Prototype of autonomous agricultural irrigation system based on Arduino and Internet of Things at laboratory scale, powered by a photovoltaic system

Abstract

The application of new technologies in all fields of society has increased since the 90's, and in the agricultural sector it has brought enormous advantages, allowing the quality and productivity of crops to increase. The low effectiveness and efficiency of traditional monitoring and control methods used in agriculture generate losses of time and costs for farmers. This article describes the design, development and implementation of an irrigation system using free hardware and software, wired and wireless sensor networks (WSN), actuators, wireless communication devices and ICT tools, in order to create a environment where the Internet of Things (IoT) and Precision Agriculture offer the user better control of irrigation over the crop, taking into account evapotranspiration. Our objective is to create an irrigation system that allows the farmer to receive a notification on his mobile phone, through SMS data communication networks, indicating the activation of the irrigation system; It also establishes the communication channel with the microcontroller, allowing the emission and reception of the signals generated by the system's sensors, minimizing the work of people.