Development of control mechanism of fish farm feeding machine

Fish feeding is very important to ensure the survival of the fish for fish owners, whether as domestic pet or in an aquacultural entreprise. However, the development of aquaculture in Malaysia is impeded due to difficulties in land acquisition, rising production costs, lack of skilled labor and threat of diseases. Therefore, there is a need for the development of a control mechanism for the fish farm feeding machine. In this research, a control mechanism for a semi-automated or automated feeding was developed and the performance analysis on the control mechanism carried out. Arduino microcontroller was used in developing the control mechanism of the fish farm feeding machine. The prototype was developed and served as a platform for the programming and testing. Suitable DC motors were selected based on the results of the control mechanism analysis with the improved solutions. In terms of the performance analysis, the effective dispenser range is found to be between 1 and 2 m. The pellets dispensed count drop is deemed outside the effective dispenser range. Financially, the mechanism required a total of RM925 for its development, which is within the allocated budget of RM1500. From the results, the control mechanism of fish farm feeding machine was successfully developed with a low-cost budget