Solar Powered Field Server and Aerator Development For Lake Palakpakin
Solar Powered Field Server and Aerator Development For Lake Palakpakin
Solar Powered Field Server and Aerator Development For Lake Palakpakin
Paper:
We have designed, developed and deployed a robust farming, agriculture, and lake tourism and will necessarily
system of sensors in a small and shallow – 1 km diam- need to have best practices for lake resource management.
eter and about 7 m deep – inland lake used for aqua- A critical problem facing aquaculture on fresh water
culture. The sensor system currently measures and lakes in the Philippines is the frequent incidences of fish
sends out telemetry data on dissolved oxygen, conduc- kill events in freshwater lakes. Compounded by climate
tivity and temperature in the lake at two depths – 0.5 change effects, pesticide runoff, accumulation of waste
and 2.5 meters – every 30 minutes. The measurements products and fish food sediments, parasitic and bacte-
are sent out via SMS to a central server 80 km away rial infections, reduced photosynthesis caused by algae
and displayed in near-real time on a website which blooms and diminishing of oxygen levels caused by in-
can be accessed by local fishermen, researchers and creased biological oxygen demand [1], fish kills present
other stakeholders. The system also features an aera- an annual problem for fishermen not only in inland lakes
tor, which operates automatically during the evening but also in coastal and brackish waters [1–7]. Poor water
and early morning 12 hours at a time, and can also be quality affects overall fish health and feed-to-mass con-
turned on outside this period via missed-call (dropped version ratios and ultimately results in revenue loss for
call) from a cellular phone. This system can aid in fish culture operators and caretakers.
decision-making of local fishermen, making it a poten- In a preliminary effort [8] to understand the present
tially powerful approach to lake management, and in state of the lake and to propose corrective measures for
conjunction with other measures and long term plan- an already over-burdened ecosystem, Ateneo researchers
ning, for averting or mitigating fishkill events. have up to now been measuring key parameters like Dis-
solved Oxygen (DO), water temperature, and turbidity on
an intermittent basis. This situation has changed signif-
Keywords: water quality, wireless sensor network, lake icantly with the design, development and deployment in
management, aquaculture, field server Lake Palakpakin of a system of sensors and actuators with
the following new capability:
• Suite of sensors on a floating platform: dissolved
1. Introduction oxygen, water conductivity, temperature at two
Lake Palakpakin is one of the Seven lakes in San Pablo depths – 0.5 and 2.5 meters.
City, Laguna, Philippines and for several years, teams of • Twenty-four-hour-operation with updates every half
researchers from Ateneo de Manila University have been hour delivered to AIC website (www.ateneoprojects
monitoring Lake Palakpakin’s water quality due to im- .org) for remote lake management by local stake-
pacts of anthropogenic activities particularly aquaculture holders and research collaborators.
and effluents coming from the lakeshore community [1].
This effort eventually led to the development of sensor • Solar-powered sensor package for all-weather use.
systems that can monitor the lake’s water quality. In this
• SMS reporting of data from the field over common
community, the multi-stakeholders want successful fish
carrier infrastructure and ‘bargain’ cellphone rates.
from the battery and the solar panel. Both air compres-
sor and LED floodlight are powered by 4 50 Ah 2SM
car batteries. These batteries are connected to a two solar
charge controllers, two batteries for each which also con-
nect to four 50 W solar panels, also two panels for each
controller. One of these charge controllers is set to always
switch on and connects to a 12 VDC – 220 VAC power in-
verter, to which the air compressor and the LED floodlight
connect.
As shown in the cross-section view (Fig. 1), the elec-
trical power for the aerator comes from the hut, which
houses several solar panels and a battery bank. The 12-
volt batteries in the hut are wired to an AC aerator pump,
which runs through a DC-to-AC inverter. In the prototype
we used a 32 W air compressor and a 10 W LED flood
lamp, for a total of power consumption of 42 W per aera- Fig. 5. Diagram of the field server telemetry. Transfer of
tor. data starts from the sensors at the lake and ends at the web
The power requirement for operating the aerator with application. Bluetooth, GSM and Wi-Fi are involved in the
solar power has been studied by the authors. One 2SM data transfer.
battery has a nominal energy capacity of 600 Wh. How-
ever, based from one of the author’s experience, the bat-
tion, which intercepts the incoming text message, extracts
tery, fully-charged on a good weather (clear sky from
the content, and then uploads it to an online database us-
9 AM – 3 PM) by a 50 W solar panel, can only pro-
ing a wireless internet server in Ateneo. This allows us
vide 200 Wh energy per day. Therefore, if weather con-
to have a real-time monitoring of the lake, as the whole
ditions are not favorable for solar charging, battery can be
charged up to as low as 30 W-h. Using this assumption, process is really fast.
We use SMS for data transmission for several reasons.
if we want to operate the air compressor and the LED
First, it is very affordable as we pay P200 per month for
for 12 hours straight, the energy requirement is around
504 Wh energy. Therefore, the authors decided to use unlimited text (Smart promo). The volume of data is very
light, it does not require a 3G connection. In addition, the
the said power configuration to provide a maximum of
classic GSM network is way more developed and reliable
800 Wh to the aerator per day. The estimated power re-
than the 3G. It is also available all around the Philippines.
quirement of the field server is 3 W, making the 7 Ah bat-
tery and 50 W solar panel sufficient to operate the field
server 24/7. 3.2. System Monitoring Website
We have coded a website to display the data saved in-
side the database. It’s based on PHP, JavaScript and a
3. Telemetry, Network and Web Application MySQL. The website uses a lot of open source frame-
System works like Bootstrap, Slim, Chart.js, Moment.js, JQuery,
etc. The website displays a graph up to the current read-
3.1. Field Server Telemetry ings for the day. There are two plots, one for each sen-
sor depth (blue – 0.5 m and red – 2.5 m). The graph
It is very practical to use mobile technology for the data is displayed is the desired quantity vs time of the day.
transmission since the field server is around 80 km away The site also displays the current reading of the sensors
from our reliable internet server. Fig. 5 shows how the and what time those readings are taken. For the DO,
data from the sensors are transferred to the cloud-based there is a horizontal line drawn at 3.2 mg/L, the mini-
web application. The Arduino microcontroller is pro- mum amount of dissolved oxygen at which the water is in
grammed to wait for a trigger coming from the Bluetooth good condition to support aquaculture [9]. With the use
connection to perform the measurements. On the other of Google Maps, the website also displays the location
side of this Bluetooth connection is our Android phone of the sensor. It also indicates when the aerator system
that we call transmitter phone. Transmitter is continu- is activated and for how long since it has been activated.
ously running an application. Every half hour, this ap- People involved in the project can access the website
plication triggers the Arduino to collect the sensor read- at www.ateneoprojects.org/projects/palakpakin system0
ings through the Bluetooth, and then receives these read- .php.
ings. Then, it sends this data as text message to another
phone located in Ateneo, which we call receiver phone. In
addition, the transmitter phone keeps a backup of all the 4. Results
data on its micro SD card. One month of data is around
100 KB (one year of data is around 1 MB) so memory is The sensor data can be viewed on our website
not an issue. The Receiver is also running its own applica- (www.ateneoprojects.org), and it shows the DO, con-
Fig. 7. Four-day readings (August 2-5, 2013) from website the surface and 60 cm in length, creating a strong flow
of dissolved oxygen at 0.5 m (blue) and 2.5 m (red) with aer- of bubbles towards the surface. At night the fish see the
ator operation at 1.0 m depth from 6 PM to 6 Am everyday. bubbles moving upward as illuminated by the LED flood
lamp. This bubble movement adds to the effectiveness of
the aerators by attracting fish to the light and the contin-
uously rising bubble stream. We are presently modeling
ductivity and temperature at different depths over time. the aerator performance enhancement by the use of the
Shown in Fig. 6 is a day’s worth of data for DO – the up- LED flood lamp at night. After installation of the LED
per trace (blue) for 0.5 meters and the lower trace (red) for flood lamp, a spike in DO readings from the 2.5-meter
2.5 meters. Important to note here is that life-sustaining depth was observed. We hypothesize that phytoplankton
oxygen should at least be at the 3.2 mg/L level, indi- react to the LED light and begin photosynthesis, and thus
cated by the blue horizontal line on the graph. Clearly adding to oxygen concentration in the water.
the 2.5 meter reading indicates a lake in serious trouble. One interesting observation of the team during the field
The action of the aerator is tested by turning on the aera- trials is blue green algae scum appears on the surface at
tor at around 3 PM for around two hours and then again around 8 AM, lasting until around 10 or 11 AM, when
at 6 PM overnight. This is clearly indicated by the rise of the winds pick up (Fig. 9). This scum may be rising to
elevated DO levels lasting through the night. the surface as it creates oxygen and later drop to lower
In our first deployment, the system operation contin- depths. This could be why the DO is really low at 2.5 me-
ued for over a month with DO, conductivity, temperature ters for extended periods. This remains speculative until
readings taken at 0.5 m and 2.5 meters. On the website we do further investigation but we realize that images of
the daily readings for Aug. 2-5, 2013 can be viewed with this scum ought to be routinely taken.
updates every 30 minutes. Aerator operations scheduled A multiple aerator-sensor system design for future de-
from 6 PM to 6 AM everyday, as seen by the higher DO ployment is schematically depicted in Fig. 10. The
after sundown. Shown in Fig. 7 is a four-day record of power requirement for operating several aerators with so-
DO as viewed in the site. lar power can be the subject of several engineering trade-
We show in Fig. 8 air bubbles photographed by our un- off studies. If the LED attracts sufficient fish to the aer-
derwater camera. The aerator stones are a meter below ators at night, the effectivity of the aerators for a given
Address:
Loyola Heights, Quezon City 1108, Philippines
Brief Biographical History:
Name: 1986-1990 Instructor, Physics Department, Ateneo de Manila University
Dominic B. Solpico 1990-1993 Research Assistant and JASCAA Fello, MBE Lab, Waseda
University
Affiliation: 1993-1996 Instructor, Physics Department, Ateneo de Manila University
M.S. Student, Electronics, Computer and Com- 1996-2002 Research Assistant, Center for High Technology Materials,
munications Engineering Department, Ateneo de Univ. of New Mexico
Manila University 2002-2003 Senior Research Engineer, Kiara Networks and Sterling
Photonics
2003-present Associate Professor, ECCE Department Ateneo de Manila
University
Address: Main Works:
Loyola Heights, Quezon City 1108, Philippines • He has 78 publications and conference presentations in the fields of
optical fiber communications, optical materials and semiconductors,
Brief Biographical History:
wireless sensors-systems, networked control systems and engineering for
2012- B.S. Computer Engineering, Ateneo de Manila University
sustainable development.
Main Works: • He has 2 patents awarded by the US Patent Office and under the
• D. B. Solpico, N. J. C. Libatique, G. L. Tangonan, P. M. Cabacungan, international PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) framework on wavelength
G. Girardot, R. M. Macaraig, T. R. Perez, and A. Teran, “Solar-powered selectable and wavelength tunable lasers for optical fiber communications
Field Server and Aerator Development for Lake Palakpakin,” 6th Int. Conf. and spectroscopy.
on Humanoid, Nanotechnology, Information Technology, Communication • His current research interests include sensor networks for decision
and Control, Environment, and Management 2013, Manila, 2013. support, such as rain monitoring techniques for disaster alarm systems, for
aquaculture and disaster readiness, as well as applications of UAV
(unmanned aerial vehicles)-based aerial imaging.
Membership in Academic Societies:
• National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP), Engineering
Division
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Region 10
Name: Name:
Gregory L. Tangonan Paul M. Cabacungan
Affiliation: Affiliation:
Ateneo Innovation Center, Ateneo de Manila Operations Manager, Ateneo Innovation Center,
University Ateneo de Manila University
Address: Address:
Loyola Heights, Quezon City 1108, Philippines Loyola Heights, Quezon City 1108, Philippines
Brief Biographical History: Brief Biographical History:
1969- B.S. Physics in Ateneo de Manila University 1997-1998 Project Electrical Engineer, RK Development and Construction
1976- Ph.D. Applied Physics in California Insitute of Technology Company, Inc.
1971- Director of Research, HRL Laboratories 2009-present Research Staff and Operations Officer, Ateneo Innovation
2002- Professor, Electronics, Computer and Communications Engineering, Center
Ateneo de Manila University 2011-present Proprietor, SolaRain Science and Engineering Consultancy
2003- Co-Founder, Wireless MEMS Inc. and Designs
2007- Executive Director, Congressional Committee for Science and Main Works:
Technology and Engineering – Philippines • J. Fabriag, M. Tabirao, C. Toledo, R. Rioja, R. Ado, and P. Cabacungan,
2009- Director, Ateneo Innovation Center “Real-time SMS and Web Based Monitoring of Photovoltaic Cells and
Main Works: Battery,” Center for Research and Development, College of engineering,
• He has 49 US Patents and has over 200 papers and publications. Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Sta. Mesa, Manila, Philippines,
• He won the prestigious R&D 100 awards twice for Secure Fiber Optics 2014.
Communications and for All-Optical Network Modules. • M. Brin, G. Guzon, A. Juen, R. Ado, and P. Cabacungan, “Solar-powered
• His specialization is in optical communication systems, wireless Aquaponics System with mobile Application: An Aquaculture System
communications systems and devices, material sciences, microwave with Hydroponics in a Symbiotic Environment for Faster Production of
devices and radar systems. Vegetables,” Center for Research and Development, College of
Membership in Academic Societies: engineering, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Sta. Mesa, Manila,
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Philippines, 2014.
• Optical Society of America (OSA) • A. Alangcao, V. Bagulbagul, D. Bulfa, S. Clavio, R. Ado, and
P. Cabacungan, “Rainwater Harvester with Electric Water Purifier using
Ceramic Filtration and Ultraviolet light with PH Sensor,” Center for
Research and Development, College of engineering, Polytechnic
University of the Philippines, Sta. Mesa, Manila, Philippines, 2014.
• D. B. Solpico, N. J. C. Libatique, G. L. Tangonan, P. M. Cabacungan,
G. Girardot, R. M. Macaraig, T. R. Perez, and A. Teran, “Solar-powered
Field Server and Aerator Development for Lake Palakpakin,” 6th Int. Conf.
on Humanoid, Nanotechnology, Information Technology, Communication
and Control, Environment, and Management 2013, Manila, 2013.
• “Solar-Powered Atmospheric Generator and Purification System,” 4th
Int. Conf. on Humanoid Nano-technology, Information Technology
Communication and Control Environment and Management (HNICEM) –
Convergence of Cutting Edge Technologies for Global Enterprise, March
12-15, 2009, Traders Hotel, Manila.
• “Engineering Clean Water System for Off-Grid Sites,” 2nd Engineering
Research and Development for Technology, Conf., Synergy in
Multi-Disciplinary R&D, Feb. 20, 2009, Diamond Hotel, Roxas
Boulevard, Manila, Philippines
Membership in Academic Societies:
• Electronics, Computer, and Communications Engineering, Ateneo de
Manila University, (Part-time Faculty Member)
• Ateneo de Manila University, (Research Staff)
Name: Name:
Guillaume Girardot Teresita R. Perez
Affiliation: Affiliation:
Application Engineer, Ultraflux Associate Professor, Department of Environ-
mental Science, Ateneo de Manila University
Address: Address:
9 Allée Rosa Luxembourg Eragny sur Oise 95610, France Loyola Heights, Quezon City 1108, Philippines
Brief Biographical History: Brief Biographical History:
2012 Reasearch Assistant in Ateneo de Manila, Philippines 2009 Sep.-Oct. Visiting Scientist, University of Bordeaux
2013 Graduation as General Engineer from ICAM Lille France 2009-present Associate Professor, Ateneo de Manila University
2014 Application Engineer, Ultraflux 2011-2012 Visiting Professor, Kobe College
Main Works: Main Works:
• D. B. Solpico, N. J. C. Libatique, G. L. Tangonan, P. M. Cabacungan, • K. Gotera, A. Doronila, R. Claveria, T. Perez, J. Unson, M. Penaranda,
G. Girardot, R. M. Macaraig, T. R. Perez, and A. Teran, “Solar-powered M. Sebastian, and J. Medina, “Breynia cernua (Poir) Mull. Arg.
Field Server and Aerator Development for Lake Palakpakin,” 6th Int. Conf. (Phyllanthaceae) is a hyperaccumulator of nickel,” Asia Life Sciences,
on Humanoid, Nanotechnology, Information Technology, Communication Vol.23, No.1, pp. 231-241, 2014.
and Control, Environment, and Management 2013, Manila, 2013. • J. Villanueva, P. Le Coustumer, F. Huneau, M. Motelica-Heino,
T. R. Perez, R. Materum, M. V.O. Espaldon, and S. Stoll, “Assessment of
trace metals during episodic events using DGT passive sampler: A
proposal for water management enhancement,” Water Resources
Management, Vol.27, No.12, pp. 4163-4181, 2013.
Name: • J. Hilario and T. Perez, “Predicting transport of nutrients from three
Ramon M. Macaraig tributary rivers of Taal, lake, Philippines,” Phil. Agricultural Scientist,
Vol.96, No.2, pp. 187-197, 2013.
Affiliation: Membership in Academic Societies:
Vice President for Technical Services, Alsons • Philippine Phycological Society Inc. (PPSI), Vice President
Aquaculture Corporation • Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), Europe,
Member
• Pi Sigma Honor Society, Member
Address:
2286 Chino Roces Ave., Makati City 1200, Philippines Name:
Brief Biographical History: Andrea Teran
1977 Joined as Laboratory Manager, Lapanday Agricultural and
Development Corporation
Affiliation:
1980 Joined as Banana Plantation Manager, Sarangani Agricultural Co.
PG Student, Department of Geography, Univer-
Inc. (SACI)
sity of Sheffield, United Kingdom
1982 Research Manager, Alcantara Group Agribusiness Unit, SACI
Banana, Fruits and Crops, Cattle Operations
1988 Research Manager, Alcantara Group ABU, Sarangani Aqua
Resources Inc. Shrimp
1992 Research Manager Alcantara Group ABU, SACI milkfish, prawns,
mangoes, pummelos Address:
1997 Research Manager Alcantara Group ABU, Alsons Aquaculture Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, United Kingdom
Corporation, Finfish Hatcheries, Inc., Aquasur Resources Corp. Brief Biographical History:
2007 Vice President for Technical Services, Alcantara Group ABU up to 2001- B.Sc. Environmental Science, Ateneo de Manila University
present 2005- Research Studentship, Kyoto University
Main Works: 2013- Supervising Legislative Staff, Congressional Commission on
• Company research, technology development and extension to operating Science and Technology, Philippines
organizations of the Alcantara Group Agribusiness Unit on the commercial 2014- M.Sc Environmental Change and International Development,
culture of various crops like bananas, mango, citrus, corn and vegetables. University of Sheffield
• He has engaged in the aquaculture of milkfish (bangus), tilapia, shrimp, Main Works:
grouper, pompano, snappers, Asian seabass, sea cucumbers, seaweeds, • E. Q. Espiritu, A. B. Teran, and R. L. Antonio, “Development of
microalgae, etc. since 1987. Standard Toxicity Tests for Tropical Aquatic Environments: 1. The Use of
• He has been part of the team that developed the Sarangani Bay R Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (L.), as Toxicity Test Organism for
milkfish brand. Freshwater Habitats,” The Philippine Scientist, 48, 17-34, 2011.
• His particular research interests lie in hydroponics, in plant nutrition, in
aquaculture environments and in fish nutrition, growth dynamics.
Membership in Academic Societies:
• World Aquaculture Society (WAS), Member
• Philippine Shrimp Industry Association, Director for Mindanao
• Chamber of Aquaculture and Ancillary Industries in Sarangani, President