Hydroponic IoT-Based Control Using Adaptive Fuzzy, PID, and Consensus Control Methods for Nutrient Concentration Dosing

Abstract

One of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to provide zero hunger, achieve food security, enhance nutritional quality, and promote sustainable agriculture. To achieve these goals, food production has to be increased by adopting modern techniques in agriculture, such as hydroponic farming and the Internet of Things (IoT). Effective handling of nutrient concentrations, specifically electrical conductivity (EC) values, is crucial for optimizing plant health and yield. To reduce the challenge posed by high overshooting of nutrient concentration and also due to the diffusion of the regulating liquid fertilizer through the pipeline, the EC value control system demonstrates features such as time-delayed for the nutrient concentration to reach the setpoint. The paper aims to provide a comprehensive study that evaluates three distinct control strategies for regulating nutrient concentration in a hydroponic environment: proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control, fuzzy logic control, and a consensus control algorithm. The stability and performance of these control systems were investigated through simulation analysis and comparative evaluations. The findings indicate that the PID control system is faster in reaching the setpoint, while the fuzzy control system exhibits the least overshoot. Moreover, the consensus algorithm emerges as the most optimal control system in terms of time to reach the setpoint and minimize the overshoot value.