DIY Automation and Precision Agriculture

Transcription

1 DIY Automation and Precision Agriculture John Van de Vegte P.Eng. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Environmental Management Branch

2 Improving Agriculture Need to Improve: Productivity Crop Yield Livestock Health Need to Reduce: Cost of Production Risk of Loss Environmental Impact Water & Energy Consumption 2

3 Improving Agriculture Technology Data Use technology to: Collect data on farm environment and process Quantify the existing process Make data-driven decisions on how to improve farm operations Use data to improve process control Create autonomous process (ie valve control) 3

4 Data & Technology in Our Lives Collection, storage and manipulation of data Technology is available and cheaper than ever before! 4

5 Technology Already in Agriculture GPS-Guided Tractor Robotics in the Barn Precision Ag 5

6 Reducing Cost of Technology Trend 6

7 Technology does not have to be complex! Do-It-Yourself Technology Input Brain Output Collect Data Do What? Do 7

8 Inputs Sensor measures the parameter of interest Digital or analog output signals Many sensors available at reasonable prices Temperature $2.75ea Pressure $2.50ea CO2 Concentration $150ea Ultrasonic Distance $9.30ea Relative Humidity $1.25ea Liquid Level $90.00ea 8

9 Brains Collects & stores data from Input Uses data to make decisions based on program algorithm Data Loggers Programmable Logic Controller Microprocessor 9

10 Programming the Brain Do you have a programmer in-house? Into Playing Video Games Programming Microprocessor Free microprocessor programming language and tutorials available on-line

11 Outputs Conducts actions as directed by the program in the Brain Information (from Data Logger) Action (from PLC or Microprocessor) 11

12 Examples Knowledge is Power Examples of project conducted over the past 2 years Initial focus on data collection to quantify processes Evaluation of the data collected highlights opportunities to improve process Field Vegetable Livestock Tree Fruit 12

13 Wash-Water Turbidity Monitoring Can field vegetable wash-water turbidity monitoring be used to reduce water consumption? Measurement captured every 30sec on data logger. Reduced water consumption and increased recirculation in vegetable wash process 13

14 Manure Monitoring at Swine Barn Does actual manure production match estimate in nutrient management plan? Why: Manure production and spreading needs to be managed Manure volume monitoring at pig farm Ultrasonic sensor with 5m range Measurement captured every 1hr on data logger Distance from Sensor (ft) West Pit Level Measurement /04 14/06 03/08 22/09 11/11 Time 14

15 Ammonia Levels in Lamb Barns What is Ammonia concentration in lamb barns? Why: Exposure to excessive ammonia has health impacts. Exposure limit for humans is 25ppm (8hr time weighed average) Ammonia sensor with 200ppm limit Measurement captured every 30min. NH3 Conc'n (ppm) NH3 Concentration (PPM) 15

16 Methane Levels in Swine and Dairy Barns What is methane concentration in swine and dairy barns? Why: Methane is explosive at concentrations between 5% and 15% Wireless sensor with data sent to Cloud Measurement captured every 15min. Found instances of high methane concentration CH4 Conc n (%LEL) Temp.(ºC) 16

17 Peach Size in Harvest Totes Can we measure peach size range in totes on arrival at packaging operation? Why: Peach size required to manage packaging process. Camera mount above door to cold storage Read RFID tag on skid Digital photo taken every 0.5 seconds as lift-truck brings skid into storage Automatically determine when full skid is in view Measure diameter of all visible peaches Export peach size data for skid to production management software 17

18 Summary What do you want to measure or control at your farm? Make data-driven decisions on how to improve your production process. Technology to collect critical data at your farm is available at reasonable cost. You can Do-It-Yourself! 18

19 Thank You! 19