Implementación de un sistema de monitoreo y control automatizado de un cultivo hidropónico NFT (Nutrient Film Technique).

Abstract

The objective of this research project was the implementation of an automated monitoring and control system for a Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) hydroponic crop, at the headquarters of the Nova-Corp company. The development of the project began with the collection of information, the planning of the requirements and the objectives to be carried out, through experimental- application research and the experimental research methodology. The system was made up of a control and monitoring panel (prototype device) which was built with electronic devices, Raspberry Pi 4b development cards, Arduino Uno, and a graphical interface made in Python which is displayed on a touch screen. This device is responsible for processing the information that comes from the measurement sensors of the climatic variables, it activates and deactivates the actuators automatically and manually, thus controlling the microclimate within the crop. It also generated a database in SQlite of the climatic variables within the automated NFT hydroponic crop, during the growth period of the plants (lettuce), this was integrated into an NFT hydroponic infrastructure. Several stability and repeatability tests were carried out to validate the operation of the sensors and actuators that make up the system, obtaining an acceptable range of results in most cases. Additionally, a statistical analysis of the plant population was carried out, in terms of its volume and mass, by proposing a hypothesis where it was observed that the product reached a higher growth in volume and mass with respect to a traditional crop on land. It is concluded that the NFT automated hydroponic system is innovative and beneficial for sustainable agriculture applied to domestic use. It is recommended to extend the test times and implement it in more places.