Development of a Real-time Micro-controller Based Watering System

The developed system consists of a solenoid valve and water pump which are directly linked to a microcontroller (ATMEGA-328PU) unit through a transistor -network based relay switching unit. A soil moisture sensor linked to the soil senses the dryness and wetness of the soil. The microcontroller and soil moisture sensor utilizes a 5V power supply unit given through a regulated supply via a regulator called LM7805.A 12V power supply units activates the normally open units of the relay linked to the solenoid valve and the pump. Whenever the dryness of the soil is sensed, the microcontroller decodes and sends an instruction to the solenoid valve to open and the water pump to start driving the water which is sprinkled through the sprinkler. The performance of the system has been evaluated and the response time is fast.