Volume 6, Issue 4, April – 2021 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology

ISSN No:-2456-2165

Automatic Multipurpose Agribot Using Arduino

Mega and GPS Module Receiver
〖Amol Gothankar〗1 ,〖 Vishal Soni〗2 ,〖 Avinash Vishwakarma〗3 ,〖 Sagar Jankar〗4 ,〖Satish Bhoyar〗5

〖1,2,3,4]
"B.E undergraduate, Department of EXTC, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Maharashtra, India"
5
Assistant Professor, Department of EXTC, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Maharashtra, India"
Corresponding Author: Amol Gothankar

Abstract:- Agriculture is one of the oldest forms of field as bot moves forward. Wodden slab mounted at the
occupation. The use of tools and livestock in the back act as a field leveller so as to close the dug tracks.
agricultural process has reduced the human effort. The robot developed overcomes the drawbacks in the
Major factors that affect agriculture include less holding traditional method of seeding and watering which
area, shortage of seeds, fertilizers, labour and includes wastage of seeds and water, high labour wage,
uncertainty of monsoon. The mechanization of lower utilization of land etc. By the application of
agriculture refers to the use of tools or machines in the automation and robotics in the field of agriculture it is
agricultural process that potentially reduces the human possible to increase the overall efficiency of the
effort. Although it reduces the human effort in the agricultural process and can mitigate effects of labour.
agricultural process, it requires complete human
interaction. The automation and robotics application in Keywords:- Agribot, Ploughing, Seeding, Watering,
the branch of agriculture is at the booming stage when Pesticide Spraying, Arduino, GPS.
compared to its wide range of application in other
sectors. Many researches have been done in this field to I. INTRODUCTION
automate the process. In the present paper an effort is
made for the design and development of the robot that Agriculture was the key development in the rise of
can perform various farming operations like ploughing, human civilization. As the time passed we have seen
field levelling, seeding, watering and pesticide spraying. remarkable changes in the field of agriculture due to the
The robot is basically a four wheel robotic car. The main introduction of new technology which has resulted in the
component here is the Arduino which controls all the develpoment of world agricultural market. Robotics is the
process. The bot is controlled with the help of RF branch of technology that deals with the design,
remote. This RF remote has mutiple buttons for construction, operation and application of robots, as well as
controlling various farming operations. The bot can computer systems for their control, sensory feedback and
navigate the farm in two modes manual mode in which information processing. The system that can do agricultural
the direction to the bot is given by user and automatic work without the need of human intervention is the need of
mode in which bot autmatically navigate through the today's world. These type of intelligent systems having
farm without the need of directions from user. This robust and feasible model with a number of functionalites is
automatic navigation is possible with the help GPS the demand of future in every field of technology. Precision
receiver and magnometer. While navigating through the farming plays a vital role in agriculture field to fulfill the
farm the bot can do any of the farming operation demand of agricultural sector and food industry. Agriculture
depending upon which opertaion is turned ON by user. is an expensive wildly wasteful industry. The precision
Seeding and watering operations happens in a specific farming movement may not solve every problem the
inetrval depending upon the consecutive distance industry face, but it have the potential to improve
between two crops and this interval can be easily change sustainability and efficiency. Before this, precision
by manipulating arduino code. Also the design is such agriculture equipment was only available in the form of
that seeding and watering is done parallelly in 3 tracks heavy machinery. That’s why our system brings precision
which reduce the farming time drastically. Pesticide agriculture technology to enviromentally conscious
sparying opertion is done continuously. Grooves individuals.
mounted at the back of agribot helps in ploughing the

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Volume 6, Issue 4, April – 2021 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165

Fig 1. Evolution of farming

Our system is designed in such a way that it grows latitude and longitude of points where the bot is supposed to
variety of crops. The sytem is controlled with the help of RF reach. One by one each waypoint is set as goal and bot is
remote. Seeding and watering mechanism on the chasis are navigated to the waypoint automatically. This iteration
to sow the seed and to pour water, pesticide spraying continues till all waypoints are reached.
mechanism is also mounted for pesticide spraying. All this
farming operations are done while bot navigate through the Problem Statements
farm automatically using GPS or by manually controlling
the bot by giving directions to it. In today’s farming system there are many problems
faced by the farmers which are given below;
Farmers today spend a lot of money on machines that 1. Man power shortage is the major problem faced by all
help them decrease labour and increase yield of crops but the farmers nowadays.
the profit and efficiency are little less. Hence automation is 2. Inefficient traditional farming techniques leads to
the ideal solution to overcome all the shortcomings by wastage of useful resources.
creating machines that perform the operations and 3. Hazardous pesticides which leads to farmers death.
automating it to increase the yield on a large scale. This will 4. Excess time is consumed in performing individual
help the farmer to control the agricultural works from a far process.
distance without going in the field with an easy control. 5. Cost is relatively very high in traditional farming system
.
II. LITERATURE SURVEY Objectives
The objectives of the proposed Agribot are given
In [1] author decribes a system that can used for below
farming operations like seeding, watering and fertilizing. It 1. There are 3 Seeding wheels for Seeding mechanism,
is a four wheel robotic car controlled by ARDUINO Watering mechanism and Pesticide spraying mechanism.
microcontroller. There are 4 seeding wheels so that 2. Special Spraying mechanism for spraying pesticides is
parallelly 4 tracks can be sown at a time. For watering also mounted on the chassis which will reduce farmers
purpose they have used water pump which pumps the water death.
at specific interval and the same watering mechanism is 3. Reduction in the cost due efficient use of resources.
used for pouring wet fertilizers. 4. Efficient use of farm.
5. Reduction in man power is achieved by using new
In [2] the author gives an overview of the proposed technology.
system. The prototype of an autonomous Agriculture Robot 6. To reduce the labour cost and time required for multiple
is presented which is specifically designed for seed sowing operations of farming system.
task only. It is a four wheel vehicle controlled by LPC2148
microcontroller. Its working is based on the precision III. PROPOSED SYSTEM
agriculture which enables efficient seed sowing at sowing at
optimal depth and at optimal distances between crops and 3.1 Procedure Adopted
their row, specific for each crop type. The transmitter section of the robot consists of HT-
12E Encoder IC, RF Transmitter and DC battery of 9V. HT-
[3] is a article in which author has proposed a system 12E is an encoder IC that is often associated with RF
which is a four wheel robotic car that automatically Transmitter module. It converts the 12-bit parallel data to
navigates with the help GPS receiver and magnometer. serial data. The 12-bit data is divided into address and data
ARDUINO is used to control the overall system. Multiple bits.
waypoints are feeded into the system which are basically the

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Volume 6, Issue 4, April – 2021 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
The operation performed by the robot depend on the via antenna the code will be transmitted to the receiver side.
buttons pressed on the remote controller. The data through The transmitted data is given to the main heart of the
the buttons will be encoded with the help of the encoder. receiver section i.e. Arduino via the transmitter.
The encoded data will be transferred to the transmitter and

Fig 2. Block diagram of Transmitter Section

To choose between two different modes (Automatic or Watering mechanism consists of a solenoid valve which is
Manual mode) a SPST (Single Pole Single Throw) switch is mounted at the bottom of water tank.
used. If we choose the maunal mode the bot can be
navigated with the help of the 4 push buttons (Forward, GPS receiver and magnometer mounted on robot helps
Backward, Right and Left) which are for directions. If we in automatic navigation while minimizing the deviation.
choose the automatic mode the bot will automatically While navigating automatically the robot stops after a
navigate through the farm without the need of directions certain regular intervals where it find out its current location
from the user. There are 3 SPST switches used to control the from GPS receiver module and calculates the deviation w.r.t
3 farming operations which are Seeding, Watering and the destination location and the distance between the bot
Pesticide Sparying. Each of these farming operations can be position and destination location.The deviation calculated
turned ON/OFF using there respective switches. helps in minimizing deviation thus keeping the robot on the
track.
The receiver section of robot consists of RF receiver,
HT12D decoder IC, Arduino, GPS, magnometer and the The Arduino forms the brain of the machine and
various components required for various farming opertaions. controls all the operations like seeding, watering and
For movement of bot there are four motors used and they are pesticide spraying. Arduino is programmed in such a way
controlled by a L293D motor driver IC. For seeding a DC that when it receives the decoded message from the receiver,
motor is used which helps in movement of shaft which is it gives the given command from the remote-control buttons
associated with the seeding operation and for pesticide to the respective sections which operation needs to be
spraying a water pump is used. Both seeding motor and performed.
water pump is controlled by a single motor dirver IC.

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Volume 6, Issue 4, April – 2021 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165

Fig 3. Block Diagram of Receiver Section

3.2 Technical Development and Methodology Adopted

3.2.1 Technical Development

I. Motor calculations:
For selecting appropriate motors required for performing different operations we have the done the following calculations:
(NOTE: 0.66 factor in the formula is consider due to environmental resistance)

On the basis of this calculation we have selected a 12V DC gear motor with 30RPM speed and 2kg-cm torque.

II. Battery calculations:

For selecting appropriate battery required for robot to drive the all opertions we have done the following calculations: Below is
the table that gives the illustration about the current requirement of main components of bot with the total current requirement of
bot.

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Volume 6, Issue 4, April – 2021 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
Table 1: Battery calculations

Components Current Requirement in mA

Arduino Mega 200mA
DC motor (x5) 1500mA
Pumping motor 220mA
Solenoid valve 400mA
GPS module receiver 45mA
Motor driver(x2) 100mA
Total cuurent requirement 2465mA ~ 2500mA

navigation vector involves finding two parameters. This two

Thus, Battery capacity = Total current requirement * parameters are distance error and heading error.
Amount of time = 2500 * 2 = 5000mAh.
On the basis of this battery calculations we have selected a Distance error:
12v lithium - ion battery with the capacity of 5000mAh. Latitude of longitude of current location of bot can be
found using GPS reciver and the latitude and longitude of
IV. NAVIGATION VECTOR CALCULATION destination is already feeded into the system. Thus by
knowing all the parametrs shown in the figure we can
Most important factor that we need to calculate for calculate “d” which is distance error using Haversine
automatic navigation is Navigation Vector. Calculation of formula.

Fig 4. Distance Error

Heading error:
Latitude of current location can be known through GPS reeciver, latitude of destination is already feeded into system and
Robotic_car_heading is known through magnometer. Thus by knowing all the parameters shown we can calculate the devation of
goal w.r.t magnetic north i.e Waypoint_angle using Forward Azimuth Formula and then by subtracting the Robotic_car_heading
from the Waypoint_angle we will get heading error.

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Volume 6, Issue 4, April – 2021 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165

Fig 5. Heading Error

2.2.2 Methodology Adopted RPM of motor needs to be changed which can be easily
In the designed system, entire robot set up is controlled done via manipulation of arduino code.
by Arduino Mega. The seeding, watering and pesticide 2. Watering: The watering mechanism takes place with the
spraying mechanism can be controlled using remote. The help of solenoid valve. This inlet of valve is mounted at the
speed of the dc motor is controlled by Arduino. bottom of water tank and the outlet of it is attached to the
water distrbutor tank. The water distrbutor tank has three
1. Seeding: The seeding mechanism consists of a seed outlets so that water is distributed into three equal amounts.
container to store the seeds. This seed container is divide This valve works on the principle of
into three equal sections. Each section is equipped with a electromagnetics.Whenever the current flows through the
seeding wheel which has grooves at regular inetrvals. This valve the valve open ups thus pouring water into water
grooves on seeding wheel are there so as to hold the distributor tank which distributes water into three equal
appropriate amount of seeds. All this wheels are connceted amounts thus pouring water for the crops. The Arduino is
to each other via single shaft. The shaft is attached to a DC programmed in such a way that it open ups the valve at the
motor via coupler. Thus as the motor starts the coupler regular interval.
attach to the shaft starts rotating which in turn rotates the 3. Pesticide Spraying: The pesticide spraying mechanism
seeding wheel resulting into the seed to fall outside the is done by a special motor used in pumping water. This inlet
container through small container opening. At the outlet of of water pump is attached to the same tank which is used for
seed container there are flexible pipes attached so that seed watering and the outlet of it is attached to the sprayer via
can directly fall from container to the ground throngh the pipe. Whenever pesticide spraying is turned ON the water
pipes. Each crop has different consecutive distance between pump starts pumping pesticde from the water tank to the
two crops so as to plant the crop according to that inetrval sprayer. Thus spraying pesticide in the farm.

Fig 6. Model of Agribot

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Volume 6, Issue 4, April – 2021 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
4. Ploughing and Field Levelling: There are grooves on the Once we have known the navigation vector we first try
back side of the chasis . These grooves are there to plough to minimize the heading error which is the deviation of bot
the field for the seeding. As the robot moves ahead and w.r.t to goal by either turning the bot right if the heading
seeding is done there is wooden slab which act as field error is positive or to the left if the heading error is negative.
leveller to close the pits ploughed by the grooves. It is difficult to make the heading error exactly to zero so for
5. Navigation: As shown in the transmitter section block that we have defined a tolerance range. If heading error is
diagram there are two modes of navigation (Automatic or within that range than it is fine. Once the heading error is
Manual). In manual mode the bot can be navigated with the minimized then we try to minimze the distance error by
help of the 4 push buttons (Forward, Backward, Right and moving the bot forward towards the goal. As the bot moves
Left) which are for directions. forward the heading error goes on increasing so for that bot
need to be stopped at regular distance intervals so as to
In automatic mode the bot will automatically navigate again calculate the navigation vector and minimize the
through the farm without the need of directions from the errors. This iteration of calculation of navigation vectors and
user. For automatic navigation the most important factor we minimizing the errors continue till the goal is reached. Once
need to calculate is the navigation vector which consists of the goal is reached the bot searches for new goals and the
two parameters distance error and heading error. loop continues till all the waypoints are reached. Below is
the flowchart illustrating the automatic navigation of
Agribot clearly.

Fig 7. Flow chart of Automatic navigation

6. Farm Layout: Our Agribot will cover three tracks. Three tracks we are collectively calling as lane. Below is the pictorial
representation of farm layout which gives clear idea about the farm and navigation of agribot.

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Volume 6, Issue 4, April – 2021 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165

Fig 8. Farm Layout

Fig 9. Design of Agribot

V. RESULT

The Agribot works in manual and automatic mode. In forward mode the seeding and watering is ON. Only in forward
direction both seeding and watering are ON, unless in backward or sideways movement the seeding and watering is OFF. The
seeding and watering will happen in a specific interval according to the code in the ARDUINO. This bot is universal with respect
to the crpos used, the interval between two consecutive seed drop and water pouring can be changed in the code of ARDUINO.

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Volume 6, Issue 4, April – 2021 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
Table 2: Agribot Parameters for Different Crops

Table 3: Comparsion of Our Proposed System with Refernces

VI. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE

6.1 Conclusion
In this project we have built a farming robot which can
perform multiple functions such as ploughing, field
levelling, seeding, pesticide spraying and watering. We have
efficiently build the proposed robot to reduce man power
and health hazards caused by chemicals during pesticides
spraying. The 3 seeding wheels reduces the time taken for
sowing the seeds manually and 3 outlets of water helps in
spraying water in less time. Also the automatic navigation
implemented helps in doing all the farming operations
without human intervention. Thus the skill labour required is
less and the health hazards to the farmers is reduced
significantly.

6.2 Future Scope

Apart from seeding, watering, pesricide spraying, the
bot can be implemented with functions like monitoring, fruit
picking etc. With the help of IOT we can have more
efficient bot with the use of mobile applications. Lastly
using Image processing and GSM the farm conditions and
atmosphere condtions can be monitored making the bot
highly efficient.

REFERENCES

[1]. Shreyash Kulkarni, Rahul Kumbhar, Krunal Mistry,

Shravan Nithurkar: Multipurpose Agribot, IOSR
Journal of Engineering (IOSRJEN) Volume 09, Issue:
4th April-2019.
[2]. Neha S. Naik, Virendra. V. Shete, Shruti. R. Danve.
Precision Agriculture Robot for Seeding Function,
IEEE International Conference on Industrial
Instrumentation and Control, May2015.
[3]. GPS Guides Robotic Car, Author: Raul Alvarez
Torrico URL: https://circuitcellar.com/research-
design-hub/gps-guides-robotic-car-2/

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