Smart Farm and Crop Protection Project

Project Context and Problem Statement

The agricultural sector faces major challenges such as water scarcity, resource waste caused by traditional irrigation methods and financial losses resulting from crop damage by birds and intruding animals.

The smart farm project is a small-scale model of the farm of the future. It offers an integrated technological solution based on the Internet of Things and embedded systems to rationalize water consumption and protect crops automatically and sustainably.

Technical Components and Engineering Design

To achieve full autonomy, the model was equipped with a set of connected sensors and systems:

• Central control unit: an Arduino board acting as the brain that collects data and makes decisions.
• Sustainable irrigation system: a rainwater collection tank connected to a small water pump and a soil moisture sensor.
• Perimeter protection system (smart fence): a fence equipped with touch sensors or a closed electric circuit to detect any physical intrusion attempt by animals.
• Bird repelling system: a sound sensor sensitive to high frequencies such as bird sounds, connected to an audio alarm that acts as an electronic scarecrow.

Implementation and Methodology

The system operates through three smart and independent mechanisms:

• Water rationalization (smart irrigation): the soil sensor continuously measures humidity. The pump is activated only when the system detects real dryness in the soil, using stored rainwater, and stops automatically once the required moisture level is reached.
• Electronic scarecrow: the sound sensor remains in listening mode. When it detects sounds of birds gathering near crops, the system immediately triggers an unpleasant sound for a few seconds to drive them away without harming them.
• Interactive safety fence: when any animal touches the fence around the farm, the electric circuit closes and triggers an alert to protect the crops from damage.

Connection to the Sustainable Development Goals

This project contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals, especially:

• Zero hunger: encouraging sustainable and smart agricultural practices that protect crops.
• Clean water and sanitation: using rainwater and reducing groundwater waste through targeted irrigation.

Team and Task Distribution

The project was completed through cooperation between club members to ensure the agricultural and security systems work in harmony:

• Irrigation and sustainable agriculture engineering: handled by Mohamed Amine Zkagh, who focused on programming the soil moisture sensor, connecting it to the water pump and developing the automatic irrigation algorithm based on stored rainwater.
• Protection and sensing systems engineering: handled by Daoud, who programmed the sound sensor and smart fence to ensure fast alarm response and protect crops from animals and birds.