# Project Description ## Distributed Intelligent Poultry Farm Environmental Control System (DIPFECS) ## 1\. Purpose of the System The purpose of the **Distributed Intelligent Poultry Farm Environmental Control System (DIPFECS)** is to provide **continuous monitoring, real-time control, and data-driven optimization** of indoor poultry farm environments using a **hierarchical IoT architecture**, **edge computing**, and **cloud-based analytics and machine learning (ML)**. The system is designed to **maximize animal welfare, production efficiency, energy efficiency, and operational reliability**, while ensuring **scalability across multiple farms and geographical locations**. ## 2\. System Scope The system covers **indoor poultry houses** (broiler, layer, breeder, pullet) and includes: * Environmental sensing * Data acquisition and validation * Local real-time control * Actuator management * Alarm handling * Data logging and analytics * Cross-farm optimization via cloud services The system explicitly **excludes** open-house farms and manual-only operations. ## 3\. System Architecture Overview The system follows a **three-tier hierarchical architecture**: 1. **Sub-Hub Layer (Sensor Layer)** 2. **Main Hub Layer (Edge Control Layer)** 3. **Central Server Layer (Cloud Intelligence Layer)** Each tier has a **well-defined functional responsibility** and operates independently in case of upstream or downstream communication failures. ## 4\. System Decomposition ### 4.1 Sub-Hub Subsystem (SHS) **Abbreviation:** SH **Typical Hardware:** ESP32 or equivalent MCU #### 4.1.1 Functional Description The Sub-Hub Subsystem (SHS) is responsible exclusively for **local data acquisition, basic preprocessing, and mini-calibration** of connected sensors. SHS units are deployed in **high density** within each poultry house to provide **spatial granularity** of environmental data. #### 4.1.2 Sensor Interfaces Each Sub-Hub may interface with one or more of the following sensor types:

Parameter

Abbreviation

Unit

Air Temperature

T

°C

Relative Humidity

RH

%

Ammonia

NH₃

ppm

Carbon Dioxide

CO₂

ppm

Carbon Monoxide

CO

ppm

Oxygen (optional)

O₂

%

Light Intensity

LUX

lux

Air Velocity (optional)

AV

m/s

Static Pressure (optional)

SP

Pa

Dust Particulate (optional)

PM₂.₅ / PM₁₀

µg/m³

#### 4.1.3 Local Processing The Sub-Hub shall perform: * Sensor sampling * Noise filtering * Offset correction * Basic plausibility checks * Timestamping The Sub-Hub **shall not** perform any control decisions. #### 4.1.4 Communication * Wireless uplink to Main Hub * Supported protocols (configurable): * Wi-Fi * Zigbee * LoRa / LoRaWAN * Proprietary RF ### 4.2 Main Hub Subsystem (MHS) **Abbreviation:** MH **Location:** One per poultry house / room #### 4.2.1 Functional Description The Main Hub Subsystem is the **primary real-time control unit** of the poultry house. It aggregates sensor data from all Sub-Hubs, executes **control algorithms**, and drives physical actuators through a **wired control interface**. #### 4.2.2 Data Aggregation The Main Hub shall: * Receive data from all connected Sub-Hubs * Perform spatial averaging and zoning * Detect anomalies and sensor faults * Maintain a local historical buffer #### 4.2.3 Control Functions The Main Hub shall execute: * Closed-loop environmental control * Rule-based logic * PID / proportional control * Fuzzy logic (optional) * ML-assisted parameter adaptation (optional) #### 4.2.4 Actuator Interfaces The Main Hub shall control the following actuators via a Control Board (CB):

Actuator

Abbreviation

Ventilation Fans

FAN

Air Inlets / Curtains

INL

Heaters (Radiant / Forced)

HTR

Cooling Pads / Foggers

CLG

Lighting Systems

LGT

Feeding Systems

FDR

Drinking Systems

WTR

Alarm Devices

ALM

Control signals may include: * Relay (ON/OFF) * 0–10 V * PWM * Modbus RTU/TCP * CAN Bus #### 4.2.5 Local Autonomy The Main Hub shall maintain **full operational capability** during: * Internet loss * Cloud service unavailability * Partial Sub-Hub failures ### 4.3 Central Server Subsystem (CSS) **Abbreviation:** CS **Deployment:** Cloud or Hybrid #### 4.3.1 Functional Description The Central Server Subsystem provides **cross-farm data aggregation, analytics, and intelligence**. It is responsible for **learning from all farms collectively** and improving control strategies continuously. #### 4.3.2 Data Management The Central Server shall: * Store time-series data * Maintain farm profiles * Support long-term historical analysis * Enable benchmarking across farms #### 4.3.3 Machine Learning & Analytics The Central Server shall: * Train ML models using aggregated farm data * Identify optimal environmental setpoints * Detect patterns related to performance, health, and energy * Generate optimized control parameters #### 4.3.4 Feedback Loop The Central Server shall: * Send updated control parameters or models to Main Hubs * Support OTA firmware and configuration updates * Allow gradual rollout and rollback of updates ## 5\. Communication Architecture

Link

Direction

Protocol

Sensors → Sub-Hub

Wired

I²C, SPI, UART, Analog

Sub-Hub → Main Hub

Wireless

Wi-Fi / Zigbee / LoRa

Main Hub → Control Board

Wired

Modbus, Relay, CAN

Main Hub ↔ Central Server

IP-based

MQTT / HTTPS / TLS

All external communications shall be **encrypted**. ## 6\. Alarm and Safety Management The system shall support: * Threshold-based alarms * Rate-of-change alarms * Sensor failure alarms * Communication failure alarms * Power failure alarms Alarms shall be: * Local (audible/visual) * Remote (SMS, email, app notification) ## 7\. Scalability and Deployment The system shall support: * Multiple Sub-Hubs per house * Multiple houses per farm * Multiple farms per server * Global multi-tenant operation ## 8\. Compliance and Industry Alignment The system design aligns with: * Modern poultry automation practices (Big Dutchman, Fancom, SKOV, Hotraco) * Animal welfare standards * Environmental monitoring best practices * Industrial IoT architectures (Edge + Cloud) ## 9\. System Key Characteristics (Summary)

Attribute

Value

Architecture

Distributed, Hierarchical

Control

Local real-time + Cloud optimization

Intelligence

Edge + Central ML

Reliability

High (local autonomy)

Scalability

Very High

Vendor Lock-in

None

Sensor Density

High

Update Mechanism

OTA

## 10\. Project Vision Statement **DIPFECS is designed to become a scalable, intelligent, and adaptive poultry farm control platform that continuously improves environmental control strategies by combining dense sensing, robust local automation, and global data intelligence.**