IMPLEMENTATION OF SMART FISH FEEDER SYSTEM IN DETERMINING FISH FEED WEIGHT USING LOAD CELL SENSOR BASED ON PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CONTROLLER

Abstract

Fish farming is an important sector in meeting society’s food needs. One of the key factors for its success is accurate feeding management, as manual methods (handfeeding) often cause problems such as overfeeding that pollutes the water or underfeeding that hinders fish growth. This study aims to design and implement a smart fish feeder system based on the Siemens S7-1200 PLC with a half-bridge load cell sensor as a feed weight parameter. Thesystem is integrated with Node-RED as a real-time remote monitoring and control interface via Modbus TCP/IP communication. The system design includes PLC programming using ladder diagram, load cell integration for feed weight measurement, and Node-RED dashboard development. Calibration was carried out by comparing load cell readings with a standard scale to obtain accuracy levels. The test results show that the load cell can measure feed weight with an average error of 1.9–2%, resulting in a system accuracy of approximately 98%. The system also successfully executed feed dispensing according to the predefined schedule, although slight deviations occurred at smaller loads. In addition, the Node-RED dashboard effectively displayed real-time monitoring data of feed weight and system status. Therefore, the developed smart fish feeder system can improve efficiency, accuracy, and practicality in fish feeding, offering a practical solution to support the productivity of aquaculture.