Internet of Things (IoT) Based Plant Monitoring System in an Aeroponics Vertical Farming Technique

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 09 Issue: 12 | Dec 2022 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
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Internet of Things (IoT) Based Plant Monitoring System in an
Aeroponics Vertical Farming Technique
Prathamesh Pawar1, Bharat Kulkarni2
1 Student , 2 Professor
Department of Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering
Dr. V.P.S.S.Ms Padmabhooshan Vasantraodada Patil Institute of Technology, Budhgaon,
Sangli, Maharashtra 416304 India.
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Abstract - Vertical framing is becoming very much popular
practice Now a days. It is a new generationmethodoffarming.
Vertical framing helps to maintain the food production chain
without disturbing the agricultural misbalance. Among main
three types; 1. Aeroponicstechnique, 2. Hydroponicstechnique,
3. Aquaponics technique; here we are going to focus on
AEROPONICS TECHNIQUE. In this technique we are
monitoring few major environmental parameters which are
basic need of the crops to grow healthy. Thus, to monitoring
such parameters, we take the help of IOT.
Key Words: Aeroponics, ESP32, Artificial Environment,
IOT, Vertical farming, indoor.
1. INTRODUCTION
India is 2nd largest country in agricultural
production. India is an agriculture dominated country in
which 65% to 70% population depends on agriculture.
According to Indian GDP, currently agriculture contributes
near about 16% -17% of Indian GDP. In India most of the
farmers use conventional method for agricultural farming.
Conventional agricultural farming means the soil based
agricultural farming. Conventional agricultural farming
mainly requires 80% of soil and 65 to 70% of global fresh
water. The main drawbacks of Conventional agricultural
farming are: i) extreme dependencyweatherandii)wastage
of 45 to 67% global fresh water due to leakage and
evaporation. India’s dependency on weather and
environment leads some time conventional agricultural
farming to unsustainable usage of resources. [3]
Now days a nutrition load values of food are very
much important factor in day-to-day life of human. Due to
huge increase of population, there is a vast demand in
agricultural production so full fill this demand most of the
farmers are using chemical fertilizers for getting more and
more production in less duration of time and thus farmers
are compromising nutrition loadvaluesofproductsorcrops.
To overcome all these issues Vertical Farming
incorporates all planning and design of agricultural farms
together in a high-rise building. In Vertical Farmingdifferent
types of crops, fungi and plants are grown in vertical stacks.
Recently,Vertical Farmingisbeing implementedsuccessfully
in many countries. This agricultural farming technology
helps to produce a lot of crops inside the city. [2] The
technique which is focused / used in our project is an
Aeroponics technique.
Richard J. Stoner II was first developed use of
Aeroponics for growing Edible Plants in 1983. In this type of
farming, the water which is to be provided is mixed with
some compounds which are not hazardous for human
anatomy as well as plant anatomy. Such water is circulated
via pipes. Due to creation of artificial environment and
indoor implementation of agricultural farmingproject, there
is very-very less chances of insects and pests so there is no
need of insecticides as well as pesticides. Thus, we can avoid
use of insecticides as well as pesticides.
But if we look into 1990s, NASA had brought
attention to aeroponics. It began investigating soilless ways
of raising food that could be used in the low-gravity
conditions that are present in spacetravel.NASAhadcarried
out research / investigation on aeroponics on board of the
international space research station ‘MIR’. Since then, a
number of commercial aeroponics systems have been
developed for research, industrial and home use.
2. METHODOLOGY
We have tried to build a prototype / structural
model of vertical farming and in that tried to maintain the
necessary environmental conditions required to cultivate
crops / vegetables. In this project, tried to maintain those
few basic parameters which are minimal requirements for
the crops to grow healthy and those are Temperature,
Humidity, Light and pH of nutritious Water.
In that model / structure, wedidprovide waterpipe
lines for supplying water which is to be pumped from water
tank. This supply water tank is filledwithsolutionofmixture
of fertilizer and water in appropriate proportion. The pH
value of this tank solution is maintained as per our crops /
vegetables. By using the above developed environment, we
cultivated mint plants.
For maintaining temperature, moisture, light
intensity and Nutritious Water supply etc. we required

microcontroller / node MCU. To achieve our this goal, we
have used node mcu / ESP32 Development Kit Board in
connection with DHT11 as Temperature / Humidity Sensor,
LDR as Light Sensor and pH Sensor to measure nutritious
water. For software programming for ESP32 Development
Kit Board, we used Arduino IDE platform. For working of
ESP32, it required 5V supply.
There are three techniques of vertical farming:
1. Aeroponics technique
2. Hydroponics technique
3. Aquaponics technique
Here we are going to use aeroponics technique. In this
technique there is a tank which contains water and
nutrients. In the tank there is one submersible pump which
is used to pump the water from that tank to spray that water
on the roots of the plants. Sprinklers nozzles are used to
spray water on the roots of plant.
Fig -1 : Block Diagram
In the indoor place to create an artificial environmental, we
need to monitor four basic parameters:
i) Temperature
ii) Humidity,
iii) Light,
iv) pH value of water.
Fig -2 : Flow chart
Components used in our project :
1) ESP32 : ESP32 is a series of low-cost, low-power system
on a chip microcontrollers with integrated Wi-Fi and dual-
mode Bluetooth. The ESP32 series employs either
a Tensilica Xtensa LX6 microprocessor in both dual-core
and single-core variations, Xtensa LX7 dual-core
microprocessor or a single-core RISC-V microprocessorand
includes built-in antenna switches, RF balun, power
amplifier, low-noise receive amplifier, filters, and power-
management modules. ESP32 is created and developed
by Espressif Systems, a Shanghai-based Chinese company,
and is manufactured by TSMC usingtheir40 nm process.Itis
a successor to the ESP8266 microcontroller.
It contains digital as well as analog pinswhicharehelpsusto
reduce the complexity of our project. It is used to sense the
various inputs from variety of sensors and acts as main
controlling element.
2) pH Sensor : pH probes contain two electrodes (a sensor
electrode and a reference electrode) that measure the
hydrogen-ion activity in a solution. The exchange of ions
generates a voltage that is measured by the pH meter
converting the voltage into a readable pH value. pH(the
potential of Hydrogen) measures the interaction between
hydrogen and hydroxide ions within a water-basedsolution.
A solution with a high amount of hydrogen-ion activity is an
acid. In contrast, a solution with a high amount of hydroxide
ion activity is a base.

It is uses to find the concentration of hydrogen ions using
electric current in water based solution. We used pH sensor
to check the acidic/alkaline values of water for exchanging
that water from the tank.
3) LDR: A Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) is also called a
photoresistor or a cadmium sulfide(CdS)cell.Itisalsocalled
a photoconductor. It is basically a photocell that works on
the principle of photoconductivity.Thepassivecomponentis
basically a resistor whose resistance value decreases when
the intensity of light decreases.
LDRs or photoresistors are often used in circuits where it is
necessary to detect the presence or the level of light. They
can be described by a variety of names from light dependent
resistor, LDR, photoresistor, or even photo cell, photocell or
photoconductor.
4) DHT 11: DHT11 sensor consists of a capacitive humidity
sensing element and a thermistor for sensing temperature.
The humidity sensing capacitor has two electrodes with a
moisture holding substrate as a dielectric between them.
Change in the capacitance value occurs with the change in
humidity levels. The IC measure, process this changed
resistance values and change them into digital form.
For measuring temperature this sensor uses a Negative
Temperature coefficientthermistor, which causesa decrease
in its resistance value with increase in temperature. To get
larger resistance value even for the smallest change in
temperature, this sensor is usually made up of
semiconductor ceramics or polymers. The temperature
range of DHT11 is from 0 to 50 degree Celsius with a 2-
degree accuracy. Humidity range of this sensor is from 20 to
80% with 5% accuracy. The sampling rate of this sensor is
1Hz .i.e. it gives one reading for every second. DHT11 is
small in size with operating voltage from 3 to 5 volts. The
maximum current used while measuring is 2.5mA.
5) LED grow Light: LED grow lights are composed of
multiple individual light-emitting diodes, usually in a casing
with a heat sink and built-in fans. LED grow lights do not
usually require a separate ballast and can be plugged
directly into a standard electrical socket.
Individual LEDs usually provide only a single narrow range
of colours, and so different colour LEDs are mixed in grow
lights in proportions depending on the intended use. It is
known from the study of photomorphogenesis that green,
red, far-red and blue light spectra have an effect on root
formation, plant growth, and flowering, but there are not
enough scientific studies or field-tested trials using LED
grow lights to recommended specific colour ratios for
optimal plant growth under LED grow lights.
6) 16X2 LCD Display : It will be used to visualize the data
locally it will help to operate the device standalone.
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen is an electronic display
module and find a wide range of application.
A 16x2 LCD display is very basic module and is very
commonly used in various devices and circuits. A 16x2
LCD means it can display 16 characters per line and there
are 2 such lines.
7) Submersible Pump : A submersible pump is a device
which has a motor close joined to the pump body. The whole
structure is submerged in the fluid to be pumped. We used
pump for circulating the water to sprinklers throughout the
structure.
8) Fan : Fan is used for cooling purpose of the system. If the
temperature of the system increases the fan will turn on to
cool down work.
3. RESULT
During this project we select mint as a farming material. For
better growth of mint, always kept its temperature in
between 15 to 25 degree Celsius also maintain pH factor of
water in between 6.0 to 7.5 because mint has wide range for
pH which is 6.1 to 7.8. but ideally it should be in between as
give above.
During working on this project we observed that mint can
sustain in between 21 to 29 degree Celsius, alsopH upto7.5.
Sr. No Parameter Observed
01 Temperature 21-29 C
02 Humidity 72%
03 pH 6.1-7.8
4. CONCLUSIONS
In aeroponicstechnique,wecangrowdifferenttypesof
plants throughout the year by maintaining the respective
parameters like temperature, humidity, pH, LED light with
the help of IOT. Because of IOT we can monitor parameters
from anywhere, any time. Due to indoor structure and
monitored environment, there is less chances of becoming
diseased plants and need very less of pesticides and
insecticides. At the end, we can get fresh, clean and healthy
food production.
5. REFERENCES
[1] “Automated Aeroponics System for Indoor Farming
using Arduino”, Ferdousi Rahman, Israt Jahan Ritun,
Md.Ryad Ahmed Biplob, Nafisa Farhin, Jia Uddin.
Department of Computer Science & Engineering BRAC
University Dhaka, Bangladesh, October 2018.

[2] “A survey on Vertical Farming”,SaravananM&Saravana
Krishnan M (Student SKCET), Srivaishnavi D (Assistant
Professor SKCET). International Journal of Engineering
Research & Technology (IJERT), September-2018, Vol.7
Issue 09, September-2018.
[3] “Smart Vertical Farm Using IOT” , Abhishek A M,
Chandrakanth R, Mahesh C, Manoj M Marigiri, Ramya B
K, B. E. Students, Department of ISE, SJB Institute of
Technology, Bengaluru, India. ‘International Journal of
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Engineering’ (IJIRCCE), April 2018, Vol.6, Issue 4, April
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[4] “An Innovative Approach on Vertical Farming
Techniques”, M. Jegadeesh, Dr. J.Verapandi, Research
scholar, Assistant Professor, Department of
Environmental Science Bharathiar University, India.
Department of Environmental Science, Bharathiar
University (SSRG-IJAES),October2014,volume1Iusse1
October 2014.
[5] “Aeroponics technology : blessing or curse”,
(1)Gagandeep Kaur, (2) Dilip Kumar,(1)Academic and
Consultancy Services-Division, Centre for Development
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[6] ‘Smart Agriculture System using IoT Technology’
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Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE)
ISSN: 2277-3878, Volume-7 Issue-5, January 2019
[7] ‘Exploring Economical & Environmental Benefits Of
Vertical Farming Using Multi Story Panels’
1 Archan.B.Bhangaonkar, 2 Munir.P.Joshi, 3 Sahil
S.Huseni
1 Student, Department of Civil Engineering, Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology, India
2 Student, Department of Civil Engineering, Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology, Vasad, India
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering,
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology, India
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Research Development(IJAERD)NCAN-2017,February-
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[8] ‘Vertical Farming: A Concept’
1 Rashmi Maria Royston, 2 Pavithra M.P.
1 (Civil Engineering, REVA Institute of Technology and
Management, Bangalore),
2 (Civil Engineering, REVA University, Bangalore)
International Journal of Engineering and Techniques -
Volume 4 Issue 3, May 2018
[9] ‘A Review of Vertical Farming Technology: A Guide for
Implementation of Building Integrated Agriculture in
Cities’
Fatemeh Kalantari 1 , Osman Mohd Tahir 2, Ahmad
Mahmoudi Lahijani 3 and Shahaboddin Kalantari 4,
1,2 Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of
Design and Architecture,
University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang,
Selangor, Malaysia
3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of
Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM
Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
4 Department of Civil Engineering, Islamic Azad
University of Chalous, Chalous, Iran. Advanced
Engineering Forum ISSN: 2234-991X, Vol. 24, pp 76-91
Accepted: 2017-09-05 Online: 2017-10-11
[10] ‘Monitoring Parameter Of Plant In Vertical Farming
Using Aeroponics Technique’
1 Gaikwad Suvarna 2 Pawar Prathamesh
3 Patil Priyanka
IRJET (International Research Journal of Engineering
and Technology) Volume: 07 Issue: 05 | May 2020

Internet of Things (IoT) Based Plant Monitoring System in an Aeroponics Vertical Farming Technique

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