A scalable smart irrigation system based on Internet of Things technologies

Internet of Things (IoT) technologies have reduced the need for manual labor in agriculture by facilitating the automation of irrigation processes. To automate irrigation, IoT-based irrigation systems consisting of low-cost hardware components have been proposed, aiming at optimizing irrigation and reducing overall costs. However, the design of IoT-based irrigation systems is based on adhoc solutions that lack scalability and integration capabilities. This paper presents a scalable smart irrigation system based on IoT technologies, developed using the OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA). The system includes low-cost hardware components with embedded computing and IoT communication capabilities as well as an open-source IoT platform, which is validated in a laboratory test. The results of the validation test highlight the effectiveness of the scalable smart irrigation system in enhancing water resource management and operational efficiency.