Authors

Dr. Rasakumar

Department of Computational Science, Nehru Arts and Science College, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Maintaining optimal soil moisture is essential to sustain plant growth, nutrient uptake, and overall crop productivity. However, irrigation practices are often challenged by environmental variability, such as fluctuating temperature, humidity, and evapotranspiration rates. Improper irrigation scheduling—either excessive or insufficient water application—can lead to a range of detrimental effects, including waterlogging, root hypoxia, nutrient leaching, increased susceptibility to soil-borne pathogens, and water stress, all of which compromise plant health and yield. Soil moisture sensors continuously measure the volumetric water content of the growing medium, providing instantaneous feedback to the microcontroller. Predefined threshold values corresponding to the water requirements of specific plant species are programmed into the system. When the measured soil moisture falls below the set threshold, the microcontroller activates a relay-controlled water pump to irrigate the plants. Irrigation continues until the soil moisture level reaches the optimal range, ensuring precise water delivery and avoiding over-irrigation. In addition to soil moisture monitoring, the system incorporates a DHT11 sensor to measure ambient temperature and relative humidity. These environmental parameters are critical as they influence evapotranspiration rates and plant water demand, allowing the irrigation system to adapt dynamically to changing climatic conditions within indoor environments. The system includes a 16×2 Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) module for local real-time visualization of soil moisture levels, temperature, humidity, and irrigation status. For remote monitoring and user interaction, the ESP8266’s Wi-Fi functionality enables IoT-based communication with cloud platforms, allowing sensor data and system notifications to be transmitted to mobile devices via applications such as Telegram. This enables users to monitor environmental conditions, receive alerts, and control irrigation remotely, providing a user-friendly interface for precision indoor gardening management. Overall, the developed system represents an intelligent, energy-efficient, and water-conserving irrigation solution that integrates embedded systems, IoT connectivity, and sensor-driven feedback control. By automating irrigation decisions based on real-time soil and environmental data, the system enhances plant growth efficiency, optimizes water usage, and minimizes resource wastage. Furthermore, the framework can be extended to support additional features such as predictive irrigation scheduling, integration with nutrient delivery systems, and large-scale smart farming implementations, highlighting its potential as a scalable solution for sustainable indoor and vertical agriculture.

Keywords

Indoor Gardening Smart Irrigation System ESP8266 NodeMCU Soil Moisture Sensor DHT11 Sensor Internet of Things (IoT) Automated Watering System Precision Agriculture Environmental Monitoring Water Conservation

Citation of this Article

Dr. Rasakumar. (2025). An Embedded System Approach to Smart Irrigation in Indoor Agricultural Environments. Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies. 2(6), 6-11. Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.47001/JAIET/2025.206002

Licence Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International Licence.

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