Low cost fuzzy system applied to the control and supervision of thermal environment in poultry farms

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop an automated fuzzy controller with microcontroller, consisting of hardware and software for the control and supervision of thermal environment in broiler farms. The study has been conducted in two steps: in the first one it was performed a computer analysis through simulation. In the second step it was performed the evaluation of the software and hardware developed by the equipment test in the registration of the thermal environment variables within the facility and activation of the climate control equipment. The experiment was conducted in a poultry house with broilers of Cobb 500 lineage, aged between 1 and 28 days in an experimental farm located in Bambuí - MG. The presented prototype is able to operate in an automatic way, the equipment control for the ambience in poultry farms and supervision of meteorological variables. The developed fuzzy controller estimated satisfactorily the thermal comfort for the poultry during 28 days of experiment, keeping the thermal parameters within the specified by literature. The system can be used in the automation of ambience equipment for the four steps of the production chain for broiler chickens.