A Fish Feeding Robot Prototype with a Water Level Control System Using a Proportional – Integral Controller

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop a fish feeding robot prototype that equipped with a water level control system for pond use and to propose an effective control scheme for the robot prototype and the water level control system. The system used in this paper consists of a feed storage tank, a feed distribution mechanism, a feed ejection mechanism, an ejector position turning mechanism, a water level control system, a base and a solar panel system for energy sources. The three mechanisms used three DC motors as actuator, respectively. The water level control system used a water pump to pump water out of pond when the level of water exceeds the maximum level limit, and an ultrasonic sensor to measure the level of water in pond. On – Off and proportional – integral (PI) controllers used to control DC motors of the three mechanisms, and the water level control system, respectively. Performances of the robot prototype with the water level control system were examined through laboratory scale experiments. The result of the conducted experiments are presented and discussed.