Since the successful crowdfunding campaign, Eduponics mini soil moisture sensor irrigation system deployed in the field on multiple occasions. One project that especially caught our eye is the project made by Alex Davies (@traverseda). Devies’s project introduces a real-life use of Eduponics agriculture IoT kit as a soil moisture sensor irrigation system.
The project was first showcased on STEMinds discussion forum. Devie’s explained how he created his setup including 3D printing the ESP32 IoT dev board enclosure, he also attached the entire setup into a water reservoir together with the STEMinds waterproof water quantity sensor.
Part of the project was a custom-made node-red IoT dashboard. The dashboard was created by Davies himself and he open-sourced the gist for everyone to use.
“The plants definitively grow better with consistent watering from the eduponics, and knowing when the soil dries out is great, but mostly you can just stick it into a planter and everything will just work.” davies mentioned on the GitHub discussion page. he also mentioned how Eduponics helps him with data collection: “It’s really nice to be able to get hard data on things like how long it takes your soil to dry out. I found that my soil was drying out every 1-3 days! Way more often than I would have thought.”
ESP32 dev board enclosure
In order to protect the board from unwanted exposure to water, Davie 3D printed the Eduponics ESP32 enclosure:
The Eduponics mini ESP32 IoT dev board enclosure was Designed by Bart, an Eduponics early supporter based in Sichuan, China. The Enclosure can be easily printed using common 3D printers to enable extra protection for the ESP32 dev board.
Besides the ESP32 dev board enclosure, the water quantity sensor is IP6X certified. Davie attached the contactless sensor to the reservoir to sense if the water is about to run out.
The entire system serves as a perfect smart soil moisture sensor irrigation system that can monitor and water plants.
Soil moisture sensor irrigation system – how it works
The IoT soil moisture sensors connect to the soil inside the flower/plant pot. When the soil moisture sensors sense low moisture, they indicate to the ESP32 IoT dev board that it’s time for a shower. The ESP32 board then gives a command to the water pump to get water from the reservoir to the plants.
By attaching the contactless water quantity sensor, we can avoid over-using the pump. The Eduponics Mini smart agriculture IoT kit comes with a submersible water pump which should only be used when fully submerged.
The IoT soil moisture sensor enables you to know from anywhere whenever the plant goes dry. It’s not necessary to base the irrigation system solely on soil moisture sensors. However, having an indication regarding your plants’ water needs definitely comes in handy.
Whenever it’s based on a specific time or the soil moisture sensors’ status, the irrigation system is made easy using Eduponics mini ESP32 IoT dev board.
Multiple soil moisture sensor irrigation system
The smart irrigation system garden made by Alex Davies
Sometimes watering a single plant is just not enough. What if you have two, three, or a dozen of plants? In such a case, The Eduponics ADS1115 IoT extension board might come in handy. It has everything you need to irrigate multiple sensors (up to 4 sensors and 4 pumps) into a single board.
Together with the Eduponics mini ESP32 dev board that makes it a total of 5 sensors!
Build your own smart plant’s irrigation system
If you are wondering how difficult can it be to make your own system, the answer is, not at all!
STEMinds provides all the learning materials and complete documentation with MicroPython and Arduino examples code. In our documentation, we’ll walk you through each and every sensor, explain the principle behind it and give you an example code to use.
We have a great growing community that is available to provide help and support regarding questions and difficulties you might encounter. A DIY smart irrigation system will enable you to customize it based on your own needs. No plant grown to be the same, so why your plant irrigation system should?
When you are ready to expand your system to more than a single plant, you can consider getting the Eduponics ADS1115 IoT extension board. Up to 4 extension boards able to connect at once, enabling full control over a total of 16 plants!
Eduponics is suitable for Education, DIY hobbyists, and professionals looking to build the next smart agriculture IoT irrigation system with ease.
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