Automated monitoring and control system for shrimp farms based on embedded system and wireless sensor network

This paper presents a versatile solution in an effort of improving the accuracy in monitoring the environmental conditions and reducing manpower for industrial households shrimp farming. A ZigBee-based wireless sensor network (WSN) was used to monitor the critical environmental conditions and all the control processes are done with the help of a series of low-power embedded MSP430 microcontrollers from Texas Instruments. This system is capable of collecting, analyzing and presenting data on a Graphical User Interface (GUI), programmed with LabVIEW. It also allows the user to get the updated sensor information online based on Google Spreadsheets application, via Internet connectivity, or at any time through the SMS gateway service and sends alert message promptly enabling user interventions when needed. Thereby the system minimizes the effects of environmental fluctuations caused by sudden changes and reduces the expended labor power of farms. Because of that, the proposed system saves the cost of hiring labor as well as the electricity usage. The design promotes a versatile, low-cost, and commercial version which will function best for small to medium sized farming operations as it does not require any refitting or reconstruction of the pond.