Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Situation Analysis

In our everyday life, water is very essential. It is considered to be one of the basic

needs of human beings, animals, etc. Plants, on the other hand, are also essential to us

particularly in providing the food we eat, medicines that cure our illnesses and as raw

material in manufacturing fabric for clothing. Plants also act as settling chambers to

address pollution. Like us, plants also need water in their food production known as

photosynthesis. Plants make use of carbon dioxide, water and sun to produce their food.

In addition, water is considered one of the basic needs for plant growth. Hence, plants

should receive sufficient amount of water to ensure their lives.

Water scarcity, whether a natural phenomenon like El Niño or drought caused by

human abuse is a state where there is lack of sufficient available water resource to meet

the demands of a region. Water consumption takes place everywhere. Unfortunately,

some water resource gets wasted, polluted and improperly managed. There is no global

water scarcity reported, but a number of places and regions are chronically short of water

because its use at the global level has increased more than twice as fast as the population

over the last century. Pressure on water resources scarcity is increasing in several parts of

the world, especially in China, India, Pakistan, in the Middle East and many other

countries and regions in Africa (Survey Impulse, 2018).

As stated by Sentlinger (2017), water scarcity has a huge impact on food

production. Without water, people do not have means of watering their crops which

1
results to shortage of food supply for the fast-growing population. In attempts to fix this

growing problem, many have tried to form more effective methods of water management.

One method is irrigation management. Although many irrigations are already

implemented, there should be a close monitoring in the event of watering crops and

improve practices related to farming to help in conserving of water.

El Niño is one of natural phenomenon faced not just by farmers but everyone.

Agriculture is one of the main sectors of the economy that could be severely affected by

the El Niño phenomenon. According to FAO (2015), the 2015- 2016 El Niño is one of the

strongest on record and it could happen again in the future. The only solution to minimize

the effect of this natural phenomenon is to conserve water.

El Niño appears differently from one occasion to another, the surest characteristic

is that it creates tremendous changes in weather patterns. Indonesia, Philippines, and

Australia mostly witness much drier conditions than usual together with drought, forest

fires and poor crop yields. These conditions are experienced when the winds that fetch

rain to these regions become weaker. It is believed that the deadliest global famine in

1876 that contributed to the millions of deaths was due to the effects of El Niño (NOAA,

2010).

In India, scarcity of water is a major problem faced by the farmers due to lack of

efficient water management and distribution of water between urban consumers, the

agriculture sector and industry. To overcome this problem, farm ponds have been created

and re- using of water has been applied like after washing vegetables use it to water the

plants (Namdev, 2018).

2
 Water scarcity is also severe in China. According to Jiang (2013), water pollution,

and overuse of water are the major contributor of water scarcity in China. In response,

farmers build reservoirs and dykes to have a flood control system for key rivers. This

improved water resources management in supporting irrigated lands.

As stated by Mohsan (2018), Pakistan is also facing shortage of water. All the

fertile land of Pakistan is turning into deserts. In the growing season of crops farmers did

not have the proper water to irrigate the land according to the needs, as well as for

livestock. So, to address this need, farmers used the groundwater to irrigate the land and

this is the main reason that water table is decreasing day by day. They built dams in order

to prevent the loss of water that goes into the Arabian Sea every year.

In Indonesia, El Niño strongly affected their rice barns since there were mostly

located in monsoonal type-climatic zones. It contributes greatly to drought over the

region. With this, farmers improved irrigation systems and used climate-risk management

with effective use of climate information to help manage water resources, particularly in

scheduling rain harvesting and water shortage (Ilhamsyah, 2019).

El Niño also occurs in Australia. It reduced rainfall that leads drought affecting

farmers. Drought is a vital issue, particularly as climate change adds further pressure to

farmers and farmlands. Farmers found a solution by improving the rivers, dams, native

vegetation and trees that make their land increase productivity and the resilience of the

land to drought (Jolly, 2016).

In the Philippines, El Niño is parching farms and drying up water supplies. North

Cotobato, located in Central Mindanao is one of the worst-hit areas. Farmers have

3
foregone planting rice paddy in usually rain-fed farms because El Niño has scorched their

farmlands (Sarmiento, 2019).

In La Union, according to Manipon (2019), farmers have also been affected by the

El Niño phenomenon. The effect of the phenomenon is not felt by the farmers because in

the Ilocos Region (Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte), the farmers are

used to long dry climate. Farmers have already adjusted because they had already

experienced six months of dry season and six months of wet season even before climate

change. Some farmers planted ahead of schedule-before the El Niño strikes, while others

have improved their irrigation system. Yet the improvement of the irrigation system is not

yet enough to be a permanent solution to help farmers survive the drying of lands and

drought caused by El Niño.

One of the solutions that minimized the effects of El Niño phenomenon is by the

used of automated systems. As technology introduced, automated systems become a

greater help to farmers in being more efficient specifically in dry seasons. Automated

systems become a need in human’s daily life routine to reduce their daily activities and

jobs. One of this is automated irrigation system. In this system, soil moisture sensor

senses the moisture level of the soil. If soil will get dry then sensor senses low moisture

level and automatically switches on the water pump to supply water to the plant. As plant

get sufficient water and soil get wet then sensor senses enough moisture in soil. After

which the water pump will automatically get stopped.

Another system that has been developed is Smart Farming system. This system

consists of two main parts. The first one is a sensor system, which includes temperature

and humidity sensor, a soil moisture sensor, rain sensor, water level sensor and light

4
intensity sensor. The second part covers the control system. The control system includes a

blower, watering system and roofing system. The system provides the sensed data from

all the sensors to help the farmers make a proper decision about controlling the system.

These systems have been constructed using arduino as the main component of the project

that acts as the brain of the system.

Over the years Arduino has been the brain of thousands of projects, from

everyday objects to complex scientific instruments. A worldwide community of makers -

students, hobbyists, artists, programmers, and professionals - has gathered around this

open-source platform, their contributions have added up to an incredible amount

of accessible knowledge that can be of great help to novices and experts alike.

Arduino was born at the Ivrea Interaction Design Institute as an easy tool for fast

prototyping, aimed at students without a background in electronics and programming. As

soon as it reached a wider community, the Arduino board started changing to adapt to

new needs and challenges, differentiating its offer from simple 8-bit boards to products

for IoT applications, wearable, 3D printing, and embedded environments. All Arduino

boards are completely open-source, empowering users to build them independently and

eventually adapt them to their particular needs. The software, too, is open-source, and it

is growing through the contributions of users worldwide (Ben, 2011).

Barangay Palugsi-Limmansangan, Bauang La Union is one of the places that gets

affected of water shortage during or at the start of summer. Natural resources of water

like falls, rivers and pit water provides lesser supply of water during dry season resulting

to insufficient water for the crops. It also happens that the farmers there tend to use dipper

and bucket in watering their plants because of financial problems of not having enough

5
tools in watering. It became a big problem to them because the crops that are planted

there needed a proper amount of water to care of in which they can’t provide enough

during summer season.

The researchers found out that problems that occur in farms have been a global

issue. This lead the government and farmers to perform or create different solution

depending on the problem occurs on their farms. These solutions have gone into different

ways such as deploying irrigation systems, using different tools in watering their plants,

and also with the use of automated systems. The researchers observed that automated

systems with the use of arduino have been much more a great help for farmers.

In accordance to the stated facts and scenarios, the researchers aim to develop

Pautobig: Arduino-Based Automated Plant Watering System with SMS Notification

design to help farmers in watering their plants/crops. This system will be completely

automated and there is no need for any human intervention. It is a system that was based

in agricultural purposes.

The proposed system entitled “Pautobig: Arduino-Based Automated Plant

Watering System with SMS Notification” is an automated system that will be very useful

in farms that uses sensors that checks moisture level in the soil and check also the water

level on the water pump. It will help farmers in Barangay Palugsi- Limmansangan,

Bauang La Union by minimizing water usage in its highest potential. The system also has

a SMS notification that allows the arduino board to send a message to the user including

the status of the water pump and soil moisture. It enables the user to monitor the status of

his/her crops any day and anywhere. There is no need for the user to manually going to

farm just to check the crops.

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 The proposed system will be a great help to farmers who are struggling on

properly watering their plants and conserving water. It can be also useful and be able to

contribute to the environment especially in farms that irrigation system is not properly

managed or maintain. This system will be fully utilized especially during dry season in

which natural phenomenon occurred and in places in which water resources has not been

fully sustain.

Statement of Objectives

The primary objective of this study is to develop Pautobig: Arduino-Based

Automated Plant Watering System with SMS Notification.

Specifically, the study aims to:

1. Construct Pautobig: Arduino Based Automated Plant Watering System with SMS

Notification to help farmers in Barangay Palugsi- Limmansangan, Bauang

La Union; and

2. Evaluate Pautobig: Arduino Based Automated Plant Watering System with SMS

Notification using Technology Assessment Protocol in terms of:

a. Level of Technical Soundness,

b. Level of Technical Performance, and
c. Level of Technical Acceptability.

Definition of Terms

7
 Arduino. An open-source electronics platform or board and the software used to

program it. Arduino is designed to make electronics more accessible to artists, designers,

hobbyists and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.

Automated Plant Watering System. A system that uses sensor technology along

with microcontroller and other electronics which senses soil moisture level and irrigates

the plants if necessary.

SMS Notification. An out-of-band text messages sent in response to events or

transactions which occur somewhere else.

Pautobig. An Arduino-Based Automated System that focuses on automatic

watering of plants that uses soil moisture sensor and water level sensor. A system that can

notify the user the soil moisture, water level status and the water pump status.

Technology Assessment Protocol. An instrument to be used in evaluating

Pautobig: Arduino-Based Automated Plant Watering System with SMS Notification in

terms of Level of Technical Soundness, Level of Technical Performance and Level of

Technical Acceptability.

Time and Place of the Study

This research will be conducted during the 2 nd Semester of the school year 2018-

2019 until the 1st Semester of the school year 2019-2020 at Don Mariano Marcos

Memorial State University Mid La- Union Campus (DMMMSU- MLUC).

8
 Chapter 2

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

This capstone project is a developmental and descriptive type of research.

Developmental Research is the organized study of strategy, progress and evaluation

procedures with the aim of establishing an experimental basis for the formation of

instructional and non-instructional products and tools that govern their development. In

its simplest form, development research is the study of the process and impression of

specific design and development hard work, or the learning of the design and

development, or of particular process components conferring to (Klein. 2014).

A research is valid when a conclusion is accurate or true and research design is

the conceptual blueprint within which research is conducted. Research design is not

associated to any particular technique of data collection or any particular type of data.

When designing research, it is necessary that we recognize the type of evidence required

to answer the research question in a reasonable way (Akhtar, 2016).

In this research the proponents will develop the Arduino-Based Automated Plant

Watering System with SMS Notification, which they will dub as Pautobig.

When developed, Pautobig will be evaluated using Technology Assessment

Protocol. This portion will utilize the descriptive research design.

As cited by Manuel and Medel (2014), descriptive research describes and

interprets ‘what is.' It is concerned with conditions of practices that prevail; beliefs;

processes that are going on; effects that are perceiving, or trends that are developing. The

9
method of descriptive research goes beyond mere gathering and tabulation of data. It

involves the elements or interpretation of the meaning or significance of what is defined.

This description united with comparison and contrast involving measurements,

classifications, understanding, and evaluation.

The researchers will use the descriptive method of research to evaluate the level

of technical soundness, level of technical performance and level of technical acceptability

of Pautobig: Arduino-Based Automated Plant Watering System with SMS Notification.

Materials and Procedure

Materials. Table 1 presents the materials to be used in the construction of

Pautobig: Arduino-Based Automated Plant Watering System with SMS Notification with

the corresponding quantity and price.

Quantity Unit Description Unit Cost (₱) Total Cost (₱)

1 pc Arduino Uno 500.00 500.00
ATmega328
1 pc Soil Moisture Sensor 200.00 200.00
2 pcs Water level sensor 100.00 200.00
1 pc SIM808 GSM Module 900.00 900.00
1 pc Single Channel Relay 350.00 350.00
1 Pc LCD with 12C 250.00 250.00
1 pc BreadBoard 100.00 100.00
30 pcs 1 pin connection wire 10.00 300.00
1 pc Submersible water 10,000.00 10,000.00
Pump 1HP
1 pc Electrical Tape 50.00 50.00
1 pc 12 volts Adapter power 250.00 250.00
source
1 pc 3.4 volts Adapter 250.00 250.00
power source
1 pc Casing/Housing 500.00 500.00
1 pc Screw 50.00 50.00
TOTAL COST 13,900.00

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 For objective 1, this study will implement the Agile Unified Process Model

(AUP) to speed up the development of the system and respond to client requirements and

testing throughout the development cycle. That will lead to the development of Pautobig:

Arduino- Based Automated Plant Watering System with SMS Notification.

Requirements Phase – The requirements phase is the start of the study. During

this section, the concept for the project is explored and detailed. The goal of this section

is to look at the capability of the project. Also, decisions need concerning who is to carry

out the plan, which party (or parties) are going to be concerned and whether or not the

project has an adequate base of support among people who are affected.

In this phase, the researchers will write a proposal, which contains a description

of the matters mentioned above. The prospective client of the project evaluates the

proposal, and upon approval, the researchers will gather information through an interview

and documentary analysis that will be used in developing the Pautobig: Arduino Based

Automated Plant Watering System with SMS Notification.

Figure 1. Agile Unified Process Model

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 Design Phase –In the design phase, one or more designs will be developed, with

which the project result can be accomplish. The design phase can include developed

models and prototypes that represent all the system process, outputs and inputs which

include the Use Case and Activity Diagram.

The Researchers will identify possible specific designs and workflows for the

application. The list of requirements that are developed in the definition phase can be

used to make design choices. As in the design phase, once the design has been chosen, it

cannot be changed in a later stage of the project.

Develop Phase – The developing phase is complete when the implementation is

prepared to begin. All matters should be clear for the parties which will make the

application.

During the development phase, specific tasks are given to each member of the

group to follow the work schedules that indicate in the Plan Phase.

Test Phase – The testing phase will begin after the project being done in the

developing phase. All members of the group will have to test specific parts of the system.

Deploy Phase - This phase involves the construction of the actual project result.

Programmers are occupied with encoding, and designers are involved in developing

graphic material, contractors are building, the real reorganization takes place.

During this phase, the researchers will construct and show the system to the client

and display the actual program result.

Review Phase- This phase involves all the findings, reactions and comments

about the implementation of the project. Particularly, this phase will not be part of the

timeline of the study.

12
 For Objective 2, To evaluate Pautobig: Arduino-Based Automated Plant Watering

System with SMS Notification, the researchers will use a survey questionnaire based on

the Level of Technical Soundness, Level of Technical Performance and Level of

Technical Acceptability to the 51 respondents determined using purposive sampling. The

respondents (shown in Table 2) is consist of one ( 1 ) administrative officer of the

Department of Agriculture Region 1 and fifty ( 50 ) farmers of Brgy. Palugsi –

Limmansangan, Bauang, La Union.

Respondents Number

Administrative Officer of the Department of Agriculture 1

RFU I

Farmers from Brgy. Palugsi- Limmansangan, Bauang, 100

La Union

TOTAL 101

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Data analysis

Weighted mean will be used to assess the level of technical soundness, level of

technical performance, and level of acceptability of Pautobig: Arduino Based Automated

Plant Watering System with SMS Notification. A Likert scale is a psychological

measurement device that is used to gauge attitudes, values, and opinion. It functions by

having a person complete a questionnaire that requires them to indicate the extent to

which they agree or disagree with a series of statement.

Categorization of Data. To describe the mean ratings, the following scale with their

corresponding descriptive will be adopted:

Level of Technical Soundness

Point Rating Descriptive Descriptive Meaning

Value Scale Equivalent

5 4.20 – 5.00 Excellent The device is highly durable,

simple, and functional

4 3.40 – 4.19 Very Good The device is moderately

durable, simple and
functional

3 2.60 – 3.39 Good The device is durable,

simple and functional

2 1.80 – 2.59 Fair The device is poorly durable,

simple and functional

1 1.00 – 1.79 Poor The device is lowly durable,

simple and functional

Based on the Level of Technical Soundness with the use of Likert scale responses

with the rating scale of 4.20 - 5.00 have a descriptive equivalent rating of "Excellent" and

14
will be interpreted as "The device is highly durable, simple, and functional" Rating scales

of 3.40 - 4.19 suggests a descriptive equivalent rating of "Very Good" with the

descriptive meaning of "The device is moderately durable, simple, and functional " For

rating scales, 2.60- 3.39, the descriptive equivalent rating would be "Good" with the

descriptive meaning of "Acceptable." On the other hand, rating scales 1.80 – 2.59 will

have a descriptive equivalent rating of "Fair" with the descriptive meaning of "The device

is poorly durable, simple and functional." Lastly, rating scales of 1.00 – 1.79 have a

descriptive equivalent of "Poor" and with the descriptive meaning of "The device is lowly

durable, simple and functional." Level of Technical Soundness refers to significant

resources being absorbed that helps the overall functionality of a system. According to

Chowdhury (2016), Level of Technical Soundness was used to evaluate the durability,

usability and functionality of the system entitled Smoke and Fire Alarm System with

SMS Notification. The system is primarily used for occurrence of a fire condition so its

functionality is highly tested.

Level of Technical Performance

Point Rating Descriptive Descriptive Meaning

Value Scale Equivalent

5 4.20 – 5.00 Excellent The device is highly efficient,

accurate and functional

4 3.40 – 4.19 Very Good The device is moderately

efficient, accurate and functional

3 2.60 – 3.39 Good The device is efficient, accurate

and functional

2 1.80 – 2.59 Fair The device is poorly efficient,

accurate and functional

1 1.00 – 1.79 Poor The device is lowly efficient,

15
 accurate and functional

Based on the Level of Technical Performance with the use of Likert Scale,

responses with the rating scale of 4.20 - 5.00 have a descriptive equivalent rating of

"Excellent" and will be interpreted as "The device is highly efficient, accurate and

functional." Rating scales of 3.40 - 4.19 suggests a descriptive equivalent rating of "Very

Good" with the descriptive meaning of "The device is moderately efficient, accurate and

functional." For rating scales, 2.60- 3.39, the descriptive equivalent rating would be

"Good" with the descriptive meaning of "The device is efficient, accurate and functional."

On the other hand, rating scales 1.80 – 2.59 will have a descriptive equivalent rating of

"Fair" with the descriptive meaning of "The device is poorly efficient, accurate and

functional." Lastly, rating scales of 1.00 – 1.79 have a descriptive equivalent of "Poor"

and with the descriptive meaning of "The device is lowly efficient, accurate and

functional." According to Waks (2014), Level of Technical Performance refers to

technical goals that needed to be met, where the technical goals were vital for the

functioning of a system in its environment. Level of Technical Performance was used to

evaluate the reliability, efficiency and accuracy of the system called Door Lock Based

System for Home and Security. Specifically, it was used if the system door lock works at

real time.

16
Level of Technical Acceptability

Point Rating Descriptive Descriptive Meaning

Value Scale Equivalent

5 4.20 – 5.00 Excellent The device highly affordable,

maintainable and presentable

4 3.40 – 4.19 Very good The device is moderately

affordable,
maintainable and
presentable

3 2.60 – 3.39 Good The device is affordable,

maintainable and presentable

2 1.80 – 2.59 Fair The device is poorly affordable

maintainable and presentable

1 1.00 – 1.79 Poor The device is not affordable,

maintainable and presentable

Based on the Level of Technical Acceptability with the use of Likert Scale,

responses with the rating scale of 4.20 - 5.00 have a descriptive equivalent rating of

"Excellent" and will be interpreted as "The device is highly affordable, maintainable and

presentable." Rating scales of 3.40 - 4.19 suggests a descriptive equivalent rating of

"Very Good" with the descriptive meaning of "The device is moderately affordable,

maintainable and presentable." For rating scales, 2.60- 3.39, the descriptive equivalent

rating would be "Good" with the descriptive meaning of "The device is affordable,

maintainable and presentable." On the other hand, rating scales 1.80 – 2.59 will have a

descriptive equivalent rating of "Fair" with the descriptive meaning of "The device is

poorly affordable, maintainable and presentable." Lastly, rating scales of 1.00 – 1.79

have a descriptive equivalent of "Poor" and with the descriptive meaning of "The device

17
is not affordable, maintainable and presentable." According to Duxic (2017), a system

entitled Automatic Plant Watering System via Soil Moisture Sensing used Level of

Technical Acceptability to evaluate its maintainability, affordability and functionality. The

system is considered inexpensive as the researchers used cheap materials to build the

system.

18
 Chapter 3

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Design of the Pautobig: Arduino- Based Automated Plant Watering System

with SMS Notification

The components of the Pautobig: Arduino- Based Automated Plant Watering

System with SMS Notification consisted of the soil moisture sensor, water level sensor,

brushless submersible pump, arduino uno, breadboard, relay, SIM800L, LCD, jumper

wires, float switch plastic water level control, PCB and GSM module are shown in Plate

1 and 2.

Soil Moisture Sensor Submersible Pump Brushless

Submersible Pump

Arduino Uno Breadboard Relay

19
 Plate 1. Components of the System

SIM800L LCD Jumper Wires

Float Switch Plastic PCB GSM Module

Water Level Control

Plate 2. Other Components of the System

20
Schematic Diagram

Fig 1. The Connection Among System Components

Figure 1 shows the connection of the microcontroller, soil moisture sensor, water

level sensor, LCD, relay, submersible pump, SIM800L GSM module and the power

source.

The soil moisture sensor is used for measuring the amount of water in the soil. It

uses capacitance to measure dielectric permittivity of the surrounding medium. In soil,

dielectric permittivity is a function of the water content. It has a presettable one-bit digital

output. It is connected to the positive volts and A0 of the microcontroller.

The dielectric constant can be thought of as the soil's ability to transmit electricity.

The dielectric constant of soil increases as the water content of the soil increases. This

21
response is due to the fact that the dielectric constant of water is much larger than the

other soil components, including air. Thus, measurement of the dielectric constant gives a

predictable estimation of water content. These change moistures are what is detected.

The water level sensor is connected to Pin 7 and positive 5 volts. The water level

sensor is used to monitor and regulate levels of a particular free-flowing substance within

a contained space.

The LCD is the parallel interface that the microcontroller has to manipulate

several interface pins at once to control the display. The CSI terminal is connected to the

ground. The LCD itself has two lines of characters, 16 characters per line. Each character

is composed of matrix of pixels size 5x8. This is used to display the soil's condition, it

also displays whether the valve is on or off.

The relay use in the system has built in components such as the diode, transistor,

and led indicator. The ground of the microcontroller is connected to the ground of the

relay. It is connected as normally open, where it acts as a switch to the water valve.

The submersible pump is designed to operate beneath the earth’s surface. Like the

sump pump found in many homes, a submersible well pump will not work unless it’s

completely submerged in liquid. Unlike an above ground pumping system, which sucks

water out of the ground, a submersible is designed to push water to the surface.

SIM800L is a miniature cellular module which allows for GPRS transmission,

sending and receiving SMS and making and receiving voice calls. Low cost and small

footprint and quad band frequency support make this module perfect solution for any

project that require long range connectivity. The researchers used a universal PCB for the

22
design. Soldering iron was employed in fixing the wires in the PCB. The constructed

device will be enclosed to secure the components and wires inside.

Conceptual Framework

The Pautobig: Arduino- Based Automated Plant Watering System with SMS Notification

is divided into three parts: the input, the process and the output sections. The system has two

states: the active state and the inactive state. During the active state the microcontroller is in

operation. The input section sends a signal and activates the microcontroller, which in turn

processes the signal and triggers the output sections. Inactive state means that the microcontroller

is at off position. Figure 2 shows the three section of the system.

Soil Moisture
INPUT Set target soil moisture

Sensors read moisture content of

PROCESS soil and water level

Monitoring of the soil moisture
content
Processing commands

LCD shows values of

OUTPUT soil moisture and
water level

SMS Notification

Fig 2. Conceptual Design of the System

23
Program Creation and Design

The researchers develop a program in accordance with the conceptual framework

of the Pautobig: Arduino- Based Automated Plant Watering System with SMS

Notification. A screenshot of the program uploaded is presented in Plate 3. The

researchers use the Arduino IDE Software version 1.8.9 for the program of the whole

system. The program is created on the software and, uploaded into the microcontroller

specified as Arduino Uno ATmega328.The system starts by accepting the soil moisture

reading of the soil moisture sensor. The reading was sent to the microcontroller and test if

the sensor is below the set target moisture. If yes, the pump will turn on for at least 20

seconds and water the soil until it reaches the set target to stop. If not, the system will

continue to check the soil moisture content after a given seconds.

Plate 3. Program used for the system

24
 Plate 4 shows the actual connection of components of the system. The

microcontroller used was Arduino Uno R3. Next to microcontroller is the soil moisture

sensor followed by the LCD. Next to it is the relay which is connected to water pump.The

relay used has components such as diodes, transistors and LED light indicator. Float

switch is connected to digital pin 2 and 3. RXD is connected to digital pin 9 then TXD is

connected to digital pin 10 of GSM module.

Plate 4. Actual wiring of components

25
Testing and Revision

The components of the microcontroller were entirely inspected by the researchers

before they were installed on the circuit board. A soil moisture test was accomplished to

verify the efficiency of the device. The researchers test first the device in plants in some

yards. The test aims to determine the state of the soil when the sensor is inserted into the

soil of the plant. The sensors were first calibrated, setting their values to the driest state.

The driest value of the soil moisture was set to 40. After calibration, the sensors were

inserted to the soil and the value returned by the sensor was 0 or 1. A value of 0 indicates

that the soil is dry, and the value of 1 indicates a wet soil.

The connection of the circuit until the final output specifications were needed to

attain so the researchers need to look for revisions if it is entirely necessary. The

researches encountered incorrect wiring, putting incorrect program for the functionality

of the system and wrong connections of components.

Plate 5. Testing and Revision

26
Evaluation of Pautobig: Arduino- Based Automated Plant Watering System with

SMS Notification

Variables Weighted Mean Descriptive Evaluative

Rating

Level of Technical Soundness

Durability of Parts 4.50 Excellent
Simplicity of Mechanism 4.40 Excellent
Functionality 4.30 Excellent
Level of Technical Performance
Variation and Performance 4.30 Excellent
Speed and Accuracy 4.30 Excellent
Safety and Operation 4.30 Excellent
Level of Technical Acceptability
Affordability 4.20 Very Good
Maintenance 4.40 Excellent
Physical Appearance and Design 4.30 Excellent

Average Weighted Mean 4.33 Excellent

Table 2. Evaluation of the System

For the Level of Technical Soundness, Table 2 shows that Durability of parts has

27
the highest mean point which implies that the artifact is tough and resistant. Functionality

got the lowest weighted mean point describing that some of its function has not been

working yet. Simplicity of mechanism is not as high as Durability of Parts but it can

easily show the connection between the components.

For the Level of Technical Performance, variation of performance activities,

speed and accuracy and safety and operation got the same weighted mean point. This

means the performance of the system has been highly appreciated but still has a room for

improvement.

For the Level of Technical Acceptability, maintenance got the highest weighted

mean point which is 4.40 followed by physical appearance and design and affordability.

Affordability got the lowest among the rest as it only got 4.20 weighted mean points with

a “Very Good” descriptive evaluative rating.

Chapter 4

28
 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents the summary on the findings obtained, the conclusions

and the recommendation needed for the improvement of the study.

Summary

To summarize the analysis of data we come up to, the findings were as follow:

The target soil l moisture for a loamy type of soil in a specific farm is 8. Values less than

8 means that the soil is in a dry condition and in need of water, while that greater than 8

means that it is in a wet condition. The system will only notify the user through SMS

depending on the command that has been designated by the researcher. The system will

always irrigate water as long as the soil moisture level that has been set in the water

sensor will meet.

Conclusions

The project Pautobig: Arduino- Based Automated Plant Watering System with

SMS Notification shows to be a reliable system which notifies the status of the plants

during automatic irrigation, the soil moisture content and water supply level with the help

of GSM technology.

Monitoring of the soil moisture content plays a vital role in automating the

watering of the plants. The soil moisture sensors make it possible for the system to

determine the desired target value and relative values for the soil moisture. User does not

need to manually check if the soil needs water. Instead, they can just rely on the values

fed by the sensors employed in the soil. The system is characterized by being versatile.

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The target soil moisture can be accustomed depending on the user. Thus, the system is

applicable for different soil types. If the relative values are in a critical level or below the

target value, irrigation can be started for a certain time. Therefore, using this method of

irrigation water usage will be monitored. Also, the idea of majority wins condition make

it possible for the irrigation to save water as irrigation can only be started if the condition

is satisfied. Additionally, the use of GSM technology to notify the user about the status of

the soil moisture makes it easier for the user to know the condition of the plants in terms

of soil moisture content.

Recommendations

The system is more beneficial if more features will be added. Any

recommendations can be taken and consider.

LITERATURE CITED

30
Akhtar(2016). Research design. Retrieved on May 20, 2019 from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308915548_Research_Design

Ben(2011). Effects of arduino. Retrieved on March 7, 2019 from:

https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/Introduction

FAO(2015). Information about El Niño. Retrieved on May 1, 2019 from:

http://www.fao.org/el-nino/en/

Jiang(2013). Water Scarcity in China. Retrieved on May 18, 2019 from:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259290626_China's_water_management
_challenges_and_solutions

Jolly(2016). El Niño in Australia. Retrieved on May 17, 2019 from:

https://www.canstar.com.au/agribusiness/what-does-el-nino-mean-for-aussie-
farmers/

Ilhamsyah(2019). El Niño in Indonesia. Retrieved on May 17, 2019 from:

https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2019/03/27/el-nio-2019-possible-
impact-in-indonesia.html

KleinJ(2015). Design and Development. Retrieved on May 6, 2019 from:

htttp://allpsych.com/researchmethods/developmentalresearch/

Manipon(2019). Situation of farms in region 1. Retrieved on May 5, 2019 from:

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1066386

Manuel and Medel (2014) Descriptive research. Retrieved on May 21, 2019 from:
https://www.coursehero.com/file/7233733/Descriptive-research/

Mohsan (2018). Water scarcity impact on farms in Pakistan. Retrived on May 18, 2019
from: https://www.technologytimes.pk/water-scarcity-impact-agriculture/

Namdev(2018). Scarcity of water in India. Retrieved on May 18, 2019 from:

https://www.projectguru.in/publications/top-5-agricultural-problems-in-india/

NOAA(2010). Results of El Niño in some regions of the world. Retrieved on May 2, 2019
from: https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/weather-atmosphere-
education-resources/el-nino

Sarmiento(2019). Effects of El Nino in Phillipines. Retrieved on May 22, 2019 from:

https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/03/article/el-nino-wreaking-havoc-in-the-
philippines/

Sentlinger(2017). Effects of water scarcity in food production. Retrieved on April 23,

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agriculture

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Survey Impulse(2018). Water scarcity in the world. Retrieved on April 27, 2019 from:
htttp://surveypots.com/water-scarcity/

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Appendices

Appendix A

33
 Interview Guide Questions

Q1. What kind of irrigation technique/s you use in your farm?

A. Most farmers only do manual irrigation. Some with small area uses dipper in watering

their plants.

Q2. What are the common problems you encounter during irrigations?

A. Lack of manpower, water shortage and extreme heat.

Q3. What methods did you use to solve these problems you encountered?

A. We get water in well and put it in a big bucket to consume in a couple of days

Q4. Is there enough supply of water to cover all the plants in your farm during

irrigations?

A. Yes, but during summer season water supply become inadequate.

Q5. Do you use any technology-related devices during irrigations?

A. Some farmers uses machines in their farm but farmers in mountain areas tend to only

used hoses to absorbed water down to areas where machines are not involved.

Appendix B

34
 Questionnaire

Name (optional):________________________________________
Instruction: The given statement are the evaluation criteria to validate the level of
technical performance of the Dual Solar controller. Please shade the circle that
corresponds to the descriptive value of your assessment using the rating scale below:
5 –Excellent 4 Very good 3-Good
2-Low 1-Negligible

Description Ratings
5 4 3 2 1
1. Level of Technical Soundness
1.1 Durability of Parts
a. The device does not easily corrode. O O O O O
b. The electronics components are O O O O O
c. The parts do not breakdown easily. O O O O O
1.2 Simplicity of the Mechanism
a. The device is simple in O O O O O
construction.
b. The parts are derived from O O O O O
commercially available materials.
1.3 Functionality
a. The device checks the moisture O O O O O
content of soil.
b. The device automates the O O O O O
watering of plants.
c. The device checks the water level. O O O O O
d. The device sends the soil O O O O O
moisture, water level and water pump
status to the user.

2. Level of Technical Performance

35
 2.1 Variation of Performance Activities
a. The device can send SMS. O O O O O
2.2 Speed and Accuracy
a. The device doesn’t have delay O O O O O
on watering the plants.
b. The device notifies the user early as it O O O O O
detects the soil moisture and water level.
2.3 Safety of Operation
a. Parts are assembled, fitted O O O O O
and covered properly.
b. Safety precautions are indicated O O O O O
in the device.
3. Level of Technical Acceptability
3.1 Affordability
a. The materials use is cheap. O O O O O
b. The device is cheaper than the O O O O O
commercially available charge
controllers.
3.2 Maintenance
a. The device is durable . O O O O O
b. The device is capable of O O O O O
reprogramming.
3.3 Physical Appearance and Design
a. The device is novel in appearance, O O O O O
presentation and structure.

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