Greenhouse monitoring system using Wireless Sensor Network

Over recent years, the interest for vegetables and fruits in all seasons and places has much increased, from where diverse countries have directed the commercial production in greenhouses. Greenhouse farming is the process of growing crops and vegetables in a controlled environment. Doing so ty

Project Title

Greenhouse monitoring system using Wireless Sensor Network

Project Area of Specialization

Internet of Things

Project Summary

Over recent years, the interest for vegetables and fruits in all seasons and places has much increased, from where diverse countries have directed the commercial production in greenhouses. Greenhouse farming is the process of growing crops and vegetables in a controlled environment. Doing so typically allows farmers to increase their performance and yields while improving the quality of products. Although greenhouse has a lot of benefits but some of the problems arise in the manually controlled greenhouse such as temperature which is most essential for the greenhouse becomes a problem for the plants when it’s getting too high or too low which can cause damage to the plants. Humidity is another problem that easily produces condensation water in the greenhouse. Humid, unventilated air environments provide ideal conditions for many germs, especially grey mold. Watering the plant on time led to another problem. All of these problems require regular analysis and monitoring which increases the labor cost and time. All of these problems can be cured by making the greenhouse automatic. Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are an optimal solution to simultaneously monitor a large number of plants in a mostly automatic way. A wireless sensor network (WSN) consisting of small-size wireless sensor nodes equipped with radio and one or several sensors, is an attractive and cost-efficient option to build the required measurement system. The system consisted of sensor nodes, gateways, and a data server, which could acquire real-time information on temperature, humidity, light intensity, and carbon dioxide concentration. Four sensor nodes were evenly distributed in the greenhouse at the level of plants. The WSN uses a Wi-Fi module based on IEEE standard 802.11. A base station, located away from the greenhouse, acts as a data collector or a gateway node. It is programmed to acquire real-time information on temperature, humidity, light intensity, and carbon dioxide data from each node after every 5 seconds and deliver the data on a web page or app using IoT features for data processing, display, and storage. Wireless sensor networks work as a sensor and actuators as well. This actuator will automatically turn on and off the water pump by measuring the soil moisture which may be performed sitting at home without going to the greenhouse. The variation in individual sensor data over time can be graphically plotted for improved monitoring and analysis. The greenhouse deployment results demonstrated that there was significant spatial variability in the greenhouse environment and the difference in average soil temperature, air humidity, solar intensity, and CO2 concentration value in different places was respectively changed. This provides an important reference for the future precise control of greenhouses and the decision-making of relevant management measures.

Project Objectives

The main objectives of an automatic greenhouse system are as follows:

• To increase the overall yield and quality of the product.
• To prevent overwatering and underwatering the plant by using an automatic irrigation system. 
• To assist the farmer to keep an eye on the plants anytime and anywhere in the world.
• To understand future technology expectations of greenhouses, growers’ needs, factors affecting plant growth, and plant nutritive value for common greenhouse crops.
• To develop a mobile application and user interface showing greenhouse conditions.
• To develop new eco-friendly methods to fight pests and pathogens.

Project Implementation Method

The project implementation method consists of four parts:

1. The first part is the implementation of a wireless sensor node. The sensor node is the main component of WSN which is responsible to sense the changing parameters of the environment and transmit the information to the base station. A WSN node consists of a transceiver, microcontroller, sensors, and power source. The sensors are mounted on the node which is responsible for collecting information. The microcontroller receives the sensor data and transmits it to the base unit through the transceiver. The battery source provides the necessary power for operations. The architecture of multiple sensor nodes is placed at different places and these nodes can communicate with each other.
2. The second part is the implementation of the base station or gateway. The base station is responsible for receiving the information sent by the WSN node and delivering it to the end-user. It operates as a bridge between the sensor node and the user. The base unit consists of a transceiver, microcontroller, and battery. The transceiver is used to receive the information from all WSN nodes and the microcontroller takes necessary decisions using the data received from the sensor and sends it to the end-user.
3. The third part is the forming of a Mobile application and user interface based on IoT. This interface will show the performances of sensors and the condition of a greenhouse. 
4. The Fourth part is the implementation of the actuator. Actuators take an electrical signal from the control module and turn it into physical output. When the mobile interface will show the moisture level going down from the required level then the control signals will be generated for the actuators by pressing a button which will then turn on the water motor.

Benefits of the Project

Here are some benefits of a fully automated greenhouse:

• Managing environmental factors including heat, humidity, and light levels takes a lot of care. Automated controls help to ease much of the burden and challenge growers face having to manage every single environmental factor. Installing an automation system in a commercial greenhouse will help to build consistent and predictable cycles that will maintain an ideal growing environment.
• An automated greenhouse will decrease the labor cost by reducing the manual work and free up the worker to focus on other areas of importance.
• With automated greenhouse processes, energy is used as efficiently as possible due to intelligent predictions of conditions. The smart greenhouse monitoring system with energy management software continuously analyzes the expected power requirements and available power supply for the greenhouse. This enables to achieve sustainable growth at maximum return.
• For the best crop results, the exact right composition of water, at the exact right time is needed. Automatic greenhouse watering system help to schedule the irrigation period where the plants are watered at regular intervals. 
• Smart greenhouses provide optimum thriving conditions for the plant. Plants are supplied with appropriate nutrient amounts when needed. Most crops that are grown in automated greenhouses achieve top fruit or flower quality.
• Wireless controlled greenhouse automation makes remote greenhouse control a possibility. Greenhouse management no longer has to take place on-site. Greenhouse conditions can easily be monitored with smart greenhouse sensors and settings can be easily changed from anywhere and at any time.
• Greenhouse systems can be automated according to preference and budget. There are a number of options available from simple automation solutions to more complex, fully integrated systems.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The mobile Application will show the technical deliverable in two forms:

1. The result of temperature, moisture level, humidity level, and carbon dioxide level will be shown in the numerical form separately for all the parameters.
2. Secondly, the result will be shown in graphical form which will show how the values of all the parameters change according to time.

Final Deliverable of the Project

HW/SW integrated system

Core Industry

Agriculture

Other Industries

Core Technology

Internet of Things (IoT)

Other Technologies

Others

Sustainable Development Goals

Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Responsible Consumption and Production

Required Resources

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