Original papersArchitectural design and performance evaluation of a ZigBee technology based adaptive sprinkler irrigation robot
Introduction
A greener environment is envisaged everywhere in the world. The climatic conditions to enhance this greener environment is unpredictable and sometimes fluctuate if predicted. Human energy and other forms of energy requirement and consumption ranging from strenuous human energy input to some forms of high mechanical energy input call for a system with less energy requirement (Stambouli et al., 2014). Approximately 4 billion people in the world are faced with periodical water scarcity despite the abundance of water on earth (Mekonnen and Hoekstra, 2016). These set of people are probably faced with famine more often than seldom.
Aside greener environment and energy requirements, foods (the major source of energy) to human and animal are mostly derived from plants. Irrigation system is of a great importance to a greener environment and food production. It has been a long time practice though, but the system still needs reduced human intervention, hence this research.
Although, so many researches has been carried out to aid irrigation practice. Irrigation robots of all kind use solar power as there such of energy (Yang and Tianguang, 2015), other robots use radio frequency identification (RFID), iris system, human excitation, etc. (Hema et al., 2012, Sobenko et al., 2018), but continuous improvement is needed to make human involvement during irrigation minimal. Khriji et al. (2014) presented a complete irrigation solution for the farmers based on Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). The cost-efficient automated irrigation system used low-cost sensor nodes, it gave a reduced power consumption which could in turn reduce the water waste. A node is deployed using Telos B mote and adequate sensors/actuators. Field nodes are used to detect the level of moisture and temperature in the soil. Weather nodes monitor the climatic changes, and the nodes connected to actuators are used to control the opening of the irrigation valve when needed.
Application of automatic systems during irrigation practices can allow for programming the amounts of water to be discharged in a targeted area precisely, hence promoting conservation of water resources (Synder and Melo-Abreu, 2005). Kushwaha et al. (2016) presented various robots developed in India to aid agriculture practices and farm mechanization. Hema et al. (2012) used RFID reader module for irrigation purposes. Their design is limited to a reach of 4 in. from the sprinkler. Ampatzidis et al. (2017) presented a systematic review of how robotics could be applied to plant management. In their review, how robotics could be used in plant protection, fruit recognition, irrigation, protection against theft and diseases were highlighted. This review is an eye opener for further researches that could enhance “iAgriculture”.
This study presents the architectural designs, conceptual design, and the design components useful for prototyping an adaptive sprinkler irrigation robot using SolidWorks CAD software, Arduino Uno Microcontroller and ZigBee XBee module. Also, static stress test and fatigue analysis simulations were carried out on the designed chassis of the robot to enhanced real-time efficiency of the envisaged robotic system.
Section snippets
Methodology
The system is made up of two distinct assemblies, assemblies 1 and 2. Assembly 1 is made up with a ZigBee XBee module which is configured as a transmitter, Arduino Uno microcontroller, and a moisture sensor to be placed on the area to be irrigated or tested, LCD and power input supply. The Assembly 2 comprises of another ZigBee XBee module which is configured as a receiver, chassis, water tank, another Arduino Uno microcontroller, DC water pump, and IR sensor. These assemblies could be
Relationship between volume of water used during sprinkling and time
Fig. 11 shows variation of the amount of water consumed (in liters) with time during a sprinkling cycle. Considering that the robot’s tank capacity is approximately 5 L, from the graph, it can be deduced based on flow rate of the pump, that the water would be exhausted above 100 s. So a complete sprinkling cycle would last for about 2 min and 30 s.
Soil moisture data at different times of the day
From Fig. 11, it can be deduced that the moisture content during day is lower than after irrigation has been carried out. The blue dots indicates low
Conclusions and recommendation
The Plant Irrigation Mobile Robot is designed keeping in mind all the shortcomings of all the existing systems. On comparison with the already existing systems for watering the plants, this system design emerged out to be efficient in terms of portability when compared with the conventional sprinkler systems which are stagnant and make use of valves attached for watering the plants which lay all around the plants spoiling their natural beauty. The architectural and conceptual designs were
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