Deployment of AGRI-BOT in Greenhouse Administration
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Modern agriculture is constantly evolving to increase production despite unfavorable environmental conditions. A promising approach is 'greenhouse cultivation' providing a microclimate to the cultivated plants to overcome unfavorable climate. However, massive-sized greenhouses develop non-uniform micro-climate throughout the complex requiring high degree of human supervision. We propose deploying an Agri-Bot to create and maintain positive ecological conditions in the greenhouse, reducing labor costs and increasing production. The prototype will contain two primary systems, the navigation system and the data analytics system. The navigation system will be controlled by an Arduino, and data analytics will be handled using an ESP8266 microchip. Numerous sensors for measuring the greenhouse parameters will be mounted on the robot. It will follow a predefined path, while taking readings at checkpoints. The microchip will collect and process data from sensors, transmit to the cloud, and give commands to the actuators. The soil and climate parameters like temperature, humidity, light intensity, soil moisture, pH will be measured periodically. When the parameters are not within a specified range, the Agri-Bot will take corrective actions like switching on blowers/heaters, starting irrigation etc. If external intervention is required, eg., fertilizer, it will indicate accordingly. Deploying such an Agri-Bot for monitoring and controlling microclimate in large-scale greenhouses can mitigate labor costs while increasing productivity. In spite of an initial cost, it can provide a high return on investment by providing flexibility, low power consumption and easy management to help greenhouse be water efficient, provide evenly dispersed and controlled sunlight intensity, temperature and humidity.
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