AUTOMATED VERMICOMPOST PLANT

Transcription

1 AUTOMATED VERMICOMPOST PLANT PROJECT REFERENCE NO. : 37S1004 COLLEGE : PES INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, SHIVAMOGGA BRANCH : ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING GUIDE : RAVI M YADAHALLI AND MAHENDRA S NAIK STUDENTS : ABHIJITH G R ADARSH B ANIUM S R PRUTHVI RAJU H R Keywords: Agriculture, vermicompost, Bluetooth, android Introduction: Vermicompost is a natural organic fertilizer produced by the decomposing operation of earthworms. For the betterment of the agricultural products natural fertilizers are more preferred than the chemical fertilizers. So, the efficient manufacturing of the vermicompost manures can help in the better agricultural projects. For that purpose we have to maintain the proper growth environment for the earthworms, so that they can create the manure in efficient and speedy way. According to certain studies the temperature & moisture plays an important role in the life cycle of earthworms in turn in the production of vermicompost. The best fitted breeding time of the worms is between O Celsius. At this range they can reproduce well and at O Celsius the decomposing of the worms is at high rate. So by maintaining the proper temperature the manure can be produced in large scale and efficiently. Maintenance of the precise optimum conditions for the growth environment required for the effective production of vermicompost may be difficult. So, the Automated -Vermicompost Plant can be a better solution for this 1

2 Objectives: To develop an automated system for the efficient production of vermicompost manure, which provides the required environment by maintaining the optimum moisture and temperature level. Efficient production of vermicompost with less human intervention. Reduced manpower. Cost effective and ease of implementation. Accuracy in maintaining the required conditions. Cost effective, simple implementation, and requires less maintenance. Helps in producing quality agricultural products. Methodology: The vermicompost pit is divided into certain areas. These areas are kept under surveillance using the temperature and moisture sensors. The optimum ranges for both temperature and moisture are maintained through the microcontroller. The worms in the pit start the decomposition process, during which the temperature will certainly rise, because of the metabolic operation of the worms. Under such conditions, the temperature has to be maintained within the range which facilitates the activity of the worms. The other parameter which plays an important role is the moisture of the compost pit. A preferable moisture range of 50% to 70% is the best for the proper metabolism activity of the earthworms. The temperature and the moisture are maintained at these optimum ranges by sprinkling the water over the compost pit for a specific period of time. The water flow in the sprinklers are maintained using the water-flow solenoid valve. The switching of the solenoid is automated using the microcontroller interface. Whenever the necessary temperature and moisture conditions are not attained, the solenoid is to be switched-on, which provides the required water to the pit. If the pit environment obtains the required conditions then the solenoid is once again switched-off. For this variation of temperature to happen the metabolic activity of the earthworms such as excretion plays an important role. To compensate for such changes in the temperature and the moisture, waterflow solenoid is used. One must also consider that the increased flow of water into the pit may result in limited flow of air within the compost material which in turn may affect the survival of the earthworms. Therefore it is very important to control the switching operation 2

3 of the solenoid at proper intervals. Hence the operation of the solenoid valve is completely controlled by the microcontroller. One of the important element in developing the automated plant is the concept of gathering the data from all the sensors and carrying the necessary actions required. These data s are made readable for the user through smart phone interface preferably through a sophisticated android application which keeps the readings and the practically recorded data continuously updated. Hence the data collected would preferably help in maintaining the optimum conditions required for the pit and help in better production of the manure. The block diagram given in fig 1 will give the clear picture of the basic idea for the project. FIG 1 3

4 Results and Conclusions: Results: The most important part of the operation of so far developed automated system is to display the sensor readings i.e. the results onto an android device. For this purpose a Bluetooth module is used which transmits the data onto its operating range. Any android device within this range can access the transmissions and obtain the real-time readings of the sensors. Any individual who wishes to view the result will have to install the android application developed for the same purpose. The result obtained on an android device with the readings of all the parameters is shown in fig 2. FIG 2 Conclusions: Thus we conclude that with the help of this project we can reduce the man power required for the production of the vermicompost manure. Also from the discussion so far we assure the accurate maintenance of the required for the worms and also we assure the improved quality and efficient manufacture of fertilizer. 4

5 Scope for future work: The project is successfully completed and can be implemented in future. Some of the future scopes of this project are listed below. Since the system developed for the vermicompost production is automatic, it reduces the man-power required for the vermicompost production. Further to enhance the operation of the system, we can incorporate other wireless technologies such as Zigbee etc. To use the system on a cellular network, a GSM module can be used instead of the Bluetooth module and can also be controlled from remote locations. Currently the system is using a water-flow solenoid valve with overhead principle, this can also be used with a water pump for more efficient operation. The developed system can be implemented in agricultural field for the vermicompost production. Such a system can be used in small scale industry to produce vermicompost for commercial purpose. With the adverse effects of the chemical fertilizers, it is easier to produce vermicompost on large scale as a substitute for chemical fertilizers using such a developed automated system. Reference: [1] K. NirmalKumar, P.Ranjith, R.Prabakaran Real time paddy crop field monitoring using zigbee network proceedings of icetect [2] Zhang Feng Research on water-saving irrigation automatic control system based on internet of things /11/2011 IEEE. [3] Yan Xijun, Lu Limei, XuLizhong The application of wireless sensor network in the irrigation area- automatic system, International conference on networks security, wireless communications and trusted computing, [4] Yandong Zhao, Jinfeng Guan, Junfu Zhang, Weilun Yin Study on precision watersaving irrigation automatic control system by plant physiology /09/2009 IEEE. 5