About the Client
Xylem Inc. is a global water technology company that provides innovative solutions for water management and sustainability. Xylem operates in over 150 countries, focuses on addressing the world’s most critical water challenges, such as water scarcity, water quality, and water infrastructure on a global scale.
Xylem’s product portfolio includes pumps, treatment equipment, analytical instruments, and smart technology systems used in water, wastewater, and energy management. They serve a wide range of industries, including municipal, industrial, residential, and commercial sectors.
About the Project
Smart Irrigation by Xylem is an integrated software and analytics platform designed for efficient water transport for irrigation purposes in India. It features extensive infrastructure, including water tanks, pipelines and pumps deployed across various locations, equipped with sensors for monitoring and controlling. The platform also provides software for real-time data analysis, fault detection, and remote pump operation.
Our Role
Our responsibility was to develop the frontend of the Smart Irrigation software, which included integrating with the existing Vue platform and incorporating ArcGIS for displaying geo-based sensor data. Additionally, we developed software to handle various tasks such as collecting consent from farmers, role based access and authentication, managing the rotation schedule for tap openings in farmers’ fields, presenting sensor data based on geographic coordinates, sending notifications to farmers, and enabling remote pump management.
Technology Stack
- Frontend: React.js
- State Management: Redux Saga
- CSS: Material UI
- Unit testing: Jest
- Code Quality Assurance : Sonarqube
- Deployment and Autoscaling: Kubernetes
Modules / Features
Authentication and User Management – There are users with multiple levels of access. Hence CASL was used to implement a role based access control.
Explorer Module – The landing page features a geographical map that displays the covered area and the pipeline distribution. Utilising ArcGIS Map layers, users can zoom in to specific districts, taluks, and villages to view the pipeline and valve layout. The map also provides real-time status updates for the valves and pumps based on sensor input.
OMS – Outlet Management System – Live data feed showing values from sensors deployed at various pump and valve locations. Warnings were issued based on threshold values for water pressure, pump malfunction, valve opening, water leakage etc.
RMS – Rotation Management System – A dynamic system created to calculate annual water distribution, present the distribution schedule, and deliver real-time updates on which valve is currently open and the timing of the next valve opening. The system is highly user-friendly and generates a PDF of the distribution schedule, helping farmers easily understand when their land will receive water.
Pump Module – A real-time system for managing pump operations to ensure continuous water distribution. The pumps are automatically switched on and off based on the Rotation Management Schedule, with water levels monitored before activation. Alerts are sent and displayed live if discrepancies arise. Sensor data is used to provide a live feed, and the system integrates with fault detectors and water level sensors for real-time monitoring. The dashboard is designed for quick assessment, allowing users to instantly identify and locate any issues.
Device Registry – Register both new and existing devices including pumps and sensors, and manage their status.
Farmers Consent Form – A web form designed to gather necessary information from farmers who are beneficiaries of the scheme. They are required to upload a duly signed consent form along with all relevant data.
Challenges
The primary challenge in implementing Smart Irrigation was quickly learning and understanding Xylem’s extensive Vue platform, and seamlessly integrating it without disrupting existing functionalities while introducing new features for smart irrigation. This was a meticulous task, as Vue is a highly complex system with numerous features and integrations with various other systems. Moreover, we were operating under stringent deadlines.
How we tackled the challenges
We engaged in regular discussions with the UX design team, hardware team, and backend team to gather necessary information. Each module required extensive brainstorming and logical analysis due to the numerous factors involved and the vast amount of data.
Scrum methodology was rigorously followed, from sprint planning to timely execution, code reviews, deployments, demos, and retrospectives. The sprint cycle was diligently adhered to throughout the development process to ensure deadlines were met.
Every screen was thoroughly aligned with the provided UX designs and operated smoothly according to the hardware team’s guidelines, with scalability always being a priority.
