A Fully - Automated Center-Pivot Irrigation System Using a Microcontroller and a Solar Energy System

Abstract

The center-pivot irrigation system has become one of the most commonly used due to its efficiency worldwide but it suffers from the shortcoming of the pumps needing frequent maintenance and monitoring; which are prone to break down or malfunction. By fully-automating the system, considerably less attention will be required to maintain and monitor it. The full automation additionally reduces significantly the costs of the already expensive system by eliminating the expenses of the maintenance and monitoring with a non-automatic system. The aim of this thesis is to design a fully-automated center-pivot irrigation system consisting of two systems; a water level sensor system, and an irrigation system connected to a solar energy system. The proposed design simulated on the simulation software “Proteus” to test its functionality/practicality before it was materialized using the appropriate hardware. Satisfactory results in terms of ease of use and monitoring were obtained upon implementation of the fully-automated, cost-effective system, which is further more economical when connected to a solar energy system to operate.