An Automated Greenhouse Control System

Using Arduino Prototyping Platform

The world climate change has brought about unpredictable weather conditions that
have resulted in the global food shortage being experienced. A possible solution to
this problem will likely involve households growing a reasonable percentage of the
vegetables and crops they need in a greenhouse which does not require too much
land space. A greenhouse will normally produce more crops per square meter when
compared to open field cultivation since the microclimatic parameters that
determine crop yield are continuously monitored and controlled to ensure that an
optimum environment is created. The automated greenhouse control system
achieves monitoring and control of a greenhouse environment by using sensors and
actuators which are under the control of a microcontroller running a computer
program. The system is composed of two stations: Remote monitoring station and
the Actuators/Sensors Station. The controller used in the actuators/ sensors station
which ensures that the microclimatic parameters stay within pre-defined values as
determined and set by the user is the Arduino prototyping platform.

Modern greenhouse technology deploys automation in agriculture which is now

common place due to the low costs of electronic components required for its
implementation. A lot of efforts have been made by many researchers to automate
the traditional greenhouse system. In the work by Sumit et al (2012) an embedded
system closely monitors the microclimatic parameters of a greenhouse round the
clock and activates actuators when safe thresholds are exceeded in order to restore
optimum conditions. Their design employs a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) which is
directly interfaced to a microcontroller that ensures that the user is continuously
alerted about the conditions inside the greenhouse. Clearly, a system of this type
can provide information to the user about the conditions inside the greenhouse only
when the user is at the physical location.

2.1 System Architecture

The automated greenhouse control system, whose block diagram is depicted in
figure 1, is made up of two principal units: Sensors/Actuators station and Remote
Monitoring station. These two units consist of sensors for light (Light dependent
resistor), temperature (LM35), humidity (HIH4030) (Hobby Electronics, 2014) and
moisture (VH400) (Vegetronix, 2014); fan, fogger, drippers and artificial light;
Arduino microcontroller board; XBee MODEMs; XBee adapter board; and a personal
computer (PC). The sensors/actuators station is the heart of the system that is
responsible for regulating the greenhouse environment. The sensors acquire the
environmental data. After the data have been filtered to remove noise they are
made available to the Arduino board which then computes the current values of the
controlled variables and compares them with the set thresholds. If any of the
controlled variables is outside a safe limit the corresponding actuator is activated to
restore the optimum condition. The Arduino board also reads the states of the
actuators and transmits the information along with the current values of the
controlled variables to the remote monitoring station via XBee radio frequency (RF)
MODEM pair that operate at a frequency of 2.4 GHz. A large number of wireless
linking devices exist (Javvin, 2007), however XBee has been used for this work
primarily because of its suitability for low power data transmission (Gianfranco,
2009).
The control strategy for the system in this work is developed for the individual parameters to be
controlled as follows:
(1) The temperature control requires the definition of two threshold limits: upper limit and lower limit.
When the upper limit is exceeded a fan is activated to cool the greenhouse environment and when the
temperature drops below the lower limit, the fan is deactivated while a heater is activated and vice-versa.
(2) Humidity control is defined by a threshold set by the user. When the humidity of the greenhouse
enclosure falls below this threshold, a fogging system is activated and then deactivated when optimum
condition is restored.
(3) The moisture control is defined by a threshold which ensures that if the soil moisture content falls
below the set value drippers are activated, and then deactivated when optimum condition is restored.
(4) The lighting condition is controlled by two set points: upper limit and lower limit.
The upper limit determines when the light is activated while the lower limit
determines when it is deactivated. This strategy is primarily used to extend day
light or compensate for inadequate natural lighting according to the desire of the
user.

4. Discussion
When the system was set up and tested, it was observed that the sensors/actuators
station reacted well to restore optimum conditions each time any of the
microclimatic parameters varied from the set thresholds. It was also observed that
the communication between the two stations was reliable up to a line-of-sight
distance of 40 m. This range can be improved by using XBee-Pro MODEMs or
altering the network architecture. The system described in this work was
constructed and mounted on a prototype greenhouse to demonstrate its workability.
The control system described will be able to operate a practical greenhouse but the
driver circuit may need relays that can handle the power required to drive the
actuators in question.

Data Acquisition of Greenhouse Using Arduino

A greenhouse is seen as a multivariable process presents a nonlinear nature and is
influenced by biological processes [Herrero et al., 2007].The five most important
parameters must be taken into consideration when design a greenhouse are temperature,
relative humidity, ground water, illumination intensity and CO2 concentration. This
parameters is important to realize that the five parameters mentioned above are
nonlinear and extremely interdependent [Fourati et al., 2007; Blasco et al., 2007; Putter
and J.
Gouws, 1996]. the computer control system for the greenhouse involves the series steps
[Melrolho, 1999]:
1. Acquisition of data through sensors.
2. Processing of data, comparing it with desired states and finally deciding what must be
done to change the state of system.
3. Actuation component carrying the necessary action.
This paper describes a solution to the first part of the system. The information is
obtained from multi-sensors station and is transmitted through USB port to computer.

Green House Monitoring and

Controlling
Using Android Mobile
Application
In designing this device, there is limitation to
problems, to see how far this system can do its tasks.
This limitation according to the situation where this
system will be used later. The limitation is the system
can detect the humidity of air in the building. When
the humidity sensor reach a certain threshold, the
humidity sensor will send a signal to microcontroller
which will then process the signal, to be sent int o
connected computer. Computer functions as a server
which connects to the android platform.
There are 3 kinds of activity that are designed in
the system. First, monitor the humidity level in the green house. Secondly, if the
green house is too dry,
the water sprayer can be activated, to increase the
humidity level. It also can deactivated water sprayer.
Third, if the green house is too humid, the rooftop
can be opened to lower the humidity level. The third
function can be use to open or close the rooftop based
on the needs.

The software is designed to process the humidity

value, monitoring and controlling the green house.
The software includes the various measurements of
the sensor, analog to digital converters, send
humidity value from sensor to microcontroller. Then
continue to display the value in application at
Android, control the microcontroller from the
application in Android and update to user by sending
the value of sensor for monitoring the green house.
The microcontroller Arduino UNO is to convert
analog to digital, send the value of sensor through
serial communication to PC, control the stepper
motor, water sprayer, and updating the user.

The microcontroller arduino used

for monitoring and controlling the green house. It is
used to read the measurement value of sensor, write
an input to control the stepper motor and LED
module, analog-digital converter and serial
communication for the flow of value from sensor.
First, microcontroller get the analog voltage signal
from the sensor and convert it to digital signal. After
microcontroller receive the digital signal,
microcontroller send the value from sensor to the
Android via computer through serial communication
and wireless connection.

After development is finished, test for sensors work

is done and device is working properly.
The testing that has done shows that condition in
datasheet of sensor and in system is appropriate. The
test result shows in temperature 30oC to 70oC,
humidity is still in normal range area. If temperature
gets higher and more, relative humidity will be
decrease and goes near to zero

IRRIGAO AUTOMATIZADA COM PLATAFORMA ARDUINO EM CASA DE

VEGETAO NA UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL RURAL DA AMAZNIA
A irrigao vem como alternativa para cultivo em casa de vegetao ou regies em que a
precipitao escassa de modo que auxilie na disponibilidade de gua para a planta em
complemento precipitao natural, j que o objetivo dessa tcnica o fornecimento controlado
de gua no solo para as culturas na quantidade suficiente e no momento certo garantindo
boas condies para seu desenvolvimento timo em termos de produtividade e retorno
econmico (FERREIRA, 2011).
Nesse contexto, atualmente os microcontroladores tm sido utilizados em pesquisas na rea de
monitoramento ambiental, e a plataforma ARDUINO vem se destacando. Muitos aparelhos
esto disponveis no mercado, porm os consumidores esto interessados em algo til, prtico e
barato, capaz de ser instalado sem tantas dificuldades e que cumpra as funes de controle e
automao. No presente trabalho usar-se- a placa Arduino, uma plataforma open source com
um microcontrolador que integra diversos componentes em um circuito (CAVALCANTE et al.,
2011; SOUZA et al., 2011).
O presente trabalho apresenta como objetivo o desenvolvimento de um
sistema de irrigao tendo por base a plataforma Arduino, utilizando um
sensor de baixo custo, que possibilite monitorar a umidade do solo e acionar
o sistema, demonstrando a sua aplicabilidade na automao de sistemas de
irrigao instalados, por exemplo, em hortas e casa de vegetao, entre
outros.

A tcnica utilizada foi a irrigao localizada, que consiste em mtodos que conduzem a gua a
ser irrigada atravs de tubulaes, aplicando-a junto s razes atravs de gotejamento, mantendo
as plantas com a quantidade de gua adequada (LUCIETTI, 2014). Utilizou-se, mangueiras com
pequenas perfuraes (gotejadores) por onde a gua de irrigao escoa quando as vlvulas
solenoides so abertas e permitem o fluxo de acordo com a necessidade do cultivo programada
no Arduino.
Aps a montagem do sistema na casa de vegetao, foram realizados testes
de eficincia e funcionamento com o intuito de analisar a viabilidade de
aplicao nos mais diversos tipos de casas de vegetao.
Na casa de vegetao, o sistema identificou corretamente a umidade do solo e acionou a
vlvula, e concomitantemente o gotejamento, conseguindo elevar a umidade do solo at a faixa
de umidade necessria, valor equivalente a 70 % da capacidade de campo. Utilizando o sistema,
esse percentual foi previamente estabelecido para solo mido e foi alcanado pois nesse instante
a vlvula volta a condio de normalmente fechada, demonstrando a eficincia do prottipo,
uma vez que o programa identificou o atendimento condio de ajuste pr-estabelecida.
Nos testes preliminares, o sistema controlou a umidade da amostra de terra preta de forma
eficiente.
Frente a alguns sistemas com a mesma funo disponveis no mercado
produzidos por grandes empresas, o circuito do sistema de irrigao
desenvolvido com quatro sensores e quatro vlvulas custou,
aproximadamente, 300 reais, mantendo uma boa relao de custo benefcio. Deve-se atentar
tambm, a importncia da racionalizao da gua atravs destes sistemas que buscam a reduo
do desperdcio de gua para irrigao, otimizando a gua consumida.
Salienta-se que um sensor possui capacidade de representar mais de uma
bancada, diferentemente do que est sendo proposto no presente trabalho,
possibilitando a expanso do sistema de forma que mais bancadas sejam
irrigadas ao mesmo tempo ao sinal do sensor que s representa, diminuindo
ainda mais os custos.

Montagem da bancada
http://www.longwood.edu/cleanva/images/sec6.designexperiment.pdf
THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF AN EXPERIMENT There are different types of
practical activities that can be carried out either by working scientists or by
science students. Only some of these would strictly be considered
experiments.
An experiment starts and finishes with the factors that change during the
experiment. These are the variables. The experimenter will purposely
change one of the variables; this is the independent variable or manipulated
variable. The second variable changes in response to the purposeful change;
this is the dependent variable or responding variable. For example, if
students change the wing shape of a paper airplane and measure the
resulting time that the plane stays in flight, the independent variable would
be the wing shape and the dependent variable would be the flight time.
A simple experiment should have only one independent variable. That is,
the student should only allow the one factor he or she is most interested in
to change. There will normally be many other factors that could change and
have an effect upon the outcome of the experiment, but these other factors
must be controlled or held constant. Any effect on the outcome must then
be due to the one
factor that was changed, and a definite conclusion can therefore be reached
about the effect of this factor. The factors that could be changed but which
are deliberately held constant are referred to as constants in the
experiment. Constants are sometimes referred to as controlled variables,
but this term can be confusing for students and is best not used.
The independent variable that is manipulated by the experimenter will have
several different values, and these different values are called the levels of
the independent variable. For example, if temperature were the
independent variable in an experiment, then 10C, 20C, 30C, and 40C
might be the different levels. Usually one of the levels of the independent
variable is the reference point or normal value of the variable, and the
other levels will be compared with this one in order to draw conclusions from
the experiment. This reference level of the independent variable, which
other levels will be compared to, is called the control for the experiment. In
the example given here, 20C would likely be the control because this
represents normal room temperature.
Another part of the experiment related to the independent variable is a
number of repeated trials for each level of the independent variable. If the
experiment is repeated more than once for each level of the independent
variable this will make for a more reliable test. The possibility of obtaining a
misleading result due to experimental errors will be less. Every experiment
should be carried out several times and then the results of the individual
trials
Lastly, students should be asked to formulate a hypothesis or educated
guess before they begin carrying out the experiment. This will be a
predicted outcome for the experiment, and it will be based on the students
past experiences as well as information they have been able to gather while
carrying out background research for their experiment. The hypothesis
should be written in the form of an if-then statement linking a change in
the independent variable to a predicted change in the dependent variable.
The four-question strategy is a clever activity to help students explore the
possible variations of a general topic before attempting to state a specific
problem, hypothesis, variables, constants, and control
The four-question strategy involves the following four questions. Question
1 What materials are readily available for conducting experiments on
general topic of interest)? Question 2 What action is observed when
studying (general topic of interest)?
Question 3 What are all the ways that I can change the set of materials
that would change the action? Question 4 In what ways can I measure
or describe the response to the change?

Within the theory of optimization, an experiment is a series of tests in which

the input variables are changed according to a given rule in order to identify
the reasons for the changes in the output response. According to
Montgomery [4] Experiments are performed in almost any field of enquiry
and are used to study the performance of processes and systems. [] The
process is a combination of machines, methods, people and other resources
that transforms some input into an output that has one or more observable
responses. Some of the process variables are controllable, whereas other
variables are uncontrollable, although they may be controllable for the
purpose of a test. The objectives of the experiment include: determining
which variables are most influential on the response, determining where to
set the influential controllable variables so that the response is almost
always near the desired optimal value, so that the variability in the response
is small, so that the effect of uncontrollable variables are minimized.

http://fs.mapua.edu.ph/MapuaLibrary/Thesis/Design%20of%20Laboratory
%20Experiments%20and%20Trainer%20Boards%20for%20Arduino%20Using
%20Gizduino%20Microcontroller%20Kit%20FULL%20TXT.pdf

TEORIA SOBRE COMO MONTAR UMA BANCADA DE EXPERIMENTAO COM

MICROCONTROLADORES

https://sensortech.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/hello-world/

COMO ESCOLHER UM SENSOR

Greenhouse Monitoring with Wireless Sensor Network

By using these sensors, we are able to measure four parameters, which are
crucial in greenhouse climate adjustment: temperature, relative humidity,
light irradiance and air carbon dioxide content. The platform uses 6LoWPAN
protocol, which allows us to send compressed IPv6 packets over IEEE
802.15.4 networks.
The Rinnovando group [4] is doing research work in a tomato greenhouse in
the South of Italy. They are using Sensicast devices for the air temperature,
relativity humidity and soil temperature measurements with wireless sensor
network. They have also developed a Web-based plant monitoring
application. Greenhouse grower can read the measurements over the
Internet, and an alarm will be sent to his mobile phone by SMS or GPRS if
some measurement variable changes rapidly. The Rinnovando group has a
test bed in 20 x 50 meters tomato greenhouse. In their test bed, six nodes
are deployed into two rows 12.5 m apart from each other. One mesh node
works as a repeater and improves the throughput of the communication.
Bridge node gathers data from other sensor nodes, which transmit the
measurements of temperature and relative humidity in one minute intervals
[4].

Temperature and humidity are closely linked together in a greenhouse. Cold

air has a lower moisture-holding capacity than warmer air, and therefore the
decrease of the relative humidity is a sign of increased air temperature [3].
Transpiration rate tells how many grams plants leaf surface called stomata
releases water vapour per minute. The greenhouse protects the plants from
the extreme weather conditions. However, if the period of daylight prevents
the photosynthetic activity, the plants do not grow. Horticultural lighting
allows the grower to extend the growing season. It enables a year-round
producing of plants or makes it possible for the grower to start sowing in
early spring and continue season till the first frost. Plants need about 10-12
hours light to improve growth. When the plants are producing flowers or
fruits the supplemental need of light per day increases up to 16 hours.
Figure 1 shows the photosynthetic activity in different wavelengths of light
radiation [2].
 Fig. 1. Photosynthetic activity in different
wavelengths of light radiation. Figure from [2].

The Greenhouse Environment We made our experiments in Martens

Greenhouse Research Centers greenhouse in the Nrpi town in Western
Finland [7]. The size of the greenhouse was 18 x 80 meters and in its
traditional control system it has only one cabled measurement unit in the
middle. Greenhouses moist climate and dense flora are similar to the
surroundings of a jungle. This kind of environment is challenging both for
the sensor node electronics and for the short-range IEEE 802.15.4 wireless
network, which communication range is much longer in open areas.
Therefore, we limited the distances between communicating nodes to 15
meters in our deployment.
C. Sensors Fast response time, low power consumption and tolerance
against moisture climate made SHT75 relative humidity and temperature
sensor [10] a perfect solution for the greenhouse environment. Temperature
accuracy of the sensor is 0.3 C and the accuracy of the relative humidity
under 2 %. Communication between SHT75 sensor and node is similar to
IIC interface developed by Philips. Data and clock line are the same in both
cases, but SHT75 has only one pull-up resistor between data and power
supply line. Luminosity was measured by TAOS TSL262R [11], which
converts light intensity to voltage. Unstable output signal is handled by low-
pass filter to get correct luminosity values.