Sistema de controlo automático da rega hidropónica integrando GSM

Abstract

Hydroponic cultivation is a soilless planting technique used around the world. It has numerous advantages for small producers when compared to traditional cultivation, however, a major disadvantage is the lack of low-cost technological solutions capable of assisting in monitoring and controlling production. In this way, aiming to collaborate with the sector, this project aims to design and implement an automatic control system that allows irrigation to be carried out at the appropriate time with ideal parameters with minimal human intervention. The parameters to be monitored: Hydrogen Potential (pH), temperature, humidity, air and Electrical Conductivity (EC) of water, in order to assist in decision making, reducing expenses and contributing to increased productivity. This would be the most ideal case, however, due to the difficulties encountered during the execution of the project, such as the difficulty in obtaining certain essential components such as: electrical conductivity sensor (unavailable on the national market). To overcome these situations, some components were discarded from the project, despite being important, and others were replaced. The prototype built for the system features several electronic and non-electronic components such as: ESP32 (which was the microcontroller used), relays, jumpers, PH sensor, level sensor, PVC pipes, buckets (used as reservoirs), hoses, etc. The prototype design was prepared by the project author. The algorithm used is of the flowchart type, presenting very simple and easy-to-implement logic. The programming language used is high level applied to ESP32 (C language). The great innovation in this project is the addition of the GSM component that allows communication with the user remotely. The user will be notified whenever the relevant system parameters are in critical state, i.e. if the PH values, solution level in the reservoir as well as the solution temperature are outside the desired range, the user will receive notification from the system which will help in decision making. Another great innovation is the fact that it associates the ESP32 microcontroller with Microsoft Excel. The ESP will be recognized in Excel as a device, which makes it possible to display the values read by the ESP in Excel, and it is also possible to see the behavior of the parameter variations through graphs displayed in Excel.