PLC-based design of monitoring system for ICT-integrated vertical fish farm

The common cause of the mass mortality of fishes in a fish farm is a power failure. There can be many reasons for the power failures but most of them are the result of natural disasters, systematic faults, ill-willed sabotages, or mistakes of employees. Such incidents usually have a bad influence upon small or medium-scale farmers. To deal with unexpected power failures, this research proposes a status monitoring system utilizing both PLC and ICT. Consistent supply of electric power in Fish Farms is essential for the operation and management of farm facilities regardless of them being indoors or afloat. The statistics show that the power failure and the red tides are the major causes of ruining farmer’s earnings. The proposed system is autonomous and simple enough for the employees to operate such that prompt actions can be taken in times of crisis. There have been some concerns about applying the PLC technology as it often involves loss of transmission signals. To minimize signal losses, use of RUDP in the transmission layer was proposed as well. At the same time, a GUI-based operational mode has been embedded in the Android application to enhance user convenience for observing and managing farm’s activities such as controlling of seawater and farm accesses and checking locations, photoperiods, withdrawal periods, and system’s batteries. The proposed design can be quite suitable for the Vertical Fish Farm.