Enhanced Hydroponic Nutrient Dosing Control System Using Consensus Method Combining PID and Fuzzy Logic

Abstract

Agriculture is important in Malaysia to ensure food security and prevent shortages. Hydroponic systems, present a viable solution to enhance agricultural productivity and sustainability. Conventional hydroponic systems face challenges such as time delays in nutrient concentration adjustments and the risk of nutrient concentration overdose. the paper aims to investigate the performance of the dosing system for four different control systems: proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control, fuzzy logic control, and a consensus control algorithm. This work utilizes Electrical Conductivity (EC) sensors and a NodeMCU 32 microcontroller to monitor and manage nutrient levels in the hydroponic solution. The data from the sensor is transmitted to the microcontroller and stored in an MSSQL database. This data is subsequently downloaded for analysis. The performance of these four control systems is investigated through the comparative evaluation of two key parameters, the step for nutrient concentration to reach the setpoint and the overshoot of EC values. The results reveal that the consensus algorithm gives the most optimum time to reach the setpoint and the overshoot of the EC value.