An Integrated System for Smart and Efficient Irrigation of Crop Fields

Abstract

The widespread adoption of new technologies has led to the development of various innovative solutions in agriculture. Crop monitoring using drones for early detection of plant diseases, autonomous machinery for soil preparation, and various robotic systems for harvesting and sorting fruits are just some examples of technology application to increase productivity in agricultural production. This paper describes an integrated system solution for irrigating agricultural production plots aimed at increasing production efficiency while efficiently utilizing necessary resources. All system components (hardware and software) are custom designed, taking into account real-world aspects and constraints in the field. The paper provides a detailed description of all functional units of the system, as well as preliminary experiences with the operation of the implemented prototype system. We also provides some initial characterization of the soil moisture probe that is designed in-house by running extensive LTSpice simulations.