Republic of the Philippines

Laguna State Polytechnic University

Province of Laguna

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
COMPUTER ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
CPE 1 – Computer Engineering as a Discipline

Application of Computer Engineering in Fisheries

Automated fish feeding system for an offshore

aquaculture unit
Authors: P D Karningsih, R Kusumawardani , N Syahroni , Y Mulyadi and M S B M Saad

Project Description
Aquaculture is one of the fastest-growing food sectors worldwide and it provides
almost half of the world’s fish for human consumption. Aquaculture is considered one of
the most profitable businesses because there are many varieties of fish that is not only
taste good and constitute healthy food. As per global aquaculture production statistics,
the contribution of aquaculture to the world total fish production reached 171 million
tonnes in 2016, about 88% (over 151 million tonnes) was utilized for direct human
consumption. Asia is the highest seafood-consuming region in the world, accounting for
two-thirds of the world’s food fish supply. The development of aquaculture needs to be
compatible with the environment and it is essential that the industry is ecologically
sustainable.
The design for one silo tank should hold up to 1000 kg of fresh trash fish. The bin
activator could be activated using timer control from user interface input and forwarded
to the control system to be data input, it generates the instructions for bin activator to
release or close. This system can be also controlled by the user for setting the food
timing schedule when there is no one in the aquaculture unit. The amount and
frequency of feeding, is then converted into Arduino programs. The program could be
altered when the feeding arrangement is updated.
To ensure proper amount of food and its frequency being dispensed to the farm,
a timer is used to open the circuit and dispense the food or to cut off the circuit to stop
feeding. The food is dispensed into the farm through two pipelines that are attached to
the servo motor. This action is to ensure a wide area covered when food is being
dispensed and ensuring fair share for all fish in the farm. When the trash fish or pellet
reaches limit level, it will trigger the buzzer alarm and send the alarm signal to the user
(farm operator/owner). After distribution of food has finished, the pipe is flushed by
water that is supplied from a small tank on the top of silo in order to keep the pipe clean
from remaining food that may blocking it or contaminated food on the next feeding
schedule. The ultrasonic sensor is constantly checking the amount of food level in the
silo tank and trigger the alarm to notify farm operator/owner for refilling. This system is
important to estimate and arrange the supply vessel to bring new inventory of pellet/
fresh trash fish.

Block Diagram
Synthesis
Feeding the fishes rightly has been a problem for the fish farmers and developing
suitable feeding devices is one of the most challenging problems faced by aquaculture
engineers. A simple human-powered fish feeding machine which can economically
solve the feeding issue in freshwater aquaculture. Since the device has been designed
to utilize optimum human power for its entire operation, it is energy-efficient,
environmental friendly and most importantly affordable.

Reference
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Liao IC. Trends and prespectives in Asian aquaculture. Report of The APO Seminar;
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Yeoh SJ, Taip FS, Endan J, Talib RA, Mazline MS. Development of automatic feeding
machine for aquaculture industry. Pertanika Journal of Secience & Technology.
2010;18(1):105-10.
Lehmkoster J, Schroder T, Ladischensky O. 2013. The future of fish - the fisheries of
the future. World Ocean Review; 2013.
FAO. 2018. The State of Word Fisheries and Aquaculture: Meeting the Sustainable
Development Goals. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;
2019:2-6.
Prem R, Tewari VK. Development of human-powered fish feeding machine for
freshwater aquaculture farms of developing countries. Aquacultural Engineering.
Elsevier BV; 2020 Feb;88:102028. doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaeng.2019.102028
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/1072/1/012073/pdf