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A fully automated aquaponic system that grows both fish and plants unattended for months and can be monitored and controlled remotely
Mechanical Design
Our plumbing system serves as the backbone of AutoAquaponics and facilitates the efficient transport of nutrients to the plants. It also removes solid waste and potentially toxic contaminants from the fish tank to ensure the health of our fish. AutoAquaponics’ plumbing consists of a 100 gallon fish tank, two 40 gallon grow beds, a 60 gallon sump tank, and a three-stage filtration system. The filter system includes a settling tank, a membrane filtration tank, and a biofilm reactor to convert ammonia from fish waste into nitrate for the plants.
Software and Electronics
The software and electronics put the Auto in AutoAquaponics, and allow us to both monitor and control the system from anywhere in the world. Our electrical system features a smart outlet box driven by an ESP32 microcontroller that automatically toggles the lights and motorized ball valves in the system, allowing us to flood our two grow beds at different intervals and control how much light our plants get. A sensor box with a Raspberry Pi and a number of environmental sensors (pH, TDS, air/water temperature, relative humidity, water level, and dissolved oxygen) helps us understand the state of the system in real time. Our platform is built with React and Google Firebase, and it features a live dashboard that users can look at to monitor AutoAquaponics’ current state. The entire system is configurable from the Control Panel and Settings, enabling people with the appropriate credentials to receive automated email/text updates on the system and change settings to manage lighting/flooding durations.
Biology
Biology is an integral part of any farming system, and ours is no exception. AutoAquaponics cycles nutrients between aquatic animals, microbes, and plants, all of which interact in a symbiotic manner. Food starts out in the fish tank, where it is consumed and transformed into solid waste by the fish. This waste gets broken down by the heterotrophic bacteria in the filters and turns into ammonia. The ammonia in the water then gets captured by the nitrifying microbes, transforming it into nitrite and then nitrate. This final product becomes the fertilizer that our plants uptake through their roots to make protein and grow. We are currently cultivating wheatgrass, kale, and basil in our grow beds, and our fish tank is stocked with tiger barbs, mollies, South American cichlids, a Raphael catfish, and a red tailed shark. We also have many invertebrates living in the system (ramshorn snails, cherry shrimps, and gammarus pulex) to serve as live food sources for the fish.
Contact Us
Send us a message: esw@u.northwestern.edu.See our Project Blog here.
Download or contribute to our code on GitHub.
This project was founded under Engineers for a Sustainable World @ Northwestern
Made possible with the support of
