PRE2023 3 Group12
Members
| Name | Student ID | |
|---|---|---|
| Aseem Mahamood | 1789767 | a.mahamood.aseem@student.tue.nl |
| Sanshray Malhotra | 1792318 | s.malhotra1@student.tue.nl |
| Nout Van Bommel | 1842110 | n.g.h.v.bommel@student.tue.nl |
| Saqib Khan | 1783432 | s.a.s.khan@student.tue.nl |
| Mara Pop | 1671820 | m.pop@student.tue.nl |
| Adrien Verriele | 1710303 | a.a.m.verriele@student.tue.nl |
Introduction
Problem Statement:
Many homeowners have aquatic pets of certain kinds either for aesthetic reasons or out of genuine compassion for the animals. In the world of aquariums and fish, one of the most important things is ensuring healthy water conditions. There can be various reasons for people to wanting to own an aquatic pet. It can be difficult to ensure these parameters with insufficient knowledge or time constraints. An aquarium owner comes across various tasks and problems. Owning and maintaining a fish tank can be difficult. These include feeding schedules, water parameters, pH-levels and temperature. It can be difficult to test regularly and keep values on certain levels. All these factors can have negative impact on the fish their health and happiness. For many aquatic pet owners, it can be helpful to have a tool that takes care of the fish during periods of absence. This will prevent stress and illness among the animals in the tank.
Our proposed solution is an aquarium robot, that will be able to monitor and maintain water parameters. Our system aims to take away most difficulties that arise when owning an aquarium. This enables the user to ensure optimal chemical levels and temperature. Our system will be able to sense the tank its temperature, pH, turbidity and ammonia levels. The sensors are selected such that they will withstand the constant exposure to water and give accurate results. A microcontroller acts when certain levels get out of balance. Dispensing the correct amount of food on certain times during the day can be important too. The system will be able to dispense food when needed. By using Wi-Fi and an application, the system will be able to contact the user and send real-time values to the user. This and other actuators will ensure safe, preset values inside the aquarium. The user will get notified when a problem arises, and inform the user about its actions.
Objectives:
The objectives of our device are that:
- It should be slash resistant, only the sensors will get submerged.
- It should be safe for the fishes
- It should continuously collect sensor data (PH, temperature and ammonia concentration)
- It should be able to act when an issue arises
- It should inform the user via an app if there is an issue detected and state its action (high or low PH level, unstable water temperature, unsuitable ammonia concentration)
- The user should be able to set the optimal environment parameters for the aquarium (with initial recommendations for new users, maybe per species of fish)
- App should inform the user of potential solutions for the issue (if there are major issues/ problems)
- Inform the user once a time that everything is fine.
- Inform the user supplies are low (in case of pH control system, chemicals)
Users:
- Homeowners with Aquatic Pets: These users keep fish or any other aquatic creature simply for the sake of aesthetic enjoyment or as a hobby. They may have various levels of expertise when it comes to maintaining an aquarium's optimal condition, from beginners, who might lack detailed knowledge about the different needs of their aquatic pets, to enthusiasts with plenty of experience.
- Veterinary Clinics: Professionals who provide medical care or rehabilitation for aquatic animals could use the system to monitor and ensure the health of their aquatic patients.
- Educational institutions: Institutions such as schools and universities that use aquariums for educational purposes may benefit from the device to teach students about marine life care
- Maintenance Services: Experts who have to maintain aquariums for clients could use the device to provide excellent quality services while ensuring long-term health and stability to the aquariums.
What Do The Users Require:
- Ability to remotely track and monitor environmental changes such as pH, water temperature and ammonia concentration in the fish tank through an application on their phone or websites.
- Ability for them to set their own ideal parameters in the application (with suggestions of what these ideal parameters could be for certain scenarios).
- Alerts and suggestions on what to do when parameters are far from ideal.
- Autonomy and trustworthiness of the system
Planning:
The planning is provisional and will most likely change slightly to further complement with the project and the limited time.
week 2:
Specify exact scope of the project (use papers to select a project we will build upon or improve)
create plan, find feasible assignments for everyone to work on
Come up with idea/concept (everyone should think about new, out-of-the-box designs)
Functional specifications should be made based on the needs of our users, underpinned by arguments
week 3:
deadline for finishing full planning
a final design should be selected to work on
tasks should be divided for each to work on
research on parts and software
research on concepts and specifications
write formal technical specifications and requirements
week 4:
Create UML diagrams
Design user interface
Order parts
Work on the wiki
arduino code
week 5,6&7:
Implement software
Build hardware
Testing
week 8:
Improve prototype base on testing
Work on final presentation
Finalize prototype and wiki
State-of-the-art
As long as there exists a problem, people will try to fix it. There have been numerous researches that have addressed this problem. Of course there is a big economic part in the world of fish farming and large aquariums. These large lakes, ponds or tanks need big quantities of supplements and equipment. The famers can have a hard time keeping track of tank-parameters. There have been multiple researchers addressing this problem, mostly by creating a monitoring system, which monitors one or multiple parameters in the tank. Paper [1] highlights another problem in this world, which has to do with food and waste reduction. For farmers it can be economically beneficial if less food is needing. This can be achieved by a system of sensors and actuators. In all problems, the measured water parameters get send to the user, an can be accessed using an app [2].
Likewise, researchers have done projects on aquarium monitoring. These projects address the same problem, stating the difficulties an aquarium owner can encounter. Again most projects focus on monitoring one or more parameters and sending these to the user [6],[13]. Small sensors are boing used to measure pH and ammonia. These sensors are useful because of there size, price and accuracy. There are various ways to build upon the existing research in aquarium management. Automation of the control of these parameters is a good build upon the existing ideas. There has been a team that tried to achieve this, creating an automating feeding system [8]. This system is able to add food to the tank when needed, and results show active control on the food supplied.
The rapid development of new, cheaper sensors makes it possible to create systems that can support aquarium owners [14]. This development is crucial in allowing the creating of these systems. More extended sensors are also worked on, to allow the monitorization of fish farms [12].
Functional specifications
Must have:
Accurate sensors on pH, temperature and ammonia.
Autonomous acting on at least one parameter.
Giving users access to values and actions using an app.
Splash resistant.
Option to preset water parameters.
Automatic notification when action is needed.
Safe actuators (like chemicals or heating).
Sensors fully water resistant.
Should have:
Autonomous acting on multiple parameters.
Easy accessible application.
Autonomous feeding.
Durable electronics.
Low power usage.
Give instructions on how to fix problem.
Could have:
More parameters measured and controlled.
Implemented settings for different species of fish.
Information on different fish species.
Low production price.
Won’t have:
Fish tracking on movement and eating cycle.
Long term data storage.
Actuators/sensors on all important water parameters.
USE Analysis
Users
Homeowners with Aquatic Pets
These users need a reliable system that is easy to use and maintains the optimal conditions within their aquariums. Ideally, the solution can minimize the effort and time that is required for regular maintenance while also ensuring the health and well-being of their pets. This group can range from beginners who may have little knowledge about aquatic pets to experienced enthusiasts. The system should be user-friendly and provide educational resources for less experienced users. They need to be able to regularly check the app for updates on the aquarium's condition. Regular monitoring and adjusting of water parameters like pH, temperature, and ammonia levels can be tedious and time-consuming. There's also a risk of human error, leading to unhealthy conditions for the fish.
Aquarium stores
These users require a system that can manage multiple tasks efficiently, ensuring optimal conditions for the health and breeding of fish. They value accuracy and reliability, and most importantly, the system has to adapt to different species. Professional users have a deeper understanding of aquaculture and may require advanced features and greater control over the system. Some of the challenges may include consistent water quality across multiple tanks. Also, any issues that may occur have to be quickly addressed to prevent loss of stock. Therefore, these users need an alert system that can immediately send notifications for any parameters that fall outside safe ranges.
Society
Work
Enterprise
Many systems that take care of this are designed to be user-friendly, offering various options for monitoring and controlling a wide range of parameters including temperature, pH level, ammonia concentration, ensuring optimal conditions for aquatic life. These systems provide programming and control capabilities through both computers and mobile devices, allowing for remote management[1]. This is particularly beneficial for aquarium stores managing multiple tanks and homeowners who need to maintain their aquariums while away.
Results From User Survey And Discussions
As previously mentioned, owning an aquarium can be a lot of work. There are certain tasks that need to be checked multiple times each month, as well as feeding and water filtering. This can be a burden for people, mostly during times of absence. This can be seen from the survey results with more than 55% of aquarium users not monitoring the health of their fish.
Owners that go on a long trip or vacation will need to ask someone else to monitor their aquarium for them. Remembering to feed every day can be hard for some users too. An elderly women mentions that it can a lot of work to check and learn all important water parameters. Good information on how to keep certain species of fish would be useful. A automated system could be created to notify the user when a change of filter is needed. Many aquarium users in our survey said they don't know when to clean the wateer as there is no specified time to do this, the standard is every month but the truth is sometimes due to temperature, PH, climate and all other environmental, external and other factors this can vary a lot. This will be a better solution (notifying the user when a change of filter / water is needed) than just changing it once every month or so, as the filter may be clean enough to be us.
This can be seen from the survey result where 81% of aquarium owners say the cleanliness of the water concerns their fish the most hence as mentioned above a system to notify when cleaning the water is required is crucial. Furthermore 72% of aquarium owners say temperature concerns their fish and as well as PH (~45%) the other factors are a mintory and only make up around 27% or less. Therefore a system to monitor and regulate temperature as well as PH would be ideal as this was a suggestion by more than 72% of users for the product to mintor PH, temperature and the cleanliness of water and display the data on the app whereas the other factors such as dissolved oxygen or ammonia levels were a mintory (approximately less than 18% of aquarium users were interested in that). Moreover, more than 55% of aquarium users want temperature to be regulated automatically on top of already monitoring it and more than 72% of aquarium users want the same for PH as well, due to these being the most crucial aspects to cover and the most concerning according to aquarium users.
Major fish community websites and blogs post information on the most common tasks of an aquarium owner. Some water parameters should be checked weekly to ensure good water quality. Most aquarium owners don't keep track of these parameters, or only measure the most important ones. There are owners that enjoy the work they get from owning an aquarium, but this is different for users who own these aquatic pets for their esthetics or their addition to a calm environment. For these users it would be useful to create a system that takes care of the fish, such that the user can enjoy their fish not worrying about anything. A common response as well for any other extra functionaly in the system was to incoperate feeding facilities this is a good option and can be implemented using the <Time.h> library in Arduino alongside a servo motor, the time library in Arduino can "count" time in a background thread whilst the servo motor can spin and "drop" food at the time specified on the app which the information for this is sent to the Arduino via BLE.
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Design (ADD CAD MODELS)
The choice has been made to make a all-in-one connected fish tank automation system. The system would keep track of the water temperature, pH, turbidity and ammonia levels. Temperature would be adjusted automatically with the activation of a heater if it falls below a threshold. Furthermore the system would dispense a certain amount of fish food at a certain frequency given by the user. The system would be a box to be attached at the top of a wall of the tank, just above the water. Temperature, pH, turbidity and ammonia sensors, as well as the heater would at the bottom of the system, submerged in the water. Inside of the box would be a microcontroller, a wi-fi module, and the food dispensing system, composed of an Archimedes screw controlled by a servo motor and a food tank.
This system would be coupled with a mobile app, on which the user would be able to see the parameters in real time and be notified if one of them is out of its normal range, with advice to fix them. The user would also be able to input parameters to decide on the quantity and frequency of food dispensed.
Design of the app
The app contains eight possible pages, which include: the start page, a log-in and sign-up page, a profile page, page that contains all of the monitored aquariums, a page that shows graphs about parameters and an extra page which can be used to ask questions in case any problems arise.
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work
Research on aquarium environment parameters and optimal conditions for ornamental fish
As the selected user group for this project is home owners with ornamental fish aquariums and aquarium stores that may also breed their indoor ornamental fish, the optimal conditions coincide for these user groups as they all involve small scale indoor freshwater aquariums as the environment. The water condition factors that affect general living and breeding conditions of ornamental fish are temperature, hardness/softness, pH, ammonia concentration, chlorine concentration, carbon dioxide and oxygen.
Temperature of the water
The temperature of a fish tank is usually a main concern during the transport and introduction of new fish due to risks of thermal shocks the fish can get that can be caused when a rapid change to the temperature in their environment occurs (2). For general health and well being of fish, temperature requirements are split into two types: cold water fish and tropical fish. Common cold water fish include gold fish, Koi and certain species of barbs, tetras and loaches. Common tropical fish include bettas, Guppies, Mollys and certain species of laches and tetras. These two types different types of fish should generally not be in the same aquarium due to the different temperature needs. While tropical fish can tolerate 21 °C up to 30 °C, the optimal conditions for tropical fish are 24°C to 27°C with 27°C to 28 °C being suitable for breeding of many types of tropical fish (3). Temperatures above 32°C, are detrimental to the health of most fish. As for cold water fish, they can tolerate from 15°C up to 24°C. With some specifies preferring temperatures lower than 15°C (4).
In cases of the fish tank temperature getting too low for the fish types, solutions include simply increasing the temperature of the room or installing water heaters that are generally heating coils enclosed in a glass tube. A water heater of 5 to 6 watts is required per gallon of water (2).
In cases of the fish tank’s temperature being too high, solutions include reducing artificial lighting over the tank or blocking out natural lighting, cooling down the room that the tank is present in, installing better filtration systems to cycle water faster and even simply running a fan on the water’s surface (5).
Hardness of the water
General hardness or total hardness refers to the measure of calcium and magnesium salts as well as other ions such as sulphites and chlorides of magnesium and calcium present in the water. Below 75 ppm water is considered as soft. From 75 to 150 ppm is moderately hard and 150 to 300 ppm is hard. Beyond that water is considered very hard. Most freshwater fish can thrive in a wide range of hardness and most of the time does not require any water treatment unless fish known to come from regions of extreme total hardness (either soft or very hard) is being raised (6). Water hardness anywhere from 100 to 300 ppm is known to be optimal for growth of most ornamental fish. Only when general hardness is below 12 ppm would require liming (3).
pH
pH refers to a logarithmic scale of hydrogen ion (H+) concentration in aqueous solutions. For most ornamental fish, a pH of 7 to 8 is suitable for growth, breeding and general health (1). But the pH levels must never fall below 5 and raise above 8.5 for aquarium water. Certain ornamental fish prefer slightly acidic water (with pH of 6.2 to 7) such as rosy barb, tiger barb, tetra, angel and daino. Fishes like koi, goldfish and cichlids prefer slightly alkaline water (3). pH can be increased if necessary with doses of calcium hydroxide and decreased if necessary with acids like hydrochloric acid.
Ammonia concentration
Fish waste contains many end products of nitrogen metabolism such as uric acid, urea ammonia. With ammonia being one of the most hazardous to fish. In water, ammonia exists as either NH3 in its gaseous state or in an ionized state as NH4+. It is the unionized state (NH3) that is harmful to fish as it damages gills and causes fish to gape for air at the water surface (although other issues could also lead to similar symptoms). According to Subhendu Datta’s paper on aquarium water quality management, 0.4 ppm of NH3 is considered acute toxicity level meaning a short term or single dose can be lethal. While 0.05 ppm of NH3 with long term exposure can lead to the above mentioned symptoms. Damage to gills can already occur at 0.25 mg/lt (2). Ammonia poisoning is mainly a concern when the fish tank is first established and still lacks a strong cultivation of bacteria that break down these harmful compounds. These bacteria mainly reside in the filters of the water cycling and filtering system and hence require ample time with batches of feeder fish before the ornamental fish can be introduced to an aquarium. The ideal ammonia concentration in the system should be trace amounts (it should be noted that ammonia testing kits usually measure both NH3 and NH4 combined). In events of sudden ammonia spikes, fish should be transferred to other tanks (being mindful of the necessary procedures to avoid thermal shocks) and allow the bacteria load to increase and break down the ammonia. Other discouraged solutions include using ammonia detoxifiers (2).
Other than when the aquarium is first established, ammonia concentrations can also increase when too many fish are added at once, the fish tank is heavily populated, the filtration system is not functioning properly or is insufficient and when the fish are being overfed. Apart from factors that increase ammonia concentration, the toxicity of ammonia can also increase at higher water temperatures and pH levels above 7.0 (6). This is because the equilibrium between NH3 and NH4+ is dependant of pH and temperature and yield of NH3 is preferred at higher temperatures and pH which should be taken into account as NH3 is 300 to 400 times more toxic to fish than NH4+ (1).
Chlorine concentration
Tap water is a readily available source of clean water that can be used to fill fish tanks. However, the main issue with this is chlorine content in tap water. Chlorine amounts as low as 0.1 ppm is enough to be considered toxic for most ornamental fish (3). However, this can easily be solved by letting the water sit in the tank for a few days to let the chlorine escape and make the water suitable for fish. Aerating the water with air pumps can greatly help this process. Alternatively, if time is of concern then the water can also be treated with commercially available chemicals such as sodium thiosulphate (2). Once initially dealt with, chlorine concentrations do not need to be monitored unless more tap water is added when water changes.
Dissolved Oxygen
For warm water fishes, the recommended level of dissolved oxygen is 4 to 5 mg per litre. Dissolved oxygen may be a crucial to monitor as low dissolved oxygen levels may stunt growth, affect feeding and can lead to hypoxia. This causes high levels of stress for the fish and cellular damage (1). To prevent this, most aquarium systems have a aerators. The capacity and amount of aerators required depends on the volume of water and is always indicated by the product’s description. So as long as ample aeration is occurring in the system, the use of analog dissolved oxygen monitors may be omitted as they are expensive and inessential for home users keeping ornamental fish.
Refrences: (1) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339285368_Importance_of_Optimum_Water_Quality_Indices_in_Successful_Ornamental_Fish_Culture_Practices
(2) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268195853_Aquarium_Water_Quality_Management
(3) https://courseware.cutm.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Session-7-1.pdf short good info with table.
(4) https://www.thesprucepets.com/aquarium-water-temperature-1381896 random fish specialist website. Not research paper.
(5) https://fishlab.com/aquarium-temperature/ non research paper website mainly about temperature and fish.
(6) https://www.aqueon.com/articles/freshwater-aquarium-water-quality mainly about ammonia and nitrates and stuff
IP-code for safeness
Our design will have to meet certain standard to be able to operate safely close to the water. This is needed for the fish’s and user’s protection. There are certain requirements defined by the European union on levels of protection against multiple factors. This ingress protection code is useful for finding viable sensors and actuators for our project. The IP-code is build up out of multiple layers. Generally the code looks like : IPXXA, with X being a number and A a letter. If there isn't any specified value, the x will either remain or be left out (if on the end of the code). The first X can have levels from 0 to 6, representing different levels of dust-resistance. The second 0-9 levels is for water-resistance.
| Type | IP-requirement |
|---|---|
| fully submerged sensors | IPx8 |
| submerged actuators | IPx8 |
| wires (or casing wires) | IPx8 |
| casing microcontroller&servo | IPx4 |
If the microcontroller is placed on the outside of the tank, there will only be splashing water from time to time. Therefor there will be less need for good water resistance. IPx8 requires an object to be functional when submerged for longer periods. This should always be specified by the manufactures. For our project, it will be necessary to aim for the longest durability possible. A 3d printed casing for the microcontroller and small tubes for the wires will be useful for their water resistance. It is important to create no expose from the copper wires or any other electrical connection to the water, as this could have consequences.
Sensors
Temperature Sensor
An appropirate temperature sensor would be the DS18b20 waterproof temperature sensor, this is waterproof and is compatible to use with Arduino IDE. It requires a breadboard / soldering of wires (to be done at a later stage). This temperature sensor has three wires which all connect to a different pin in the Arduino. The black pin connects to a ground port, red pin connects to a VCC port which is powered by either 5v or 3.3v power supply. The yellow pin is connected to any chosen digital IO pin on the Arduino. The connections can be made using a breadboard or by using jumper wires with soldering of the loose wires on the temeprature sensor to the jumper wires (and then connecting the jumper wires to the Arduino itself). The coding with this sensor is relatively straightforward and involves using the libraries <OneWire.h> and <DallasTemperature.h>. A simple call to an in built method of the libraries after proper setting up (the call is sensors.requestTemperatures()) checks the temperature of the water the temperature sensor is inside and the values can be retrieved by calling: sensors.getTempCByIndex(0).
For more information see:
https://www.sensingthecity.com/water-temperature-sensor-with-arduino/
Possible purhcasing link(s):
https://www.hobbyelectronica.nl/product/ds18b20-waterdicht/
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PH Sensor
An appropirate PH sensor would be the Gravity analog PH sensor kit. This contains a PH probe and a signal conversion board. The PH probe is what is immersed in the liquid which is being tested for it's PH value whereas the signal conversion board acts like a communication mechanism between the PH sensor and the Arduino board, sending the read PH values to the Arduino. The wiring of this is as follows: the blue wire on the image on the right should be connected to any digital IO pin on the Arduino, the red wire requires to be connected to a 5V VCC pin and the last black wire should be connected to a ground pin. The connections are easier to be made using female to male jumper wires. The code works by setting the chosen digital IO pin to HIGH and LOW and using a formula to calculate the PH based on the transmitters response.
For more information see:
https://how2electronics.com/ph-meter-using-ph-sensor-arduino-oled/
Possible purchasing link(s):
https://store.arduino.cc/products/gravity-analog-ph-sensor-meter-kit
https://elektronicavoorjou.nl/product/ph-sensor-kit-v2/
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Turbidity Sensor
This is a sensor to check the "clearness" of the water. There are two types of turbidity sensors which are linked below, both principly work the same. Turbidity is measured in terms of NTU which is a "Nephelometric Turbidity Unit". The lower this NTU value the better the water quality, higher NTU values mean worse water quality as there is an increased scattering of light (more particples and dirt in the water). The connections are simple but differ based on the turbidity sensor purchased in principle it requires a 5V VCC pin, a ground pin and any digital IO pin on the Arduino. The code works by running a for loop over 800 iterations to read the required sensor input which the result of the input is added to another local variable. After this the value is converted to NTU and can be viewed on the serial monitor or an external LCD (optional, not for our project).
For more information see:
https://www.esclabs.in/how-to-make-a-turbidity-meter-using-arduino/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu8y-6Bpv0U
https://how2electronics.com/diy-turbidity-meter-using-turbidity-sensor-arduino/
Possible purchasing link(s):
https://elektronicavoorjou.nl/product/troebelheid-sensor/
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Ammonia Sensor
The most suitable sensor to detect any ammonia presence in the fish water is the Mq137 ammonia sensor. Before using this sensor it must be calibrated to the environment around it therefore using an external program to do so. The wiring is simple in principle it requires a 5V VCC pin on the arduino to be connected to the VCC pin on the sensor, a ground pin on the arduino to be connected to the GND pin on the sensor and any digital IO pin on the Arduino to be connected to the AO pin on the sensor. A 47k ohm resistor is also needed to be used for the connection between the AO pin on the sensor and any digital IO pin. The code works by taking in the parameters set above after calibration and thereafter uses a logarithmic formula to calulate the PPM (parts per million) of ammonia present in the air around (also can measure ammonia in water, it is important to not put the sensor underwater).
For more information see:
https://circuitdigest.com/microcontroller-projects/arduino-mq137-ammonia-sensor
https://www.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/fvspdn/working_on_a_project_with_ammonia_gas_sensor/
Possible purchasing link(s):
Actuators
Heater Plate
This is need for the "actuator" side of our autoamted fish care system. This heater plate will turn on whenever necessary (when the temperature of the aquarium is detected to be too high) and thereafter it will stay on until the temperature of the aquarium has reached the desired temperature. This works simply by connecting to an external 12v power source (so just a plug point), this will have to be controlled (turned on or off) by an external switch connected to the arduino to control this. It cannot be connected directly to the Arduino as the Arduino only supports providing power upto 5v hence this heater plate requires 12v. The arduino code will be simple logic ie (if sensors.getTempCByIndex(0) <= threshold1 THEN switch.on() and thereafter if sensors.getTempCByIndex(0) >= threshold2 THEN switch.off()).
For more information see:
https://www.electroniclinic.com/12v-dc-heater-plate-80w-ptc-heater-plate-12v-solar-heater/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWrkHLmWQJU
Possible purchasing link(s):
https://www.amazon.nl/-/en/Heating-Thermostat-Aluminum-Tempering-Optional/dp/B07Y5DKHBH
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Servo motor
For the precise quantity of food to be dispensed a part must be moving for a certain amount of time to push or release the food into the water, and then stop. After some research it appear that a common way to achieve that is with an Archimedes screw rotated by a servo motor for a specific amount of time. This method as several advantages: it provides a continuous flow of food, such that any desired quantity can be precisely delivered, it only takes a small amount of space, and is relatively easy to implement as 3d models of Archimedes screws compatible with servo motors are available online. The servo motor can be directly connected to an Arduino via a 5V VCC and a ground pin. It is controlled very precisely, which allows for a very specific amount of food to be dispensed. It then suffices to write a line of code that sends power to the motor pin for a certain amount of time every x seconds, which are to be determined based on parameters given by the user (number of fishes, size of fishes...).
For more information see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servomotor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHOH-bYjR4k
Possible purchasing link:
Microcontroller and communication
Microcontroller
A microcontroller is needed to activate the actuators based on the data received by the sensors and the user. A very popular line of products for this kind of projects is the Arduino line, which provides rather cheap microcontrollers that are very modular and compatible with plenty of sensors and actuators via serial communication with pins. The most popular Arduino model is the UNO Rev3 which is based on a ATmega328P processor with 14 digital and 6 analog inputs/outputs. However it does not have built-in wi-fi, so another module such as the ESP8266 must be connected to it. Another option would be the Arduino Uno R4, which directly has wi-fi connectivity. Both products are compatible with the Arduino IDE software that is used for development, with a simple language to control the pins.
For more information see:
https://store.arduino.cc/products/arduino-uno-rev3
https://store.arduino.cc/collections/boards-modules/products/uno-r4-wifi
Possible purchasing links:
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Wi-fi module
In order to communicate with the mobile app the device must have a way to send and receive the data. A common way to achieve this with an Arduino is with the use of an ESP8266 module for Arduino. This modules enables wi-fi transmission and then transmits the data via serial communication to the microcontroller. Wi-fi is ideal for our user target group because personal fish tanks are generally in houses, meaning that a router will always be nearby to send the data over the internet. Another option would be to directly use an Arduino model that has wi-fi connection integrated, such as the Arduino Uno R4.
For more information see:
https://docs.arduino.cc/arduino-cloud/guides/esp32/
https://docs.arduino.cc/hardware/uno-r4-wifi/
Possible purchasing links:
State Machine Diagram
On the right hand side we see our initial approach at our automated aquarium manager represented clearly using a state machine diagram. In this initially the manager is off and when it is turned on (assuming there is power) it sends a notification to the user that it is on. It stays in a so called "checking state" in which the sensors are continuosly run until an issue is detected. For example if the temperature is too low, it exists the checking state (which turns off all the sensors), and enters the heater on state which turns on the heaters and only exits this state when the target temperature is reached (the event temphigh is met) then it turns off the heater. Similarly whenever the ph is too low it goes to the PHLow state subclassed in PHControl and releases the required chemicals to improve the ph and thereafter it goes back to the checking state (similar for PHHigh). Whenever there is high ammonia concentration detected it sends a notification to the user about this so it can be resolved as soon as possible in the NotifyAmmonia state subclassed in Notify User, once this notification is sent it goes back to the checking state again (similar for NotifyDirt). It ensures these NotifyUser substates are only entered if the notification hasn't already been sent (otherwise it will keep sending the same notification again). In the do/ in the checking state we check if the user has resolved the notification about high ammonia / dirt until we activate sending a notificiation for that issue again.
Circuit Diagram
work
App Design
work
Power Source
The power source that will be used for this project depends on factors around the specification of the project as well as the parts that are going to be used in order to create the final prototype. We specify the constraints that will determine what kind of power source will be appropriate for this project below.
Specification requirements:
As per the specifications the prototype of the product must have the following sensors:
- pH sensor
- temperature sensor
- Ammonia sensor
- Turbidity sensor
The pH sensor has a voltage requirement of 5V, the turbidity sensor requires 5V, the temperature sensor can be powered by either 3.3V or 5V depending on the variant lastly the ammonia sensor requires 5V.
The microcontroller chosen will be a variant of the Arduino board, Arduino boards including both nano and uno require a minimum input voltage of 7V and a maximum of 12V. Arduino uno models all have a 5V output pin as well as 3.3V pins. The pH, turbidity and ammonia sensors can all operate with 5V minimum however the temperature sensor can operate using just the 3.3 volt pin. Based on these power requirements, we can power all of the sensors in two configurations, either powering all of the sensors in parallel off the 5V pin or powering all sensors but the temperature sensor with 5V pin while powering the temperature sensor with the 3.3V pin. This can be done on all uno boards, some IoT nano boards however only have a 3.3V pin, these can hence not be used.
The prototype also requires additional components that will draw power outside of the sensors. These components are the heater plate as well as the servo motor. The servo motor requires 5V of power and can hence be connected to the 5V pin as well along with the other sensors. The heater plate requires 12V of power meaning that it cannot be powered by the Arduino. The heater needs to be powered by an external power supply. It is a possibility to use a step up buck convertor to convert the 5V input to 12V but then the current drawn by the 5V pin would exceed the arduino’s limit potentially and also buck convertors generate a lot of heat under such intense application which would not be desirable.
A good solution in order to power the entire circuit would be to power both the Arduino and it’s connected sensors and components as well as the heater in parallel. This can be done as both the Arduino as well as the heater can take 12V of power. The maximum rating of the Arduino is 12V, hence the rating can be met.
There are two ways to power the entire circuit and they depend on the use cases, one would be if the product can be connected to a power outlet, in that case it would be possible to use a cheap 12 V 2A barrel connector power supply that can be connected to the wall. The cable would need to be sliced and an additional wire would need to be soldered to the power supply in order to power the heater plate in parallel. Another possibility could be to use a pack or rechargeable cells that have a total power output of 12V. This could be done using regular alkaline battery cells/ rechargeable cells in parallel. Another solution could be to use a Li-Po battery pack however these would require a BMS circuit in order to prevent the battery from overcharging and undervoltage problems.
Sources With Summaries
1. Automated Monitoring System for the Fish Farm Aquaculture Environment
The paper introduces a method for fish farmers to actively control their farm. They introduce a problem of waste, unnecessarily created by a lack of monitoring their fish. The waste can be reduced by actively tracking the fish and feeding when needed. They also state that, for optimal farming, the conditions in such a tank should be kept at certain rates. The team establishes a device to monitor the data acquired, using simple but accurate sensors. They describe a way to measure the most important values and how they created a system available for the user. They create a software program that runs on android devices to give the farmers access to the results, and create a space where the farmers can change certain values based on the fish their needs. The paper doesn’t specifically state for which levels the system is made, and what would be optimal for certain species. The energy management of the system is very efficient, and because of the WIFI implementation they created an accessible system.
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2. Design and implementation of a smart monitoring system for water quality of fish farms
The paper focusses on the creation of a monitoring system for fish farms. The authors try to give real time information to the farmer via a mobile app. They see the rapid change in the health and agriculture sector towards a fully monitored and perfected system. The authors use an Arduino UNO and a pH and temperature sensor to monitor the values in the tanks. The user can use his phone with a Bluetooth connection to connect and get the real time information on their mobile device. There are some major improvements that could be made compared to this project. The information is quite limited and could be extended on. Also we could try to implement a more autonomous system that does certain tasks like changing pH or giving food. The system could also be upgraded to be more up to date and accessible.
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3. Aquarium Monitoring and Automatic Feeding System Based on Internet of Things
https://ojs.unikom.ac.id/index.php/injuratech/article/download/10012/3770/
This article focuses on creating aquarium monitoring and automatic feeding systems for ornamental fish tanks and fish farms to support this high demand industry in Indonesia. The project focuses on 3 sensors and 1 actuator, namely the temperature sensor, pH sensor and turbidity sensor and a servo motor for the automatic feeding system. The idea is to have this system work togeather with a smart phone application that has 3 panels. A home screen that displays weather information for outdoor systems as well as displaying the feeding schedule and options to adjust it. The second panel focuses on monitoring the environmental data such as displaying temperature, pH and turbidity data. The final panel focuses on sharing the data and/or generating reports to be exported.
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4. Aquarium Monitoring System Using Sensors
https://ajast.net/data/uploads/10119.pdf
This paper addresses the issue of fish tank maintenance time for homeowners and possible inconveniences it causes. The solution proposed is a fully automatic system that feeds the fish, monitors and displays temperature and a water circulating system with the additional function of heating that controls water temperature. This process of heating water when its circulating through pipes instead of directly adding a heater to the tank water allows for better and consistent temperature control. The fish feeder works with a simple servo motor and container controlled by an Arduino.
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5. Monitoring the Value of Water Quality and Condition Parameters Using the Open Sensor Aquarium
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1255/1/012036/pdf
This research paper details a complete fish tank management system that collects data, betters the fish tank environment parameters and displays the information on a webpage. The system consists of sensors such as a CS-CO057 water level sensor, pH sensor, DS18B20 temperature sensor and analog electrical conductivity sensor that is all connected to an Arduino that sends the data to the server using a SIM900 transmission module. The actuators are a water heater that responds to temperature changes detected and an automatic feeder that operates at scheduled times. This system was tested for long term use.
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6. A multi-functional fish tank remote monitoring system based on STM32
https://francis-press.com/papers/7016
This research paper focuses on a system suitable not only for ornamental fish tank keepers but also fish farming enthusiasts. Apart from the typical sensors such as temperature, turbidity, pH and water level sensors, this system also comes with a camera module and voice module to cater to the ornamental fish breeding and training aspect. All the sensors are connected to the STM32 core controller which is also connected to actuators such as servo motors for feeding and a wireless transmission module for sending data to be remotely accessed.
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7. Smart Aquarium Management System
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/345690191_Smart_Aquarium_Management_System
The paper discusses the development of a Smart Aquarium Management System designed to automate and remotely monitor aquarium conditions, including temperature, pH levels, feeding schedules, and aeration through an IoT-based solution. The system aims to reduce manual maintenance efforts by allowing users to control and monitor their aquariums via mobile application, ensuring optimal living conditions for fish. It also aims to replicate natural conditions as closely as possible, ensuring the health and well-being of fish and other aquatic organisms. This innovation addresses challenges faced by aquarists, such as feeding fish during absences and maintaining water quality, by providing real-time data and controls through a user-friendly interface.
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8. Implementation of Smart Aquarium System Supporting Remote Monitoring and Controlling of Functions using Internet of Thingshttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/337567490_Implementation_of_Smart_Aquarium_System_Supporting_Remote_Monitoring_and_Controlling_of_Functions_using_Internet_of_Things
The article presents the implementation of a smart aquarium system that uses Internet of Things (IoT) technology for remote monitoring and control of aquarium functions. It introduces a fully automated system capable of operating without human intervention, focusing on features like mechanical fish feeding over the internet and monitoring parameters such as feed level, water temperature, pH, and water level remotely. The authors use various tools such as Arduino Mega 2560, ultrasonic sensor, ESP8266, LCD 20x4, PH sensor, temperature sensor, water pump motor, servo motor, four-channel relay module, water heater, and fan. These components work together to automate and remotely manage aquarium conditions, enhancing efficiency and facilitating non-intrusive care for aquatic life.
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9. A Review of Smart Fish Farming Systems
The paper provides an in-depth look at the application of AI in aquaculture engineering, focusing on the use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to enhance water quality management for fish farming. It highlights the potential of AI to automate the monitoring and adjustment of critical parameters such as salinity, oxygen levels, pH, and temperature, ensuring optimal conditions for aquaculture. This integration aims to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and promote sustainable practices within the fish farming industry, demonstrating a significant advancement in aquaculture technology.
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10. Intelligent Fish Tank Based on WiFi Module
https://front-sci.com/journal/article?doi=10.32629/jai.v1i1.16
The paper presents an innovative intelligent fish tank system that leverages a WiFi module for remote monitoring and control via an Android smartphone. Utilizing the STC89C52 microcontroller as its core, the system employs sensors to track water temperature and level, adjusting the latter as needed and allowing users to interact with the tank in real-time from anywhere. This approach showcases the practical application of IoT technologies in enhancing the care and management of aquatic environments, demonstrating significant advancements in home automation and smart device integration.
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11. An Intelligent Behavior-Based Fish Feeding System
The paper discusses an adaptive smart fish feeder system that adjusts feeding times and amounts based on observed fish behavior, aiming to solve problems associated with traditional feeding methods in aquaculture. This innovative system is expected to enhance fish welfare by reducing food competition and waste, thereby improving water quality. The study highlights the potential for increased farm productivity and efficiency through customized feeding strategies informed by fish responses, suggesting significant advancements in aquaculture practices.
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12. Recent Advancement of the Sensors for Monitoring the Water Quality Parameters in Smart Fisheries Farming
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-431X/10/3/26
The paper discusses the use of machine learning method such as K-Nearest Neighbors, Random Forests, Decision Trees, Regression and Principal Component Analysis to categorize the quality of water for fishes. It proposes water temperature, pH, nitrites and nitrates, phosphorous, calcium, magnesium and dissolved oxygen as input parameters for these methods. The paper then proposes a system consisting of two water pumps controlled by a pump controller, a nitrate sensor and an impedance analyser as well as other sensors for all the parameters, all of this controlled by an arduino UNO. The system uses a LoRA shield for communication and is powered with a 12W solar panel and a battery. The collected data is sent on a cloud server to be analyzed on a user application. The estimated cost of the prototype is USD 250.
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13. Water Quality Monitoring System for Fisheries using Internet of Things (IoT)
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/1176/1/012016
The paper discusses the use of the Internet of Things to monitor fish and water in a fish production pond. It proposes a system with temperature and pH sensors, as well as a ultrasonic sensor for fishes controlled by an NodeMCU microcontroller and a ESP8266, which sends the data via wi-fi to a Blynk database that also sends notifications by e-mail. The conclusion of the experiment conducted with this system is that such an IoT device is able to efficiently track the quality of water for fishes, though some adjustments could be made to improve it, such as having a better user interface to track the data, adding more parameters in defining the quality of water, and using LoRaWAN for communication.
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14. Design and Deployment of Low-Cost Sensors for Monitoring the Water Quality and Fish Behavior in Aquaculture Tanks during the Feeding Process
https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/18/3/750
The paper discusses the use of low-cost sensor for monitoring fishes and water in fish farms. The proposed system monitors water quality parameters, tank status, feed falling and fish swimming behavior. It uses a thermistor type negative temperature coefficient (NTC) temperature sensors, an inductive sensor for measuring conductivity an optical turbidity sensor and IR photodiode oil sensor. These are controlled by an Arduino MEGA with an ESP8266 wi-fi module. The system also uses smart protocols to send only the relevant information over the network to reduce energy waste. The estimated total cost for sensors is less than €90.
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15. Development of Domestic Animals Shelter Environment Monitoring System using Internet of Things (IoT)
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10169332
This paper addresses the problems that occur in domestic animal shelters. They propose a solution using a system to control and measure certain parameters in those shelters. Using sensors and a microcontroller, the Arduino, they monitor the temperature, humidity, motion and gas levels. This is send to a blynk application where a farmer can view real-time values and get alerts when certain events occur, like high gas levels. The system also regulates the water and temperature in a shelter, by continually checking values and responding. The author states there can be a lot of improvement, like implementing more and better sensors.
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16. IoT-Based Fish Farm Water Quality Monitoring System
https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/17/6700
This paper proposes a system to monitor water quality in fish farms. The system uses a robotic arm to submerge and take the sensors out of the water. The temperature sensor uses the constant voltage method and a low pass filter to reduce temperature noise drift and improve the accuracy. It also uses a water overflow sensor to prevent water from overflowing which could allow fishes to escape the tank. The system also monitors pH and dissolved oxygen. Finally, it uses LoRa for the wireless communication. The authors suggest to to improve the system with the use of deep learning and machine learning to better analyze the water quality.
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17. Water Monitoring IoT System for Farming Ponds
https://stumejournals.com/journals/i4/2018/2/77.full.pdf
This paper describes an IoT system for monitoring water quality in fish farms. It uses an arduino MEGA2560, a temperature and water level sensor, as well as a clock. It controls a heater and lights to adjust the water temperature, displays the information on a LCD screen and notifies the user with a buzzer. It also uses the Wivity modem to provide internet connectivity. this module also implements a complete internat protocol stack to send data via HTTP to a cloud server. The authors suggest using more sensors to monitor other parameters such as dissolved oxygen or pH.
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18. Aquaculture monitoring and control system: An IoT based approach
https://www.ijariit.com/manuscripts/v5i2/V5I2-1706.pdf
The paper proposes a distributed system for monitoring water turbidity, temperature and pH. The system is modular, portable and low-cost. It uses turbidity, temperature water level and pH sensors connected to a Raspberry PI. The data is sent to a cloud database and can then be retrieved via a mobile app. With the app users can also control the water flow and receive notification when the data exceeds a given threshold range. The system uses the ThingSpeak API to send the data onto the cloud. The conclusion of the experiment ran with the system is rather positive towards to use of IoT in fish farms.
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19. Microcontroller Based Water Treatment Scheme for Fish Farming
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10406986
This paper sees the big growing market of fish farmers and highlights how we should implement todays technology into these farms to control and improve quality. They give multiple optimal parameters for multiple species of fish. The sensors used are all viable in these conditions. Their design focusses on temperature, pH and turbidity. Using an Arduino Uno and a GSM module, they create a system to track and monitor the values inside such fish tank. Chemicals can be used to control pH and a filter for the turbidity. They use multiple chemicals to lower or higher pH levels. The paper only gives a brief idea on how such structure should look, not creating a solution. Using the authors plans we could build such system, or parts.
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20. Design and Analysis of IoT-based Aquarium Monitoring System for Guppy Fish Habitats
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10010912
This paper focusses on the improvement of health of guppy fish. They state that, following past research, optimal water quality is key to maintaining health fish. Using IoT, which has become more and more important due to the ability to transfer data between all kinds of devices, They want to reduce cost, work and time for fish owners. Using sensors for pH, turbidity and temperature, they create an system to test values in a tank and send them to a mobile device. With their system they test the impact of food types on the water quality and find that BBS type foods are better than pallet type foods. Furthermore they are able to create a simple but useful program to monitor the values in such fish tank. An improvement could be made on the amount and quality of sensors, or on the user interface, using a modern style app.
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21. Aquarium Water Quality Management
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268195853_Aquarium_Water_Quality_Management
This paper talks about fishes basic needs to live in aquarium water and the quality of the water. It provides data and insights on the optimal PH, oxygen, hardness, chlorine, temperature, salinity, hardness and more of the water for distinct fish species for their optimal survival and also for breeding purposes. Furthermore, there are tips for cleaning the water and resolving any conflicts regarding the water quality.
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22. Aquarium Water Quality Management for Freshwater Ornamental Fishes
The research paper above provides insights on optimal water chemistry for the health of aquarium fish. It emphasizes the importance of a very specific amount of chlorine for optimal wellbeing of the fish (in a range), tips for cleaning and removing chlorine is present as well as other filteration techniques to remove other waste. Furthermore, for healthy fish they emphasize on regular water cleanings with not exceeding threshold for water changes to put less stress on the fish and to apply certain instruments or minimize the "noise" in the aquarium overall.
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23. Automatic Water Quality and Fish Feed Monitoring System in Aquarium Using LORA
This article talks about how the growth and development of certain types of fish is influenced by factors such as the water temperature, PH level, quality of food and water turbidity. It mentions the importance of feeding and how some owners forget to or are unaware of this and to the quality of the water and condition of their fish tank. They have used an Arduino UNO microcontroller to build a system to feed the fish and maintain good water coditions. It mentions a PH of 6-8 is ideal alongside a temperature of 23-30 degrees celcius and water turbitity of 0-2500 NTU. LoRa SX1278 is used as a communicator service alongside a turbidity sensor and a DS18B20 temperature sensor, PH sensor, RTC, relay and a water pump. The sensors equipped continuosly monitor the water conditions using the LoRa and if the condition of the water is not to standard, the water pump is turned on.
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24. Seneye POND V2 - monitoring system for ponds
https://www.marine-aquatics.eu/en/seneye-pond-v2-monitoring-system-for-ponds?ItemIdx=2
Article details existing product that monitors the PH level inside of a koi pond. Ammonia poisoning is one of the factors that cause the death of fish. The software automatically monitors the inside of the pond to detect toxic ammonia (NH3) traces at very low levels. The product is also able to detect swings in PH and temperature which could be harmful for the health of the fish. The device can be placed inside of a filter or can be set to float atop the pond.
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25. Design of water quality monitoring system for aquaculture ponds based on NB-IoT
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0144860919301189
Article details a project based on Narrow Band Internet of Things technology. enables remote collection and storage of data from multiple sensors such as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen. It also provides centralized management of breeding ponds. The system described in the article uses the STM32L151C8 microcontroller and sensor terminal. This gives it real-time data acquisition, the data is then aggregated and transmitted over large distances to a IoT cloud platform through NB-IoT. The system has been tested in ChangZhou, JiangSu, China. The test demonstrates the system's ability to acquire water quality parameters on time with high degree of accuracy and reliability, this provided strong support for aquaculture production management and water quality regulation. A similar idea could also be implemented in order to monitor the parameters for an appropriate environment for fish across a spread out network of fish ponds.
Logbook
| Week | Student | Work Done | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saqib | Intro Lecture (2 hrs), Setup Wiki (0.5 hrs), Worked On Introduction (2 hrs), Research Papers And provided Summaries (1 hrs) | 6.5 hrs |
| Mara | Worked on "Users" (0.5 hrs), Researched papers and provided summaries (3h) | 3.5 hrs | |
| Aseem | intro Lecture (2 hrs), worked on / edited introduction (1 hrs), read papers and added summaries (3 hrs) | 6 hrs | |
| Adrien | Intro Lecture (2 hrs), Researched papers and provided summaries (3hrs), Plan and milestones (0.5hrs) | 5.5 hrs | |
| Nout | Intro Lecture (2hrs), worked on introduction and planning (2h), read papers and make summaries(3hrs) | 7 hrs | |
| Sanshray | Intro Lecture (2 hrs), Researched papers and wrote summaries (2 hrs) | 4 hrs | |
| 2 | Saqib | Meeting (2 hrs), Research and summary of sensors (6 hrs), Worked on state machine diagram (2 hrs) | 10 hrs |
| Mara | |||
| Aseem | Feedback session (0.5 hrs), meeting (1.5 hrs), Research and report on environmental parameters and optiomal conditions for fish (12 hrs), planning tasks (1 hrs) | 15 hrs | |
| Adrien | Feedback session (0.5 hrs), meeting (1.5 hrs), Research on sensors, actuators and design (6 hrs), report on wiki (4 hrs) | 12 hrs | |
| Nout | Feedback session(0.5 hrs), research on state-of-the-art (2 hrs), worked on specifications (2.5 hrs), problem statement and introduction(2 hrs), IP code(2 hrs) | 9 hrs | |
| Sanshray | Feedback session (0.5 hrs), Research about power sources (1 hrs), report about power sources (3 hrs), revision on CAD skills in siemens nx (3 hrs) | 7.5 hrs | |
| 3 | Saqib | Feedback session (0.5 hrs), Worked on survey (1 hrs), Survey results summary (1 hrs) | |
| Mara | |||
| Aseem | |||
| Adrien | |||
| Nout | feedback(0.5h), state-of-the-art(2h), IP-code(2h), research on users and needs (3h) | ||
| Sanshray | |||
| 4 | Saqib | ||
| Mara | |||
| Aseem | |||
| Adrien | |||
| Nout | |||
| Aseem |
- ↑ Ash, E. (2024, February 26). Aquarium Controllers: 8 systems to control, monitor & Test your tank. Fish Tank Advisor. https://fishtankadvisor.com/best-aquarium-controller-reviews/