Smart drip irrigation system using raspberry pi and arduino

This paper proposes a design for home automation system using ready-to-use, cost effective and energy efficient devices including raspberry pi, arduino microcontrollers, xbee modules and relay boards. Use of these components results in overall cost effective, scalable and robust implementation of system. The commands from the user are processed at raspberry pi using python programming language. Arduino microcontrollers are used to receive the on/off commands from the rasperry pi using zigbee protocol. Star zigbee topology serves as backbone for the communication between raspberry pi and end devices. Raspberry pi acts a central coordinator and end devices act as various routers. Low-cost and energy efficient drip irrigation system serves as a proof of concept. The design can be used in big agriculture fields as well as in small gardens via just sending an email to the system to water plants. The use of ultrasound sensors and solenoid valves make a smart drip irrigation system. The paper explains the complete installation of the system including hardware and software aspects. Experimental set-up is also tested and explained for an automatic drip irrigation system to water 50 pots.