SMS controlled Wireless Irrigation System

UPDATE 02/13/11 : Voting has started for the Sparkfun Microcontroller Contest. Please VOTE for me!

UPDATE 02/26/11 : I won a second prize!! Huzzah! Thanks for all the votes guys!

UPDATE 03/17/11: I would love to win a Laser cutter in the Epilog challenge as it would help the small DIY community in Calcutta,                                     which just started a few months back to cut all their materials using a CNC instead of using their saws etc. 

Irrigating crops with the exactly right amount of water is a tedious task, especially when you have to walk a long distance to the irrigation pump in the middle of the night to check whether any problem (fish getting stuck in the intake and as a result the irrigation motor burning or jamming!)  has occured. As I saw my uncles tired of doing the same, I felt there had to be some remote controlled solution to their problems.

I started to think about a system, which would:

1.  Detect jamming of the motor and immediately shut it down.
2.  Be cost effective.(Less than $150)
3.  Remotely turn on and off the irrigation motor.
4.  Send back a message to the operator, if an error occured.

And thus came the brainstorm to build the "SMS controlled Wireless Irrigation System" . I also wanted to submit this to the Sparkfun Microcontroller Contest , so it was all the more reason for me to go straight to building the prototype.

The prototype could do the following:

1.  Be remotely controlled via SMSs through a cellular GSM network.
2.  Send back ERROR messages to the operator, if the Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB)  was tripped due to electrical faults or motor jamming.
3.  Control loads of up to 15 amps.

The fruits of my work is detailed in this ible.

P.S I suggest that you read through the entire Instructable before starting.
 

Step 1: Getting the Materials

For this project we need various cheap parts and you should be able to get these easily at any local Radio Shack. We only need a few extra parts which you might have to go to another shop. The bill should total at max. $100. You must think I'm joking but I'm not. At India, we get stuff even cheaper - Rs.1000 ($40 approx.) max.

Parts List:

Hardware Parts:

1. 1x cheap/old/used GSM mobile phone with SMS feature(with charger)
2. 1x Activated GSM SIM/micro-SIM card of your preffered provider
3. 1x Miniature Circuit Breakers
4. 1x 120v/240v(choose for your country) 30 Amp Relays
5. 1x Atmega 168/328p or an Arduino (OR any other micro with which you are friendly)
6. 1x 9v Power Supply for the Arduino/Atmega etc.
7. 1x Universal charger if you don't have a phone charger
8. 1x High-Gain external antenna(optional)
9. Wires (240v/120v FIRE-PROOF wires) and some scraps for the circuit-board
10. 2x 240v terminal blocks
11. 4x spade connectors(for the relays)
12. 3x terminal blocks 
13. A enclosure(to encase the electronics) like http://www.pactecenclosures.com/product-detail.php?classid=35&seriesid=38&productid=231

Electronics Parts:

1. 10x 1N4001 diodes
2. 4x 2n2222 transistors
3. 2x TIP31 transistors
4. 3x TIP102 transistors
5. 10x 1K resistors
6. 2x Miniature Push Switches
6. 1x Perfboard (not if you make a PCB)
7. 1x Pack of Misc. LEDs(small size)
8. 5x relays with 5v coil

Tools Needed:

Multimeter
Soldering Iron
Screw Driver
Drill (with drill bits)
Sander ;) see (http://www.instructables.com/id/Recycled-HDD-Rotary-Sander-for-5/)

Comments

[steveastrouk]

Hi Kabir,

Some constructive comments for your project:

1.) A proper circuit diagram as well as a photo diagram, for those that can read them.

2.) When wiring a plug top, make SURE that the Earth wire is LONGER than the others, so the last wire to snap, if you jerk it is always the Earth.

3.) TO detect the MCB trip, use an opto isolator to measure the voltage across the motor. If you want to know how, ask me. Its still a pretty cheap solution, but definitely more reliable in the field.

4.) You can reliably detect the phone ring, without opening it by using the earphone and a simple detector circuit.

5.) Sony-Ericsson phones for sure (don't know about Nokia) put out logic-level serial comms on their "USB" connections depending on what's connected to them - so you could talk directly to the phone, if you want for future credits.....

[mhkabir]

I'll contact you after my exams(going on presently).

As for the proper circuit diagram, I din't manage time to upload one. I will upload it after my exams are over.

[bobsegravescollis]

Very impressive. The whole area of remote agriculture management is ripe for applications of GSM technology. Your thought of adding detection of water level to turn off the pump is really vital in that too much water can be as bad as too little, depending on the crop. Other applications would be managing feed and water levels for livestock, detecting flooding, managing wind turbines, reporting intrusion, remotely opening and closing gates to allow stock to move between pastures or return to barn, or remote monitoring of aquaculture/aquaponics systems.

Would it be possible to have all messages received by the remote device also sent to the operator's cell phone? In that way the operator would be alerted in case someone attempts to hack into the system. It might also be possible to use custom identification like unique rings for messages from the operator and ignore all others.

[mhkabir]

Yes it would be possible to FORWARD the recieved messages to the operators telephone.

Nice ideas. Added them to the last step.

PM me if you need any more help/instrutions.

[huseenia]

hello, i was impressed by your work, thanks, by the way i am currently doing my final year project , with same topic, but i am using arduino and wavecom GSM modem controlling stepper motor output with sensor input(high or low),
so i was thinking if u could e-mail me the code, so will try to learn and my project too. pls reply soon
thanks

[chelloo_parazit]

very nice project. your method is a solution to the expensive gsm modems. it would be nice though to have a company to produce mobile phones which comunicates with uc. keep up the good work

[mhkabir]

Actually some Sony Erricson phones can be operated by TTL level serial commands,

The older ones, most notably the 168i, could be operated via its headphone jack using simple AT commands.

Lets hope it is possible in modern phones.

Kabir

[Emcztery]

I executed AT commands on SE K510 and K750 phones. You can read, send, delete sms. Phone will notify you when it gets sms message. You only have to make on arduino programmable decoder of PDU message format . Then you get what number sent message and what command was there.

[PoisonMondo]

i have ythe exact same phone and i am finding it impossible to open

[mhkabir]

Mine is held by clips on the inside.

It helps to have a prying tool. I hade to use some force before i could open the clips.

A good place to start prying is the battery charging port on the side.

Hope you are making one of these!
Kabir

[PoisonMondo]

Thanks, and im making one but using for a different purpose, as kind of a home automation controller

[arduinopowered]

I have the same phone 2, but it has screws and no clips, but my jewlers screwdriver set cant open it :(

[jashan510]

these are just 1A relays are the good enough to control the irrigation pumps?

[pratik patel]

hi kabir ,i m also doing this project as my final year project .so plz give me full ckt diagram my emai id:[e-mail]

[francisroan]

amazing man im also 13 so were did u get the idea frm did u saw how to make it frm some websites???or u designed ur own ciruit???? and how did u bcome a pro member here???? u paid???

[mhkabir]

For any question not related to the instructable PLS PM me. dont post it on the comment board.I designed the circuit myself as i said b4

[francisroan]

hey i see that ur frm india me too, how old ae u ???? just amazed to see!!!and who helped u with the circuits????

[mhkabir]

i am 13 and no one helped me with the circuits.

[smyastat]

practical and brilliant....its been only 2 days i made my own arduino board and planning an arduino controlled aquaponic set up for my room....i too dream of automated agricultural systms...i think you are becoming my personal hero....thanks for such an inspiring idea...neways im from Kolkata too.....

[Onkar_nimbargikar]

hi this one is a briiliant idea. n being a final engineering student m trying for the same as my project so could you please help me out?

[menardmitch]

u gave use ur number in the one video!

[steveastrouk]

Really beautiful work Kabir. A model Instructable.

Well done.

Steve

[mhkabir]

Thanks! Please Vote !

[BeefyHaze]

It is still a bad idea, because your provider will still send a monthly update text regardless of you being on the DND list.... I suggest you use a Linux netbook hooked up instead of a phone, it would have far more security and functionality. ex.: time control, on, off, you can even use ssh to connect to it.....

[mhkabir]

The aim of the system is to be cost-efffective. I will design the V2 the system with these modifications.

[draraman]

Well done.
It will be very useful to rural India if you can find a sponsor to make it and market it at an affordable price.
congratulations.

[mhkabir]

My design is based on rural India. I am based in West Bengal.The pictureis from our own farmlands.

[snotty]

Amazing! I had a similar idea when I was in Japan. Most of the rice fields there are irrigated using fully manual systems so I thought something like this could be handy.

Great work!

[mhkabir]

Thanks! Please vote for me in Sparkfun Microcontroller Contest and The Epilog challenge if you like this instructable!

Please post pictures if you get around to doing this.

[snotty]

For sure!

Also, I'm thinking of developing a hichhiking system that is similar to a ride share board except it would work in real-time on smartphones or maybe a dedicated device. It would be a quick and easy way of asking all of my neighbors for a ride into town or for them to offer a ride. I can't program very well at all so I need lots of help if this idea is going to fly.

I can explain the idea in more detail if you are interested in helping.

[mhkabir]

You can PM me anytime.

[rimar2000]

Your idea an its realization are GENIAL!

[rikkiesix]

Wow
This system is very impressive man
Great job
That must have been a lot of work to figure this all out
Congrats
Erik

[omnibot]

Nice project!
I think there's a way to communicate directly between phone and arduino but am to lazy to find it.

[frank26080115]

get a GSM module, much easier and possibly cheaper than using a phone

[steveastrouk]

Have you an example of a GSM module you can buy for less than a phone ? I've looked, and given up, I can buy a phone in the UK for 10 GBP, including a SIM

[mhkabir]

I had thought of doing that, but the GSM module turned out be more expensive than the phone,which could be recycled or bought second-hand.

[mhkabir]

Yeah we can establish serial comm. between the Arduino and the phone, but we need a lot of extra hardware to convert USB signals to Rx an Tx serial communication used by the Arduino.

[jam BD]

The incorporation of a whole phone makes it so much easier. Better than buying a sms control module.

Nice project.