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Although Egypt has large water reservoirs, since the agricultural field takes up an enormous amount of the water available for use, a problem in scarcity of water has risen. In 2010, Agriculture took up 67 billion m^3 (87%) of the total amount of water used in that year. Since 1990, Egypt has been at the ‘water poverty line’; it fell to almost 1000 m3/year. In 2011, this share decreased to about 700 m3/capita/year, and is expected to fall to 500 m3/capita/year before 2030. This decrease in the share of each person of the water amount available has led to the innovation of novel ideas and solutions.

Agricultural crops need continuous care, monitoring, and analysis to preserve the health of the plant and to ensure efficient use of the water resources. This process is typically very time-consuming and takes up much effort. In addition to the expenses that the farm owner will pay for the farmers that will take up the job. Technology has introduced a more practical method to monitor the crops through specialized sensors providing an easier and safer solution for farmers. However, the farm owner might need to buy a lot of sensors to cover the area of the agricultural land and the different fields of crops and for every sensor, he will have to install micro-controllers with different modules that will mount to be a huge sum of money. Hence, we are introducing “G-Beetle”, in a form of a tiny movable car that uses sensors for measuring water needs and the temperature of the crops themselves across the fields. This facilitates determining if the soil needs irrigation and in what intervals, in addition to determining if there is a problem in water distribution or an infestation in the soil.

“G-beetle” Works as follows:

• After surveying and studying the landscape of the farm, we plant soil moisture sensors across the farm.
• G-beetle starts its trip to reach an area across the farm to pass by the sensors and receives the readings through IR signals.
• During the trip, it reads the temperature of a number of plants to detect whether there is an anomaly or a spike in the temperatures of the crop.
• These readings are sent to the farmer through a user-friendly mobile application that includes the updated weather forecast for every day.
• The data sent from the G-beetle are combined with the weather predictions (gained online) through the mobile app to give the best recommendations for the farmer to supply the plant with the optimum amount of water and safe checking the health of the soil itself.
• G-beetle starts its march each week and compares the data collected with the database of each plant. If these data are beyond the info embedded in the app, the app consulting team provides personal assistance to the farmer sending him recommendations.

• The beetle is moved by 2 motors running on 12V and 5A. It runs on battery that operates on 12 volts and 6000 mA. It is specialized by the addition of 3D-printed airless tires which gives the beetle the ability and flexibility to operate on uneven and rocky surfaces.

• The beetle is equipped with an Arduino micro-controller. It is connected to an IR temperature sensor and RFID reader to receive the signals from the moisture soil sensors that are distributed throughout the field. It is also equipped with GPS module to track the operation of the beetle and confirm its operation, this also gives us a determination of the area if there was an anomaly or a loss in the water content of the soil.
• The user will be able to take the recommendations and the warnings from the interface of the application and determine the change he must make to the irrigation system.
• The beetle is a strong competitor in creating a solution for the effects of climate change and it works towards the goal of sustainable cities and communities.

Karima Waly, Mohamed Adel, Mohamed Moustafa, Aya Elsisy

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1QgiuVTGwBHdc88QakhjpND3OIyEr-ZGm