Development and Validation of a Real-Time Monitoring System of the Thermal Environment for Animal Production Facilities

The thermal environment control is a primordial condition to assure the productive efficiency in animal production facilities. Despite this, few companies operate in the development and commercialization of embedded systems (monitoring and control) for animal facilities, and those that operate in the area have costly systems that are difficult to operate. In this context, the objective of this study was to develop and validate a real-time monitoring system of the thermal environment for application in animal production facilities, using affordable electronic components, wireless communication protocols and Internet of Things ( IoT). The embedded system (ES) was developed containing modules for collecting/sending data and a server, used for data storage. For validation purposes, the ES and a standard recording sensor (SRS) were installed in a room, and collections were performed for three consecutive days (every 1 min). To evaluate the data received by the server, the frequency of success (FS) and the data reception interval (DRI) were calculated. Verification of the agreement between values obtained via ES and SRS was performed using the root mean square error (RMSE). Through the results achieved, it was verified that the developed ES was able to collect and send the data of interest to a cloud server. The average receiving data FS was equal to 92.5%, while the highest DRI was 5.43 min. From the data collection modules, dry air bulb temperature values were obtained with good agreement in relation to the SRS (RMSE between 0.23 and 0.34), but relative humidity values always higher than desired (RMSE between 6.55 and 12.34). For this reason, it was necessary to adjust calibration curves for data obtained via collection modules. The ES developed has potential for use in agro-industrial facilities.