The research is targeted to design and develop a closed environment monitoring system prototype. It integrates the knowledge of Robotics, Mechanics, Electronics, Software & Farming to create a system that can help in the cultivating of any plant during any season.

We live in a transformative & automation era where advancement in research & development activities in robotics & automation is leading to wider adoption of robots in industrial & agricultural operations. Robotic automation is replacing heavy duty performed by the human. This project is focused on requirement of the robotic sensor network in agricultural operations for accomplishing the tasks such as automated watering, temperature control of the growing area, minimal human interaction with the plant, growing plants that are not native to the region & making it possible to grow such plants at homes, offices & remote locations such as deserts.

All crops cannot be grown at all places due to many factors such as temperature, humidity & soil conditions. Certain crops can grow only in a specific season & environment condition. It does not give the expected yield if the conditions are not met. Due to manual watering, some parts of the growing area may remain dry and some parts tend to be overwatered which can be prevented by using sensor networks & automated watering.

Aim:

To monitor the environmental parameters in a farm for maximizing the yield of crops in a closed farming environment.

Objectives:

1. To monitor & control the moisture content in the soil after irrigation.

2. To check parameters such as air humidity, air quality & temperature.

3. To monitor the agriculture conditions of the closed system & compare it with required standard conditions for the crop.

The research work is targeted to design & develop a closed environment monitoring system prototype. Modeling is done on Siemens NX 11 and for simulation & analysis Siemens NX 11 & ANSYS software is used. Arduino Mega / Arduino (AT Mega 2560) is used for monitoring the closed environment. Various sensors such as temperature sensor, humidity sensor, soil moisture sensor, which measure environmental parameters, are calibrated, programmed & connected to the Arduino board. The data from these sensors will be processed in the microcontroller & a readable output is obtained. Programming is executed by using C or C++ programming language which is supported by Arduino IDE software. Watering in the growing area is done using a system of X-Y axis rails which can precisely water the required area. A Peltier cooling system is made to cool the closed farming area by about 5°C than the ambient temperature. A sample crop Lettuce, which cannot be easily grown in the outside environmental conditions of Mumbai region is grown in the closed environment system.

Outcome of work

The outcome of this project is that the plants that do not generally grow in the natural environment of an area, can be grown in the closed environment system. The controlling of the temperature of the environment inside the frame would be achieved with the help of Peltier module and a set of fans. The watering system is automated so that the plants are watered only when they require it. There is no chance of plants being over watered or receiving lesser water than they require.

Future Scope

This project has great scope in the field of agriculture. Cooling systems with a better efficiency can be used to cool the growing area. Better insulation can be provided to prevent the quick heating of the box in sunlight. Artificial lighting can be used to promote the growth of plants during absence of sunlight such as night-time and during cloudy days. The type of material used to enclose the growing area can be improved and it can be made adjustable and photo chromatic to allow just the right amount of sunlight to enter it. The entire system can be automated with the help of sophisticated robots and systems. It can also be remotely controlled by installing a transceiver at the growing area and at the controlling station. This transceiver would transmit data and measured values from the sensors to the controlling station which is located at the end of the farm or to a mobile application in the phone. The user can check the data and give commands to make any changes if required. The sensors would notify the user in case anything goes wrong and the system itself is not able to rectify it. This data received from the sensors about the growing of the plant, soil moisture, air temperature, air quality & other various sensors can be stored and even uploaded to cloud for access worldwide. The growing pattern of the plant can be studied, and an optimum environment can be made in which the plant would give its highest quality yield with the highest quantity. Systems such as hydroponics where soil is absent, and all the required nutrients are mixed in the water which is used to water the plant. It is already being used at many places, but it can be used in a much larger scale.

The work was targeted to design and develop a BAJA ATV Vehicle for the BAJA Race held by SAEINDIA in 2018. It integrates the knowledge of Mechanics, Electronics & Automobile to create a vehicle that can face all types of terrains on the BAJA race track.

Our team was named as MUDBUSTERS and we represented our college SJCEM at the Virtual BAJA SAEINDIA 2017 that was organized by SAEINDIA on 14th & 15th July 2017 at Chitkara University. Punjab.

I was in the Suspension Department of our team. Though we could not qualify the Virtual Round that year it was a great experience as I got to learn a lot from our research work about the vehicles and the design that we had completed before hand for it. I also learnt a lot about the different types of suspensions that are available in the market and what are the applications and advantages of each of them. I learnt a lot about teamwork too since it was my first group engineering work.