Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Smart control and monitoring of aquaculture systems

by Dr Andreas Mäck, Senect, Germany

In these days, and presumably much more in the future, fish farming faces changing environmental conditions.

Among them, varying water supply, due to different rainfall patterns or elevated temperatures during the summer months, are the most critical ones for fish farms. That´s why environmental monitoring or, even better, the control of environmental parameters, becomes more and more important for future fish farming methods.
 

On the other hand, due to new biosecurity challenges like parasites or disease spreading, closed systems become more interesting for producers. Within this scenario, the monitoring and control technology of the German manufacturer Senect comes into play.

The name Senect originates from SEnsors, conNEct and aCT, which describes the idea behind the control system:
• With sensors, many parameters, like the oxygen concentration or the state of pumps, are measured
• This information is collected and combined, ensuring step three can take place
• The control system is able to act automatically

In most cases the Senect technology will control the system completely on its own, but if something goes wrong, e.g. because of mechanical problems, the user will be alarmed. So, in general, the Senect control system automatises processes, but also stays in touch with the user, who is able to see all the measurement data, graphs, states and statistics on his smartphone, tablet or PC / Mac.

The hardware of the system consists of sensors, actuators and controllers. For the sensors, Senect aims to deliver precise sensors with the lowest maintenance required as possible. Examples, therefore, are the optical oxygen sensor O2S or the hydrostatic water level probe PS. The user-friendly “plug-and-play” system of the sensors makes it easy to install and has the advantage that any Senect sensor can be connected to any controller.

The second category of devices are actuators – by definition, these are the ones which act. This could be, for example, a solenoid valve for the oxygen supply, an automatic fish feeder or a drum filter. Senect offers a variety of actuators, but also third-party devices can be connected and controlled.


Read more HERE.

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