IoT-Based Monitoring System Applied to Aeroponics Greenhouse

Abstract

The inclusion of the Internet of Things (IoT) in greenhouses has become a fundamental tool for improving cultivation systems, offering information relevant to the greenhouse manager for decision making in search of optimum yield. This article presents a monitoring system applied to an aeroponic greenhouse based on an IoT architecture that provides user information on the status of the climatic variables and the appearance of the crop in addition to managing the irrigation timing and the frequency of visual inspection using an application developed for Android mobile devices called Aeroponics Monitor. The proposed IoT architecture consists of four layers: a device layer, fog layer, cloud layer and application layer. Once the information about the monitored variables is obtained by the sensors of the device layer, the fog layer processes it and transfers it to the Thingspeak and Firebase servers. In the cloud layer, Thingspeak analyzes the information from the variables monitored in the greenhouse through its IoT analytic tools to generate historical data and visualizations of their behavior, as well as an analysis of the system’s operating status. Firebase, on the other hand, is used as a database to store the results of the processing of the images taken in the fog layer for the supervision of the leaves and roots. The results of the analysis of the information of the monitored variables and of the processing of the images are presented in the developed app, with the objective of visualizing the state of the crop and to know the function of the monitoring system in the event of a possible lack of electricity or a service line failure in the fog layer and to avoid the loss of information. With the information about the temperature of the plant leaf and the relative humidity inside the greenhouse, the vapor pressure deficit (VPD) in the cloud layer is calculated; the VPD values are available on the Thingspeak server and in the developed app. Additionally, an analysis of the VPD is presented that demonstrates a water deficiency from the transplanting of the seedling to the cultivation chamber. The IoT architecture presented in this paper represents a potential tool for the study of aeroponic farming systems through IoT-assisted monitoring.

A Development of an IoT-Based Connected University System: Progress Report

“…The monitoring system applied to an aeroponic greenhouse based on an IoT architecture was presented in [ 4 ]. The system provides information on the status of the climatic variables and the appearance of the crop in addition to managing the irrigation timing and the frequency of the visual inspections using an Android application called Aeroponics Monitor.…”

A Systematic Literature Review: Internet of Things on Smart Greenhouse

“…This research and development has been carried out using case studies and models as a service approach [18]- [21] real time and historical data and predictive models can be accessed via the web [22]. Firebase servers [23], one of the protocols used is LoRa which is considered sufficient to transmit small data from sensors to the cloud [24]- [26]. The system helps farmers because it produces a Decision Support System (DSS).…”

Design of a Small-Scale Hydroponic System for Indoor Farming of Leafy Vegetables

“…In another study, an IoT-based monitoring system for an aeroponic greenhouse was presented [22]. It uses a wide variety of sensors for measuring the air temperature and humidity in the greenhouse and in the plant leaf, vapour pressure deficit (VPD), luminosity, level, temperature, and the pH and EC of the water as well as a thermographic camera.…”