Design of computer based greenhouse environment controller | |
| Author | Marhaenanto, Bambang |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no. AE-00-03 |
| Subject(s) | Greenhouses--Environmental engineering Machine-tools--Numerical control |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Engineering, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. AE-00-03 |
| Abstract | The main purpose of greenhouse is to provide and maintain the environment that will result in optimum crop production. This includes an environment for work efficiency as well as for crop growth. In the agricultural sector, especially in developing countries, the application of the environment control technology is still limited, because it is costly. On the other hand there are many old computers such as PC/XT, PC/AT286 and 386, which have low prices and still can be used for greenhouse environment controller. The overall objective of the research was to develop a programmable environment controller using PC (Personal Computer) for the greenhouse environment. The controller was designed to maintain temperature, relative humidity and water availability in a desired range. The controller consisted of ten temperature sensors and two probes (water sensor). The relative humidity was measured using wet bulb temperature sensor. The outputs of controller operate a sprayer pump for humidification, a dripper pump for water supply, a fan to let air in and a fan to ventilate the air. The signal processing consisted of multiplexer, amplifier, analog to digital converter and interface card. The GEC (Greenhouse Environment Controller) software was compiled under DOS that works on any PC that has at least one expansion slot for interfacing. Using the software, operation of controller could be set in manual or automatic mode with changeable setting of parameter ranges. Perfonnance of controller was evaluated by installing it in a model greenhouse. The desired relative humidity was set within the range of 80% to 95% and temperature was set within the range of 30°C to 33°C. Results of the test indicated that RH exceeded the setting to 97% after sprayer was switched off. Temperature also exceeded the desired lower limits to 29. l °C. These set parameters were exceeded due to delay in response time of controller system including sensors. Based on the overshoot in humidity and temperature their set value were adjusted. The lower limits were set slightly higher and upper limits were set slightly lower. The overall tests indicate that the controller worked properly |
| Year | 2000 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. AE-00-03 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (Former title: Department of Food Agriculture, and BioResources (DFAB)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Agricultural and Food Engineering (AE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Singh, Gajendra; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Salokhe, V. M.;Chaiyaphol Kaewprakaisaengkul; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | DUE Project, University of Jember, Indonesia; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2000 |