Students create system for the care of the oyster mushroom

This is a novel automated control system for this type of cultivation that maintains the temperature between 23 and 27 degrees Celsius and humidity of 80% and was created by Nicolás Solórzano, Juan David Cristancho, Brayán García and Alex Isaac Urrea.

The Ucundinamarca News Agency brought together three of these young people and this is their testimony of how they created this system.

“The first thing we did was visit the indoor cultivation site and talk to our agronomy colleagues. They told us that many mushrooms were being lost due to temperature problems. We obtained other information from them. From that, we learned what kind of material could be used there for our prototype,” Nicolás explains.

After that, they moved on to action. “We performed calculations on the thermal and physical parameters required by the system. Subsequently, we worked on the electronic design, where we determined what type of circuits we needed, and finally, we programmed some microcontrollers that activate sensors within the grow room,” says Brayán.

Then came the real test: creation and implementation. “For the 3D design of the device's parts, we used the SolidWorks program. Afterward, we conducted a 3D wind experiment with a simulator called Proteus, where we generated a simulated temperature to verify that the system would respond,” says Juan David.

The system was very efficient, as it optimally measured the temperature and humidity of the environment and the soil. “We increased the relative temperature, and the system automatically activated a series of fans to distribute the air evenly throughout the crop and thus lower it. Then we did the opposite, and an ultrasonic atomizer generated a water mist that helped preserve the fungus,” says Brayan.

Now all that remains is to conduct further tests on this system, which will help reduce the losses experienced by growers of this delicate and expensive mushroom used in salads, risottos, and soups, among other dishes.

At UCundinamarca we are committed to a generation that creates, innovates and researches.

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