Irrilot

[ 01 ] · THE PROBLEM

Irrigation commands travel to equipment in a field, where a connection can drop at any moment. The app had to stay trustworthy when the link does not: no valve left open because an acknowledgment never arrived.

[ 02 ] · HOW IT FITS TOGETHER

Architecture

Field nodes exchange commands, status and acknowledgments with the Irrilot app over MQTT on WebSocket. Firebase keeps device status in sync and sends pump-trip alerts.

[ 03 ] · WHAT I DECIDED

Key decisions

1. 01

   One codebase for Android and iOS

   Ionic React, TypeScript and Capacitor ship the same app to both platforms, with reusable components and hooks designed in Figma first.

2. 02

   MQTT over WebSocket for live control

   Monitoring and valve control run over MQTT on WebSocket, so a command and its status travel on one live channel across 100+ active field nodes.

3. 03

   Handshakes and a watchdog, so failures end safely

   Irrigation Programs and Groups use handshake acknowledgments and a 120-second watchdog timer. If the field handshake is lost, the program ends safely instead of running on blind.

4. 04

   Tell people when something trips

   Pump-trip alerts reach the team through Firebase Cloud Messaging, and Firebase Realtime Database keeps device status in sync between web and mobile.

5. 05

   Show the field, not only the numbers

   Chart.js telemetry and Google Maps node mapping, with WhatsApp OTP and device-binding session security.

6. 06

   Ship it the same way every time

   GitHub Actions and multi-stage Docker builds run linting, tests and production deployments automatically.

[ 04 ] · WHAT CAME OUT OF IT

Results

• 100+Active field nodes monitored, with sub-second response.
• 120sFail-safe watchdog. Programs end safely when the handshake is lost.
• 1→2One codebase, Android and iOS.
• Pump-trip alerts delivered as push notifications.