Multi-purpose controlled environment monitoring system

• Main Authors: Feliciano, Mary Zharon D., Paragas, Juneau Darren K., Salva, Felix A., Tan, Jermaine Jayson C.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2007
• Subjects: Environmental monitoring; Engineering
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/14307
• Institution: De La Salle University

It is a fact that the pollution in our country worsens every year. Together with unpredictable weather, growing plants seem to be a tedious task. It has come to the researcher's attention that a need for a system capable of simulating and controlling physical conditions is timely. A favorable environment designed for a specimen may help grow certain plants and even yield better results. A balanced environment that can meet the requirements for a given specimen can be achieved with a specially designed system, a controlled environment which will be able to address the needs of a specific plant. This paper presents a PC based system that monitors and controls humidity and temperature of an indoor environment and thus, capable of delivering light at desired instances, The system consisted of a PC controlled fully automated machine which has a powerful compressor, heater, evaporator, condenser, fan, and a ventilation system that was used to effectively manipulate temperature and humidity. Sensors were utilized to determine the levels of the said air qualities inside and outside the controlled environment using the output voltage levels. The output voltage would go through a series of signal conditioning circuits and converted from analog to digital before being sent to the PC via a USB Data acquisition device. The Labview, a visual programming language, would process and analyze the data and result were displayed in a GUI. The same results were also used to determine whether the machine should be automated to obtain the preferred air qualities. Together with the technology of modern hydroponics, the system provided a heltered condition considered to achieve optimum growth. A comparison between Lactuca sativa (lettuce) plants grown in an uncontrolled environment and the controlled environment provided by the monitoring system was conducted. Greater increase in biomas indicated by significant increase in lenght in the root and the shoot of lettuce plant grown in the controlled environment showned that optimized en