ZAF, the first open source fully automated feeder for aquatic facilities

In the past few decades, aquatic animals have become popular model organisms in biology, spurring a growing need for establishing aquatic facilities. Zebrafish are widely studied and relatively easy to culture using commercial systems. However, a challenging aspect of maintaining aquatic facilities is animal feeding, which is both time- and resourceconsuming. We have developed an open-source fully automatic daily feeding system, Zebrafish Automatic Feeder (ZAF). ZAF is reliable, provides a standardized amount of food to every tank, is cost-efficient and easy to build. The advanced version, ZAF+, allows for the precise control of food distribution as a function of fish density per tank, and has a user-friendly interface. Both ZAF and ZAF+ are adaptable to any laboratory environment and facilitate the implementation of aquatic colonies. Here we provide all blueprints and instructions for building the mechanics, electronics, fluidics, as well as to setup the control software and its user-friendly graphical interface. Importantly, the design is modular and can be scaled to meet different user needs. Furthermore, our results show that ZAF and ZAF+ do not adversely affect zebrafish culture, enabling fully automatic feeding for any aquatic facility.

Design and Fabrication of an Automatic Fish Feeder Prototype Suits Tilapia Tanks

The conventional methods of supplying feed to tilapia tanks are ineffective. It is better to find new a automatic feeder saving pellets from crushing and cohesion without hitting pellets during feeding at a predetermined interval of time and an accurate amount of food with a larger surface area covered by pellets. Developing-country fish farmers use manual feeding to be more cost-effective than with costly mechanized feeding, so this research aimed to design and construct an automatic fish feeder prototype to feed tilapia in a recirculation aquaculture system’s tank. The performance of the prototype was studied after it was designed and installed. The dispensed feed operated by a DC motor located underneath the pellet hopper and the feed material was discharged into the tank through a gate in the bottom of the feeder. Three pellet sizes, three rotation speeds, and three feeder heights from the water’s surface were used to test the automatic feeder’s efficiency. The results showed that the optimal speed for the automatic feeder was 14 rpm with a height of 70 cm, resulting in a distribution width of 26.6 cm and a high automatic feeder efficiency of 99.9%. Furthermore, the feeder used very little electricity and saved time, cost, labor, energy, and pellets.

Automation Design of Kentongan Sound for The Feeding Process of Vaname Shrimp Farming in Pond

Feeding on vanamei shrimp culture in pondsis carried out on average 4 to 5 times a day. In aquaculture activities with a large number of ponds, the sound of kentongan becomes a time reference for the operator in providing feed. The purpose of this article was to describe the process required to turn the kentongan sound into a command input for an automatic feeder. The sound of kentongan will be used as input data (commands) for the microcontroller is translated as a command for the feeder to carry out its activities of feeding. The methodology used the following points: first, field observations of the use of kentongan sounds as a sign of the feeding process for feed operators; second, literature study covering sound frequency and sensor system; third, the creation of a chart in the form of step by step logic from input in the form of kentongan sounds to the process of feeding using an automatic feeding device; fourth, the design of the hardware that will be used and the creation of the software in the form of a command flow chart. The result was realized in the form of a chart from input in the form of kentongan sounds to the process of feeding using an automatic feeder. This includes hardware and software design. There were two important things in automation design. The identification process of kentongan sounds becomes a function of frequency against time, where this frequency had certain characteristics which were expressed by graphs that have certain equation values. This kentongan sound with a certain frequency will be the input for the microcontroller to carry out its task of giving orders to the feeding device to provide feed for vanamei shrimp in ponds.

PSXVI-25 25-hydroxy-vitamin-D3 improves productive performance of grazing Nellore cattle during dry season

The aim with this trial was to evaluate three nutritional plans with the addition of 25-hydroxy-vitamin-D3 (HyD®) on performance of grazing Nellore steers in dry season. One hundred and twenty Nellore calves (iBW ± 267 kg; age, 9 mo) were randomly allocated to six paddocks (n = 20/paddock), in the following nutritional plans: mineral-proteic supplementation (PS; Fosbovi® Proteico 35; at 0.1% BW); PS with sodium monensin (PSM; Fosbovi® Proteico 35 M; at 0.1% BW); and mineral-protein-energetic supplementation (PES; Fosbovi® Proteico-Energético 25; at 0.3% BW); all three fed with or without addition of 1 mg/animal/d of 25-hydroxy-vitamin-D3 (HyD®), totaling six treatments. Both HyD® and supplements were provided by DSM Nutritional Products Brasil S.A. The intake and animal weight were collected daily and individually using an automatic feeder/scale system located in each paddock. Data were analyzed using the mixed procedure of SAS and means were compared by orthogonal contrasts (P < 0.05). Animals fed PSE, when compared to PSM and PS, presented higher ADG (PSE = 0.290 vs. PSM= 0.130 and PS = 0.030 kg/day; P < 0.01), FBW (PSE = 302.5 vs. PSM = 282.6 and PS = 271.7 kg; P < 0.01) and supplement intake (PSE = 1.640 vs. PSM = 0.190 and PS = 0.210 kg/day; P < 0.01). Additionally, regardless of nutritional strategy, HyD® supplementation increased ADG in 32 g/day (0.165 vs. 0.133 kg/day; P = 0.05) and FBW in 3.9 kg (287.5 vs. 283.6 kg; P = 0.05), compared to not-supplemented calves. No effects on supplement intake (either expressed in kg/day or %BW) were observed for HyD®. We conclude that 1 mg of HyD® can optimize performance of protein and protein-energetic supplemented cattle raised in tropical conditions during dry period.

Evaluation of fish feeder manufactured from local raw materials

An automatic feeder for fish feeding was manufactured and evaluated successively. Feed pellet size, air flow rate and feeder screw speed were the most important factors affecting the performance and efficiency of the automatic feeder. It was tested at 3 sizes of pellets (1, 2 and 3 mm), 3 air flow rates (10, 15 and 20 m3 min−1) and 5 screw speeds (180, 360, 540, 720 and 900 rpm). The automatic feeder productivity, efficiency, specific energy consumption and costs were determined. The obtained results indicated that the automatic feeder productivity increases with increasing feed pellets size, air flow rate and rotational speed of screw treatments under study, the automatic feeder efficiency increased with increasing rotational speed of screw until it reached the highest value at 540 rpm and then remain constant at 720–900 rpm and after that decreased with increasing speed. Meanwhile, the specific energy consumption of automatic feeder decreased with increasing feed pellets size, air flow rate and rotational speed of screw treatments under study. The total cost of using automatic feeder ranged from 0.09 to 0.16 EGP kg−1 ($ = 15.63 EGP) for all treatments under study. This feeder will save time, effort and cost for fish industry.

EFEKTIVITAS PENGGUNAAN AUTOMATIC FEEDER PADA BUDIDAYA UDANG VANAME (Litopenaeus vannamei) DI PT. WINDU MARINA ABADI KECAMATAN SAMBELIA, LOMBOK TIMUR

Budidaya udang vaname menjadi primadona di Indonesia karena memiliki nilai komersil dan memberikan pendapatan bagi negara. Teknologi pemberian pakan salah satu faktor untuk keberhasilan budidaya. Saat ini teknologi berbasis IoT yaitu automatic feeder yang sedang tren pada budidaya udang vaname. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui efektivitas penggunaan automatic feeder pada budidaya udang vaname. Penelitian dilaksanakan pada bulan Maret-Mei 2021 di PT. Windu Marina Abadi, Lombok Timur dengan pengukuran pertumbuhan, kelangsungan hidup, dan FCR serta menganalisis kualitas air. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan pertumbuhan berat terendah terdapat pada petak A5 (7,79 g) dan tertinggi B5 (18,14 g) dengan rata-rata laju pertumbuhan perhari terendah yaitu A5 (0,09) dan B5 (0,21 g), kelangsungan hidup pada tambak menggunakan automatic feeder mencapai 97%, FCR tertinggi yaitu pada tambak (manual) A5 (2,45) dan terendah pada tambak B6 (automatic feeder) (1,08). Nilai kualitas air masih kisaran normal untuk budidaya. Tambak dengan penggunaan automatic feeder relatif lebih baik dibandingkan dengan tambak dengan pemberian pakan secara manual.

Design of Automatic Feeder for Shrimp Farming Based on Internet of Things Technology

<p class="02abstracttext">In shrimp farming, feeding is an important activity to achieve good shrimp growth. Manual feeding manually using hand is less effective due to unequal food distribution. Thus, an automatic feeder is required to dispense feed at predetermined time. The advantages of automatic feeder are cost-effective, low labour requirement, and can be applicable for large volumes of feed. Design of automatic feeder machine can influence the capacity and time controlling of the feeder. In this research, the automatic feeder was designed using a controlling time system based on Internet of Things (IoT) technology. During plant trial, The automatic feeding was scheduled at 7 am, 11 am, 4 pm, and 8 pm. This machine could throw shrimp food homogeneously up to 10 m far for 2,500 m² pond area. In shrimp farming, distribution of shrimp food in predetermined time becomes an important rule to achieve good shrimp growth.</p>

ZAF – An Open Source Fully Automated Feeder for Aquatic Facilities

In the past few decades, aquatic animals have become popular model organisms in biology, spurring a growing need for establishing aquatic facilities. Zebrafish are widely studied and relatively easy to culture using commercial systems. However, a challenging aspect of maintaining aquatic facilities is animal feeding, which is both time- and resource-consuming. We have developed an open-source fully automatic daily feeding system, Zebrafish Automatic Feeder (ZAF). ZAF is reliable, provides a standardized amount of food to every tank, is cost-efficient, easy to build, and has a user-friendly interface. The advanced version, ZAF+, allows for the precise control of food distribution as a function of fish density per tank. Both ZAF and ZAF+ are adaptable to any laboratory environment and can help facilitate the implementation of aquatic colonies. Here we provide all blueprints and instructions for building the mechanics, electronics, fluidics, as well as to setup the control software and its user-friendly graphical interface. Importantly, the design is modular and can be scaled to meet different user needs. Furthermore, our results show that ZAF and ZAF+ do not adversely affect zebrafish culture, enabling fully automatic feeding for any aquatic facility.

Fuzzy logic decission maker for automatic feeder and water quality monitoring system

<span>Feeding is one of the most important factors in vanammei shrimp culture. Feeding time must be scheduled regulary and it is prohibit from being late. Because it can affect to the development and growth of vanammei shrimp. The Research of monitoring and control system of vanammei shrimp feeding continues to be developed. The development of hardware and software in this study prioritizes monitoring of pH conditions, oxygen levels, and pond temperatures. The measurement results of pH, oxygen levels and pond temperature can be used as decision makers for vanammei shrimp feeding schedules. The decision making system using the Fuzzy Logic method. The development of control devices for feeding aims to set a schedule for feeding automatically. The use of monitoring devices and automatic Feeder control of shrimp feeding can reduce the accumulation of leftover shrimp feed, so that feeding can be more efficient.</span>

Prototipe Automatic Feeder dengan Monitoring IoT untuk Perikanan Bioflok Lele

Revolusi Industri 4.0 telah banyak membawa banyak perubahan baik itu positif maupun negartif. Segi positifnya yaitu telah banyak dipakainya otomasi dan robot di dunia industri sehingga produksi bisa meningkat pesat. Sedangkan sudut negatif, semakin banyaknya pekerjaan manusia yang tergantikan oleh mesin sehingga memperkecil peluang kerja. Adanya revolusi industri 4.0 juga membawa kesenjangan antara kelompok melek teknologi dan kelompok gagap teknologi (gaptek). Warga kampung atau desa merupakan kelompok besar dari golongan gaptek. Untuk itu, suatu peluang usaha baru yang dapat dikerjakan msyarakat desa dengan tingkat pendidikan menengah sangat diperlukan. Maka dipilihlah program perikanan bioflok lele. Sentuhan teknologi otomasi dan Internet of Things (IoT) diberikan untuk meningkatkan produktivitas dan membuat masyarakat melek akan perkembangan teknologi era revolusi industry 4.0.