α-N-Heterocyclic Thiosemicarbazone Derivatives as Potential Antitumor Agents: A Structure-Activity Relationships Approach

Design and Implementation of Real Time Monitoring of Aquaponic System Using Atmega328p, IoT and Proteus Design Tool

Dr. Sunitha H D1, Niranjan L2, Nithu Shree J3, Pranathi V4, Aravindh A D5

123456Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, R R Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India

Abstract: Aquaponics refers to the integration of hydroponics with aquaculture. Food being the basic requirement, ancient humans depended on farming & animal rearing to satisfy their needs. Fish farming or fish keeping is one of the human habits as fish is the high nutrient source. Increase in population has raised the demand for food and has resulted in scarcity of water. The best way to satisfy their needs is to adopt Aquaponics, through which the leafy vegetables and fishes grow on mutual benefits by reusing the water. When fishes are fed with crude proteins, plants get almost all the required nutrients from the fish excretion. Today’s well-versed technology can help this system to increase the yield with less human power. Aquaponics provides an alternate method of farming for those who cannot afford land for farming. In this paper we propose a aquaponic system that is self-sustaining, uses IOT to automatically monitor the parameters. Obtained results are better compared with the conventional methods of growing plants.

Keywords: Aquaponics, Hydroponics, Aquaculture, Tilapia, Nitrification, Mechanical Filter system, plant growth chambers.

Design and Implementation of Real Time Monitoring of Aquaponic System Using Atmega328p, IoT and Proteus Design Tool

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF REAL TIME MONITORING OF AQUAPONIC SYSTEM USING Atmega328P, IoT AND PROTEUS DESIGN TOOL

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1. INTRODUCTION

Aquaponics is an evolutionary method of horticultural (growing vegetables and flowers) production technique that is practiced from the ancient days and rapidly emerging in modern times as an anaerobic technique used in combination with aquaculture to recirculate the water. Basically, the word Aquaponics is a hybrid word it stands for ‘aqua’ and ‘ponics’, ‘aqua’ in Latin means ‘Water’ and ‘ponics’ the part of the word has a Greek root, ponein, ‘to labor or toil’. Hydroponics is the soilless method of growing plants using many techniques like Aeroponics, NFT, Deep water culture etc. In Aquaponics the excreta of the fishes are used as the nutrients for the plants. Fish excreta contains excess of ammonia and when its level increases in the water and the water has to be changed. The water from fish tank can be supplied to plant growth beds and the same filtered water can be circulated back to fish tank. Briefly saying plants require iron, potassium, calcium and some portion of nutrients from the fish feed which are useful for the growth of plants. Literally speaking, Aquaponics is putting fish to work, where its work is only to eat and excrete so that they can produce best fertilizer for plant growth.

Fish excrete has ammonia [NH3] content in it and they are thrown out by their gills as a nitrogenous waste product. As the ammonia content increases in the fish tank or fish grown area it turns to be acidic which are harmful to fishes resulting in less survival rate of the fishes. But this ammonia is required by the plants for their growth. When we supply this water to plant growth beds, the plant roots absorb the ammonia in the water. After this, the plant under goes a process called nitrification, where aerobic bacteria convert NH3 to nitrite [NO2-] with the help of oxygen. Next it undergoes the conversion of nitrite into nitrate [NO3-] by a type of nitrifying microorganism called nitrobacteria. As the final step they will be converted to amino acids and DNA (nitrogen-containing organic molecules). This in turn helps in maintaining the pH level of the water in the fish tank.

On the other hand, plant growth chambers provide artificial environment where all abiotic factors can be controlled. Plant growth chambers usually contains any type of LED light to provide artificial lighting. The climate in the chambers is regulated by cooling ceilings and controlled-air systems. This system is useful to grow plants like leafy vegetables, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, lettuce etc., using various sensors such as temperature, humidity, light, pH. All these sensors are connected to cloud using Internet of Things (IoT), which helps to receive all the required information and can be analyzed by the user which helps in maintaining the system balance and in turn results in higher yield. The growth of plants can also be increased by regulating the temperature and humidity with the help of sensors. Monitoring of this system is done using Atmega328P for which the information is given by NodeMCU ESP 8266 which shares the information to the smart phone using cloud services.

2. LITERATURE SURVEY

In this paper the Arduino (Mega), IoT, Node MCU are the main components of the entire system. Where the fishes were fed with 30% of crude protein which provides nutrients for plant growth. Totally three liters of water was used for the cultivation of fishes and growth of plants. An auto feeder was used to regulate the food feeding to the fishes along with bio filter system to remove fish waste for the water. Float sensor was used satisfying the set points like pH and temperature, it was observed no fishes were dead and plant grown rate was good the only drawback observed was Accuracy of the temperature sensor is only about 87%. Float sensor satisfying the set points like pH and temperature etc [1].

In this paper, the Microcontroller, Android with web interface, Ubuntu IoT cloud server are the main components of the entire system. pH was maintained at a set point of about 7-7.5 which is very good for fishes and the success rate of the sensor to the controller was around 92.35% with this rate the Growth of plant (lettuce) is about 1-2 cm per every week and about 5cm per month is obtained and Growth of fish (tilapia) is about 1-2 cm per week. The only drawback was Delay in accessing the information is observed in this system [2].

In this paper, the Arduino Uno, Zigbee, Thingspeak and it is programmed by VHDL code are the main components of the entire system. The pH level was observed and set to 7-7.5 were in the entire system was controlled over 12v and 230v power supply. The Entire water utilized was around 57% in this system due to this minimizing the waste of the water and concentration of nutrition’s helps in increase the yield from plants. The drawback observed was more frequent power fluctuation lead to accumulation of nitrate in the fish tank, which lead to death of fishes in the tank and not reliable for longer distance of harvesting of plants [3].

In this paper, the Arduino, Thingspeak, Temperature sensor (DS18B20), automatic feeder are the main components of the system. There are two types of setup are done in this paper namely controlled setup and uncontrolled setup. In uncontrolled setup the temperature was maintained for about 28-30 degrees along with that the pH was maintained up to 6.4-7.2. The plant height was about 5.1cm and the Algae growth was observed on the 5th day [5]. In controlled setup temperature was maintained for about 28-30 degrees, pH was maintained up to 6.8-7.2 and plant growth in terms of height was about 5.7cm and Algae growth was not observed in this setup [6]. As per the observation the plant growth was good in the controlled setup comparted to uncontrolled setup. The system provided good vegetable yield which has urban friendly technology and sustainable for farming technique [7]. The only drawback was observed that the pH was uncontrolled and more acidic was observed due to this frequent water changes was taken care in the system.

In this paper, the STM32 Microcontroller, ESP8266 Microcontroller, Arduino IDE, IoT(blynk cloud) are the main components of the system. Due to unavailability of low-cost electronic sensors for nitrite and ammonia detection, the measurement system was introduced in this system which detects ion concentration by chemical reagent tests. The optimized circulation of water and power requirements was observed in this type system. Improved efficiency in both plant and fish growth was observed in the system along with this the Effective water management was not taken in to consideration which leads to water waste and more acidic concentration was observed [4].

3. BASE OF THE SYSTEM

Aquaponics combines hydroponics and aquaculture for plant growth beds. Hydroponics is a soilless method of growing plants which has the advantage of fast plant growth respond. Hydroponics consists of several methods we can choose them based on several factors like availability of space, productivity, quality of produce, availability of materials [8]. The following techniques are widely used:

1.NFT (Nutrient Film Technique): In this technique the plants are grown in a slightly tilted water flowing medium. Here the nutrient solution runs over the roots of the plants.

2.Flood and Drain: This method was also called as Ebb & Flow method, where the nutrient solution is flooded and drained at some time interval.

3.Deep water culture: In this method plants are directly grown in the nutrient solution.

4.Aeroponics: This is one of the best methods to grow plants on the compact area. In this method nutrient solution is sprinkled to roots of the plants using water sprinkler.

Aquaculture is a method of rearing aquatic organisms in a controlled environment for food production.

4. PROPOSED SYSTEM

Fig. 1: Block diagram of the proposed system.

Figure 1 shows the block diagram of the proposed system. All electronic devices used are controlled using Internet of Things, where the cloud computing and sensors are connected. Various Sensors like Temperature sensor, Humidity sensor, Light sensor, TDS sensor, PH sensor and Float sensor are used which will help to maintain the system stable through which maximum yield for both plants and fish can be achieved. Use of humidity sensor and humidifier in plant growth area helps in getting fast growth of plants due to its moisture content in the closed loop system. Light sensors and controller are used in the plant growth area as a replacement for sunlight. NodeMCU ESP 8266 are used to collect the information from Atmega328P microcontroller and shares the status to smart phone using cloud [9,10]. Here the system is monitored and controlled using IOT. The design of the system is through proteus design tool software.

4.1. SYSTEM SETUP

Our system is a compact and fittable with the production aiming a family requirement. The handmade low-cost plant growth chambers provide a required criterion for the plant growth including mist maker and LED which replaces the sunlight, and mist maker creates the moisture inside the chamber, so that the system can be placed in the closed environment. The Canister filter is used which acts as the pump to lift the water from fish tank to grow beds and also as the mechanical filter that removes the dust and other particles from the water.

Fig. 2: System Outlook

In figure 2 shows the experimental setup of the proposed system. The plants are grown on tray, using the grow cups placed at the constant distant with the help of thermocol. The air stones are used to sprinkle the water to the roots, which is Aeroponic technique. By using this technique roots get the enormous amount of air along with nutrient solution.

4.2. HARDWARE COMPONENTS

a) Atmega 328p microcontroller: It was created by AVR and is a single chip microcontroller. It consists of 16 input/output, 6 analog pins, USB connection, power jack and a reset button. It works by simply connecting with the USB cable or by giving AC/DC power (battery) [11,12]. The main advantage of using this controller is it provides all the requirements which supports the system in all means form the sensor information to the actuator control.

b) Node MCU: This works with the help of Wi-Fi Soc. The Node MCU works as a support for the system to store the real time information in the server to monitor the system remotely [13]. This stores all the information collected by the Atmega 328p. This module is preferred because of its features such as low cost, status of LED, USB to UART converter, GPIO pins and much more.

c) 4 channel Optocoupler relay controller: The system has to collect and control many parameters in real-time. To do so we need to have an eternal relay control board, which helps in controlling from humidifier to the filter control [14, 15]. The Humidity is controlled by the controller with the help of humidifier sensor and the relay to switch NO & OFF the humidifier unit. In the mean while the air flow is also controlled via one of the relay channels. Here 4 channels helps in maintaining the whole system peripherals in either in ON state or in OFF state.

d) Liquid pH value detector: This unit used to test pH in the water which is ranged between 1 to 14. But for aquaponic system the pH is to be maintained between 6 to 8. The electrode probe in it gives instantaneous reading to control over the water quality [16] and it also helps in avoiding frequent change of water from the tank.

e) DTH11 humidity sensor on Arduino: The temperature of the closed system and the water temperature is maintained using this DTH11 which helps both for contact and contactless [18] temperature controlling systems. This gives digital output about the moisture content in the plant chamber.

f) Battery charge controller: The unit is designed to run in limited power supply where in a battery backup is support is provided to the system where in if the power failure occurs the entire system is taken care by the battery and the inverter. As overcharging and over voltage can reduce the lifespan of the components and is also hazardous the battery charging unit is used to overcome all the problems faced by the system without backup.

g) Boost-Buck DC-DC converter: This is used to convert when the output voltage is greater or lesser than the input voltage. In this single indicator is used instead of a transformer which is equivalent to a flyback converter. For convenient use of 12v and 24v in the system, the boost converter is used to convert the 12v to 24v instead of having two different supply voltages which again increased the cost of the entire system in long run.

h) Blynk cloud: It creates the interface between the system and the user. Blynk app allows the user to monitor and control the system form the remote distance [19, 20]. The entire system is controlled and observed remotely using this software where in the system information is updated in the Blynk server and the same is updated in the mobile for the used to know the real time information.

Fig. 3: Control System

The control system for the proposed system is shown in figure 3, where in the Node MCU connected to 4 channel relay modules to control the temperature, humidity, airflow and filtration of the circulating water in the system.

Fig. 4: Monitor and Control of proposed system via Blynk App

Figure 4 shows the information related to temperature, humidity, pH, Light is monitored and controlled via the Blynk Application through smart [21, 22]. The user can use this application and monitor the status of the system in real time. At the same time, he can control the unit from a remote place if needed.

5. RESULT ANALYSIS

With the use of electronic monitoring, aquaponics has been a methodical and practical way of production for large companies helping them to implement indoor food production. The operation of the actuators is based on the sensors and the set points. The battery backup supply of 12V, 7 AH helps this system to run when there is power cut off with the help of an inverter, so this system runs 24*7. The water requirement has been reduced considerably in this system compared to other agricultural systems.

Fig. 5: Shows the growth rate of Spinach

Figure 5 shows the growth rate of spinach in the span of 30 days for the proposed system.

Fig. 6: Shows the growth rate of Yard Beans

Figure 6 shows the growth rate of Yard Beans in the span of 30 days in a stable growth for the proposed system.

Fig. 7: Shows the growth rate of French Beans

Figure 7 shows the growth rate of Yard Beans in the span of 30 days in a stable growth for the proposed system.

Fig. 8: Shows the growth rate of Red Beans

Figure 8 shows the growth rate of Red Beans in the span of 30 days in a stable growth for the proposed system.

Fig. 9: Shows the growth rate of Bitter Guard

Figure 9 shows the growth rate of Red Beans in the span of 30 days in a stable growth for the proposed system.

Fig. 10: Shows the growth rate with respect to 30 days

Figure 10 shows the growth rate of spinach, yard beans, French beans, read beans and bitter guard for the period of 30 days. The system has utilized 16% of water for the period of 30 days. Total water consumed is around 4 liters out of 25 liters.

Fig. 11: Shows the growth rate of Spinach in Aquaponics Vs Traditional Method

Figure 11 shows the growth rate of spinach in Aquaponics method is better than the traditional method.

Fig. 12: Shows the growth rate of Yard Beans in Aquaponics Vs Traditional Method

Figure 12 shows the growth rate of Yard Beans in Aquaponics method is better than the traditional method.

Fig. 13: Shows the growth rate of French Beans in Aquaponics Vs Traditional Method

Figure 13 shows the growth rate of French Beans in Aquaponics method is better than the traditional method.

Fig. 14: Shows the growth rate of Red Beans in Aquaponics Vs Traditional Method

Figure 14 shows the growth rate of Red Beans in Aquaponics method is better than the traditional method.

Fig. 15: Shows the growth rate of Red Beans in Aquaponics Vs Traditional Method

Figure 15 shows the growth rate of Red Beans in Aquaponics method is better than the traditional method.

The growth of bitter guard, beans in a span of 30days shows good yield with respect to soil cultivation and the nitrate content in the water shows around pH value of 7.3.

The growth of the plants was observed to be fast in less duration of time when compared to traditional system. It was also observed that the plant grown in this system are pest free as they are grown in the closed environment.

Although there are wide varieties of fishes that can be used in aquaponics, Tilapia biologically known as Oreochromis niloticus can be considered as the best species. Tilapia has the fast growth when they are kept in the temperature of 28 – 30 degree Celsius.

6. CONCLUSION

The rapid growth in the technology can bring the enormous change in the day to day life helping the humans to get their daily needs in the large quantity with best quality. This low-cost effective aquaponics system with plant growth chambers can provide high yield of both plants and fishes. The Internet of Things (IoT) can make this system easier to monitor and control. This system reduces the man power. We can get the organic yield from tomatoes, beans, green chilies, spinach, red spinach, baby spinach, coriander etc. Hence, we can exactly define aquaponics as go-to-gardening method especially in urban areas.

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