Precision Agriculture Monitoring and Control System Using In-House-Designed Capacitive Sensors

This paper describes the design and implementation of an automated irrigation control system that uses data collected by a wireless sensor network. Each sensor node, built on a custom-designed printed circuit board, includes sensors for light intensity, temperature, and a custom soil moisture sensor. Data is transmitted to a central control node via ESP-NOW, where it is processed and compared with configurable thresholds retrieved from Google Sheets over Wi-Fi. Irrigation is triggered automatically when conditions meet the remotely defined thresholds. A key contribution is the development and testing of a custom soil moisture sensor, with results compared to commercial models. The system supports low-power operation through deep sleep modes, enabling long-term field deployment. The novelty lies in the complete integration of hardware, software, and cloud-based control, providing a flexible and low-cost solution for precision agriculture. The system can be deployed in greenhouses or open fields and serves as a platform for future research in smart irrigation. The fundamental aspect is a very user-friendly solution for any farmer attributable to easy accommodation to the Google Sheets interface, no maintenance cost over the cloud account, and up to 45 days of battery life or a built-in alternative for solar power.