Automatic Plant Watering System
A compact self-watering setup for potted plants that waters on soil moisture and shows the reservoir level.
- Suitable for
- School
- Technology
- Arduino Nano
Beginner3–5 days
IoT · Smart Agriculture
Smart Irrigation System
Soil moisture sensing that switches a pump automatically and reports field conditions to a phone dashboard.
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Typical time
- 6–8 days
- Suitable for
- Higher Secondary
Price
Contact for price
Cost depends on components, complexity and which deliverables you need, so we quote after understanding your requirement.
Technologies
- ESP32
- Wi-Fi telemetry
- Capacitive soil moisture sensing
- Relay control
Project overview
The system reads soil moisture at root depth and switches a water pump on when the reading falls below a set threshold, then off again once the soil recovers. An ESP32 handles the sensing and control, and pushes each reading to a dashboard so you can show a moisture graph rather than just a working pump.
The part examiners usually probe is the threshold. Soil moisture sensors return a raw analogue value, not a percentage, and that value shifts with soil type and probe depth. The build includes a documented calibration procedure — dry reading, saturated reading, and the mapping between them — so you can explain exactly why the pump turns on where it does.
A dry-run guard stops the pump if the moisture reading does not improve within a set time, which is the kind of failure handling that separates a project from a demonstration. It also gives you a clear answer when you are asked what happens when the water source is empty.
Features
- Automatic pump control from live soil moisture readings
- Adjustable moisture threshold with a documented calibration procedure
- Live readings on a phone dashboard over Wi-Fi
- Local LCD readout so the project demonstrates without a network
- Dry-run protection that stops the pump if moisture does not recover
- Manual override switch for demonstration
How it works
- 1The capacitive probe is buried at root depth and read by the ESP32 every few seconds.
- 2Raw analogue readings are mapped to a moisture percentage using the calibration constants recorded during setup.
- 3When moisture falls below the lower threshold, the relay energises and the pump runs.
- 4The pump stops once moisture crosses the upper threshold, or when the dry-run timer expires.
- 5Each reading and each pump event is pushed to the dashboard and shown on the local LCD.
Components used
- ESP32 development board
- Capacitive soil moisture sensor
- 5V relay module
- DC water pump with tubing
- DHT22 temperature and humidity sensor
- 16x2 I2C LCD
- 12V supply with regulator
Questions about this project
Will it work with any type of soil?
Yes, but the thresholds have to be calibrated for the soil you use. The dry and saturated reference readings are taken during setup and the procedure is documented so you can redo it.
Can it run without internet during the viva?
Yes. Control is entirely local — Wi-Fi is only used for the dashboard. The LCD shows live readings even with no network.
Similar work
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- Suitable for
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Need the Smart Irrigation System in Surat?
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