Controlling the green- house irrigation system in fuzzy logic method

The idea of irrigation is not a new topic and its history refers to pre-historic era. Even the idea of automatic irrigation is not new. At present, there is no efficient automatic irrigation system that can irrigate the plants optimally and use the minimum water in different stage of plant growth(1). Nowadays, computer-monitoring of green-house irrigation systems is very necessary. Many of the common control methods are based on two-state (on/off) control methods and/or proportionate closed-loop control methods which cause increase of energy waste and decrease in productivity. The present research paper provides a solution for an irrigation controller based on fuzzy logic. Firstly, the main problems of irrigation are discussed; then, the physical model for controlling green-house irrigation system is described. Subsequently, the stages of designing a green-house irrigation control system with the aid of fuzzy logic are presented. This system is able to determine the volume of water required by plants in a specific depth through collecting information from environmental conditions existing inside the green house, the characteristics of the soil, and the type of plants as well as employing famous models of irrigation and water evaporation from the soil surface.