communicate with them.
Programs written using Arduino Software (IDE) are called sketches. These sketches are
written in the text editor and are saved with the file extension .ino. The editor has features for
cutting/pasting and for searching/replacing text. The message area gives feedback while saving
and exporting and also displays errors. The console displays text output by the Arduino Software
(IDE), including complete error messages and other information. The bottom righthand corner of
the window displays the configured board and serial port. The toolbar buttons allow you to verify
and upload programs, create, open, and save sketches, and open the serial monitor.
Fig 5.9 Arduino IDE

CHAPTER 6
RESULTS AND FUTURE SCOPE

As for the result, the coding in Arduino IDE works well as it is intended to be when
tested with and without the housing. The fabrication of the housing and some finalised touch-ups
of the electronics components are successfully done 24 with little to no error. Figure 16 below
shows the product being run and performing its function—watering the plant autonomously
based on the soil moisture level.
The product can be powered via USB cable or via 9V battery. As shown above, the
product is run and tested and basically all of its functions work well as expected. So basically,
the system waters the plant from the readings of the soil moisture level from the sensor stick in
the pot.
As shown above in Figure 17, the breadboard is basically the central circuitry for all the
components. It connects all the main components used in this project—LCD screen, rotary
switch, relay switch, the soil moisture sensor. Fundamentally, the whole system works in such a
way that the Arduino board receives readings of soil moisture level from the sensor in the pot
and at a certain threshold value, the Arduino board sends signal to the relay switch to close its
circuit and thus powering the vertical water pump to water the plant via the tube. The special
feature added to the system is the LCD screen where it displays the live soil moisture level read
by the sensor in the pot. Both the coding of the watering system and of LCD screen display make
up half of the lines of codes each.
As per designed, the housing houses the water tank as well in the back of it. A vertical
water pump is used in this project to pump the water to the pot via a tube from the water tank, or
rather the water container. As mentioned, the whole pump system is connected via the relay
switch and an external power source in incorporating it to the Arduino system.
And finally, as shown in Figure 20, the watering of the plant by the system autonomously
when the sensor reads the threshold value and accordingly sends the signal to the Arduino board
to start pumping the water via the relay switch as per coded in the Arduino IDE.

All in all, the sensor, the LCD display, and the relay switch and the pump work well as it
is devised to be in making up the whole product as an autonomous plant watering system by
using Arduino.
Fig 6.1 Picture of the Prototype

CHAPTER 7
CHALLENGES IN AUTOMATING HYDROPONIC

SYSTEM
 Security of the system is a very important problem. For companies and countries to cozy
up to the smart hydroponic system they need to be certain that their system is secured
from intruders.
 Automation of harvesting in hydroponics with the help of IoT has not been explored.
Since plants are grown in batches, the manual harvesting method may lead to the
infection of the younger crops with human beings as vectors. Furthermore, since the
automated system can work tirelessly, it is more economical to use smart systems in the
harvesting of the crops.
 Impact of the sensors used in the development of plants has not been investigated. For
example, what is the effect of electricity on plants?
 Further investigation should be made into the tolerance plants to high EC and/or pH. The
knowledge of how tolerant plants are at extreme levels of pH will allow system designers
to develop systems that can optimally manage the hydroponic systems.
 The use of controllers should also be investigated. Stress on fish (in aquaponics) and
plants due to fluctuations in EC and pH should also be investigated. Cheaper controllers
are prone to oscillation; therefore, it is necessary to investigate how far a fluctuation
hydroponic system and aquaponic systems are willing to tolerate.
 AI-based systems are difficult to develop due to the lack of availability of datasets.
Therefore, there is a need for more datasets to allow researchers to develop efficient AI-
based hydroponic systems.

CHAPTER 8
ADVANTAGES, LIMITATIONS AND APPLICATIONS
8.1 ADVANTAGES
 Produces healthy, plants in a few weeks.
 Lower water and nutrient consumption.

 Relatively easy to disinfect roots and hardware compared to other types of system.
 The absence of medium makes it easy to inspect roots for signs of disease,
feed, adequacy, etc.
 Regular feeding prevents localized salt build-up in the root zone and maintains uniform
root zone pH and conductivity.
8.2 LIMITATIONS
 NFT system are dependent upon electricity, which means additional costs and the threat
of loss of power.
 Pump failure can result in plant death within a few hours, especially in hot weather.
 Not suitable for plants with large tap-root systems (e.g. carrots).
 Compared to run-to-waste systems, it is less suitable for saline (salty) waters because the
salinity of the recirculating water gradually increases.
8.3 APPLICATIONS
 The setup is portable with less space occupant and provides high yield in less duration
hence, can be used in hotels, canteens and hostel mess to grow vegetables and green
leaves.

 This technique can also be used in apartment and houses to grow green leaves and
vegetable in small quantity using kitchen wastewater.
 Reuse and purification of wastewater which provides end product as purified water used
for gardening.
CHAPTER 9
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the project meets the objectives. Firstly, the electronics knowledge and
skills are learnt and acquired in a very practical manner. Secondly, the knowledge and skills of
using both the Arduino IDE programming software and the Arduino board are possessed through
the hands-on experience. Lastly, the desired engineering design process skills are successfully
applied and learnt. The project does resolve the problem statement it is meant to address—to
innovate from the daunting problem of gardening and that is having to water the plant regularly.
The project or the system of the product brings forth the solution to the problem statement by
providing an automated system that performs the watering of plant based on the soil moisture of
the plant. The product constantly runs and measures the soil moisture level and only at a certain
threshold value does the system initiate its watering feature system. All in all, the project has
given the benefit of the opportunity in designing and devising a product through the engineering
design process.
The Arduino based automatic irrigation system is simple and precise way of irrigation.
Hence, this system is very useful as it reduces manual work of the farmers and helps in the
proper utilization of resources. It eliminates the manual switching mechanism used by the
farmers to ON/OFF the irrigation system. This project can be extended to greenhouses where
manual supervision is less. Fully automated gardens and farmlands can be created using this
principle in the right manner on large scale.

CHAPTER 10
REFERENCES
[1] G. M. Janani, N. Santhiya, G. Vigneshwari, A. Manuka and K. Kumar, "Automatic Indoor
Hydroponic Plant Grow Pot using Arduino," 2022 Second International Conference on Artificial
Intelligence and Smart Energy (ICAIS), 2022, pp. 1614-1618, doi:
10.1109/ICAIS53314.2022.9742782.
[2] Nisha Sharma, Somen Acharya and Kaushal Kumar, Hydroponics as an advanced technique
for vegetable production: An overview, November 2018.
[3] E. H. Chowdhury Muhammad, Amith Khandakar, Saba Ahmed and Fatima Al-Khuzaei,
Design Construction and Testing of IoT Based Automated Indoor Vertical Hydroponics Farming
Test-Bed in Qatar, October 2020.
[4] Jens Ortner Erik, Automated Hydroponic system, May 2019.
[5] Falmata Modul, Adam Adam and Farouq Aliyu, A Survey of Smart Hydroponic Systems,
January 2020.
[6] R. Anjini, J. Jenisha Jenifer, A. Maria and Christina Blessy, IoT Based Automated
Hydroponics Greenhouse Monitoring, April 2021.
[7] Wiedjaja Atmadja, Suryadiputra Liawatimena and Jonathan Lukas, Hydroponic system
design with real-time OS based on ARM Cortex-M microcontroller, January 2017.
[8] Shreyas Mahadev, A Hydroponic System for indoor plant growth, June 2019.
[9] Radhouvan Ben Hamaduo, Innovative option for growing crops in extreme environments,
January 2019.
[10] Eqwan Roslan, Design and development an automatic plant prototype, November 2018.
[11] Vaibhav palande, Adam Zaheer and Kiran George, Fully Automated Hydroponic System
For Indoor Plant Growth, ELSEVIER, 2018.

[12] Muhammadowais Tariq, A Sensor-Based System For Automatic Environmental Control In

Hydroponics, FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 2020.
[13] Balasubramaniam Vivekanadam, "IoT based Biotelemetry for Smart Health Care
Monitoring System", Journal of Information Technology and Digital World, vol. 2, no. 3, pp.
183-190, 2020.
[14] Sungheetha Akey and Rajesh Sharma, "Real Time Monitoring and Fire Detection using
Internet of Things and Cloud based Drones", Journal of Soft Computing Paradigm (JSCP), vol.
2, no. 03, pp. 168-174, 2020.
[15] D. Sivaganesan, "Performance Estimation of Sustainable Smart Farming with Blockchain
Technology", IRO Journal on Sustainable Wireless Systems, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 97-106, 2021.

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VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

“JNANA SANGAMA”, BELAGAVI – 590 018

Under the Guidance of:

SIR M. VISVESVARAYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Mr. Faiz Mohammad Karobari Dr. E. Kavitha Dr. V.R Manjunath

Name of the Examiner Signature with Date

NIKHIL KUMAR MISHRA

DIWAKAR SINHA (1MV18TE011)

5. HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE DESCRIPTION.…………………………………………...18

9. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE…………………………………………………….…29

Fig. no. Figure Name Page no.

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 1

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 2

90,000 ± 11,000 kJ/kg/y (±standard deviation) respectively. In comparison, conventional

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 3

method of producing vegetables (tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and peppers) as well as

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 4

Fig 3.1 Components of Hydroponic System

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 5

3.1 Types of Hydroponics

Fig 3.2 A Hydroponic System

3.1.2 Deep Water Culture Hydroponics

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 6

3.1.3 EBB and Flow (Flood and Drain) Hydroponics

3.1.4 Drip Hydroponic

3.1.5 Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 7

Fig 3.3 Nutrient Film Technique

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 8

3.2 Selection of Crop

3.2.2 Selection of Growing Media

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 9

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 10

gradually lower the medium's water retention capability by mixing in increasing

3.3 Nutrients Required for Plants

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 11

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 12

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 13

4.1 Proposed Idea

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 14

Fig 4.1 Block Diagram of the Proposed System

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 15

Fig 4.2 Flowchart of the system

4.3 Hardware Requirements

4.4 Software Requirements

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 16

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE DESCRIPTION

5.1 Arduino UNO

Fig 5.1 Arduino UNO

5.2 Water Level Sensor

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 17

Fig 5.2 Water Level Sensor

5.3 Soil Moisture Sensor

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 18

Fig 5.3 Soil Moisture Sensor

Water is used to perform a specific task of artificially pumping. It can be controlled by an

Fig 5.4 Mini Submersible Pump

DEPT. OF ETE, SIR. MVIT. 2021 – 2022 19