---
title: "Remote monitoring of automatic irrigation systems and utilization of UECS"
url: "https://maker.wiznet.io/jaden/projects/remote-monitoring-of-automatic-irrigation-systems-and-utilization-of-uecs/"
markdown_url: "https://maker.wiznet.io/jaden/projects/remote-monitoring-of-automatic-irrigation-systems-and-utilization-of-uecs/md"
type: "UCC: User Created Content"
author: "masaki kohei"
author_url: "https://speakerdeck.com/koheimasaki/jsai2025_presen_remote-monitoring_of_automatic_irrigation_systems_and_use_of_uecs"
editor: "WIZnet"
editor_url: "https://maker.wiznet.io/"
original_author: "masaki kohei"
original_url: "https://speakerdeck.com/koheimasaki/jsai2025_presen_remote-monitoring_of_automatic_irrigation_systems_and_use_of_uecs"
published: "2025-07-31"
language: "en"
hardware: ["WIZnet W55RP20-EVB-Pico"]
likes: 0
views: 4372
comments: 0
source: "WIZnet Makers (https://maker.wiznet.io/)"
---

# Remote monitoring of automatic irrigation systems and utilization of UECS

> UECS

Original author: masaki kohei (source: https://speakerdeck.com/koheimasaki/jsai2025_presen_remote-monitoring_of_automatic_irrigation_systems_and_use_of_uecs)

## Components

- **WIZnet W55RP20-EVB-Pico** x 1 ([docs](https://wiznet.io/products/powered-by-raspberry-pi/w55rp20-evb-pico))

## Article

## 🌱 Real-World Use Case of W55RP20-EVB-PICO in Smart Agriculture

Hello Community!

Today, I’d like to share an exciting case presented at the **2025 Annual Conference of the Agricultural Informatics Society (Kyoto University, May 25, 2025)**.
In this project, the **W55RP20-EVB-PICO** board by WIZnet played a key role in building a **low-cost, remote irrigation monitoring system**

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### 📌 The Problem: Irrigation Takes Too Much Time

In farming, watering crops may sound simple, but it’s actually very labor-intensive.

With the **aging population and labor shortage** in agriculture, automation is in high demand.

However, **expensive irrigation systems** are difficult to install in existing greenhouses.

Farmers often need to manually open and close multiple valves, which can take **up to 2 hours every day**.

This created a strong need for an **affordable, DIY-installable automatic irrigation system**.

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### ⚙️ The Solution by B&B Lab.

![](https://maker.wiznet.io/upload/ckeditor5/13082115%5F1755880480%2Epng)

The research team at **B&B Lab.** developed a system that could be installed and maintained at low cost:

**Valve Control Unit** : ESP32-based controller managing up to 16 valves

**Sensor Monitoring** : Pressure and current sensors to check water flow and pump conditions

**Remote Access** : Data sent via LTE router and MQTT for monitoring through the internet

And at the heart of the system, acting as a **data and control gateway**, was the **W55RP20-EVB-PICO**.

![](https://maker.wiznet.io/upload/ckeditor5/13082115%5F1755880528%2Epng)

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### 🌐 Why W55RP20-EVB-PICO?

The team chose **W55RP20-EVB-PICO** as a gateway device for several reasons:

**Cost-effective** → W55RP20 integrates **RP2040 + W5500 + Flash** into a single SiP (System-in-Package), reducing component cost and PCB assembly effort.

**Stable Ethernet Connectivity** → Unlike wireless connections (which can be unstable in farming environments), Ethernet ensures **reliable data transfer**.

**Compact and Simple** → The small form factor makes it easy to install directly into agricultural equipment.

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### 🎥 Live Demo in the Field

The presentation also showcased a **demo of W55RP20-EVB-PICO controlling irrigation valves and an inverter remotely**:

Farmers could check valve status (ON/OFF) from a web dashboard on their smartphone or PC.

Pressure and current sensors helped detect issues early and send alerts.

The system successfully implemented **automatic irrigation + remote monitoring** in real greenhouses.

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### 🚀 Future Outlook

**Lower Communication Costs** : Instead of sending all data to the cloud, only essential information is transmitted.

**Scalability for More Farmers** : With its **low price and DIY installation**, even small-scale farmers can adopt it.

**Open Collaboration** : The team has published UECS protocol porting code on GitHub, allowing further improvement and new IoT applications.

In addition, the team will present **“Inverter Control with W55RP20-EVB-PICO”** at the **25th Open Edge Device Study Group (Sony HQ, June 18, 2025)** — so more exciting updates are coming soon.

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### ✅ Conclusion

This case proves that WIZnet’s **W55RP20-EVB-PICO** is not just a development board,
but a **practical, cost-effective, and reliable solution** for **agricultural IoT automation**.

👉 Beyond agriculture, we can also imagine similar applications in **smart homes, industrial IoT, and factory automation**.

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Source: https://maker.wiznet.io/jaden/projects/remote-monitoring-of-automatic-irrigation-systems-and-utilization-of-uecs/