Arduino/rotem - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: du1stin8
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 13, 2013, 02:07:36 am
content: Would it be possible to use Arduino or similar board to build a system which manages all aspects of a poultry house: climate, temperature, feed, weighing and ventilation ect.. This is a controller that is made by rotem.http://www.rotem.com/poultry-farming/platinum

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2013, 02:21:48 am
content: i would say yes, but this is making an assumption on the input side, it mentions 16 climate zones, this likely means 16 or 32 analog inputs, now this can be accomplished through an analog multiplexor, but gets a little messy, as your standard uno or similar model arduino only has 6 ADC's, (analog inputs)for outputs it mentions up to 80 relay outputs, this is actually very easy to accomplish, using serial in parallel out shift registers,whether you break them up across pins or tie them all together in one big string, it just comes down to switching time,feed is a digital input per, or alternatively you could use a counter chip per grouping and use shift registers to load in the number of counts,weighing is more analog inputs, so perhaps the analog mux is the option for you, as that is 48 analog inputs, assuming all 16 zones,so yes possible, just a little messy, and some messy work-arounds for counting and analog inputs,

author: Skimask
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2013, 02:39:37 am
content: I'm envisioning a long string of cascaded shift registers as well as SPI A/D converters...inputs on one "string", outputs on another "string".Keep the A/D converters next to the thing they're measuring and the signals won't get nearly as messed up as if you had to read an analog signal 50ft away.

author: du1stin8
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 13, 2013, 03:07:36 am
content: Thank you for your replies I am beginner. Our poulrty farm has older controllers and I was just wondering if there was a cheaper way of replacing them when we finally have to. I belive it cost $100k+ last time to have them put in.

author: ConKbot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2013, 05:34:27 am
content: Isnt a climate control on a poutry farm a "mission critical" system? I thought that if the systems failed, that losing an entire building of chickens, quickly, was a real possibility.As much as I love DIY I wouldnt bet the farm on an arduino. I'd use existing industrial controls, and add seperate, stand alone monitoring/alerting systems to check for failures.I havent used these before, and I'm no industrial controls expert, but something likehttp://www.omega.com/ppt/pptsc.asp?ref=OCSXL_Series&Nav=auta01looks pretty suitable, along with RS-485 remote modules for where you need a bunch of IO (I.E. at feed/watering/weighing stations) And it has ethernet so I'd assume you could implement central monitoring/control

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2013, 06:03:08 am
content: The important thing is a method of alert if you have a failure, and that's any kind of failure. In your situation your will end up with several controllers each managing an area (room for lack of a better word) and have them report in to a central system, you could also make that box and even hook it up to an sms modem to text you when there is a problem.Failures are heat not changing even though heat or cold were called for. The main controller (having two is a good plan) asks a remote for it's status and it does not reply.A good system is about failures and less about control, the control part is relatively simple. The important thing with any system is to inform the user there is a problem so it can be handled. Even the most well designed system can and often will fail at some point.