This phase is all about ideas. With our clearly defined problem scope and a concise set of design requirements, each member of the team was well-equipped to up with ideas for our sensor package.
Scaled Design
We decided to start out with existing solutions and scale them to suit the context of the problem we are trying to solve. In phase 1, we found out that Libelium Smart Water Sensor Network is used in Iran to monitor and serve as a closed-loop control system for temperature, pH, ammonium, nitrite and dissolved oxygen.
Based on this existing design, we came up with some interesting ideas:
A smart sensor system like Libelium but without the control system for the fish pond – We just need to build a sensor package to monitor the conditions of the pond, not a system that stabilizes the conditions when they fluctuate.
A smart sensor that only monitors temperature, pH and level of oxygen – Through the research we did in phase one, we found out that temperature, pH and level of oxygen are the most of important conditions to check in a fish pond. When the values fluctuate, the fishes might die in a short period if the conditions are not stabilized in time.
After this step, we individually came up with revolutionary designs for the solution. These revolutionary designs are totally different or maybe slightly different from the existing designs but they achieve the same purpose of monitoring the conditions of the water in the pond
Ideation by Team Members
Package has a pH sensor, Temperature sensor, network card, solar panel.
Package has a pH sensor, Temperature sensor, network card, and rechargeable battery.
Package has a pH sensor, Temperature sensor, GSM, and solar panel.
Package can be placed on the surface of the water
Package can be placed in the middle
The package on the surface of the water pond.
7. On the sides of the pond, the sensor package will be mounted to collect good data. The data from each sensor will be taken and averaged to be the actual data reading of those variables being measured in the pond. In a close range of about 10m, the package is designed to connect to a mobile app via Bluetooth to share its data for human interaction. The idea is that only the sensory parts are in the pond meanwhile the electronics sit outside the walls of the pond. By this design, it can get its power from a solar rechargeable battery on the side.
8. Very Low-cost sensor package with low throughput
9. Low cost sensor package with fairly moderate throughput but more secured network
10. Moderately costly sensor package with fairly moderate throughput and network security
11. Expensive sensor package with high throughput and network security
12. A low-cost sensor made up of a pH, temperature and water monitoring sensor which is submerged into water. The information gathered from the condition of the water by this sensor is then transmitted through a wire to nearby storage device made up of GSM, electronic relays, and a solar panel to keep it charged for up to 24 hours. Information gathered from this device is transferred in real-time to the person in charge of the facility through GSM operation which utilizes a low-cost method for data transfer
13. A low-cost measurement device which contains an inbuilt temperature sensor, pH sensor and timer has a tube which is connected to the waterbody containing the fishes. Every 30minutes the measurement device draws a sample of the water to measure the pH, temperature and other conditions of the water. The measurement device operates using rechargeable batteries. Once the conditions of the water do not meet the necessary conditions for the fishes survive, an alert is sent to the fish farmer through GSM technology to enable him to make the necessary changes to the water
14. This design utilizes a cloud data storage that can be accessed by the owner of the facility at any point in time. Since oil spillage from other agriculture can cause pollution and affect the entire condition of the water, oil layer sensors together with temperature sensors and pH sensors are placed at vantage points around the walls of the tank of the fish habitat. These devices are connected through a wire to devices outside the tank. These devices outside the tank are made up of Wi-Fi cards and rechargeable batteries to send transmit information to the cloud data storage medium.
15. Readings of the sensor are collected through an Arduino from the various pH, temperature, Humidity sensors to ensure the water condition is survivable by the fish. The data was sent through the an already existing local network to a spreadsheet document which can be view by the fish farmer, in the case where needs to be transmitted through Wi-Fi, an extra Arduino shield is included.
16. A simple very low-cost temperature sensor consisting of a ph sensor (dht11), a temperature sensor (aquascape pond thermometer) and an oxygen level sensor. This low-cost sensor will be handheld and sensors will be connected to a microprocessor and will be connected to a screen for readings. It will be powered by dry cells.
17. A low-cost sensor which will consist of a pH level sensor, a temperature sensor, a solar panel, an Arduino and an HC – 12. Here the sensors will be immersed in the water and connected to the Arduino which will be powered by the solar panel for non-stop power supply. The Arduino will be connected to the HC-12 which will transmit the information to the device you want.
18. For the larger farms, a pH and temperature sensor that will be completely immersed in the water will be connected to a microprocessor, rechargeable batteries that will be connected to LoRa, a low-cost WAN. You can connect this to a cloud which will be able to connect to any device you want it to.
19. For the high-end, we can build pH and temperature level sensor with their own built-in microprocessors to make it easier in transmitting the information. They would be powered by a solar panel for constant power supply and would also be linked to a cloud that would store the data. The cloud can be linked to any device you want.
20. For more accurate readings, we could employ a sensor system that would consist of several sensors that would be placed at vantage points in the pool. This kind of sensor would be for the larger ponds and would cost significantly higher. We will have a system that would take all these values and find the corresponding pH and temperature of the system
GROUP BRAINSTORMING
At this stage, we wanted to open up the design space of our ideas. Therefore, we used various techniques like the WHAT IF ?, Reversal and Exaggeration technique.
WHAT IF?
1. WHAT IF the fish is the sensor package?
a. The sensors will be on the body of two or more of the fishes in the pond.
b. The sensor package can be designed in the form of a dummy fish that swims in the pond or is stationary.
2. WHAT IF sensors are not needed to measure the temperature and other conditions?
a. We could predict sensor values for the pond using weather data in that geographical location
b. We could have human sensors(experienced people in the field) who can determine the conditions of water in the fish pond at any particular time.
3. WHAT IF we expose ponds to surroundings that will give it constant conditions?
REVERSAL
1. The fish pond measures the temperature
a. We put the sensors on the walls of the pond
b. We could use a sensor-like material to make the walls of the pond. Just like how the human skin is to some conditions, the sensor-like material will be the skin of the pond.
EXAGGERATION
1. The sensor measures the temperature of all the different fish in the pond. – This implies that lightweight and nanosensors will be attached to the bodies of the fish. The sensors will be powered by the kinetic energy of the fish.
Comments