Designing Smart Drip Irrigation Device Using the Fuzzy Control System

WU Xingli; CUI Shigang; HE Lin; ZHANG Yongli; HAN Yu

doi:10.13522/j.cnki.ggps.2017.0372

Abstract：[Objective]The cropland areas in China have dwindled over the past two decades due to industrialization and urbanization, which, compounded by the increased water resource scarcity, raised national concern over its food security. Precision irrigation can increase water use efficiency, sustaining agricultural production and reducing its detrimental impact on environment. The purpose of this paper is to present a new method to help design smart drip irrigation systems.[Method]The method was based on the fuzzy control system. The irrigation device comprises a plant support, a controller, sensors, a water tank, electromagnetic valves and drip-arrows; its operation was controlled by the fuzzy system.[Result]Testing of the device demonstrated that it can control irrigation, set irrigation parameters and collect and process data effectively. Experiment showed that the soil moisture was controlled in the designed range, and the crops irrigated by the system grew better than those irrigated by conventional drip irrigation when the amount of irrigation was the same.[Conclusion]The automated smart drip irrigation system designed using the proposed method was able to increase water use efficiency, and the method is applicable in other precision irrigation systems.