technology to automate irrigation that can improve water usage efficiency. Soil moisture sensor is needed to control the water pump of automatic watering system. Once the soil
moisture sensor detects the dry soil conditions, the sprinkler head will be function by control the PIC. This system improved the irrigation system from manual to automatic to
make the farmers easier to monitor the soil condition of the plants.
1.2 Objectives:
The objectives of the project are important to ensure the research will fulfill the solution of the problem research. All the objectives are shown below:
a To design and develop an automatic sprinkler system controlled by using programmable microcontroller PIC.
b To implement the automatic watering system based on soil moisture sensor. c To design and develop the prototype of the agricultural sprinkler system.
1.3 Problem Statements
In Malaysia, agriculture is one of the sectors that give profit to the economy sector for our country. Based on their motto which is agriculture is business, the
government has invested more money to develop the technology in order to increase the productivity of agriculture. Water is a national treasure that a country might have, it is
not taken into consideration as long as we have it but as soon as it is about to finish we irrationally start to fight on the remainder just like oil. It also is an important element for
the plants to live. Therefore, the moisture of the soil that determines the amount of water in soil must be checked regularly to prevent the plant from wilting or in the worst case it
might die. Besides, each species of the plant have its own characteristic. So, the consumption of water is different following their type. For example, cactus does not
need a lot amount of water. It just needs to be sprinkled once or twice a week.
Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in
growing crops. Most of the farmers use the manual system to irrigate their plant but this system is not efficient. The plants will die if there are not enough water supplies to the
plant or vice versa. Plus, the farmer must often monitor their plants to ensure the conditions of their plant are in the good health. Knowing when and how much the water
used is two important aspects of irrigation.
In order to maintain the condition and overcome this problem, the automatic watering system is used. This will reduce the number of workers and time usage to
maintain the plants if using automatic method rather than using manual method for watering the plants. To do this automatically, sensors and proper methods of irrigation is
important to determine when plants may need water. The soil moisture sensor is used to control the watering of the plants. The irrigation by sprinkler is very economical and
efficient. With use the low cost sensors and the simple circuitry makes this project as a low cost product, which can be bought even by a poor farmer.
1.4 Scope of Project:
