Remote monitoring system for humidity, temperature and sprout status in an automatic germinator

Abstract

The present work describes the design of electronic circuits for an irrigation system of an automatic germinator and the monitoring of the sprouts using a camera and artificial vision algorithms. This project aims to automate the seed development process to provide the right conditions for proper growth and later transplanting when it reaches the seedling stage, as well as to detect growth problems in the early stage. We tested the developed prototype with five fast-germinating crops: onion, lettuce, cilantro, chili, and bean seeds. We compared the performance of sprouts germinated in the proposed system with others germinated outside the device under different conditions. The irrigation system includes a basic control that, based on a target humidity threshold, turns on the water pump to modify the current conditions to reach the target humidity.

Keywords

• germinación automática de semillas, riego automático, visión por computadora, monitoreo remoto, sistema embebido