A Web-Configurable Internet of Things Smart Irrigation Prototype Based on Soil Moisture Monitoring

Abstract

Smart irrigation can improve watering efficiency, but many small-scale implementations still rely on fixed settings and limited user interaction. This study presents a web-configurable IoT smart irrigation prototype that integrates a soil moisture sensor, ESP32 microcontroller, relay, water pump, Web API, database, and web application for monitoring and control. The website allows users to set the lower threshold, upper threshold, and watering duration, while also providing sensor reading history, watering history, and manual pump control. Functional verification using black-box testing showed that all 21 use cases were accepted. Experimental testing was conducted under four scenarios: normal operation, pump failure, sensor failure, and outdoor deployment. The results indicated that the system operated properly when all hardware components were functioning normally. During the first five days of stable operation, the mean relative moisture index was 51.9, with 80.9% of the readings within the configured range of 30–60. When the full observation period, including sensor interference on the final days, was considered, the mean decreased to 43.3 and 74.2% of the readings remained within the configured range. Fault scenarios also produced observable patterns through repeated watering triggers, alert notifications, and sensor logs. These findings support the feasibility of the proposed system as a web-integrated smart irrigation prototype. However, the results should be interpreted as prototype validation rather than evidence of general irrigation effectiveness because the experiment involved one pothos plant in one small pot for approximately seven days.