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KISANVIKAS – AN ARDUINO, ANDROID BASED

SOLUTION FOR INDIAN AGRICULTURE

MTP Report submitted to

Indian Institute of Technology Mandi

for the award of the degree

of

B.Tech

by

Arpit Ajay Narechania (B11111)

Abhay Chowdhary (B11101)

under the guidance of

Dr. Arti Kashyap and Dr. Anil Kishan

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MANDI

JUNE 2015

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CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

Certified that the thesis entitled KISANVIKAS – AN ARDUINO, ANDROID BASED

SOLUTION FOR INDIAN AGRICULTURE submitted by ARPIT AJAY

NARECHANIA, ABHAY CHOWDHARY to Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, for

the award of the degree of B. Tech has been accepted after examination held today.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Faculty Advisor

Date:

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CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the thesis entitled KISANVIKAS – AN ARDUINO, ANDROID

BASED SOLUTION FOR INDIAN AGRICULTURE, submitted by Arpit Ajay

Narechania, Abhay Chowdhary to Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, is a record of

bona fide work under my (our) supervision and is worthy of consideration for the award

of the degree of B. Tech of the Institute.

__________________________ _______________________

Supervisor Supervisor

Date:

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DECLARATION BY THE STUDENTS

This is to certify that the thesis titled KISANVIKAS – AN ARDUINO, ANDROID

BASED SOLUTION FOR INDIAN AGRICULTURE, submitted by us to the Indian

Institute of Technology Mandi for the award of the degree of B. Tech is a bonazfide

record of work carried out by us under the supervision of Dr. Arti Kashyap and Dr. Anil

Kishan. The contents of this MTP, in full or in parts, have not been submitted to any other

Institute or University for the award of any degree or diploma.

Mandi, 175001

Date: 7th June 2015 Arpit Ajay

Narechania

Abhay Chowdhary

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List of Figures

User Registration Architecture for the application 5

The Login Screen 5

Process of retrieving weather data from server 6

The response from the weather in JSON format 7

Screenshot – various weather parameters 7

Screenshot – trend of maximum and minimum temperatures 7

Process of retrieving crop Mandi price data from server 8

Screenshot: Result of query for “Cotton on 21st March 2015 in Rajasthan” 8

Process of retrieving agricultural news by parsing RSS feeds 9

List of global news headlines for the topic of Agronomy 9

Screenshot: Redirection to access complete news article from the links 9

Screenshot: Application UI for Vehicle and Equipment database 10

Screenshot: Application UI for Harvested crop database 10

Screenshot: Successful modification to the database entries 10

Screenshot: Map view of the user’s field 11

List of snapshots of the field taken during the agricultural season with some notes 11

Screenshot: KVK locations based on the search query – ‘Gujarat’ 12

Result of KCC contact information for ‘Maharashtra, Goa, Daman, Diu region’ 12

CAD drawing of v1.0 of KisanVikas prototype in Solidworks 13

v1.0 of KisanVikas fabricated and running 13

Wiring diagram of the LCD, ultrasonic and infrared sensors using Fritzing 14

Infrared Sensor successfully detecting obstacles in v1.0 15

LCD screen with statuses of the IR sensors, ultrasonic sensor and pump status 15

Successful manual remote control over the plough actuated a by servo motor 15

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Architecture of the arduino­sensors­actuators network of the v2.0 prototype 16

Block diagram and Fritzing drawing of the Arduino mega­android connections 17

using HC­05 bluetooth module

Isometric CAD of KisanVikas v2.0 in Solidworks 17

Back view of KisanVikas v2.0 18

Front view of KisanVikas v2.0 18

KisanVikas v2.0 fabricated 19

The complete android­arduino system proposed featuring the prototype, 19

GSM operated switching system of pump

Block diagram and Fritzing wiring diagram of the Arduino Mega­ 20

motor driver connection to the wheels

Screenshot of the application trying to connect to the vehicle over Bluetooth 20

Screenshot of the dashboard with navigation buttons and the indicators 20

Pin­connections of HCSR04 ultrasonic sensor module to Arduino mega 21

Pin­connections of 2 (left and right) infrared (IR) sensor modules. 21

Ultrasonic sensor distance measurement and graph plotting setup 22

Graph being plotted on laptop of the ultrasonic distance sensor readings 22

Graph being plotted on laptop of the ultrasonic distance sensor readings 22

The actual wiring together of the modules – sensors and indicators 23

Video from the phone on the left can be seen in the phone on the right 23

Servo motor connection block diagram 24

Application UI to set plough angle and depth 24

The plough mechanism connected to the servo motor controlled by mobile phone 24

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Application UI to set seeding distance and depth 25

Seed sowing mechanism: Architecture 25

CAD of the seed sowing mechanism 25

Successful control over a submersible pump using android device 26

Architecture of the mobile MCU interface with the sensor­actuator networks 26

The working setup of the GSM controlled pump operation 27

Successful receipt of a test SMS from a SIM card installed on the GSM shield 27

connected to the Arduino mega microcontroller

Arduino Serial Monitor displaying the moisture sensor values 28

Screenshot: Pump operations over Bluetooth 29

Pump operations over GSM 29

Screenshot: Real time graph plotted in the app for the moisture sensor data 29

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List of Tables

Registered users info in a MySQL database table 5

Database tables of the inventory system in Excel 11

Sensor data tabulated every 2 minutes and exported into Microsoft Excel format 29

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Abstract

Agriculture accounts for ~15% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India but

employs close to 50% of the working population. Average yield in India is quite low

compared to other countries. Advances in Information and Communication Technology

(ICT) and the government initiatives in e­governance are only promoting e­agriculture in

India. This can not only improve the condition of Indian agriculture but also the life and

working conditions of the farmers. This project proposes KisanVikas (Farmer

Development), an android application, using ICT and promoting e­governance by provide

continuous information pertaining to agriculture like weather forecast, crop prices, news,

government helplines, and an inventory database manager. The app wirelessly controls a

robot which can perform various operations like ploughing, seed sowing and watering

(irrigation). The live video feed from an on­board camera is continuously visible onto the

app for better monitoring. It also connects to an Arduino based wireless sensor network

(WSN) comprising soil moisture, temperature sensors to control switching of water

pumps for watering small fields, irrigation over the Global System for Mobile

communication (GSM) and Bluetooth networks.

Keywords: e­agriculture, ICT, (WSN) wireless sensor networks, android application,

arduino, multipurpose agricultural operations

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CONTENTS

Title Page i

Certificate of Approval ii

Certificate by the Supervisor iii

Declaration iv

List of Figures v

List of Tables viii

Abstract ix

Contents x

Chapter 1 Introduction and Literature Review 1

Chapter 2 Software – Mobile Application (Android) 5

2.1 Sign In and Registration 5

2.2 Weather Forecast 6

2.3 Commodity Market Prices 7

2.4 Agricultural News 8

2.5 Farm Manager (Inventory Management) 9

2.6 Map of Field 11

2.7 Farmer Helplines 12

Chapter 3 Hardware – Wireless Agricultural Operations 13

3.1 KisanVikas v1.0 13

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3.1.1 Overview 13

3.1.2 Milestones 14

3.1.3 Wiring Diagrams 14

3.2 KisanVikas v2.0 15

3.2.1 Overview 15

3.2.2 Milestones 16

3.2.3 Navigation 19

3.2.4 Obstacle Avoidance and indicators 21

3.2.5 Live Video Streaming 23

3.2.6 Ploughing Mechanism 24

3.2.7 Seed Sowing Mechanism 25

3.2.8 Irrigation and Water Pumping Mechanism 26

3.3 Wireless Pump Operations 27

3.3.1 over GSM 28

3.3.2 over Bluetooth 29

Chapter 4 Results and Discussions 30

4.1 Software – Android application 30

4.2 Hardware – Sensors and Actuators 30

Chapter 5 Conclusions and Future Scope of Study 31

References 32

Appendix SolidWorks drawing sheets of various prototype parts 35

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Chapter 1 – Introduction and Literature Review

Agriculture, “The backbone of Indian economy” as quoted by MK Gandhi is defined as

an integrated system of techniques to control the growth and harvesting of animal and

vegetables. It is an uncomplicated endeavor comprising of technical and practical

processes that helps in the maintenance of the ecological balance and protects human

resources; most importantly it is a viable food production system (Agro Products 2015).

In 2012­13 agriculture contributed to 13.9% of the total GDP (Economic Survey & CSO

2014, p. 23), and employed 47% of the total workforce population (World Bank 2014).

The combined efforts of Central Government, State Governments and the farming

community have succeeded in achieving a record production of 264 MT of food grains

during 2013­14 (Economic Survey & CSO 2014, p. 19). This record production has been

achieved through effective transfer of latest crop production technologies to farmers under

various crop development schemes being implemented by the Department of Agriculture

& Cooperation backed by remunerative prices for various crops through enhanced

minimum support prices. As Indian economy has diversified and grown, agriculture's

contribution to GDP has steadily declined from 1951 to 2014, yet it is still the largest

employment source and a significant piece of the overall socio­economic development of

India. Crop yield per unit area of all crops have grown since 1950, due to the special

emphasis placed on agriculture in the five­year plans and steady improvements in

irrigation, technology, application of modern agricultural practices and provision of

agricultural credit and subsidies since the Green Revolution in India. However,

international comparisons reveal the average yield in India is generally 30% to 50% of the

highest average yield in the world (Economy of India 2014).

There are 38 crore mobile telephones in rural areas, 9 crore farm households and Internet

penetration is currently at 5% but improving (TRAI, GoI 2014). Rural India leads a record

35% surge in use of e­governance. Of the 3.5 billion electronic transactions reported in

2014, 50% of them were from rural areas, which were responsible for only 20% of e­

transactions in 2013 (Patil, 2015). This increasing penetration of mobile networks in India

therefore presents an opportunity to make useful information more widely available. This

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could help agricultural markets operate more efficiently, and overcome some of the

hurdles faced by it.

Mobile or smart phones are becoming an essential device for all types of users

irrespective of the age group. High resolution cameras, high definition video with huge

amount of memory; internet browsing through your handset and 3G and Wireless LAN

connectivity; hardware like GPS, accelerometers, gyroscopes, Bluetooth are common to

find on smartphones these days. Android, the open­source mobile operating system

developed by Google, is quickly becoming the smartphone operating system choice for

all. As of June'14 there were 57,380,000+ Google Android and 4,854,000+ Apple iOS

users in India [Webenza Survey 2014].

The Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India, started various schemes in the interests of the

farmers for mobile phones. The mKisan Portal (Ministry of Agriculture, GoI 2014)

inaugurated in July'13 by Honorable President of India has received as of 1,85,40,07,285

messages, 5,74,40,63,746 and 237,777 advises as of 8th April'15. The weekly/ daily stock

availability with dealers of seeds and fertilizers was made available at Rs. 5/month/dealer.

USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data), IVRS (Interactive Voice Response

System) and Pull SMS provide broadcast messages – to get web based services on mobile

without internet, in their language and voice messages for the illiterate. Based on NSS

(National Sample Survey Organization) 59th Round Survey (cited by Singhal, Verma &

Shukla 2011) the information regarding seeds was the most inquired information followed

by the mandi (market) prices by the farmers. Based on the survey, the most important

requirements of the farmers were divided into 3 broad categories ­know­how about seed

varieties to use; contextual information for weather, local soil conditions; and market

information about commodity prices.

According to Saravanan R. (2014), there are many mobile advisory services in India, both

by private as well as public sectors. Most of these are however regional services offered

by the state governments directly or by the center for a particular region. Because of this,

there is not only discontinuity in services across the nation but also a language barrier for

out­of­state people.

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Some initiatives in the public sector are Kissan Helpline (Farmer helpline), Mandi on

Mobile Service by BSNL, Kissan Kerala, vKVK (Virtual KrishiVigyan Kendra), and

Mobile based Agro­Advisory System in North­East India (m4agriNEI). Private sector

services include Fasal (crop), Awaaz de (voice it), Videokheti (video farming), Mandi

Bhav (market price).

Extensive research has taken place in this field of using information and communication

technology for agricultural purposes. Prabhakar, Jamadagni, & Sudhangathan (2013),

write about a ‘datamule’ which captures data from sensors like soil moisture in the field

and is communicated over WiFi network to a mobile phone. Wilton, Hans and Carlos

(2014) propose a telemetry system to record soil moisture, temperature data and store into

a database for future diagnosis. Ariff, and Ismail (2013) have proposed an android

application to maintain a database of various information related to the livestock in the

farm. Singhal, Verma, and Shukla (2011) have developed an android application which

provides information in the form of crop prices, weather information, farmer loan

schemes, etc to the user.

So utilizing the available technology, it is quite possible to make an android mobile

controlled vehicle which can wirelessly perform certain simple operations for the farmers

improving their lives to a great extent.

Fue, Schueller, et.al (2014) proposed an integrated controller prototype of a solar­powered

system that uses low cost electronic devices to automate drip irrigation and to determine

when and how much to irrigate.

Shivaprasad, Ravishankara and Shobha (June 2014) designed a remote controlled system

for seeding and fertilizing agriculture robot using a microcontroller. It also checked soil

pH, temperature, moisture, humidity.

So it is quite evident that extensive research is being carried in the autonomous agriculture

or robotics in agriculture sector to not only suffice for lack of labor in some countries, but

also improve the overall standard of living of the farmers. In this project a similar system

is proposed which can wirelessly not only sow seeds or fertilizers but also plough and

water (irrigate) the field if required. All this using a mobile application on an android

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device which is quite common nowadays. Switching on and off of pumps from long

distances over the GSM network using SMSs is also possible to prevent the farmer from

staying back just to operate the pumps. The application also assists the farmer with real

time data inputs about agriculture like weather forecast, crop prices, latest news and

helplines to the nearest Kisan Call Centers (KCC) and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) for

guidance, grievance or complaints. It also offers a real time map of the field with

continuous monitoring of the vehicle but also documents the growing crop with time to

time screenshots. An inventory manager will help the farmer better manage his assets and

inventories or any unpaid errands or dues with dealers.

The above mentioned features and their methodologies are explained in detail next.

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Chapter 2 ­ Software – Mobile Application (Android)

2.1: Sign in and Registration

The app requires the user to sign up with his mobile number, a 4 digit numerical

password. The user is verified by sending a SMS to this number (i.e. itself) and detecting

it. Upon successful verification, the registration details are written through a PHP script

and HTTP Client Server APIs into a MySQL database at a remote central server. The

database table returns JSON data every time the user attempts a sign in which is parsed to

allow further access or not. The registration system architecture [Fig 1] as well as the

recorded user database table are shown [Table 1].

Fig 1: User Registration Architecture for the application

Fig 2: The Login screen

Table 1: Registered users info in a MySQL database table

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2.2: Weather Forecast:

A HTTP Connection is made to the OpenWeatherMap and Yahoo! Web service over

WiFi/ GPRS which queries the data from servers. The data which the client gets regarding

forecast is in the Extensible Markup Language (XML) and JavaScript Object Notation

(JSON) formats. XML provides a language which can be used between different

platforms and programming languages and still it can express complex messages and

functions. JSON is used primarily to transmit human­readable text consisting of

attribute–value pairs between a server and web application. Figure 3 shows the

architecture of retrieving information as well as the weather data, which is in the form of

XML [Fig 4] and is parsed before being displayed in the application screen. User can

search based on current GPS location or directly by city name; the 5 days’ forecast

includes information about – weather type, image, min­max temperature, pressure, wind

speed, humidity, clouds; graphical trend over the next week of various parameters are also

available in the app for visual aid [Fig 5]. These data will enable the farmer to better plan

his actions during the agricultural cycle like taking precautionary measures over a

predicted hailstorm, and hence safeguard his interests.

Fig 3: Process of retrieving weather data from server

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Fig 4: The response from the weather in JSON format

Fig 5: Screenshot ­ various weather parameters

Fig 6: Screenshot: trend of maximum and minimum temperatures over the next 5 days

2.3: Commodity Market Prices:

Agricultural commodities are traded in mandis (markets) at the district level. The

government sets support prices to stabilize the prices but the Mandi prices are dynamic.

The farmer, to access these prices enters the date, crop name and the Indian state. The

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application uses APIs provided by Open Government Data (OGD) – Platform India to

make HTTP requests to the Agmarket Portal servers from where data in XML format is

received, which, after formatting, is made available on the app in a human­readable form

[Fig 7]. The result table contains information about market (district name), arrival

quantity (in MT), origin, variety, grade, minimum price, maximum price, and modal price

(in Rs. / quintal) [Fig 8]. With a rough idea about the prices, the chances of a farmer being

exploited and cheated are minimized.

Fig 7: Process of retrieving crop mandi price data from server

Fig 8: Screenshot: Result of query for “Cotton on 21st March 2015 in Rajasthan”

2.4: Agricultural News:

Keeping oneself updated about the happenings in and around the world is essential in

taking precautions or planning for a better produce. An HTTP Connection is made to the

database/ web server over WiFi/ GPRS which gets the data from AgriFeeds and

indiaTogether websites. The data, in the form of RSS Feeds is parsed and then displayed

in viewable form [Fig 9]. News are obtained using RSS feeds on 82 topics globally,

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national (pertaining to India) or regional (state­wise news). Clicking on the headlines

enables reading of the complete article [Fig 11].

Fig 9: Process of retrieving agricultural news by parsing RSS feeds

Fig 10: Screenshot: List of global news headlines for the topic of Agronomy

Fig 11: Screenshot: Redirection to access complete news article from the links

2.5: Farm Manager (Inventory management):

The application has an in­built farm manager module with which the user can better manage his field and crops. The farmer can keep a track of his assets, inventories and also his cropping cycle. 1: Vehicles and attachments – name, id, purchase date, cost, last, next servicing dates [Fig 12]

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2: harvested crops – name, quantity, harvest date, amount unsold and check date [Fig 13]. 3: seeds and fertilizers ­ name, quantity, purchase date, cost, quantity remaining.The app also generates alarms based on these dates to remind the farmer about upcoming servicing, maintenance dates. A SQLite database for android is used to manage (insert, edit, delete, view) the data. The SQLite database is exported to the more common Microsoft Excel format (.xlsx) using Android APIs [Table 2].

Fig 12: Screenshot: Application UI for Vehicle and Equipment database

Fig 13: Screenshot: Application UI for Harvested crop database

Fig 14: Screenshot: Successful modification to the database entries

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Table 2: Database tables of the inventory system successfully converted into Microsoft

Excel format

2.6: Map of Field:

Google Maps V2.0 API was used to display the area around the farmer’s current position

(supposedly near his field). The map features the terrain, normal, marker only views [Fig

15]. There is also a map screenshot option to take timely snapshots during the crop cycle

[Fig 16] to monitor his crop for healthy growth.

Fig 15: Screenshot: Map view of the user’s field

Fig 16: List of snapshots of the field taken during the agricultural season with some notes

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2.7: Farmer Helplines:

As stated earlier, the Indian government comes up with time to time schemes and farmer assisting centers fostering e­governance. The Indian government has come up with Kisan Vikas Kendras (KVK), and Kisan Call Centres (KCC) as advisories to respond to issues raised by farmers instantly as well as continuously in their local languages. There is a toll free helpline of the KCC set up by the government at the farmers’ disposal. The application provides the state wise addresses and contact information of the various KVKs [Fig 17] and KCCs [Fig 18] in the country.

Fig 17: Screenshot: KVK locations based on the search query – ‘Gujarat’

Fig 18: Result of KCC contact information for ‘Maharashtra, Goa, Daman, Diu region’

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Chapter 3: Wireless Agricultural Operations

Section 3.1: KisanVikas v1.0 prototype

3.1.1: Overview

A 4­wheeled robot prototype [CAD model ­ Fig 19; fabricated model – Fig 20] was

fabricated to test controlling it wirelessly using an android cell phone. The robot moves

with DC motors driving the rear wheels and is steered using a servo motor connected as

an articulated steer. It featured an onboard plough actuated using a servo motor.

Ultrasonic and infrared sensors were mounted on the front and side of the bot to detect

obstacles and range their distances. 16x2 LCD screen, LEDs and a buzzer were connected

to serve the purpose of indicators to alert the user of special events.

Fig 19: CAD drawing of v1.0 of KisanVikas prototype in SolidworksTM

Fig 20: v1.0 of KisanVikas fabricated and running

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3.1.2: Milestones:

Successful remote control of the 2 DC motors on the rear wheels

Successful working of the ultrasonic and infrared sensors [Fig 22]. The readings were

sent to the serial monitor of the Arduino IDE for diagnosis and testing purposes. The

readings are also visible on a 16x2 LCD screen connected to the microcontroller.

[Fig 23]

Successful parsing of the distances to sound buzzers in case of distance being out of

range or below a certain threshold (4 cm used) in case of ultrasonic sensor; and when

the infrared sensor changes state due to an obstacle.

Successful manual potentiometer based control over the angle of the servo motor

(plough mechanism) [Fig 25].

3.1.3: Wiring diagrams (drawn using open source Fritzing software)

LCD + Ultrasonic sensor + Infrared Sensors + Arduino Mega microcontroller [Fig 22]

Fig 22: Wiring diagram of the LCD, ultrasonic and infrared sensors using Fritzing

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Fig 23: Infrared Sensor successfully detecting obstacles in v1.0.

Fig 24: LCD screen with statuses of the IR sensors, ultrasonic sensor and pump status.

Fig 25: Successful manual remote control over the plough actuated a by servo motor.

Section 3.2 – KisanVikas v2.0

3.2.1: Overview

v2.0 is more feature driven and compact than v1.0. It is a 4 wheel drive now with

individual control over every wheel. The articulated servo steering has been let gone. The

CAD screenshots (FV, BV and isometric view) can be seen in Figure 28, Figure 29 and

Figure 30. The fabricated prototype can be seen in Figure 31 and Figures 32.

A HC­05 Bluetooth module was connected to the same microcontroller to establish a

duplex communication channel between itself and the android phone [Fig 27]. Because

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this is a real time connection, there is continuous exchange of data at a high rate. The data

from phone to Arduino controls the robot whereas the return channel contains real time

data of the readings of the ultrasonic and infrared sensors. The complete architecture is

shown in Figure 26.

Fig 26: Architecture of the android­arduino­sensors­actuators network of the v2.0

prototype

3.2.2: Milestones

Successful connection between android phone and Arduino mega over Bluetooth

channel using HC­05 with dual exchange of data.

Controlling 4 DC motors wirelessly over Bluetooth.

Controlling the angle of a plough using Pulse Width Modulation (PWM Signal

application) onto a Servo motor.

Controlling the rate of flow of water (pumping action) from a reservoir tank on top

of the prototype into the furrows dug by the plough wirelessly over Bluetooth.

Successful switching on and off of pumps remotely (large distances) using the

GSM network based on readings from a soil moisture sensor.

Live video streaming from an on board camera onto the user’s mobile phone.

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Fig 27: Block diagram and Fritzing drawing of the Arduino mega­android connections

using HC­05 bluetooth module

Fig 28: Isometric CAD of KisanVikas v2.0 in Solidworks

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Fig 29: Back view of KisanVikas v2.0

Fig 30: Front view of KisanVikas v2.0

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Fig 31: KisanVikas v2.0 fabricated

Fig 32: The complete android­arduino system proposed featuring the prototype as well as

the GSM operated switching system of pump.

3.2.3 ­ Navigation

The DC motors are connected to the Arduino via a L298 IC powered motor shield [Figure

33] which caters to the current requirements of the motor under load and protects the

microcontroller from over­current and burnout. It also allows the direction of the motors

to be reversed as well as allows speed control. The android application connects itself to

the HC­05 bluetooth module [Figure 27]. Once successful connection is established, the

dashboard is visible with the navigation buttons, LED indicators and the ultrasonic sensor

graph [Figure 35].

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Fig 33: Block diagram and Fritzing wiring diagram of the Arduino Mega­motor driver

connection to the wheels

Fig 34: Screenshot of the application trying to connect to the vehicle over Bluetooth

Fig 35: Screenshot of the dashboard with navigation buttons and the indicators

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3.2.4: Obstacle avoidance and indicators

An ultrasonic sensor module is placed in the front of the robot continuously measuring

distance to the nearest obstacle [Fig 36(a)]. Its range of operation was found to be

<~200cm. 2 infrared sensor modules are placed on either side of the vehicle which toggle

their states whenever obstructed by an obstacle [Fig 36(b)]. Real time data from these

sensors is sent to the android smartphone via Bluetooth as well as to the computer over

serial port. Real time graph is observed on the computer/ laptop through Processing IDE

[Fig 38, Fig 39] as well as on the android app using open source graphing libraries –

AchartEngine and GraphView.

Data is also displayed on a 16x2 LCD module fitted on the robot just as in v1.0. A buzzer

functions as a horn to alert human/ animal obstacles and LEDs are also there acting as

indicators.

Fig 36 (a): Pin­connections of HCSR04 ultrasonic sensor module to Arduino mega.

Fig 36 (b): Pin­connections of 2 (left and right) infrared (IR) sensor modules to Arduino

mega.

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Fig 37: Ultrasonic sensor distance measurement and graph plotting setup

Fig 38: Graph being plotted on laptop of the ultrasonic distance sensor readings

Fig 39: Graph being plotted on laptop of the ultrasonic distance sensor readings

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Fig 40: The actual wiring together of the modules – infrared, ultrasonic, LCD, motor

driver, motors.

3.2.5: Live Video Streaming

The android dashboard screen [Fig 35] features an option to stream live video from an

android mobile’s camera fitted on the front of the vehicle. Video is streamed over the

WiFi/ 2G network and can be viewed from the farmer’s application just by entering the IP

address of the camera device. Figure 41 shows this functionality in action.

Fig 41: Video from the phone on the left can be seen in the phone on the right

3.2.6: Ploughing mechanism

A plough mechanism was attached to a servo motor fixed on the robot [Fig 44] whose

angle was controlled by Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signals from the PWM pins of

the Arduino Mega2560 [Fig 42]. A unique property of a servo motor is to apply reverse

torque to retain its position when under load. The farmer can currently control the depth

of the plough by setting in the application UI [Fig 43]. The depth inputted calculates the

angle moved by servo and hence the PWM value.

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Fig 42: Servo motor connection block diagram

Fig 43: Application UI to set plough angle and depth

Fig 44: The plough mechanism connected to the servo motor controlled by mobile phone

3.2.7: Seed sowing mechanism

A small container with small seeds opened by a latch controlled by a solenoid valve is

fitted on the bottom layer of the prototype. The solenoid is powered externally due to its

heavy current requirements and so a transistor TIP210 is used as a switch to enable high

voltage supply to the solenoid with a low voltage signal from the microcontroller.

Currently, the seeding distance can be set by the farmer which is set in the android app

[Fig 45]. It is maintained by calculating the vehicle speed and accordingly controlling the

opening and closing of the latch operated by the solenoid. Complete architecture is shown

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in Figure 46. For clarity, Figure 47 shows CAD screenshot of the proposed seed sowing

mechanism.

Fig 45: Application UI to set seeding distance and depth

Fig 46: Seed sowing mechanism: Architecture

Fig 47: CAD of the seed sowing mechanism.

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3.2.8: Irrigation and water pumping mechanism

The user can wirelessly switch on­off water pumps from the android application directly.

A 6V submersible pump was submerged in a small water tank on vehicle with its

terminals connected to the microcontroller pin and ground. The user can enable or disable

pumping which will either start or stop dispensing fluid (water) from the vehicle onto the

field. This was successfully demonstrated as shown in Figure 48.

Fig 48: Successful control over a submersible pump using android device

Section 3.3: Wireless Pump Operations

The mobile application is designed to establish a dual communication with an Arduino

microcontroller controlled wireless sensor network and water pump. 2 types of wireless

networks, namely GSM and Bluetooth, were used to establish this communication

channel. 1 sensor measuring soil moisture is connected to the microcontroller and it sends

its readings to the android application for diagnosis as well as appropriate decision

making on operating the pumps. The system architecture is shown in Figure 49.

Fig 49: Architecture of the mobile (android) ­ microcontroller (arduino) interface with the

sensor­actuator networks.

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3.3.1: Over GSM

The merit of using this communication channel is that it can be operated over long

distances too. An Arduino GSM shield with a SIM card was connected to the

microcontroller and the wireless sensor network. The farmer queries for the status of the

sensors before taking a decision. The SMS received from the microcontroller contains the

current pump status and the sensor readings at that very instant [Fig 51]. Taking stock of

these readings farmer can remotely switch on­off the water pumps by setting the target

soil moisture parameter. The pump will be switched ON till the farmer specified soil

moisture value is reached. The setup is demonstrated in Figure 50.

Fig 50: The working setup of the GSM controlled pump operation

Fig 51: Successful receipt of a test SMS from a SIM card installed on the GSM shield

connected to the Arduino mega microcontroller.

39

Fig 52: Arduino Serial Monitor displaying the moisture sensor values for dry, semi­dry

and wet soil conditions.

3.3.2: Over Bluetooth

When the farmer is at his field, he can directly connect the android application with the

wireless pump system over Bluetooth. A HC­05 Bluetooth module was connected to the

same microcontroller to establish a duplex communication channel between itself and the

android smart phone [Fig 53]. Data is encrypted, for example, into strings like

<!“data”\n!> where “data” is the actual data for example – start; '<' is the start bit, '!' is the

start confirm bit, ‘\n’ is the end of data bit. Similarly, '!' is the end bit and '>' is the end

confirm bit. This encryption is necessary to avoid any noise (fuzzy data) collected by the

sensors from the environment. For example: The string value for retrieving the sensor

information is <!“57” \n!> which has various sensor readings in the order of moisture.

Because this is a real time connection, there is continuous exchange of data at a high rate.

The application records the sensor readings every 2 minutes and graphs all the sensor

readings over time for diagnosis [Fig 55]. The readings are also saved in a local sqlite

database table only to be exported to the excel format later [Table 3].

40

Fig 53: Screenshot: Pump operations over Bluetooth

Fig 54: Pump operations over GSM

Fig 55: Screenshot: Real time graph plotted in the app for the moisture sensor values

received over Bluetooth.

Table 3: Sensor data tabulated every 2 minutes and exported into Microsoft Excel format

Chapter 4: Results and Discussion

41

As discussed above, the app is successfully communicating with the remote servers to extract information pertaining to crops, etc. Actuators and sensors are all working in tandem.

Section 4.1: Software – Android application

a. Application user database: The sign up process of the android application records the user related information and stores it in a table in a MySQL database hosted at a remote server.

b. Crop results: The data successfully being received from the government servers (http://www.agmarket.nic.in and APIs from http://www.data.gov.in).

c. Weather forecasts: The data is successfully being received from the Yahoo! Weather API servers based on both GPS and search by place.

d. News: Successful retrieving of news on global, national and regional topics using RSS Feeds from government undertaking.

e. Map screenshot database: Database (ListView) of map screenshot along with timestamp and the note associated.

f. Inventory manager: Records of various inventory and assets like Vehicle and Equipment, Harvested crop, seeds and fertilizer quantity, etc.

Section 4.2 – Hardware – Sensors and Actuators

a. Ultrasonic sensor readings: The sensor was installed on the prototype which calculated the distance to the next obstacle. The distances are recorded continuously and when the critical distance goes below a 4 cm threshold (testing value), an alert is sounded and according action is taken. The data recorded is also sent to the android app for the user to monitor and graphed, both on the app and the computer.

b. Infrared sensor readings: Two infrared sensor modules also indicate presence/absence of any nearby obstacles while making turns or so. Their readings and statuses are recorded and seen on the app screen.

c. Pump and moisture sensor: The statuses of the submersible pump and the moisture sensor successfully controlled using the android application over the GSM network. The sensor readings are continuously sent to the android phone over Bluetooth when in vicinity for diagnosis and testing.

d. Plough: The plough mechanism assembled onto the servo motor was successfully tested on 5 separate positions using the android phone’s Bluetooth and HC­05 Bluetooth module with the microcontroller.

e. Seed sowing: A servo motor controls the opening which dispenses seeds through 3 separate channels into the furrows created by the plough. The seed sowing setup in action before being mounted onto the robot prototype.

Chapter 7: Conclusion and Future Work

42

KisanVikas will reduce farmer ill health due to severe field working conditions like direct exposure to vehicular vibrations, etc. Research is going on to enable communication over radio frequency as well as WiFi because of their long and very long communication ranges respectively. The possibility of a solar panel to be installed to provide power in remote villages of the country will also be considered. The availability of agricultural information directly in a farmer’s hand without him being dependent on neighbors or zamindars or even waiting for a SMS response from the mKisan portal like schemes, will enable the farmers to take better decisions in short time. This will not only foster greater productivity but will improve a farmer’s life reducing stress and also instilling zeal to learn new technology which is essential in this era of Digital Revolution. Some other areas of agriculture whose information is frequently required by farmers are about seeds and fertilizers, the loan schemes from various banks, etc. The application currently is offered in 8 Indian regional languages but agricultural data from web services is only in English. Future versions and work on the application will be to incorporate the above features.

References

43

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Appendix A

46

CAD drawing sheets of the parts and components used to fabricate the prototype.

1. V2.0 prototype

2. V1.0 prototype

3. 1 L­shaped link

4. 1 U­shaped link

5. 2 Linear link

6. 3 U­shaped link

7. 5 C­shaped link

8. 7 Linear link

9. Arduino UNO

10. Circular link top

11. Circular link bottom

12. HC­05 Bluetooth module

13. Breadboard

14. Ceramic capacitor

15. V1.0 chassis bottom

16. V1.0 chassis top

17. Stepper motor

18. DC 300 RPM Central shaft motor

19. Front wheel (Small)

20. Infrared Sensor assembly

21. 16x2 LCD screen

22. Red LED

23. White LED

24. Arduino MEGA 2560

25. Micromax Canvas Smartphone

26. DC Geared Motor

27. L298 based motor driver

28. Plow mechanism

29. Submersible Pump

47

30. L – shaped rectangular link

31. Linear rectangular link

32. Resistor

33. Seed sowing mechanism

34. Servo motor

35. Servo motor assembly

36. Steering system

37. Stepper motor

38. Ultrasonic sensor

39. Wheel v2.0