Prediction of Nutrients (N, P, K) in soil using Color Sensor (TCS3200)

Abstract

The major aim of this research is to use color sensor for the detection of NPK,Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) level in soil. A color sensor is used to measure and to detect the presence of NPK content of soil. The color sensor’s photodiode is designed to decide the amount of additional contents of these nutrients that has to be added into the soil to increase soil richness and fertility. “Smart Soil Quality Predictor” is going to check the presence and the amount of three main nutrients which are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the soil and manage the deficiency of particular nutrition by comparing standard absorption wavelength to observed one. The color sensor is implemented as a nutrition detection sensor which consists of four LEDs as light source and a photodiode as a light detector. The light from LEDs falls on soil and reflected back after absorption. The TCS3200 color sensor is associated with eight * eight arrays of photodiodes with four completely different filters. By suitably selecting the photodiode filter’s readings, able to find the intensity of the various colours. The nutrient absorbs the light from LED and the photodiode convert the remaining light that is reflected by reflector (sample) to current. The color sensor has a current-to-frequency converter that converts the photodiode’s readings and results into square waveform with a frequency that is directly proportional to the light intensity of the chosen color. This frequency is then, read by the NodeMCU. Finally, using NodeMCU microcontroller, the output from the color sensor is converted to digital readable form. The existing system has NPK kit which utilizes liquid soil sample, but in this research detection is done on solid soil sample which is more feasible. This will act as a proposed solution to next generation cropping system which will be more economically viable with respect to crop production.