A micro-controller based intelligent controller for a composting plant

The paper presents the design of an intelligent controller for a composting plant, based on a micro-controller platform. This system enables the composting process to take place under the optimum conditions so as to reach maturity in an optimum time. It is designed around a PIC16C71 micro-controller chip, and comprises some simple hardware components and low-level target embedded firmware. Hence, a very compact, fast, flexible, and more importantly cost-effective solution is achieved for the control of the two important parameters, notably temperature and air-flow, of interest in the composting process. Results of tests show that this system provides significantly good levels of autonomous control, and can be easily upgraded into a network controlled system.