JSS MAHAVIDYAPEETHA

JSS Science and Technology University

“Agribot”
A technical project report submitted in partial fulfillment of the award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
IN
Electronics and Instrumentation
BY
Mahith Nandhan R 01JST18EI022
Rahul M Ethape 01JST18EI034
P Nisarga 01JST18EI029

Under the guidance of

Dr. Shailaja K Ms. Usharani C M
Associate professor Assistant professor
Department of E & I Department of E & I
JSS STU, Mysuru-06 JSS STU, Mysuru-06

2021-2022

Department of Electronics & Instrumentation

 JSS MAHAVIDYAPEETHA
JSS Science and Technology University

Certificate

This is to certify that the work entitled “Agribot” is a Bonafide work carried out by Mahith
Nandhan R, Rahul M Ethape, P Nisarga in partial fulfilment of the award of the degree of
Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics & Instrumentation for the award of Bachelor of
Engineering by JSS Science and Technology University, Mysuru, during the year 2021-
2022. The project report has been approved as it satisfies the academic requirements in
respect to project work prescribed for the Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics &
Instrumentation.

Under the guidance of Head of the department

Dr. Shailaja K Dr. K Umarani
Associate Professor Professor and HOD,
Department of E & I Dept of E & I
JSS STU, Mysuru-06 JSS STU, Mysuru-06

Ms. Usharani C M
Assistant Professor Examiners: 1…………………..
Department of E & I
JSS STU, Mysuru-06 2…………………..

3…………………..
 DECLARATION

We do hereby declare that the project titled “Agribot” is carried out by the project
group, under the guidance of Dr. Shailaja K, Associate Professor and Ms. Usharani C M ,
Assistant Professor, Department of Electronics & Instrumentation, JSS Science and
Technology University, Mysuru, in partial fulfilment of requirement for the award of Bachelor
of Engineering by JSS Science and Technology University, Mysore, during the year 2021-
2022.

We also declare that we have not submitted this dissertation to any other university for
the award of any degree or diploma courses.

Date:

Place: Mysore

Mahith Nandhan R
Rahul M Ethape
P Nisarga
 ABSTRACT

The implemented system of a prototype of Agribot, multiple agricultural tasks can be

doneusing the robot.

According to food and agriculture organization (FAO), India’s 70% of rural

households still depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood. Nowadays, millions
of farmers are quitting farming in search of better opportunities because of agricultural
problems like more wages, wastage of seeds during seeding, theft in storage areas, lack of
irrigation, more time requirement for every operation, lower yield ofcrops and so on.

In this report documents and presents the results of the work carried out on the
ways of designing and developing a prototype of Agribot that can be helpful to overcome
the problems currently faced by a farmer. In the implemented system, HC-06 Bluetooth
module is interfaced with Arduino UNO to control the functionality of the robot. The
implemented prototype of Agribot can perform the tasks like ploughing the land, cutting
the weed, sowing the seeds and irrigation using diaphragm pump.

i
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

With profound pleasure and immense satisfaction, we submit our project entitled -
“AGRIBOT”.

We take the opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to following persons without
whom this project would not have been possible and whose firm belief in our capabilities
and moral boosting to bring out full potential towards the forefront has played a major role
in each and every step of our endeavor to success.

We express our deep sense of gratitude to our guides Dr. Shailaja K, Associate Professor
and Ms. Usharani C M, Assistant Professor, Department of Electronics &
Instrumentation, JSS Science and Technology University, Mysuru, for their valuable help
and guidance. We are thankful to them for the encouragement they have given in
completing the project.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to our project coordinator Dr. Nanda S,
Assistant Professor, Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, JSS
Science and Technology University, Mysuru, for assisting us in all the activities involved
in completing the project.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to Dr. K Uma Rani, Professor and Head,
Department of Electronics & Instrumentation, JSS Science and Technology University,
Mysuru, for permitting us to utilize all the facilities of the department.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to our respected Principal, Prof. S B Kivade
for providing us an excellent academic atmosphere and encouragement in SJCE.

We are also thankful to all the other faculties including teaching and non-teaching staff
members of our department for their kind cooperation and help.

ii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT................................................................................................................... i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................ ii

LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... iv

LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................... v

CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION
1.1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1
1.2 EXISTING SYSTEM ............................................................................... 3
1.3 IMPLEMENTED SYSTEM ..................................................................... 4
1.4 OBJECTIVE ............................................................................................. 4

CHAPTER 2 - LITERATURE SURVEY

2.1 BACKGROUND ....................................................................................... 5
2.2 LITERATURE SURVEY. ......................................................................... 7

CHAPTER 3 - DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

3.1 BLOCK DIAGRAM ................................................................................. 8
3.2 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS ............................................................. 9
3.3 SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS ............................................................ 18
3.4 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................... 23
3.5 CIRCUIT DIAGRAM .............................................................................. 27

CHAPTER 4 - RESULTS.......................................................................................... 28

CHAPTER 5 - CONCLUSION AND FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS

5.1 ADVANTAGES ........................................................................................ 31
5.2 DISADVANTAGES ................................................................................. 31
5.3 APPLICATIONS...................................................................................... 31
5.4 CONCLUSION......................................................................................... 32
5.5 FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS ................................................................. 33

REFERENCES ........................................................................................................... 34

iii
 LIST OF TABLES

SL.NO TABLE NO TITLE PG.NO

3.1 Technical specifications of 10

I Arduino UNO

3.2 Pin description of L298N 13

II motor driver

3.3 Pin description of HC-05 16

III Bluetooth module

3.4 Symbol and its function in 20

IV Bluetooth RC Car
application

iv
 LIST OF FIGURES

SL.NO FIGURE.NO TITLE PG.NO

1.1 Prototype of Agribot 2
I
1.2 Manual dispersal of fertilizer 3
II
1.3 Traditional irrigation system 3
III
2.1 Livestock farming 5
IV
2.2 Tractor used in agriculture 6
V
3.1 Block diagram of Agribot 8
VI
3.2 Components of Arduino UNO 10
VII
3.3 Gear motor 11
VIII
3.4 L298N dual H-bridge motor driver 12
IX
3.5 Internal circuitry of L298N motor driver 14
X
3.6 HC-05 Bluetooth module 15
XI
3.7 7 AH Lead acid battery 16
XII
3.8 Arduino IDE logo 18
XIII
3.9 Bluetooth RC Car Application logo 20
XIV
3.10 Control window of Bluetooth RC 21
XV car application

v
 3.11 Option menu of Bluetooth RC car 21
XVI application
3.12 Pairing list window in Bluetooth RC car 22
XVII application

3.13 Left and Right pair of wheels being 23

XVIII shorted
XIX 3.14 Ploughing arm of Agribot 24

XX 3.15 Top view of seed sowing block 25

XXI 3.16 Bottom view of seed sowing block 25

XXII 3.17 Diaphragm pump along with a tank 26

XXIII 3.18 Copper nozzle fitted below to spray 26

water
XXIV 3.19 Circuit diagram of Agribot 27

XXV 4.1 Agribot - Robot capable of performing 28

several agricultural tasks
XXVI 4.2 Smartphone connected to Agribot 28
through HC-05 Bluetooth module
XXVII 4.3 Cutter installed in Agribot 29

XXVIII 4.4 Ploughing tool 29

XXIX 4.5 Water spraying tank 30

XXX 4.6 Water spraying outlet 30

XXXI 4.7 Seed sowing funnel 30

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CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Agriculture is the main backbone of India. The history of Agriculture in India dates
back to Indus Valley Civilization Era and even before that in some parts of Southern
India. Today, India ranks second worldwide in farm output. The special vehicles play a
major role in various fields such as industrial, medical, military applications etc., The
specialvehicle field are gradually increasing its productivity in agriculture field. Some
of the major problems in the Indian agriculture are rising of input costs, availability of
skilled labours, lack of water resources and crop monitoring. To overcome these
problems, the automation technologies were used in agriculture. The automation in the
agriculture could help farmers to reduce their efforts.

The vehicles are being developed for the processes for ploughing, levelling, water
spraying. All of these functions have not yet performed using a single vehicle. In this
project the robots are developed to concentrate in an efficient manner and also it is
expected to perform the operations autonomously. The implemented idea can perform
the functions such as ploughing, seed sowing, mud levelling and water spraying.
These functions can be integrated into a single vehicle and then performed.

Agricultural robots are seen as one of the key trends that will deeply influence the
agriculture industry in future. The heart of this phenomenon is the need to
significantly increase the crop production yields. With the global population projected
to reach approximately 10 billion by 2050, agricultural consumption is expected to
increase by a massive 70% further complicated by decreasing agricultural workforce
in developing countries. Agricultural robots automate slow, repetitive, and dull tasks
for farmers, allowing them to focus on improving the production yields, while
increasing farm efficiency as well as reducing labour requirements and the overall
operating costs. Agricultural robots also enable precision agriculture, in which
resources are distributed more efficiently, leading to significant savings in resource use
and contributing to a lower environmental impact.

Agribot is a robot designed for agricultural purposes. It is designed to minimize the

labour of farmers in addition to increasing the speed and accuracy of the work. It
performs the elementary functions involved in farming i.e., harvesting, spraying,
seeding and cutting. And they gradually appear advantages in agricultural production
to increase productivity, improve application accuracy and enhance handling safety.

In the field of agriculture, crop plantation begins with ploughing the land and sowing
seeds. The traditional method of manually sowing seeds by hand is a highly inefficient
and time-consuming process that requires a lot of human effort and can lead to health
issues for the farmers due to excessive bending and ergonomic strain. With the rise of
large agriculture fields all over the world, traditional methods of sowing seeds have
been unable to meet the increased crop seeding requirements. As such, agriculture
machinery designed specifically for crop seeding were introduced. However, spreading
seedlings using tractors results in a high wastage of seedlings and an irreversible
damage to agriculture fields due to the compaction of soil from the weight of the heavy
machinery. Therefore, one area where robots are perfectly suited to be used in the

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agriculture operations are the crop seeding process. This system can carry storage
reservoirs, be operated safely and even autonomously, and be deployed at a fraction of
the cost compared to the traditional methods. In fact, it is estimated that the robot can
improve the crop seeding efficiency by up to three times compared to the manual
seeding by human workers. Robot will not damage the soil structure in an agriculture
field as opposed to heavy machinery. This work aims to develop a low-cost agricultural
robot for crop seeding in agriculture fields. The driving force behind this work is to
reduce human interference, labour requirements, and the overall operating costs in the
field of agriculture. In order to keep the costs to a minimum, the implemented
prototype was assembled using simple, cost-effective, and off-the-shelf components.
The agricultural robot developed in this research work consists of two parts, namely a
mobile base for robot movement and a seeding mechanism attached to the mobile base
for crop seeding application. The mobile base has a four-wheel design for ease of
movement on uneven terrains. The agricultural robot operates in accordance to the
commands of an operator.

Figure 1.1: Prototype of Agribot

As farms grow in size, together with the size of the equipment used on them, there is a
need for ways to automate processes, previously performed by the farmer himself, such
as controlling the fields for pests. These tasks are perfectly suited for autonomous
robots, as they often require numerous repetitions over a long period of time and over
a large area. The use of robots is a rather new development as most of the existing
solutions for automatic supervision, is designed for standard farm equipment, such as
tractors, combines and pesticide sprayers.

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1.2 EXISTING SYSTEM

Agricultures plays a vital role no matter how many technologies come into life. Each
and every one depends on agriculture for livelihood. As days pass by agriculture is
falling on the negative side of the graph. Following are few major drawbacks of the
existing system:

1) Irregular dispersal of seeds

Seeding is one of the critical and basic input for attaining higher crop yields and
sustained growth in agricultural. Dispersal of seeds when done manually leads to
improper spacing between the crops causing reduction in yield.

2) Extensive use of fertilizers

Indian soils have been used for growing crops over thousands of years without
caring much for replenishing. This leads to depletion and exhaustion of soils resulting
in their low productivity. This is a serious problem which can be solved by using
more manures and fertilizers at right time and quantity.

3) Irrigation
India is the second largest irrigated country of the world after China where only
one-third of the cropped area is under irrigation. Irrigation is the most important
agricultural input in tropical monsoon country like India where rainfall is uncertain
and unreliable. Sustained progress cannot be achieved in agriculture unless and until
more than half of the cropped area is brought under assured.

4) Lack of mechanism
In spite of the large-scale mechanization of agriculture in some parts of the country,
most of the agricultural operations in larger parts are carried on by human hand using
simple and conventional tools and implements like wooden plough, sickle, tractors or
animals.

Figure 1.2: Manual dispersal of fertilizer Figure 1.3: Traditional irrigation system

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1.3 IMPLEMENTED SYSTEM

The implemented system helps is enhancing the efficiency and helps to overcome
many problems. The implemented system helps in right way to disperse seeds to
maintain right distance between the seeds and hence its yield. Irrigation is very essential
in agriculture; the system helps with irrigation to the crops at right time and quantity.
The implemented system also helps to maintain the soil fertility and good yield by using
fertilizers at right time and quantity. Hence one can make best use by using this
mechanism in agriculture.

The system can be accessed by the user through mobile using Bluetooth and can control
the robot to move in left, right, forward and backward directions. This helps the user to
increase efficiency in work and produce good yield. In case, the user is growing a crop
which requires so much of irrigation he need have to wait for rain instead use Agribot
to irrigate the fields at right time with right quantity. The implemented system hence
helps in saving time, reduce man work, reduce number of labors, increase efficiency,
increasetime management and helps in increasing the yield.

1.4 OBJECTIVE

The main objective of the system is to plough the field, sow seeds in a predetermined
manner, irrigate the fields and to cut quality extra weeds in order to maintain the
quality of yield. The user can control the robot to perform different agricultural tasks
as per the need and can access it at any time through his smartphone. The other
objectives of Agribot are to reduce manual work, number of labors, save time and
money, increase the efficiency and improve quality and quantity of productivity.

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CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE SURVEY

2.1 BACKGROUND

Farming and machinery have evolved greatly over recent years. The threshing
instrument has given way to the combine usually a self-propelled unit that picks up
windrowed grain or cuts and threshes in one step. Ploughs are not used nearly as
extensively as before, due in large part to the popularity of minimum tillage to reduce
soil erosion and conserve moisture.

From past many years livestock farming is one of the traditional ways of farming in
the entire world. Many animals are domesticated so that they can utilized in many
agricultural tasks. In environment conditions it is fairly well-known that livestock
sector accounts 14.5% of human induced greenhouse gas emissions exceeding from
transportation. Animal waste and discards are often not treated appropriately with
farmers often disposing waste in rivers where it pollutes the water and threatens the
ecosystem’s biodiversity. It must be noted, however, that farm animals also generate
methane gas and their waste can contaminate water sources as well, and beasts of
burden also require fuel (hay, grass, grain, etc.).

Figure 2.1 Livestock farming

About 92% of the fresh water is used for farming purposes, and one-third of it is used
for rearing livestock and manufacturing animal products. Livestock farming creates

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large carbon footprint and has a very high global warming potential. Furthermore,
animal waste and discards are frequently not properly handled with farmers frequently
disposing of waste in rivers, polluting water and threatening ecosystem biodiversity.
Tractors are used on farms to mechanize several agricultural activities. Tractors are
most essential necessity of farming as they provide machine power for performing
farming applications. In addition to routine landscape maintenance there are lawn
care, clearing bushes and spreading fertilizers the tractors are used to pull a variety of
tools for ploughing, planting, harvesting and cultivating crops.

After modernization of machines in agriculture, tractors are playing a significant role

in the improvisation of farming day by day. Tractors are mechanical vehicles and they
can break down; one must have access to repair parts, tools, and knowledge on how to
affect the repairs. They also require routine maintenance and clean fuel. Tractors burn
fossil fuels and cause air pollution and waste products such as used oil and filters that
must be properly disposed of to avoid contaminating ground water.

Figure 2.2: Tractor used in agriculture

In the 21st century, the goal of production and use of agricultural machinery is to
achieve greater savings, the higher productivity and of course, the higher yields. The
development of tractors in the last 25 years has accelerated so much that the difference
in working with old and new tractors is equivalent to the transition from working with
horses and oxen, from hundreds of years ago, to working with an internal combustion
tractor.

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2.2 LITERATURE SURVEY

Many works have been carried out in this direction so far. Few of the recent works are
mentioned below -
A multifunctional robot is designed to perform several agricultural tasks. Along with
the farming functions, robot checks the soil pH, temperature, moisture, humidity. Here
camera is used for live streaming but the solenoid is used to control seeding and
fertilizing, which makes the system to be complex and more space is required. [1]
Amrita Sneha aims to perform automated ploughing and simultaneous seeding process
using Advanced Virtual RISC (AVR) but outside the field is strictly operated using
manual operations. [2]

The robot starts its function by ploughing the field, then sows the seeds in the ploughed
area and ends the process with covering the seeds sown with soil. It minimizes the labor
of farmers and increases the speed but it has low efficiency and accuracy. [3]
In another implemented system robot is controlled by a human operator who manually
guides the functionality of the robot through a desired path called teaching stage then
robot will navigate autonomously with taught information called execution phase. It
translates demonstrated behavior immediately into executable code but counter
variable can overflow any time. [5]
In another system, brain computer interface system is used, which does not require
training for individual users but it require excessive training for proper usage and
slow speed. [6]
Swati D Sambare aims to drop seeds at particular position with specified distance
between two seeds but it has complex design for single operation. [7]
Mark E Russell implemented a universal gripping mechanism, which should possess
the ability to pick unfamiliar objects irrespective of its shape within the given size
range, but it increases the complexities on both hardware and software for small
object. [8]
Lijina P Nippun implemented a collision avoidance variable speed technique based on
the RSSI value of robots which is used to implement the obstacle avoidance, but
proximitysensors have a limited operating limits. [9]
Saurabh Umarkar implemented a system in which farming is powered by solar panel
with a control of Android Application, but solar panels are expensive. [10]
T A Mohana Prakash aims in making smart agricultural system using robotics and IoT
technologies. [11]
Pirkala Athish Reddy designed a RF remote control system to operate tractors during
farming, but it can be used only for shorter distance. [12]
Dasarinaga Vinod implemented a system of agricultural robot which can move
instinctively, involuntarily for ploughing in different depths depending upon soil,
seeding and irrigation mechanisms in the field. The agricultural robot is equipped with
the camera and sends the data to pc through Wi-Fi network. [13]

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CHAPTER 3 – DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

3.1 BLOCK DIAGRAM

Figure 3.1: Block diagram of Agribot

Agribot is equipped with Bluetooth which is interfaced with the Arduino to compute
the directions and functions of the entire system. The Arduino is further connected to
three L298N motor drivers. One L298N motor driver has two outputs. The first L298N
motor driver outputs are used to operate the left and right DC gear motors and similarly
second L298N motor driver outputs are used to operate ploughing and cutting gear
motors whereas, the last motor driver outputs are used to operate diaphragm spray pump
and seeding motor.

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3.2 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

3.2.1 Arduino UNO

Arduino UNO is considered as the most powerful board used in various projects.
Arduino UNO is based upon ATmega328P microcontroller.

The Arduino UNO includes 6 analog pin inputs and 14 digital pins including USB
connector, power jack and an ICSP (In-Circuit Serial Programming) header. It is
programmed based on IDE which means Integrated Development Environment and
can run on both online and offline platforms.
Components of Arduino UNO are:
1. ATmega328 Microcontroller- It is a single chip Microcontroller of the ATmega
family. The processor code inside the microcontroller is 8-bit. It consists of Memory
(SRAM, EEPROM, and Flash), Analog to Digital Converter, SPI serial ports, I/O lines,
registers,timer, external and internal interrupts and an oscillator.

2. ICSP pin - The ICSP pin allows the user to program using the firmware of the
Arduino board.
3. Power LED Indicator - The ON status of LED indicates that the power is activated
and when the power is OFF, the LED will not glow.
4. Digital I/O pins - The digital pins have two values HIGH and LOW. The pins from
D0 to D13 are digital pins.
5. TX and RX LED's - The successful flow of data indicates the lighting of these
LED's.
6. AREF - The Analog Reference pin is used to feed a reference voltage to the
Arduino UNO board from external power supply.
7. Reset button - It is used to reset the connection.
8. USB - It establishes the board to connect to the computer. It is very much essential
for the programming of the Arduino UNO board.
9. Crystal Oscillator - The Crystal oscillator has a frequency of 16MHz which makes
Arduino UNO a powerful board.
10. Voltage Regulator - Voltage regulator converts the input voltage to 5V.
11. GND - The ground pin is a pin with zero voltage.
12. Vin – It indicates the input voltage.
13. Analog Pins - The pins numbered from A0 to A5 are analog pins. The function of
these pins is to read the analog sensor used in the connection. It can also act as GPIO
(General Purpose Input Output) pins.

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Figure 3.2: Components of Arduino UNO

OPERATING VOLTAGE 5V

INPUT VOLTAGE 7-12 V

ANALOG I/O PINS 6

DIGITAL I/O PINS 14

PWM DIGITAL I/O PINS 6

CLOCK SPEED 16 MHz

Table 3.1: Technical specifications of Arduino UNO

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3.2.2 Gear motor

Gear Motor is a commonly used term that designates a hoist that derives its lifting and
lowering power from a mechanical setup involving a gear set and pneumatic or electric
motor. As the name implies, a gear motor or geared motor is a motor having an attached
gear assembly.

The gear assembly or gear train enable the gear motor to provide greater torque at a
lower RPM than the motor alone would be capable of providing. That is, gear motor
refers to a combination of a motor plus a reduction gear train.The gear reduction or
gear train reduces the speed of the motor, with a corresponding increase in torque.
Gear ratios range fromjust a few to huge. A minute ratio can be achieved with a single
gear pair while a large ratio requires a series of gear reduction steps and thus more
gears.

In the case of transmission ratio N the unit may be back drivable which means it can
turn the output shaft, perhaps by hand, at angular velocity w and can cause the motor
to rotate at angular velocity Nw. A larger transmission ratio N may make the unit non-
back drivable where each of it has advantages for different circumstances. Back
drivability not only depends on N but on many other factors. For large N, often the
maximum output torque is limited by the strength of the final gears, rather than by N
times the motor's torque.

Figure 3.3: Gear motor

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3.2.3 L298N Motor driver

A motor is an electronic device that helps convert electrical energy into mechanical
energy. Therefore, a motor driver allows you to conduct automatic works using
electrical power.

The L298N Motor Driver Module is a high-power motor driver module for driving DC
and Stepper Motors. The module consists of L298 motor driver IC and 78M05 5V
regulator. L298N Module can control up to 4 DC or 2 DC motors with direction and
speed control.

Critical characteristics of a motor driver are:

Compatible motors:

It is impossible to find motor drives that fit all the electric motors. Some manufacturers
make motor drivers specifically for certain types of engines. However, the
manufacturers make it easier for you since they provide a list of all compatible motors
to motor drivers. Notably, most drivers are compatible with the DC and stepper motor.
However, a servo motor deserves more keenness when selecting a motor driver.

Interface:

Many motor drives work perfectly when placed on an Arduino driver board interface.
Some wireless projects require a wireless motor driver.

Voltage and Current:

Voltage and current are the two most important characteristics to look for in a perfect
motor driver. When working on a project, user must already know what amount of
supply voltage and operating current the project requires. The driver selected for an
application should abide by the necessary level of functionality.

Figure 3.4: L298N dual H-bridge motor driver

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PIN NAME DESCRIPTION

IN 1 & IN2 Input pins of motor A which are used
to control the direction of motor A
IN3 & IN4 Input pins of motor B which are used
to control the direction of motor B

ENA It enables PWM signal for Motor A

ENB It enables PWM signal for Motor B

OUT1 & OUT2 Motor A output pins

OUT3 & OUT4 Motor B output pins

VCC 12V input from DC power Source

VS Supplies power for the switching logic

circuitry inside L298N IC

GND Ground pin

Table 3.2: Pin description of L298N motor driver

Features & Specifications of motor driver:

• Driver Model: L298N 2A

• Driver Chip: Double H Bridge L298N
• Motor Supply Voltage (Maximum): 46V
• Motor Supply Current (Maximum): 2A
• Logic Voltage: 5V
• Driver Voltage: 5-35V
• Driver Current: 2A
• Logical Current: 0-36mA
• Maximum Power (W): 25W
• Current Sense for each motor
• Heatsink for better performance
• Power-On LED indicator

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Figure 3.5: Internal circuitry of L298N motor driver

A motor driver is necessary because the microcontroller requires lower-level voltage

than the motors due to which we cannot supply power directly from the
microcontroller to the engine. A motor driver is required in between these electrical
components at this point and the driver steps up the current from the microprocessor
to match the motor current.

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3.2.4 HC-05 Bluetooth module

HC-05 Bluetooth Module is a Serial Port Protocol module, designed for transparent
wireless serial connection setup.

Its communication is via serial communication which makes an easy way to interface
with controller or PC. HC-05 Bluetooth module provides switching mode between
master and slave mode which means it able to use neither receiving nor transmitting
data.

Figure 3.6: HC-05 Bluetooth module

HC-05 Technical Specifications:

• Operating Voltage: 4V to 6V (Typically +5V)

• Operating Current: 30mA
• Range: less than100m
• Works with Serial communication (USART) and TTL compatible
• Follows IEEE 802.15.1 standardized protocol
• Uses Frequency-Hopping Spread spectrum (FHSS)
• Can operate in Master, Slave or Master/Slave mode
• Can be easily interfaced with Laptop or Mobile phones with Bluetooth
• Supported baud rate: 9600,19200,38400,57600,115200,230400,460800.

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PIN DESCRIPTION FUNCTION

VCC +5 V Connect to +5 V
GND Ground Connect to Ground
TXD UART_TXD (Transmitting Connect with the MCU’s
pin) (Microcontroller and etc.) RXD PIN
RXD UART_RXD (Receiving pin) Connect with the MCU’s
(Microcontroller and etc.) TXD PIN.

KEY Mode switch input If it is input low level or connect to the

air, the module is at paired or
communication mode. If it’s input high
level, the module will enter to AT mode

Table 3.3: Pin description of HC-05 Bluetooth module

3.2.5 Lead acid battery (7 AH)

The rechargeable batteries are lead-lead dioxide systems. The diluted sulfuric acid
electrolyte is absorbed by separators and plates and thus immobilized.The battery
being accidentally overcharged produces hydrogen and oxygen, special one-way
valves allow the gases to escape thus avoiding excessive pressure build-up. Otherwise,
the battery is completely sealed and is, therefore, maintenance-free, leak proof and
usable in any position.

Figure 3.7: 7 AH Lead acid battery

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General Features of lead acid battery:

● UL-recognized component.

● Can be mounted in any direction.

● Lead and calcium tin alloy grid is designed using computers for high power density.

● Lead acid battery provides long service duration.

● Maintenance cost is free.

● Low self-discharge.

3.2.6 Spray pump

Spray pump is used for irrigation purpose where diaphragm pump is used for this mechanism. A
diaphragm pump is called as a positive displacement pump since it uses a combination of the
reciprocating action of a rubber, thermoplastic or Teflon diaphragm and suitable valves on either
side of the diaphragm to pump the fluid.
When the volume of chamber pump is increased (the diaphragm moving up), the pressure
decreases and fluid is drawn into the chamber and when the chamber pressure increases from
decreased volume (the diaphragm moving down), the fluid previously drawn in is forced
out. Later the diaphragm moving up once again draws fluid into the chamber, completing the
cycle.Diaphragm pump delivers a hermetic seal between the drive mechanism and the
compression chamber by allowing the pump to transfer, compress, and evacuate the medium
without any other lubricants.

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3.3 SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

3.3.1 Arduino IDE

The Arduino integrated development environment (IDE) is a cross-

platform application (for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux) that is written in
the Java programming language. It originated from the IDE for the
languages Processing and Wiring. It includes a code editor with features such as text
cutting and pasting, searching and replacing text, automatic indenting, brace matching,
and syntax highlighting, and provides simple one-click mechanisms to compile and
upload programs to an Arduino board. It also contains a message area, a text console, a
toolbar with buttons for common functions and a hierarchy of operation menus.

The Arduino IDE supports the languages C and C++ using special rules of code
structuring. The Arduino IDE supplies a software library from the wiring project,
which provides many common input and output procedures. User-written code only
requires two basic functions, for starting the sketch and the main program loop, that are
compiled and linked with a program.

Figure 3.8: Arduino IDE logo

There are several plants like Windows, MAC OS, Linux where it runs in as much
simpler way. The concerned software is JAVA, so before running 1D JAVA should get
installed on the machine and it is applicable in any Arduino board. The Arduino
Integrated Development Environment or Arduino Software (IDE) - contains a text
editor for writing code, a message area, a text console, a toolbar with buttons for
common functions and a series of menus. It connects to the Arduino hardware to

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upload programs and communicate with them. Programs written using Arduino
Software (IDE) are called sketches. These sketches are written in the text editor and
are saved with the file extension.ino. The editor has features for cutting/pasting and
for searching/replacing text.

Steps involved in loading a program to Arduino UNO using Arduino IDE software are:

1. Connect the Arduino UNO board with an A B USB cable; sometimes this
cable is called a USB printer cable. The green power LED should go on.
2. Install the board drivers – drivers are installed automatically by windows OS.
3. Open the LED blink example sketch: File > Examples >01.Basics > Blink.
4. Select the board type as Arduino UNO.
5. Select the serial device of the board from the Tools | Serial Port menu. This is
likely to be COM3 or higher.
6. Click the "Upload" button in the environment. After few seconds the RX and TX
LEDs on the board flashing. If the upload is successful, the message "Done
uploading" will appear in the status bar.
7. A few seconds after the upload finishes, the pin 13 LED on the board start to
blink (in orange).

Arduino IDE software is used to load the program into Arduino UNO that can be used
to interface various components. In this Agribot, we are utilizing HC-05 Bluetooth
module which is interfaced with Arduino UNO for serial data communication. The
program is loaded in such a way that transmitter pin of Bluetooth module is connected
to receiver pin of Arduino UNO and receiver pin is left empty by defining it as a NULL
pin. HC-05 Bluetooth module is used to provide user input to the Agribot which
transmits various commands in the form of a character which is being transcribed to
Arduino UNO.

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3.3.2 Bluetooth RC Car Application

The Bluetooth RC car application is designed to be used with a Bluetooth module of

any sorts.
The application allows the user to control an Arduino which is interfaced with
Bluetooth. This is done using a Bluetooth enabled Android phone. The app lets user to
control the car with either buttons or the phone's accelerometer. A slider bar allows to
control velocity of the car.

Figure 3.9: Bluetooth RC car application logo

SYMBOL FUNCTION

Front Light Cutting mechanism

Back Light Ploughing mechanism

Horn Spraying mechanism

Caution Light (red triangle) Seeding mechanism

Table 3.4: Symbol and its function in Bluetooth RC Car application

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Figure 3.10: Control window of Bluetooth RC car application

In order to apply these mechanisms, the user needs to install the Bluetooth RC car
application. User needs to click on ‘SETTINGS’ option after which option menu shown
in figure 3.11 will be displayed.

Figure 3.11: Option menu of Bluetooth RC car application

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Further the user should click on the ‘CONNECT TO CAR’ option, then the notification
tab shown in figure 3.12 will be displayed.

Figure 3.12: Pairing list window in Bluetooth RC car application

User must select his Bluetooth module name and then click on it. Finally, this
application will be connected to HC-05 Bluetooth module so that the user can perform
all the mechanisms or functions as per the requirement.

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3.4 METHODOLOGY

Initially, Bluetooth is connected to Arduino using mobile through ‘Bluetooth RC Car’

app. The Arduino which is further connected to three L298N motor drivers in order to
operate the left and right DC motors, ploughing, cutting, seeding and spraying functions
where the software allows user to control the entire system.

3.4.1 Robot driving mechanism

The model consists of 4 wheels which are connected to four DC motors respectively.
Both left motors and right motors are shorted respectively and wheels are driven by
L298N motor driver. Various commands are used to move the robot in forward, reverse,
stop, left, and right direction to perform various functions in the field according to the
commands received by the user.

Figure 3.13: Left and Right pair of wheels being shorted

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3.4.2 Ploughing mechanism

The main purpose of the ploughing operation is to turn over the upper layer of the soil
using ploughing arm, allowing the fresh nutrients enter into the surface. In the prototype
model DC Motors will be used for ploughing the farm. As the wheels which is
connected to the dc motors rotates, then the cultivating arm is lowered down and the
soil is dug up. The direction of the cultivator can also be controlled by the Bluetooth
app in the smart phone. A trapezoidal road is used for easy and quick mechanism to
move the ploughing arm in vertical direction. This is further given support with two
smooth rods which are placed parallel to each other to balance the ploughing arm.

Figure 3.14: Ploughing arm of Agribot

The ploughing mechanism is carried out from the output of second L298N motor driver.
If input 1 is high and input 2 is low, then output 1 will be high and hence motor rotates
in clockwise direction resulting the plough arm component to move downwards. If
input 1 is low and input 2 is high, then output 2 will be high and hence motor rotates in
anticlockwise direction resulting in upward movement of plough arm.

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3.4.3 Seed Sowing Mechanism

Seeding function is sowing the seeds in a particular manner followed by the ploughing
function. In the prototype model, a funnel will be used for storing the seeds and the
shaft is connected to low rpm DC motor. As the motor rotates along with the shaft, it
drifts the seeds from the funnel and drops it to the soil through a hole at the bottom with
a short time delay as per the need of the user. The third L298N motor driver is
responsible to carry out the seeding mechanism. If input 3 (pin 10) is high then it’s
corresponding output 3 is also high and hence seeding mechanism starts to function and
if input 3 is low then the seeding mechanism stops.

Figure 3.15: Top view of seed sowing block

Figure 3.16: Bottom view of seed sowing block

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3.4.4 Water spraying mechanism

In this a diaphragm water pump will be used to drift the water or fertilizers from the
container through a pipe. This model is either used for spraying water after seeds are
sown or for pesticide spraying after the crops are grown up to keep them safe from
getting affected by pest. Thin copper misting nozzle is used to spray water or pesticides
in all directions enhancing the irrigation system. The spraying mechanism is carried
outby third L298N motor driver. If input 1(pin 5) is high then its corresponding output
1 is also high and starts the irrigation process.

Figure 3.17: Diaphragm pump along with a tank

Figure 3.18: Copper nozzle fitted below to spray water

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3.5 CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

Figure 3.19: Circuit diagram of Agribot

The Bluetooth module is connected to +5V for its operation and the transmission pin
(TX) is connected to the second pin of the Arduino establishing a serial communication.
The 3,4,5,6 pins of the Arduino are given as input to 5,7,10,12 pins of the first L298N
motor driver respectively to drive the left and right DC motors. The 7,8,9 pins of the
Arduino are connected to the second L298N motor driver inputs. The output 1 from pin
2 and output 2 from pin 3 of the second L298N motor is used to drive the ploughing
mechanism and output 3 from pin 13 and output 4 from pin 14 is used to drive the
cutting motor. Similarly, 9 and 10 pins of the Arduino are connected to the third L298N
motor driver and the output 1 from pin 2 and output 2 from pin 3 of this third motor
driver is used for spraying mechanism and output 4 and output 5 from pin 13 and 14
respectively is used for seeding mechanism.

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CHAPTER 4 – RESULTS

Figure 4.1: Agribot – a robot capable of performing several agricultural tasks

Figure 4.1 shows the implemented system of “Agribot” which is capable of performing several
agricultural tasks such as ploughing, cutting, seed sowing and water spraying. The robot has to be
operated using Bluetooth to perform agricultural tasks as per the need. The Agribot is operated
with 7AH lead acid battery as the major power supply. The system has 4 wheels and a cutting
blade at its anterior region, seeds for sowing in the funnel, water for spraying in the water tank
and ploughing mechanism at its posterior end.

Figure 4.2.: Smartphone connected to Agribot through HC-05 Bluetooth module

This is the overview of the Bluetooth RC Car application used to control the robot. The green
light in the top left corner indicates that the Bluetooth is connected successfully. The icon next to
it represents cutting mechanism and the second icon represents the ploughing mechanism. Further
the third icon represents the water spraying mechanism and next to it represents the seeding
mechanism. The two up and down arrows in the left side are used for forward and backward and
the two arrows on the right side is used for left and right movement of the robot

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Figure 4.3: Cutter installed in Agribot

Figure 4.2 shows the cutting blade installed in the anterior end of the Agribot to perform cutting
mechanism. It helps in cutting unwanted weeds by spinning its blades with high speed.

Figure 4.4: Ploughing tool

Figure 4.2 shows ploughing tool in the posterior end. The ploughing tool is supported with two
smooth rods on both the sides. As the motor rotates in clockwise direction the ploughing tool
moves in downward direction and when the motor rotates in anticlockwise direction the ploughing
tool moves in upward direction.

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Figure 4.5: Water spraying tank Figure 4.6: Water spraying outlet

Figure 4.5 shows water spraying tank used for irrigation. A diaphragm pump is placed on the tank
to operate the spraying mechanism. Figure 4.6 shows a brass copper nozzle for water spraying
outlet.

Figure 4.7: Seed sowing funnel

Figure 4.7 shows seed sowing funnel which is used to place the seeds for sowing. As the motor
rotates the seeds fall in a pre-determined manner.

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CHAPTER 5 – CONCLUSION

5.1 ADVANTAGES

• Agribot can enhance irrigation system as it is capable of reducing the wastage

of water.
• Agribot is capable of dispersing the seeds in an efficient way that can lead to
higher yield of crops.
• Agribot does not get sick or tired as that of human and there is no break required,
so the efficiency and productivity increases.
• Since Agribot is specially designed to perform specific tasks, probability of
error in performing those tasks can be significantly reduced.
• People who don’t belong to agricultural background can also do farming
effectively with new technologies implemented in Agribot.
• The robots can perform agricultural operations autonomously such as the
spraying and the mechanical weed control, seed dispersal; allowing the farmers
to reduce the environmental impact.
• The robots can protect the human workers from the harmful effects of handling
the chemicals by the hand and through the system of high spraying and they
can reduce up to 80% of farms by the use of pesticides.
• Agribot offers the higher quality of fresh production, lower production costs,
and the smaller need for the manual labor.

5.2 DISADVANTAGES

• Agribot can be controlled from a short range (up to 15m).

• Initial cost of investment is high.
• Lack of access to farmers who are unaware of modern technologies.

5.3 APPLICATIONS

• Weed control – Agribot helps in the application of controlling weeds since there is
a cutter installed in anterior end of the Agribot.
• Nursery planting – Agribot can be used in an efficient way at nursery planting since
nurseries are where seeds are grown into young plants. Agribot helps in seed
sowing, water or fertilizer spraying and increases the productivity.
• Crop monitoring – Monitoring huge fields of crop is a big task. Agribot introduced
with IoT can help in tracking data of each crop and increases efficiency.

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5.4 CONCLUSION

In this implemented system, a prototype of Agribot has been designed, developed and
demonstrated to perform agricultural tasks like ploughing the field, sowing of seeds,
pesticides/water spraying, and cutting of weeds. In this way we can overcome the
problems related to labor wages, improper dispersal of seeds, wastage of water due to
extensive irrigation and loss of soil fertility due to improper usage of fertilizers.

In agriculture by using this multipurpose agricultural robot named as “AGRIBOT”, we

can easily reduce the farmer’s efforts and time. The machine requires less time and less
man power compared to traditional method of cultivation. The implemented system of
Agribot is battery operated and controlled by Bluetooth device. Using this robot, farmer
can carry out other secondary activity along with operating the robot. By carrying out
multiple activities at the same time, farmer can increase his income which results in
development of Indian economy. Robots can improve the quality of our lives and
enhance opportunities for future mankind to create an upgraded model for the
betterment of farmers.

In agriculture, the opportunities for robot-enhanced productivity are immense and the
robots are appearing on farms in various forms and in increasing numbers. The other
problems associated with autonomous farm equipment can probably be overcome using
Agribot. Crop production may be done better and cheaper with usage of small machines
than with a few large ones. One of the main advantage of using smaller machines is
that they may be more acceptable to the non-farm community. Agricultural jobs are a
drag, dangerous, require intelligence and quick, though highly repetitive decisions
hence robots can be rightly substituted with human work.

The machine requires less man power and less time compared to traditional methods,
so if we manufacture it on a large scale its cost gets significantly reduced and we hope
this will satisfy the partial thrust of Indian agriculture. So, in this way we can
overcome the several problems that is the need of today’s farming in India.

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5.5 FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS

Scientists from all over the world are working on a newly implemented Robot that is
flying micro-Robot. Scientists are reverse engineering the mechanics of insects as they
design midget robots which can be used for recording images in agricultural field.
Robots will replace the human labour and, in every aspect, which will make
agricultural sector much more efficient than today’s time. Artificial intelligence
technologies, especially in machine learning, are expected to play a serious role in most
of the above technologyareas, and can be essential enablers for agricultural robots.

Agricultural environments are subject to changes throughout the lifetime of a robotic

system. For example, there could also be new crop varieties, weeds, pests, diseases,
treatments, legislation, temperature change, etc., as well as new robotic technologies.
In AI terms this suggests managing an open world, so techniques to enable adaptation
during operation rather than at the planning phase are going to be crucial. Techniques
that allow robots to find out from experience include reinforcement learning, learning
from demonstration, and transfer learning to exploit prior knowledge from another
domain or task. Ongoing research is investigating deep learning methods, especially in
perception-related tasks involving the interpretation of sensor data, including
recognition and segmentation tasks in automated weeding and fruit picking.

Robots also will have to leverage human knowledge, especially when facing situations
that weren't foreseen at design time. This extra input may be given by end-users,
maintainers, and/or domain experts. It might also be provided through direct control
(i.e., teleoperation), natural interaction or by the means of labelled examples and data
sets. These developments will link naturally into the employment of massive Data in
smart farming, alongside the employment of satellite imaging, UAVs and ground robots
for more localized and richer, multimodal data collections. These developments
coupled with cloud-based storage will create an abundance of information that might
potentially be utilized for smart planning and control of agriculture. a crucial
requirement is the standardization of information to ease the exchange between
robots, domains, farms, countries and firms.

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REFERENCES

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