PIC Microcontroller Based Control and Automation of a Poultry Farm

Abstract

Poultry sector is one of the sparkling segments of Agriculture Industry in Pakistan. Its role in agriculture growth is 4.81% and 9.84% in Livestock growth. Poultry meat contributes 19% of the total meat production in the country. Broiler meat is the cheapest source of animal protein for increasing population of the world. Due to complex operation of broiler meat production, a proper climate controlled environment should be provided for better health and growth of chickens. In manually operated poultry houses there are many problems such as large number of labourers have to work, bio security risk, wastage of water and feed, maintain the internal temperature and humidity level, poisonous gases can be produced which may increase death rate of chickens. The main objective of this work is to automate the poultry farm by introducing the control system. Control system contains temperature sensor, humidity sensor and LDR (Light Dependent Resistor) sensor which send signal to PIC (Peripheral Interface Controller) microcontroller in order to maintain internal environment of poultry shed and make necessary changes automatically according to required status of poultry farm. Temperature and humidity varies with atmosphere, so certain levels of temperature and humidity should be controlled using cooling pad, electric heater and fans. LCD is used to display the current readings of all the sensors and current status of output devices (fans, heater, light etc.) inside the control shed by using PIC Microcontroller.