Smart Green

House

By

Ahmed Shhab Ahmed

Supervisor by:

Dr. Mohammed A. Noaman Al-hayanni

2020/2019

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 Supervisor certificate:

I certify that this project (smart green house) was prepared under my supervision at
Electrical Engineering Department University of Technology as partial fulfillment of
requirement for the degree of B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering.

Signature:

Name: Mohammed A. Noaman Al-hayanni

Date:2020/7/

2
DEDICATION

I dedicate my dissertation work to my family and many friends aspecial feeling of

gratitude to my loving parents, whose words of encouragement and push for tenacity ring
in my ears.I also dedicate this dissertation and give special thanks for all the effort of
Dr.Mohammed A.Noaman Al-hayanni and to all the others whose participated in our
learning. They taught us a great benefit in the success of this work.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank everyone who had contributed to the successful completion of this
project. I would like to express my gratitude to my research supervisor,Dr. Mohammed
A.Noaman Al-hayanni for his invaluable advice, guidance and his enormous patience
throughout the development of the research.In addition, I would also like to express my
gratitude to my loving parent and friends who had

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ABSTRACT

In this project, a smart greenhouse desgn is proposed. The aim of the designed smart
greenhouse is to employ less human power and to provide higher efficiency. In the
designed system, air temperature, air humidity, soil temperature and soil moisture are
measured by sensors. As a result of the analysis of the measurements, the control of
mechanical appliances such as ventilation, heating and irrigation are provided according
to the pre-defined rules. Such automation helps us reduce the amount of human power for
irrigation and ventilation. Two greenhouses with the same characteristics were used for
system comparison in the thesis. One is managed by the smart system, while the other is
traditionally managed. Common to both greenhouses, human power was used for pruning
control, pruning and harvesting. In the traditionally controlled greenhouse, human power
is used for all operations. The crop growth period was shorter in the greenhouse managed
by the proposed smart system. The smart green-house yields a larger amount of harvest in
comparison to the traditional greenhouse. As a future work, other types of vegetables can
be cultivated.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter one
Introduction
1.1 Problem Definition
1.2 Methodology
1.3 Contributions

Chapter Tow
BACKGROUND / RELATED WORK
2.1 Background
2.1.1 Arduino Uno
2.1.1.1 Arduino IDE
2.1.2 Soil Moisture Sensor
2.1.3 Soil Temperature Sensor
2.1.4 Air Humidity and Temperature
2.2 Related Work

Chapter Three
SMART SYSTEM DESIGN FOR GREENHOUSE
3.1 Tomato Farming
3.2 Smart System Design
3.3 Implementation of the Smart System Design

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Chapter Four
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Results of tomato
4.1.1 Duration of first tomato
4.1.2 Number of harvested tomato
4.1.3 Harvesting time of tomato
4.1.4 Growing time of tomato
4.1.5 Weight of tomatoes
4.1.6 Water consumption
4.2 Greenhouse climate and irrigation results
4.2.1 Temperature and humidity change in a day
4.2.2 Soil moisture change in a day
4.2.3 Fan operation results during the experiment
4.2.4 Heater operation results during the experiment
4.3 Cost

Chapter Five
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK

5.1 Conclusion
5.2 Future Work

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LIST OF TABLES

Table (1.1) Population projection in Turkey and in the World,2000-2015(bil-lions)

[10,28]

Table ( 2.1 ) Arduino properties [3]

Table ( 2.2 ) Soil moisture sensor properties [49]

Table ( 2.3 ) Soil moisture sensor properties [49]

Table ( 2.4 ) Comparison of related works 17

Table ( 2.5 ) Comparison of related works (continue)

Table ( 2.6 ) Comparison of related works (continue)

Table ( 3.1 ) Air weight and required heat [30]

Table ( 4.1) Heater operating time range on July 17,2017

Table ( 4.2 ) Greenhouse costs (Turkish Liras)

Table ( 4.3 ) Human power use in the greenhouses

Table (4.4) Traditional greenhouse to smart greenhouse

comparison

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 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure (1.1) Daily per capita supply of calories [10] 2

Figure (1.2 ) Arable land per person [9, 28, 29] 3

Figure (2.1) Arduino Uno [4] 8

Figure ( 2.2 ) Arduino IDE and a sample program 9

Figure ( 2.3 ) Soil moisture sensor [40] 10

Figure ( 2.4 ) Soil temperature sensor [21] 11

Figure ( 2.5 ) Air humidity and temperature sensor 12

Figure ( 3.1 ) Average tomato yields in Turkey (tonnes per hectare) [11] 22

Figure ( 3.2 ) Block diagram of the designed smart system 23

Figure ( 3.3 ) Installed greenhouses 27

Figure ( 3.4 ) Implemented smart greenhouse schema 27

Figure ( 3.5 ) Fans of smart greenhouse 28

Figure ( 3.6 ) Fan management schema 29

Figure ( 3.7 ) Cable heater [27]

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Figure ( 3.8 ) Heater management schema 30

Figure ( 3.9 ) Submersible pump [33] 31

Figure ( 3.10 ) Irrigation management schema 31

Figure ( 3.11 ) Pit and dripper 32

Figure ( 3.12 ) Implementation of the smart greenhouses 33

Figure ( 4.1 ) The number of days until the first tomato is seen at each pot 36
(days)

Figure ( 4.2 ) The number of tomato at each pot 37

Figure ( 4.3 ) Average harvest time of tomatoes for each pot (days) 38

Figure ( 4.4 ) Average grow time of tomatoes for each pot (days) 39

Figure ( 4.5 ) Average weight of tomatoes for each pot (gram) 39

Figure ( 4.6 ) Weekly water consumption (Liters 40

Figure ( 4.7 ) Air temperature change on 28.06.2017 42

Figure ( 4.8 ) Air humidity change for on 28.06.2017 43

Figure ( 4.9 ) Soil moisture change on 28.06.2017 44

Figure ( 4.10 ) Open air and greenhouse temperatures chan 45

Figure ( 4.11 ) Daily fan operating duration (hours) 46

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Max Maximum
Min Minimum
V Volt
W Watt
Kw Kilowatt
Cal Calorie
Kcal Kilocalorie
std. dev. Standard Deviation
L Liter
GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
ARM Acorn RISC Machine
RISC Reduced Instruction Set Computer
PH Power of Hydrogen
TL Turkish Lira
Cm Centime

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 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
The world population is increasing day by day. The population projections in Turkey and
in the world are shown in Table 1 [10, 28]. In Figure 1.1 the supply of calories per capita
is only slightly increased [10]. Agricultural areas, which play an important role in
meeting the demand for food, decrease inversely proportional to the population growth.
Arable lands per person in Turkey and in the world are shown in Figure 1.2 [9, 28, 29].
Given all these changes, fast and high-yield agriculture in small-scale agricultural lands
have become important. Greenhouses are used to achieve fast and high-yield agriculture
in small-scale agricultural lands. The environmental and climatic conditions in the
greenhouse can be adjusted according to the vegetables to be grown. It is possible to get
high efficiency and to grow most of the vegetables independent of the season. A structure
for the protection of external factors and the need for many devices (such as heater,
cooler) in the greenhouse to adjust the environmental conditions according to the plant,
increase the setup costs of greenhouses. As the environmental conditions in the
greenhouse need to be adjusted, larger amount of labor force is needed in greenhouses
than in open-air farming.

Greenhouse farming is widely carried out in the Mediterranean region of our country
[36]. The fact that greenhouses are widely constructed in a zone increases the cost of
greenhouse cultivation, which is already high, by adding costs such as transportation cost
and product damage. In addition, the use of more human power in the greenhouses also
brings human errors. Errors in the greenhouse climate caused by human errors could
affect the growth pace of the vegetables grown in the greenhouse and the quantity of the
products negatively. In this thesis, a smart system design

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Table ( 1.1 ) Population projections in Turkey and in the World, 2000- 2015 (bil-lions)
[10, 28]

Turkey World Turkey World

2000 64 6127 2008 71 6764

2001 65 6204 2009 72 6846

2002 66 6282 2010 73 6930

2003 67 6361 2011 74 7013

2004 68 6440 2012 75 7098

2005 68 6520 2013 76 7182

2006 69 6600 2014 77 7266

2007 70 6682 2015 78 7349

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 Figure ) 1.1 ( Daily per capita supply of calories [10]

which can be used in large commercial or small hobby greenhouses, is proposed. We

aimed to use minimum human power, minimum water consumption so that green-house
agriculture can be done in every region. Hence, human power and shipping costs as well
as product damage will be reduced. In addition, with this smart system, human errors are
minimized and faster and higher efficiency is obtained.

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 Figure ) 1.2 ( Arable land per person [9, 28, 29]

1.1 Problem Definition

As the world population increases, the demand for food also increases. However, the
number of agricultural areas which play an important role in meeting the food demand is
decreasing. Fast and efficient agriculture in small areas is required to meet the in-creasing
demand for food. Greenhouses are used for fast and efficient agriculture in small
agriculture areas. Greenhouses can also be artificially tuned for climatic conditions for
rapid and highly efficient agriculture. The cost of first installation is very high because
greenhouses are specially structured. It also requires a larger amount of human labor
force than open-air agriculture because climatic conditions are artificially tuned [18]. The
use of a large amount of human labor force in the greenhouse also increases the cost of
greenhouse which is already high, and it introduces the hu-man mistakes which cause the
product loss. The usage of human power and cost can be reduced by using smart system
in greenhouses this project, a smart system greenhouse that measures climatic conditions

15
with sen-sors and produces solutions according to these conditions, is proposed. The
designed smart system was evaluated by measuring the air temperature and humidity, and
the ventilation and heating devices connected to the smart system were controlled ac-
cording to the measurements. In addition, the soil moisture and temperature were
evaluated and the irrigation system connected to the smart system was controlled ac-
cording to the measurements. Climatic conditions were kept between the values set
according to the plant. Greenhouse managed by traditional method and greenhouse
managed by smart system were compared.

1.2 Methodology
In this thesis, two greenhouses were installed. One of these greenhouses was managed by
our smart greenhouse system. The other one was traditionally managed. Air temperature,
aumidity, soil temperature and soil moisture were measured with sensors in the smart
greenhouse system. Mechanical and electronic solutions such as irrigation, ventilation
and heating were connected to the system. Fertilization and pruning were carried out by
the farmer. The measurements were evaluated according to the data previously entered
into the system, and the mechanical and electronic devices connected to the system were
controlled so that the values measured in the greenhouse were kept between
predetermined values. The greenhouse managed by the designed system and the
greenhouse managed by the traditional method were compared in terms of seedling
length, total number of products, the product amount (in grams), time and water
consumption.

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1.4 Contributions

The smart system designed for these greenhouses aims to increase

greenhouse efficiency and reduce cost by implementing pre-determined
solutions by controlling five parameters (air temperature, air humidity, and soil
moisture, soil temperature and light). The designed system is intended to be
used both in hobby greenhouses and commercial greenhouses with wide area
usage. The five parameters that the system

controls for climating and irrigation, are suitable for all plants. Thus, if necessary,
threshold values are entered in the system during installation, all plant types can be
cultivated in the greenhouse. The system has been designed so that the human power
spent on greenhouse activities such as ventilation, lighting and irrigation will be gained.
In addition, the designed system aims to use less water in terms of irrigation compared to
the traditional method. The devices used by the system for climating, can be scaled
according to the needs, which makes them easier to use

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 CHAPTER 2

BACKGROUND / RELATED WORK

In this section, we present the devices used in smart system design and the related work
on this topic.

2.1 Background
In the smart system design, Arduino Uno was used as the development platform. An
Arduino compatible temperature sensor was used to measure soil temperature. An
Arduino compatible soil moisture sensor module was used to measure soil moisture. An
Arduino compatible temperature and humidity sensor were used for air temperature and
air humidity measurement. The following sections contain information on the sensors and
actuators used in the smart system design.

2.1.1 Arduino Uno

Arduino is an open source development platform in which circuits can be designed.
Arduino Uno is one of many types of that has the ATmega328 micro controller on it.
Micro controller programming is done by connecting to the computer’s USB port. By
programming the Arduino, the data can be read out and output can be generated by using
the input/output pins. Arduino Uno is shown in Figure 2.1 [4, 8]. The properties of
Arduino are given in Table 2.1 [3].
The voltage required to run Arduino can be provided by the adapter which generates 7-
12V voltage or the USB port of the computer. Circuit supply voltages can be

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 Table ( 2.1 ) Arduino properties [3]

provided through Arduino’s 5V (40mA) and 3.3V (50mA) pins. Six of input-output pin
(3th,5th,6th,9th,10th,11th) can be used as Pulse Width Modulation (PWM). Four of
input-output pin (10th,11th,12th,13th) can be used for Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI)
with using SPI library [13, 43].

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 Figure ) 2.1 ( Arduino Uno [4]

2.1.1.1 Arduino IDE

In order to use the Arduino on a computer, the Arduino driver must first be down-loaded
to the computer. Then, the Arduino driver must be installed on your computer manually
through the device manager. After installing the driver, the virtual serial port number that
the Arduino is connected to will appear. Then the Arduino IDE, the interface program of
Arduino from [5, 8, 12], should be downloaded and run on the computer. Figure 2.2
shows the Arduino IDE and a sample program.

2.1.1.1 Arduino IDE

In order to use the Arduino on a computer, the Arduino driver must first be down-loaded
to the computer. Then, the Arduino driver must be installed on your computer manually
through the device manager. After installing the driver, the virtual serial port number that
the Arduino is connected to will appear. Then the Arduino IDE, the interface program of
Arduino from [5, 8, 12], should be downloaded and run on the computer. Figure 2.2
shows the Arduino IDE and a sample program.

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 Figure ( 2.2 ) Arduino IDE and a sample program

2.1.2 Soil Moisture Sensor

The soil moisture sensor consists of 2 parts: Humidity meter probes and voltage
comparison board. Figure 2.3 shows soil moisture sensor. Moisture measurement is
carried out by immersing the probes in the soil. The resistance between the probes
immersed in the soil causes a voltage difference between the probes [48]. Soil mois-ture
can be measured with this voltage difference. Adjustable resistance (trim pot) in the
voltage comparison board can be used to adjust the sensitivity. The voltage comparison
board has a digital and analog output to which the value of the humidity can be
transferred. Arduino is compatible with Analog output. The value readable from the
analog output is in the range 0-1023 [49]. The properties of the soil moisture sensor are
shown in Table 2.2.

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 Table ( 2.2 ) Soil moisture sensor properties [49]

Hardware Property

Working Voltage 3.3V-5V

Output Voltage 0-4.2V

Current 35mA

Output type Digital ve Analog

Figure ) 2.3 ( Soil moisture sensor [40]

2.1.3 Soil Temperature Sensor

The DS18B20 humidity sensor is used to measure the soil temperature [39]. Figure 2.4
shows soil moisture sensor. This sensor is the waterproof version of the DS18B20 sensor.
It’s a digital sensor. Nine or configurable 12-bit reads can be performed via the single-
wire interface. The properties of DS18B20 are shown in Table 2.3 [20, 44].

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 Table ( 2.3 ) Soil moisture sensor properties [49]

Hardware Property

Operating Voltage 3.0V to 5.0V

Temperature measurement range -10oC to 80oC

Accuracy 0.5oC
Response time <750ms

Cable length 1 meter

6mm diameter 30mm neck stainless steel case

Waterproof

Figure ) 2.4 ( Soil temperature sensor [21]

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2.1.4 Air Humidity and Temperature Sensor
The DHT11 temperature and humidity sensor includes a resistance-type component for
measuring moisture and an NTC temperature measurement component for mea-suring
temperature. Figure 2.3 shows air humidity and temperature sensor. DHT11 can transmit
measured values up to 20 meters, has low energy consumption and is small in size. The
temperature sensivitiy is between 2% and 5% [6, 16]. For use with Arduino, the output
pin must be connected to a 10 k resistor. The DHT11 library needs to be added to
Arduino such that Arduino acquire measurement results from DHT11.

Figure ) 2.5 ( Air humidity and temperature sensor

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2.2 Related work
The use of recent technology to increase productivity in agriculture is becoming
widespread day by day. Parameters such as soil moisture, air temperature, air relative
humidity are measured and controlled by systems designed for this purpose in order to
increase productivity in agriculture. This section includes a review of some of these
systems that are designed to increase productivity.
A smart system designed for agriculture, called AgriSys was introduced in [1] In
AgriSys, air temperature, air humidity, soil moisture, soil PH, and light were mea-sured
with sensors. In this system, the blinds unit was used to prevent more light,
but no lighting unit was used for less light. Irrigation method was used for water and
nutrient needs. The cooling unit was used to protect the plant from high temperatures, but
the no heating unit was used for low temperatures. In the implementation of the designed
AgriSys system, it is claimed that the system saves water and reduces the human power
used in agriculture.
A system providing solutions for temperature and humidity for greenhouses is pro-posed
in [15]. The system is made up with Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and automatic
control over temperature and humidity is provided. The proposed system offers the ideal
environment for plant growth, user-friendly interface for the user. The effect of the
system on the plant in the study was not discussed with numerical data.
A system that control air humidity and air temperature, is designed in [22]. Designed
system has AT89C52 microcontroller. In this designed system, air temperature and air
humidity balance is ensured with some equipment like air humidity increaser equip-ment,
air humidity decreaser equipment, air temperature increaser equipment and air
temperature decreaser equipment. In addition, this designed system include a warning
system. As a result, this system met air humidity and air temperature requirements of
greenhouse.

A fully automatic irrigation system was designed in [23]. In designed system, GSM,
ARM processor, soil moisture sensor, soil PH sensor and drip irrigation system were

25
used. A solenoid valve is used as in [35] for irrigation system control. Because the
irrigation system was provided also soil fertilizer, not only soil moisture but also soil pH
was taken into consideration in order to open and close the irrigation system. Sys-tem
comparison in terms of water consumption was done with the sprinkler irrigation system.
The designed system consumed less water compared to the sprinkler system. No human
power was needed in the designed system.
Another system design that includes sensors, software technology and remote man-
agement of hardware with a website, is proposed in [31]. Greenhouse climating and
irrigation are considered as basis in this system. In order to balance air temperature, air
humidity and lighting in the greenhouse, various type sensors and equipment have been
used. Depending on the user’s experience and decision, some system units can be
disabled. In addition, instant greenhouse status can be displayed on the website.
Greenhouse hardware use wireless communication technologies (Bluetooth, WiFi,
Zigbee, etc.). Wireless communication is an advantage for small greenhouses, but can
cause confusion in large greenhouses.
A spectroscopy sensor with light emitting diode that produce light of different wave-
lengths was used in [32]. The absorption of different wavelengths of light emerging from
this light source by the leaf was monitored with different photo diodes for light in each
wavelength. The information obtained from the photo diodes was analyzed for the
nitrogen and potassium requirement of the plant. Using irrigation system, which is built
on the field of farming and capable of moving horizontally, potassium and nitrogen were
supplied A system that measures the moisture of soil and manages the irrigation system
ac-cording to these measurements was designed and introduced [35]. The irrigation in
operation was made using a solenoid valve and drip irrigation system. When the soil
moisture was lower than a certain threshold value, the valve was kept open until the soil
moisture reaches the desired value and the valve was closed when the soil moisture
reaches the desired value. In this way, excessive irrigation was prevented and the human
power used for irrigation has been removed and electricity saving was achieved. The
quality of product was increased by the system. Because the smart system we designed

26
was used in the greenhouse, not only irrigation but also weather conditions were
controlled to increase product yield.

A monitoring system which include soil moisture sensor, air humidity sensor and air
temperature sensor, was introduced [37]. In this system, values measured form sensors,
were transmitted wirelessly to the relevant units (irrigation, ventilation etc.) via
microcontroller. Among of these units, only irrigation has been tested. Other units have
not been tested because of the difficulty of implementing of all units together. We used
same sensors for our designed smart system, but we tested not only irrigation units but
also heater and ventilation system.

Another irrigation system designed using Arduino Uno is described in [38]. In this
designed system, Arduino, Arduino compatible Ethernet shield and Arduino compat-ible
Motor shield are used. In general, in the system, soil moisture is measured by to soil
moisture sensor. The measured value is evaluated by Arduino:If it predetermined
threshold value, the servo motor which is connected to motor shield is turned on and
irrigation started. When the moisture value of the soil exceeds the threshold value, the
servo motor is turned off and irrigation is finished. All of these processes and instant
value information are presented to the user through Ethernet shield. Like the smart
system we designed, this system also reduced thehuman power consumed for irrigation.
However, the use of additional Motor shield has increased the setup cost.

A system of early detection of insects in tomato plants is described in [41]. Basically, the
system is based on a robot walking between two rows of plants and monitoring the plants
with the camera. While the robot camera is browsing through plants, the insect formation
is determined from the color differences on the plant and the related region is sprayed.
Thus, the manpower needed for spraying is reduced. In addition, spraying in accordance
with the need do not harm the plant and fruit. A similar method exists in the irrigation
system in our proposed system.

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A system in which only the amount of water and light can be controlled for a single plant
is designed in [42]. In this system, light and irrigation control was carried out in a
greenhouse environment which could be called a mini greenhouse since only one plant
grows. In the system, irrigation system which depends on soil moisture and a curtain
system that prevents the plant from getting too much light were used. In this system,
goals such as increasing the target quality of the plant, re-usability have been achieved.
But the system cost was high because it was designed for only one plant

Arduino-based control system for mini greenhouses is designed in [46]. For measur-ing
greenhouse environment, a sensor module that includes temperature, humidity, light
values of measurements is used. Heater, cooler, irrigation pump and lighting are used for
greenhouse environment changes. In addition, a real-time module with its own battery is
used for the real time required for the system to run. Ventilation method and the sensor
used to measure air humidity and air temperature are same both the system described in
[46] and our smart system implementation. But no de-tailed information has been given
for other units used in [46]. The operation of the system is displayed on the led screen.
However the system is not implemented on the greenhouse.
For small and medium-sized greenhouses, the RF-based system is applied in [47]. This
system provides control over greenhouse using GSM networks and remote con-trol
technology. In the study, the hardware structure of the system and the software flow chart
are given. It has been argued that the system can monitor the greenhouse, reliably, in real
time. But the effect of the system on the greenhouse has not been investigated.

Table 2.4, Table 2.5 and Table 2.6 show the corresponding analyze of related works in
terms of the sensors used, the appliances used, the type of connection, the application and
the results. Data not indicated in the related work are indicated by "-".

28
Table ( 2.4 ) Comparison of related works

29
Table( 2.5 ) Comparison of related works (continue)

30
Table ( 2.6 ) Comparison of related works (continue)

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32
CHAPTER 3

SMART SYSTEM DESIGN FOR GREENHOUSES

In this thesis, we designed and implemented a smart system for greenhouses. With the
system designed in the thesis, tomato cultivation in the greenhouses was done. Important
information on tomato cultivation is given in Section 3.1. Smart system design is
explained in Section 3.2. The implementation of the designed smart system is explained
in Section 3.3.

3.1 Tomato Farming

The yield of tomatoes in Turkey is decreasing day by day. The average tomato yield in
Turkey is shown in figure 3.1. In order to investigate the increase of tomato yield with the
smart greenhouse, the tomato plant was selected to be grown in the greenhouses. In
addition, the growth of tomato plants depends on very few parameters. However, it is
very important that these parameters remain within certain limits so that the plant can
grow healthy and give high tomato yield. The parameters heard by the tomato plant and
the ranges of these parameters are explained below.
Tomatoes are hot and temperate climate vegetables. Climatically, if temperature falls to -
2oC, -3 oC, the plant may be damaged or die. At temperatures below 14 oC and above 35
o
C plant cannot grow enough and yield of tomato drops. The tempera-ture must be
constant between 22-26 oC for plant growth and tomato yield. Day and night temperature
differences should be between 8 oC and 12 oC. When the temper-ature rises above 24 oC,
the greenhouse should be ventilated. The humidity must be between 65% and 70% in the
first growing period of the tomato seedlings, and the hu-

33
 Figure ) 3.1 ( Average tomato yields in Turkey (tonnes per hectare) [11]

midity should be around 75%-80% when the first tomatoes come in sight. The plant
needs to be exposed to direct sunlight at least 6 hours a day to grow well. Otherwise,
plant growth is affected negatively. Tomato seedlings are not selective in terms of soil
requirement. For the best yield, soil must be deep, permeable; water holding capacity
should be high, rich in terms of nutrients; PH should be between 5 and 7. Conditions for
irrigation are: Life water should be given after seedlings planted, irrigation should not be
done until the first tomatoes of the plant are given. If the plant get darkened in color
before the first tomatoes appear and if fluff appears on plant body, a small amount of
watering should be done. After the first tomatoes appear, irrigation should be done 2-3
times a week. An important point to note when irrigation is done is that water should not
be sprayed on the leaves while watering is being done. Other-wise, diseases may occur

34
and may spread from the soil to the leaves. Therefore, drip irrigation is suitable for
growing tomatoes [2, 7, 17, 19, 50].

3.2 Smart System Design

Figure 3.1 shows the general smart system design. In the designed smart system, all
peripheral units (sensors and mechanical systems) are connected to the controller.
The measurements from the sensors, evaluation and operation of the mechanical sys-tems
are provided. For a correct operation of the system, ideal soil moisture, ideal soil
temperature ideal temperature and ideal humidity information are needed. This
information should be entered into the system depending on the plant property that grows
in the greenhouse [25].

Figure ( 3.2 ) Block diagram of the designed smart system

35
planted in both greenhouses. Arduino Uno was used as a controller in smart system
design. Two fans were used for the ventilation system. For the irrigation system, a diver
pump and drip irrigation system installed in the water tank were used. Cable

heater was used for heating. The applied smart system is shown in Figure 3.3. For

Figure ( 3.3 ) Installed greenhouses

36
 Figure ( 3.4 ) Implemented smart greenhouse schema

ventilation, two 220V two ventilation fans with 100m3 / hour were used. One of the fans
was placed on the bottom of the greenhouse as shown in Figure 3.4. The other fan was
placed on the top of the greenhouse. Due to the rise of the hot air, the fan placed on the
top of greenhouse was used to transfer air from inside to outside. Also, another fan placed
on the bottom of the greenhouse was used to transfer air from outside to inside. Hence,
air flow was provided and air temperature and air humidity were reduced. Since the
management of the fans was done with Arduino, the 220V-5V relay was used to control
the fans [26]. Relay provided managing 220V voltage
with 5V voltage. Fan management schema is shown in Figure 3.5. Calories

Figure ( 3.5 ) Fan management schema

37
 Figure ( 3.6 ) Fans of smart greenhouse

required for heating the air in the greenhouse is calculated by the following formula.
Q=MC T;
where Q is the heat, M is the mass, C is the heating temperature (0.24 Kcal / kg), T is the
temperature difference. The amount of heat required to heat 1 m3 air per degree and air
weight per degree of air were shown in Table 3.1 [30]. According to the calculated
temperatures, an average of 0.30 Kcal of heat is required to heat 1 m3 of air.

A 1 kW heat source produces 860 Kcal heat per hour. A heat source of 30 W generate a
heat of 25.8 Kcal per hour, 0.43 Kcal per minute. A heat source of 30 W is sufficient

38
 oC Air weight(kg/m3)Heat required(Kcal)
-10 1,342 0,32

0 1,293 0,31

10 1,247 0,30

20 1,205 0,29

30 1,165 0,28

Table 3.1: Air weight and required heat [30]

for the above calculations. For this reason 12V 30W cable heater was used in the
greenhouse. A transformer was used to transform the 220V supplied from the city
network to 12V. The 5V-12V relay was used for the management of the heater with
Arduino. Heater management schema is shown in Figure 3.7.

Figure ( 3.7 ) Cable heater [27]

39
Figure ( 3.8 ) Heater management schema

Figure ( 3.9 ) Submersible pump [33]

40
In the application of the designed smart system, drip irrigation system was used for
irrigation system. The system used a water tank as the water source because there was no
water source of irrigation in the environment where greenhouses are built. A submersible
pump is used to transfer water from the water tank [45]. The submersible pump is shown
in Figure 3.8. The operation of the submersible pump was controlled by the system and
irrigation was carried out. The submersible pump has a capacity of 12 liters per minute
and 20 liters of water per minute. The submersible pump requires a 5V-12V relay for
management purposes. Irrigation management schema is shown in Figure 3.9. One drip
irrigation pit and dripper were used per pot [14]for drip irrigation. The use of pit and
dripper is shown in Figure 3.10.

Implementation of smart system design is shown in Figure 3.11. The water require-ment
of the plants grown in the traditional method was provided by watering the soil by
farmer. When the weather is hot, the greenhouse was opened and ventilated. The heater
was not needed because the season in which the experiment was made was summer.
Human strength has been used to prune plants in both greenhouses, to weed out weeds
and to harvest.

Figure ( 3.10 ) Irrigation management schema

41
Figure ( 3.11 ) Pit and dripper

42
Figure ( 3.12 ) Implementation of the smart greenhouses

43
 CHAPTER 4

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The results obtained from the application of the smart system designed in this chapter are
explained. The results are explained by comparison with traditional greenhouse in terms
of yield, speed, water consumption. The smart system’s artificial climatic results in the
greenhouse are also explained.
Five seedlings were planted in both greenhouses, managed by the smart system and
managed by the traditional method. Six seedlings were planned to be planted in both
greenhouses. A seedling was died in the traditional greenhouse because of damage while
it was being transferred to the pot. If we had added a seedling later to the traditional
greenhouse, the comparison would not be fair. Because it would not have the same
conditions as other seedlings for a certain period of time. Therefore, a seedling was
removed from the system in the smart greenhouse to make a comparison between the two
greenhouses.

4.1 Results of tomato

This section contains the results of growing tomatoes grown in both the smart green-
house and traditional greenhouse, during the experiment.

4.1.1 Duration of first tomato

Figure 4.1 shows time of first tomato occurrrence day for each pot. Pots with the same
number have similar placement in the greenhouses. Ventilation in traditional
greenhouse was done via greenhouse’s door. When the door was opened for ventila-tion,
plants were affected negatively by wind. Because of this, there was no tomato
development in the 1st, 2nd and 4th pots. In the greenhouse, which was managed by smart
system, 4th pot fruit development was slower than other seedling. The reason is that it was
affected from fan which was used for ventilation. As a result, the mean of the first tomato

44
occur time, in the greenhouse managed by the smart system was 14.7 days, in the
greenhouse managed by the traditional method was 38 days.
The results obtained from the application of the smart system designed in this chapter are
explained. The results are explained by comparison with traditional greenhouse in terms
of yield, speed, water consumption. The smart system’s artificial climatic results in the
greenhouse are also explained.
Five seedlings were planted in both greenhouses, managed by the smart system and
managed by the traditional method. Six seedlings were planned to be planted in both
greenhouses. A seedling was died in the traditional greenhouse because of damage while
it was being transferred to the pot. If we had added a seedling later to the traditional
greenhouse, the comparison would not be fair. Because it would not have the same
conditions as other seedlings for a certain period of time. Therefore, a seedling was
removed from the system in the smart greenhouse to make a comparison between the two
greenhouses.

4.1Results of tomato
This section contains the results of growing tomatoes grown in both the smart green-
house and traditional greenhouse, during the experiment.

4.1.1Duration of first tomato

Figure 4.1 shows time of first tomato occurrrence day for each pot. Pots with the same
number have similar placement in the greenhouses. Ventilation in traditional

45
 Figure ( 4.1 ) The number of days until the first tomato is seen at each pot (days)

4.1.2 Number of harvested tomato

Figure 4.2 shows number of tomatoes for each pot. As seen in this figure, the num-ber of
tomatoes of each plant is different. There is no direct relationship between the number of
tomatoes and the location of the plant in the greenhouse. In the smart greenhouse,
irrigation according to soil moisture and usage of fan for ventilation af-fected number of
tomatoes positively. In the traditional greenhouse, number of toma-toes affected
negatively due to wind which came from door opened for ventilation.

Figure ( 4.2 ) The number of tomato at each pot

46
 Figure ( 4.3 ) Average harvest time of tomatoes for each pot (days)

4.1.3 Harvesting time of tomato

Figure 4.3 shows average harvest time of tomatoes for each pot. In the greenhouse
managed by smart system, although tomatoes grow in the same seedling, they have
different harvest times. The location of the tomatoes in the seedlings differed in terms of
daylight. In the smart greenhouse, harvesting of some tomatoes were delayed be-cause
they could not take enough sun light because of leaves which are on top of tomatoes. The
leaves which were on top of tomatoes, prevented tomatoes to obtain enough sun light.
Removing these leaves with pruning, affected the growth of the tomatoes positively. In
the smart greenhouse, early harvests were made as the toma-toes started to grow early. In
the traditional greenhouse, harvest could be done 70 days later after seedlings planted.

4.1.4 Growing time of tomato

The time from the first tomato occur time up to the average harvest time is given in
Figure 4.4. According to the figure, the harvest was made average in 17.2 days in the

47
smart greenhouse. In the traditional greenhouse, the harvest was made 33 days
after first tomato occurs. At the traditional greenhouse, tomato growing took
longer time compared to smart system greenhouse.

4.1.5 Weight of tomatoes

Figure 4.5 shows the weights of tomatoes harvested in the greenhouse field in
grams. The weight of the harvested tomatoes is 31 grams. 2 seedlings, pot1 and
pot2, died after the tomato harvesting process. 2.5 liters of pots were used in the
greenhouses. 1.5 liters of soil was put into each pot and the seedlings were
planted. No fertilizer was given to soil during the experiment. For this reason
tomatoes not big and heavy.

4.1.6 Water consumption

Figure 4.6 shows water consumption of greenhouses. Soil which was used for
plant-ing, is permeable and has low water holding capacity. With this soil
properties,in

Figure ( 4.4 ) Average grow time of tomatoes for each pot (days)

48
 Figure ( 4.5 ) Average weight of tomatoes for each pot (gram)

case of over-irrigation, it is aimed that seedling roots are not affected by excess
water. Each plant in the greenhouse managed by the traditional method was
given an aver-age of 0.5 liters of water per day. In the smart greenhouse, on the
first day the system was operated, an average of 0.5 liters of water per pot was
used. Therefore, it was decided 0.5 liter per day pot irrigation for the traditional
greenhouse, and in the fol-lowing days the irrigation was done accordingly. The
greenhouse managed by smart system is also given according to irrigation soil
moisture. The water consumption of the greenhouse managed by the smart
system was measured by the amount of water added to the water tank. The
greenhouse managed by the smart system consumed less water than the
greenhouse managed by the traditional method.

49
 Figure ( 4.6 ) Weekly water consumption (Liters

Compared to both greenhouses in general, in smart system-controlled greenhouse,

tomatoes began to grow earlier, tomatoes matured earlier and consumed less amount of
water than greenhouse controlled by the traditional method.

4.2 Greenhouse climate and irrigation results

This section contains the results of climatic changes and irrigation in the smart
green-houseduring the experiment

50
4.2.1 Temperature and humidity change in a day
Figures 4.7 and 4.8 show the change in air temperature and air humidity for the same day.
Air temperature and air humidity measurements were taken into account in every 30
minutes. Therefore, the instantaneous changes in air temperature or air humidity, did not
affect the fans. Figure 4.6 shows that when the air temperature exceeds 25 oC, the
ventilation is turned on regardless of the air humidity. Ventilation was provided to keep
the air level constant regardless of the outside air. When the fan that was opened one day
ago and the day-night temperature difference of daytime is 11 oC, the fan is closed. Day
and night difference was found by taking the average of the previous day temperature.
Figure 4.7 shows that even if air humidity did not exceed 80%, the fans were working
because the air temperature exceeds the threshold value. Fans are already working in the
greenhouse environment where 80% of the air humidity is found.

4.2. 2 Soil moisture change in a day

In Figure 4.9, the soil moisture changes from after 06:00 and after 17:00 are
shown in 2-minute intervals. The irrigation system was set to the morning (06:00)
and evening (17:00) hours, which is the best time for irrigation. Between 06:00
and 08:00 and between 17:00 and 19:00, soil moisture measurements were
taken into account and irrigation systems were opened. The measurements were
made every 2 minutes as the irrigation system was in the capacity to raise the
water level of all the pots to the desired value within approximately 2 minutes.
The watering system was opened at 06:00 because the average moisture value
of the pots was below the threshold value. Within 2 minutes, the soil moisture
reached the desired value and the irrigation was closed. After irrigation system
turned off, some soil moisture changes were seen in the pots because of water
remaining in the irrigation system pipeline.

51
Figure ( 4.7 ) Air temperature change on 28.06.2017

52
Figure ( 4.8 ) Air humidity change for on 28.06.2017

53
Figure ( 4.9 ) Soil moisture change on 28.06.2017

54
Figure ( 4.10 ) Open air and greenhouse temperatures chan

55
4.2.3 Fan operation results during the experiment
Figure 4.10 shows the changes in indoor temperature and outdoor temperature [34]. The
increase in outdoor temperature has affected the temperature inside the green-house and
has risen to 29 oC, even though the greenhouse temperature fans have been working. The
operation of the fans prevented the warmth in the greenhouse from rising further. Also, it
reduced the negative effect of hot air on the plants. Figure

Figure ( 4.11 ) Daily fan operating duration (hours)

4.11 shows the daily operating time of the fans. The system did not work due to a fault in
the system between 18-24 July. Therefore, no data belonging to these dates are available.
Between these dates, both greenhouses were managed manually.

56
4.2.4 Heater operation results during the experiment
Heater only worked on July 17, 2017. Working hours of heater are shown in Table 4.1.
There has not been a significant temperature increase in the greenhouse temperature
between the heating hours of the heater. The construction of the greenhouse on the
concrete and the placement of the heater on the floor of the greenhouse did not allow the
heat generated by the heater to be evaluated in the greenhouse.

Table ( 4.1 ) Heater operating time range on July 17,2017

Heater on time Heater off time

00:00 09:00

21:00 00:00

4.3 Cost
The installation costs of both greenhouses and the system costs of the smart green-house
are approximately 770 TL. The distribution of cost can be seen in the Table 4.2. Smart
system for the smart greenhouse ventilation, heating and irrigation has been used instead
of human power. Human power is needed for traditional green-house ventilation and
irrigation. During the experiment, no heating was done because the traditional greenhouse
nights were not checked. Usage of human power in the greenhouses is shown in the Table
4.3. Table 4.4 shows that comparison of traditional greenhouse and smart greenhouse in
terms of tomato growth, smart greenhouse oper-ations and water consumption.

57
 Table ( 4.2 ) Greenhouse costs (Turkish Liras)

Traditional Greenhouse Smart Greenhouse

Greenhouse installation 225 225

Sensors 0 150

Fan 0 20

Heater 0 30

Irrigation system 0 40

Other circuit devices 0 80

58
Table ( 4.3 ) Human power use in the greenhouses

Traditional Greenhouse Smart Greenhouse

Irrigation Yes No

Ventilation Yes No

Heating No No

Pruning Yes Yes

Harvest Yes Yes

59
Table ( 4.4) Traditional greenhouse to smart greenhouse comparison

60
 CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK

5.1 Conclusion
In the designed smart system application, tomatoes were grown in both greenhouses.
Atfirst attempt new sprouts were planted in the greenhouses. Since they were not suitable
for greenhouse conditions, they died. After one week, later seedlings which have 4 - 5
real leaves, were planted in the greenhouse. The smart system was not operated until
flowers were seen in the tomato seedlings of both greenhouses. After the first flowers
were seen on June 27, the smart system was started and started to collect data from the
greenhouses. The systems’ three parameters (air temperature, air humidity, and soil
moisture) have been taken into consideration to ensure the cli-mate conditions of the
greenhouse tomatoes managed by the smart system. The water which has a significant
effect on the heat exchange in the soil has been used from the tank instead of the source.
Therefore, no changes in soil temperature were observed and soil temperature parameter
was not used in the smart grennhouse. Since the sys-tem was tested insummer, the
measurement related to the light was not taken into consideration. Because the amount of
daylight by day throughout the system’s oper-ating period was more than 9 hours.
Greenhouse managed by smart system operated for 2 months 8 days. During this period,
the smart greenhouse has managed by the designed smart system, according to the
threshold values, entered during the set up phase of system. In the traditional greenhouse,
irrigation was made daily with using human power and ventilation of greenhouse was
done according to the air tempera-ture was again made using human power. When the
smart greenhouse temperature reaches 25 oC, the fans were turned on to ventilate the
greenhouse. The temperature
of the greenhouse increased to 29 oC depending on the increase in the temperature of the
air despite the operation of the fans. When the difference between day and night falls
below the threshold, the heater worked. However, due to the environment in which the

61
greenhouse is set up, heater operation has not affected the greenhouse temperature.
Because the environment where the greenhouse, is installed is concrete, greenhouse
elevated 10 cm from the ground with concrete blocks. With this concrete blocks,
greenhouses are prevented against the affect of rainwater accumulation. Be-cause of the
increase in the amount of heat loss caused by the placement of these concrete blocks, the
heater could not increase temperature of the greenhouse. When soil moisture fell below
threshold value, the irrigation system turned on. For irriga-tion, drip irrigation method
was used. In both greenhouses, pruning and harvesting were checked weekly and done by
using human power.

The first tomato, in the greenhouse managed by the smart system, was seen on average 21
days earlier than the traditional greenhouse. The smart greenhouse more efficient in terms
of the number of tomatoes. Average number of tomato per pot was 2.6 in the smart
greenhouse while the average number of tomatoes in the traditional greenhouse was one.
In the traditional greenhouse, harvest could be done 70 days later after seedlings planted.
Irrigation according to the soil moisture done with smart system, consumed an average of
4.33 Lt less water per week than the traditional method.

According to the results described above, when smart greenhouse are compared to
traditional greenhouse, smart greenhouse tomatoes have already been seen and ma-tured
and the number of tomatoes is more. The high number of tomatoes and the rapid growth
of tomatoes indicate that the smart system is suitable for increasing pro-ductivity from
design goals. Since human power for air conditioning and irrigation is not used in smart
system, human errors has been prevented human power cost has been reduced. The
control of the devices used for conditioning in the smart system with relays has made the
selection of the device to be used for climating indepen-dent. Thus, the smart system,
designed with the choice of devices, has been adapted to hobby greenhouses and
commercial greenhouses. The smart system’s use of water according to the soil moisture
62
prevented both the plant from being damaged by over-irrigation and also prevents the
overuse of water. As a future work, the application of the system can be developed and
targeted to grow more than one type of plant in the same greenhouse.

5.2 Future Work

As future work, more than one vegetable can be grown in the same greenhouse. By
increasing the number of greenhouses, only one parameter in the greenhouse can be
changed and the effect on the product of the measured parameter can be investigated. The
effects of plant operation on the peripherals according to the average measure-ments
within the predetermined time periods, rather than the instantaneous measured
parameters, can be investigated. The effects of fertilizer and the amount of soil in pots, on
the plants and products can be investigated. It would be better to measure the parameters
of the traditional greenhouse in terms of evaluating the results. In ad-dition, the open-air
temperature and the open-air humidity had to be measured with sensors in order to
evaluate the change of temperature of smart greenhous

63
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