Claims:We CField of the invention
[0001]This invention relates to a device for detecting nutrient concentration and
moisture in soil with the use of a soil sensor.
Background of the invention
[0002] Soil fertility refers to the capacity of the soil to supply nutrients in adequate amounts and in suitable proportions for crop growth and crop yield. The trend in increasing the yield by adopting high yielding varieties of crops has resulted in deficiency of nutrients in soils and in turn leading to deficiency symptoms in plants. Hence, it is required to know the concentration of macro nutrients (for example Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium) and micro nutrients (manganese, calcium, iron) status of the soils for applying the required dosage of fertilizers, nutrients and water in order to keep the soil fertile. Fertility of soil in the field is influenced by many factors like, soil erosion, difference in rainfall, geographical terrain and the like. Hence, in order to increase the yield of crops, it is necessary to maintain the nutrients in the soil at an appropriate level in dependence of different environmental and terrain conditions.
[0003]Prior art patent application US 7189960 discloses a soil moisture sensor that has a cylindrical body of transparent cyclic olefin polymer (COC). A pair of axially spaced cavities tapered toward each other are formed in the body. A light source is placed in one of the cavities, and a light sensor is placed in the other. The walls of the cavities are so curved that divergent light rays from the light source are refracted at the cavity-body interface into parallelism, and that reflected parallel rays are refracted at the body-cavity interface so as to focus on the light sensor. The parallel rays coming from the light source are reflected or refracted at the outer surface of the body, depending upon whether the ambient environment of the sensor is dry or wet.
Brief description of the accompanying drawing
[0004] Different modes of the invention are disclosed in detail in the description and
illustrated in the accompanying drawing:

[0005] FIG. 1 illustrates a soil sensor.
Detailed description of the embodiments
[0006] FIG. 1 illustrates a soil sensor 100. The soil sensor 100 is adapted to be disposed on the surface of soil, and comprises a casing 102, the casing 102 is adapted to encapsulate at least a light emitting source 104 at a first end 103 of the casing 102, a cavity 106 located adjacent to the light emitting source 104, the cavity 106 stores fluid in a manner such that the soil permeates through the fluid. The soil may comprise nutrients in varying amounts. In an embodiment the soil sensor is adapted to be disposed partially into soil or into the soil. The cavity 106 is further adapted to receive light emitted from the light emitting source 104. A photo-detector 108 is located adjacent to the cavity 106 and adapted to receive transmitted light from the cavity 106 and convert the transmitted light into electrical signals for analysis of received light. In an embodiment the casing 102 comprises a capacitor 110 located adjacent to the photo-detector 108. In addition to capacitor, any other form of power source like solar cell, rechargeable battery may be used. The soil sensor 100 further comprises a transmitter 114 located at a second end 105 of the casing 102 and adapted to receive electrical signals from the photo detector 108 and transmit said signal to a processor for detecting the presence of nutrients present in soil. In addition, a permeable or a semi permeable membrane 112 is attached to the casing 102, the soil permeates via the permeable or semi permeable membrane 112 into the fluid.
[0007]The construction of the soil sensor 100 will be explained in further detail. The soil sensor 100 disclosed herein is used for determining the nutrient and moisture content in soil in general, and in particular, concentration of macro and micro nutrients present in the soil. The soil sensor 100 comprises a casing 102. The material of the casing 102 may be one of a cellulose, bio-plastic or bio-degradable material. The casing 102 is adapted to encapsulate the following, namely, a light emitting source 104, a cavity 106, and a photo detector 108. The light emitting source 104 is located

at a first end 103 of the casing 102. The light emitting source 104 may be a light emitting diode (LED) bulb. The frequency of light emanating from the light emitting source may be one of visible light, X ray, ultra-violet ray or infrared light. A cavity 106 is located adjacent to the light emitting source 104 (light bulb). The cavity 106 stores fluid. The fluid may be ionized water, neutral water, concentrated solutions, plasma membrane, and organic solution. The photo-detector 108 is located adjacent to the cavity 106 and adapted to receive transmitted light from the cavity 106 and convert the transmitted light into electrical signals for analysis of received light.
[0008]The working of soil sensor 100 in order to detect nutrients in soil will be explained in further detail. The soil sensor 100 disclosed herein may be disposed on field that may be used for agriculture, gardening, aquaculture and also in laboratory for analysis of nutrients present in the soil. The light emitting source 104 that is located at a first end 103 of the casing 102 of the soil sensor 100 emits light at particular frequency ( for example 430 – 770THz in the case of visible light frequency). The light so emitted is incident on the cavity 106. The cavity 106 stores fluid. The soil permeates through the fluid via a permeable or/ semipermeable membrane 112 that is attached to the casing 102. The light that is incident on the cavity 106 is now either transmitted or reflected or refracted, this light is received by the photo-detector 108 that is located adjacent to the cavity 106 as received light. The characteristics of light, that is one of frequency, wavelength, or amplitude undergoes a change, when the light passes through the fluid that contains soil present in the cavity 106. This is because based upon the concentration of nutrients that is present in the soil, the characteristics of light may from vary. For example, consider a sample of soil, comprising a mixture of a macro nutrient Nitrogen and a micro-nutrient manganese, the orientation of molecules present in micro and macro nutrient may cause a change in one or all the characteristics of light and the light that is passing through this soil sample is then received by the photo detector 108. The photo detector 108 converts the received light into electrical signal for analysis of received light. In an embodiment the electrical signal may be one of a voltage, pulse width modulation and current. The transmitter 114 is located at a second end 105 of the casing 102 and adapted to

receive the frequency of received light from the photo detector 108 and transmit the signal to a processor. The processer may be an external processor on a cloud platform, a portable processor or a computing device. The computing device may be such that the soil sensor 100 may be inserted into the device for analysis of received light that is received in the form of electrical signals. The data obtained by analysis of received light is compared with the data available in the processor for determining the amount of nutrient in the soil.
[0009] By using the above mentioned soil sensor 100, it is now possible to determine accurately the concentration of nutrient that is present in the soil and undertake corrective action like, addition of fertilizers, making changes in moisture content in order to increase the yield.
[0010]It should be understood that embodiments explained in the description above are only illustrative and do not limit the scope of this invention in terms of the type of material used for casing and the frequency of light used for analysis. Many such embodiments and other modifications and changes in the embodiment explained in the description are envisaged. The scope of the invention is only limited by the scope of the claims.

CLAIMS
We Claim:
1. A soil sensor 100, said soil sensor 100 adapted to be disposed on the surface
of soil and comprises:
a casing 102, said casing 102 adapted to encapsulate at least:
a light emitting source 104 at a first end of said casing 102;
a cavity 106 located adjacent to said light emitting source 104, said
cavity 106 storing fluid in a manner such that said soil permeates
through said fluid, and said cavity 106 further adapted to receive light
emitted from said light emitting source 104; and
a photo-detector 108 located adjacent to said cavity 106 and adapted
to receive transmitted light from said cavity 106 and convert said
transmitted light into electrical signals for analysis of received light.
2. The soil sensor 100 of claim 1, wherein said casing 102 comprises a capacitor 110 located adjacent to said photo-detector 108.
3. The soil sensor 100 of claim 2, said soil sensor 100 further comprises a transmitter 114 located at a second end 105 of said casing 102 and adapted to receive said electrical signals from said photo detector 108 and transmit said signal to a processor.
4. The soil sensor 100 of claim 3, wherein at least one of a permeable or a semi permeable membrane 112 attached to said casing 102, said soil permeates via said permeable or semi permeable membrane 112 into said fluid.
5. The soil sensor 100 of claim 1, wherein said electrical signal is at least one of a voltage, pulse width modulation, and current.

6. The soil sensor 100 of claim 1, wherein said soil sensor is adapted to be disposed partially into soil or into the soil.
7. The soil sensor 100 of claim 1, wherein the material of said casing 102 is one of a cellulose, bio-plastic, bio-degradable material.
8. The soil sensor 100 of claim 1, wherein said fluid is one of ionized water, neutral water, concentrated solutions, plasma membrane, and organic solution.
9. The soil sensor 100 of claim 1, wherein frequency of light emitting source is one of visible light, X ray, ultra-violet ray and infrared light.
laim:
1. A soil sensor 100, said soil sensor 100 adapted to be disposed on the surface of soil and comprises:
a casing 102, said casing 102 adapted to encapsulate at least:
a light emitting source 104 at a first end of said casing 102;
a cavity 106 located adjacent to said light emitting source 104, said cavity 106 storing fluid in a manner such that said soil permeates through said fluid, and said cavity 106 further adapted to receive light emitted from said light emitting source 104; and
a photo-detector 108 located adjacent to said cavity 106 and adapted to receive transmitted light from said cavity 106 and convert said transmitted light into electrical signals for analysis of received light.

2. The soil sensor 100 of claim 1, wherein said casing 102 comprises a capacitor 110 located adjacent to said photo-detector 108.

3. The soil sensor 100 of claim 2, said soil sensor 100 further comprises a transmitter 114 located at a second end 105 of said casing 102 and adapted to receive said electrical signals from said photo detector 108 and transmit said signal to a processor.

4. The soil sensor 100 of claim 3, wherein at least one of a permeable or a semi permeable membrane 112 attached to said casing 102, said soil permeates via said permeable or semi permeable membrane 112 into said fluid.

5. The soil sensor 100 of claim 1, wherein said electrical signal is at least one of a voltage, pulse width modulation, and current.

6. The soil sensor 100 of claim 1, wherein said soil sensor is adapted to be disposed partially into soil or into the soil.

7. The soil sensor 100 of claim 1, wherein the material of said casing 102 is one of a cellulose, bio-plastic, bio-degradable material.

8. The soil sensor 100 of claim 1, wherein said fluid is one of ionized water, neutral water, concentrated solutions, plasma membrane, and organic solution.

9. The soil sensor 100 of claim 1, wherein frequency of light emitting source is one of visible light, X ray, ultra-violet ray and infrared light.
, Description:Field of the invention
[0001]This invention relates to a device for detecting nutrient concentration and moisture in soil with the use of a soil sensor.

Background of the invention
[0002] Soil fertility refers to the capacity of the soil to supply nutrients in adequate amounts and in suitable proportions for crop growth and crop yield. The trend in increasing the yield by adopting high yielding varieties of crops has resulted in deficiency of nutrients in soils and in turn leading to deficiency symptoms in plants. Hence, it is required to know the concentration of macro nutrients (for example Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium) and micro nutrients (manganese, calcium, iron) status of the soils for applying the required dosage of fertilizers, nutrients and water in order to keep the soil fertile. Fertility of soil in the field is influenced by many factors like, soil erosion, difference in rainfall, geographical terrain and the like. Hence, in order to increase the yield of crops, it is necessary to maintain the nutrients in the soil at an appropriate level in dependence of different environmental and terrain conditions.

[0003]Prior art patent application US 7189960 discloses a soil moisture sensor that has a cylindrical body of transparent cyclic olefin polymer (COC). A pair of axially spaced cavities tapered toward each other are formed in the body. A light source is placed in one of the cavities, and a light sensor is placed in the other. The walls of the cavities are so curved that divergent light rays from the light source are refracted at the cavity-body interface into parallelism, and that reflected parallel rays are refracted at the body-cavity interface so as to focus on the light sensor. The parallel rays coming from the light source are reflected or refracted at the outer surface of the body, depending upon whether the ambient environment of the sensor is dry or wet.

Brief description of the accompanying drawing
[0004] Different modes of the invention are disclosed in detail in the description and illustrated in the accompanying drawing:

[0005] FIG. 1 illustrates a soil sensor.

Detailed description of the embodiments

[0006] FIG. 1 illustrates a soil sensor 100. The soil sensor 100 is adapted to be disposed on the surface of soil, and comprises a casing 102, the casing 102 is adapted to encapsulate at least a light emitting source 104 at a first end 103 of the casing 102, a cavity 106 located adjacent to the light emitting source 104, the cavity 106 stores fluid in a manner such that the soil permeates through the fluid. The soil may comprise nutrients in varying amounts. In an embodiment the soil sensor is adapted to be disposed partially into soil or into the soil. The cavity 106 is further adapted to receive light emitted from the light emitting source 104. A photo-detector 108 is located adjacent to the cavity 106 and adapted to receive transmitted light from the cavity 106 and convert the transmitted light into electrical signals for analysis of received light. In an embodiment the casing 102 comprises a capacitor 110 located adjacent to the photo-detector 108. In addition to capacitor, any other form of power source like solar cell, rechargeable battery may be used. The soil sensor 100 further comprises a transmitter 114 located at a second end 105 of the casing 102 and adapted to receive electrical signals from the photo detector 108 and transmit said signal to a processor for detecting the presence of nutrients present in soil. In addition, a permeable or a semi permeable membrane 112 is attached to the casing 102, the soil permeates via the permeable or semi permeable membrane 112 into the fluid.

[0007]The construction of the soil sensor 100 will be explained in further detail. The soil sensor 100 disclosed herein is used for determining the nutrient and moisture content in soil in general, and in particular, concentration of macro and micro nutrients present in the soil. The soil sensor 100 comprises a casing 102. The material of the casing 102 may be one of a cellulose, bio-plastic or bio-degradable material. The casing 102 is adapted to encapsulate the following, namely, a light emitting source 104, a cavity 106, and a photo detector 108. The light emitting source 104 is located at a first end 103 of the casing 102. The light emitting source 104 may be a light emitting diode (LED) bulb. The frequency of light emanating from the light emitting source may be one of visible light, X ray, ultra-violet ray or infrared light. A cavity 106 is located adjacent to the light emitting source 104 (light bulb). The cavity 106 stores fluid. The fluid may be ionized water, neutral water, concentrated solutions, plasma membrane, and organic solution. The photo-detector 108 is located adjacent to the cavity 106 and adapted to receive transmitted light from the cavity 106 and convert the transmitted light into electrical signals for analysis of received light.

[0008]The working of soil sensor 100 in order to detect nutrients in soil will be explained in further detail. The soil sensor 100 disclosed herein may be disposed on field that may be used for agriculture, gardening, aquaculture and also in laboratory for analysis of nutrients present in the soil. The light emitting source 104 that is located at a first end 103 of the casing 102 of the soil sensor 100 emits light at particular frequency ( for example 430 – 770THz in the case of visible light frequency). The light so emitted is incident on the cavity 106. The cavity 106 stores fluid. The soil permeates through the fluid via a permeable or/ semipermeable membrane 112 that is attached to the casing 102. The light that is incident on the cavity 106 is now either transmitted or reflected or refracted, this light is received by the photo-detector 108 that is located adjacent to the cavity 106 as received light. The characteristics of light, that is one of frequency, wavelength, or amplitude undergoes a change, when the light passes through the fluid that contains soil present in the cavity 106. This is because based upon the concentration of nutrients that is present in the soil, the characteristics of light may from vary. For example, consider a sample of soil, comprising a mixture of a macro nutrient Nitrogen and a micro-nutrient manganese, the orientation of molecules present in micro and macro nutrient may cause a change in one or all the characteristics of light and the light that is passing through this soil sample is then received by the photo detector 108. The photo detector 108 converts the received light into electrical signal for analysis of received light. In an embodiment the electrical signal may be one of a voltage, pulse width modulation and current. The transmitter 114 is located at a second end 105 of the casing 102 and adapted to receive the frequency of received light from the photo detector 108 and transmit the signal to a processor. The processer may be an external processor on a cloud platform, a portable processor or a computing device. The computing device may be such that the soil sensor 100 may be inserted into the device for analysis of received light that is received in the form of electrical signals. The data obtained by analysis of received light is compared with the data available in the processor for determining the amount of nutrient in the soil.

[0009] By using the above mentioned soil sensor 100, it is now possible to determine accurately the concentration of nutrient that is present in the soil and undertake corrective action like, addition of fertilizers, making changes in moisture content in order to increase the yield.

[0010]It should be understood that embodiments explained in the description above are only illustrative and do not limit the scope of this invention in terms of the type of material used for casing and the frequency of light used for analysis. Many such embodiments and other modifications and changes in the embodiment explained in the description are envisaged. The scope of the invention is only limited by the scope of the claims.