Agriculture plays a vital role in the economy and food production system of many countries. However, traditional farming methods still rely heavily on manual labour, which often leads to increased operational costs, labour shortages, inconsistent seed sowing, and inefficient water usage. Farmers, especially small-scale farmers, face challenges in maintaining productivity due to limited resources and rising labour demands. To address these issues, the use of smart agricultural technologies and automation has gained significant attention in recent years. Although several modern farming systems utilize Internet of Things (IoT) technology with sensors for monitoring soil moisture, temperature, humidity, and crop conditions, such systems are often expensive, technically complex, and require frequent maintenance. These limitations reduce their practicality and affordability for small farmers and educational or research purposes. The proposed IoT-based farming robot offers a simple, affordable, and efficient solution for agricultural automation by eliminating the dependency on sensors. The robotics specifically designed toper form essential farming operation such as seed sowing and water spraying through remote control using internet connectivity. The system can be operated using smart phones, laptops, or web-based applications, enabling farmers to control the robot from a distance without requiring physical presence in the field. By removing sensor-based complexity, the system becomes easier to maintain, cost-effective, and suitable for users with limited technical knowledge. The robotics developed using key hardware components such as a microcontroller unit, in clouding Arduino or Node MCU, a motor driver module, DC motors for movement, a water pump for irrigation, a seed dispensing mechanism for uniform sowing, a Wi-Fi communication module, and a rechargeable battery for portable power supply. The movement of the robot is controlled remotely, allowing it to navigate farmland and perform farming tasks effectively. The seed sowing mechanism ensures improved seed placement and distribution, while the water spraying system supports efficient irrigation and reduces unnecessary water wastage. One of the major advantages of the proposed system is its lightweight, portable, and flexible design, which makes it adaptable to different agricultural environments and small farming lands. The robot helps reduce manual labour dependency, saves time, and improves farming efficiency by automating repetitive agricultural activities. Since the project avoids the use of expensive sensing technologies, it significantly lower implementation and maintenance costs, making it economically beneficial for small-scale farmers and students working on agricultural automation projects. The proposed system demonstrates that practical and affordable agricultural automation can be achieved even without advanced sensor integration. It high light the potential technology in transforming tradition al farming practices into more efficient and technology-driven operations. In the future, the robot can be enhanced with features such as GPS-based navigation, optional environmental sensors, automatic path planning, and artificial intelligence (AI)-based decision-making to improve accuracy, autonomy, and overall performance in smart farming applications.
Das et al. (Fri,) studied this question.