SMART GROW - Low-cost automated hydroponic system for urban farming

Urban farming has gained popularity in recent years, as more people have become interested in locally grown food and reducing their carbon footprint. Smart hydroponic systems can be an important tool for urban farming as they allow for precise control over plant growth and require less space and resources than traditional farming methods. Urban areas often lack access to land suitable for farming, making hydroponic systems a viable option for growing crops in limited space. Readily available hydroponic systems in the market are costly and not cost effective, thus hydroponic systems are usually only installed in larger scale farming. The challenge here is to connect multiple low-cost sensors to microcontrollers and to any store-bought hydroponic set. This paper describes the development of smart Internet of Things (IoT) hydroponic system integrated with an Android mobile application for small scale urban farming. The new set up of IoT hydroponic set, coined as SMART GROW, is used to monitor and control various aspects of the system based on the basic parameters important in growing a healthy plant. The challenges faced during this build were irregular reading of the analog sensor when connected to a single board microcontroller (ESP32). This issue was resolved. SMART GROW currently is capable of monitoring basic parameters such as pH, EC and water level and can cater to additional sensors for monitoring other parameters if required. SMART GROW can easily be replicated and built at home and customized to the needs of the plant's requirement. SMART GROW is versatile as it can be used to grow a wide variety of plants, including herbs, vegetables, and fruits, and offers several benefits over traditional soil-based growing methods such as automated regulation of the water level.