A wireless intelligent thermal control and management system for piglet in large-scale pig farms

Ping Zheng; Jicheng Zhang; Honggui Liu; Jun Bao; Qiuju Xie; Xiaohua Teng

Information Processing in Agriculture (Jun 2021)

A wireless intelligent thermal control and management system for piglet in large-scale pig farms

Ping Zheng,
Jicheng Zhang,
Honggui Liu,
Jun Bao,
Qiuju Xie,
Xiaohua Teng

Affiliations

Ping Zheng: College of Electrical and Information, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China
Jicheng Zhang: College of Electrical and Information, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China
Honggui Liu: College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China
Jun Bao: College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China
Qiuju Xie: College of Electrical and Information, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China; Key Laboratory of Swine Facilities Engineering, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Harbin 150030, China.; Corresponding authors.
Xiaohua Teng: College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China; Corresponding authors.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 8, no. 2
pp. 341 – 349

Abstract

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Indoor temperature is a critical environmental factor for piglets that affects the health, welfare, and production efficiency of domesticated pigs. However, there are limited reports about wireless intelligent thermal control and management system for piglets in large-scale pig farms, and evaluation energy saving. This paper presents an Automatic Thermal Control and Management System (ATCMS) of micro-environment for piglets, that could provide a suitable production environment and reduce the energy consumption. ATCMS includes automatic temperature control system (ATCS), multipoint temperature management system (MTMS) and remote access. The infrared heating lamps are chosen in the ATCS for their good performance in heating rate and heating distribution. In order to meet a scientific temperature requirements of piglet growth, the suitable thermal ranges of each growth-stage (STREG) are employed as intelligent control strategies to generate an automatic and precise heating control. MTMS is responsible for communicating with ATCSs and transmitting information to database server for record based on wireless technology. Remote access offers information services for remote administrators by smart phones and clients via Internet. The experiments of ATCMS were carried out both in winter and summer at Binsheng Breeding Piggery Farm, Acheng City, Heilongjiang Province, China. Results showed that the temperature provided by ATCS had been kept in STREG of piglets during the whole winter period. When the indoor temperature during summer period were in or above STREG, heating lamps were turned off by ATCS for a long time. The energy consumption of ATCS were 63.60% in winter and 39.35% in summer with continuous heating system operation. Therefore, ATCMS could take the suitable thermal ranges of each growth-stage as an intelligent control principle to give an automatic and precise control to heating devices in order to meet a scientific temperature requirements of piglet growth.

Published in Information Processing in Agriculture

ISSN: 2214-3173 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Netherlands
LCC subjects: Agriculture: Agriculture (General); Technology: Technology (General): Industrial engineering. Management engineering: Information technology
Website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/information-processing-in-agriculture

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