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Design and Construction of an Arduino Microcontroller-based EGG Incubator

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DOI: 10.5120/ijca2017914261

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 International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)
Volume 168 – No.1, June 2017

Design and Construction of an Arduino Microcontroller-

based EGG Incubator

Frimpong Kyeremeh Forson Peprah

Sunyani Technical University, Ghana Volta River Authority, Brong-Ahafo, Ghana

ABSTRACT temperature and humidity values more quickly when there is a

disturbance or variation in ambient conditions. The eggs are
Meeting the high demand for poultry products calls for the use
housed inside of the incubator which is 120 cm x 100cm x
of artificial egg hatcheries but the backyard and small-scale
140 cm, in volume, on trays (89cm x 41 cm x 5 cm) the base
poultry farmers are constrained by the dependence on natural
of which are made of wire mesh. At the top are four
incubation or on commercial hatcheries for young birds for
incandescent tungsten bulbs serving as heaters with blower
breeding. In this paper an incandescent bulb heat source
fans mounted on them to aid circulation of the heat produced
incubator is designed and constructed to hatch 14000 quail
by the bulbs and to regulate the speed of air in the incubator.
eggs (4500 chicken egg equivalent). The incubator system is
an Arduino microcontroller-based, which controls the heaters, There are ventilation holes on the top and on the sides of the
air circulation fans and the mechanism for turning the trays, incubator walls which allow the exchange of air between the
through relays. The prevailing conditions in the incubator inside and outside of the incubator. The heating devices (100-
(temperature and the humidity) are displayed on a 16x2 LCD watts incandescent bulbs) produce heat to raise the incubator
screen. The objective of the design is to help produce a low temperature to a reference temperature inputted at the set
cost, energy efficient incubator for hatching Japanese quail point of the Arduino controller based on the kind of bird being
eggs. hatched in the incubator. At the same time the fans circulate
the hot air throughout the incubator. The structure of the
Keywords incubator is shown in Figure. 1. showing some devices that
Temperature, Humidity, Incubation, Arduino microcontroller, are used in the construction of the incubator.

1. INTRODUCTION 2. CONDITIONS FOR HATCHING EGGS

In 2016, World meat production rose to 320.7 million tonnes Incubation conditions are the most important factors which
of which poultry accounted for 12.7 million tonnes [1]. Global affect the hatchability of birds. Temperature, humidity,
annual meat consumption per capita is expected to reach 35.3 ventilation and turning during the incubation period
kg retail weight equivalent (r.w.e) by 2025 and the rise is significantly affect the hatchability of fertile eggs and chicks’
mainly from poultry. [2]. The poultry industry exists to quality [5]. Considerable attention was paid to these
promote the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals parameters in the design of the incubator.
(SDGs 2016) number 2: “End hunger, achieve food security
The most important factor among the above mentioned that
and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture”
can have dramatic effect on the hatchability of fertile eggs is
[3]. The objective of improved nutrition is hindered by protein
temperature.
deficiency; - a major burning global problem.
A developing embryo experiences a temperature that depends
One emerging solution to this challenge is the meat and eggs
on the incubator temperature, embryo heat production, and
from Japanese quail farming, which may be an alternative
thermal conductivity of the egg [6]. The accepted temperature
approach to meeting the protein needs of the poor society [4].
ranges for hatching eggs depends on the kind of birds to be
Hatcheries are essential in poultry production and the use of hatched. For most poultry species, the optimum incubation
artificial egg hatcheries is a key solution to the expected rise temperature ranges between 37.0 and 38.0° C and a small
in the poultry industry, but the hatcheries in Ghana are more deviation from this optimum can have a major impact on
focused on the production of day-old chicks. The production hatching success and embryo development [6], [7].
of quails is a new venture in the Ghanaian poultry industry
With the egg at the correct temperature, the biological process
and there is the need to start quail hatchery to serve interested
of incubation commences and the embryo begins to grow, so
farmers. In this paper, the design and construction of an
correct temperature range must be sustained throughout the
efficient 14000 capacity quails (4500 chicken) incubator using
incubation period [8] in order to achieve a higher rate of
Arduino microcontroller at 510W rated power, is presented.
hatchability. Studies over the period has shown that an
The system presented here was designed and constructed in an
increase or decrease of the temperatures outside the critical
effort to produce a low cost, energy efficient domestic
range increases the mortality rate of the embryos [7]. Also,
incubator for hatching day old chicks from Japanese quail
incubation temperature has been found to affect the
eggs.
hatchling’s thermoregulatory ability, hormone levels, and post
1.1 System Description and Structure hatching growth rate [6]. It is therefore important to model the
system temperature well in order to achieve the correct
The incubator system is a thermal and experimental temperature range in the incubator. Section 2.1 presents the
environment designed and constructed to hatch quails thermal parameters of the incubator.
efficiently and affordably. It is a forced air type incubator,
which makes temperature and humidity inside it to be more
consistent and also facilitates the attainment of desired stable

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 International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)
Volume 168 – No.1, June 2017

Figure 1. Structure of the incubator showing some devices/equipment in it

temperature, embryo heat production and thermal

Over the incubation period, water passes from the egg through conductivity of the eggs and its surrounding as in equation (1).
the porous shell of the egg to its environment (that is the
internal of the incubator), meaning the internal humidity of (1)
the incubator can increase. Correct humidity ensures that the
Where
right amount of water is lost over time. It is important to note
Tegg is temperature of egg (ºC)
that there will be variations in the system humidity during the
Tinc is temperature of incubator
incubation process, but this is not a big problem as far as the
Hemb is heat production of embryo (J)
variation is within the average humidity range. Decuypere and
Hwater loss is heat loss from evaporative cooling (J)
Michels, in [9] established the relative humidity (RH) of 45-
K is thermal conductance of egg and surrounding
60% is needed for effective incubation.
boundary (W/ºC)
The temperature range, the humidity and the air mass flow 2.1 Theory of Heat Exchange in Egg Incubation
rate in the incubator are related factors. If the inside Several researchers have modelled various thermal energy
temperature of the bird incubator is controlled, the relative exchanges of incubation based on the equation (1). The heat
humidity is controlled, too [10]. French in [6] presented a balance of an embryo is described as follows [5]:
simple mathematical model to describe the relationship (2)
between the temperature of the developing embryo, incubator

Figure 2. Cross section of the incubator showing the heat and air flow directions [12]

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 International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)
Volume 168 – No.1, June 2017

This can be rewritten as 3.2 Incubator Structure and Air Flow

– (3) Phenomena
The incubator system includes automatic temperature
where are the heat loss or gained by radiation controller, humidifier, and turner subsystems, which set the
and convection (Joules) respectively. necessary conditions required for its effective operation. The
Equation (1) uses the terms – to describe temperature controller and the humidifier subsystems were
the heat loss or gain of an egg because they are easier to modelled to ensure accurate determination of the correct
measure than either Hrad or Hconv. Heat transfer through temperature and humidity in the incubator as described in
radiation is assumed to be negligible because of the uniform section 2. Another important operation of the system is the
circulation of heat within the incubator and as such all the turning mechanism which turns the eggs every three hours
surfaces within the incubator will be at temperatures close to which is described in section 3.4.
(within approximately 1 to 2°C of) the surface temperature of The incubator is a thermal system, because it involves the
the egg [6]. In a commercial incubator, an egg would be flow and storage of heat. That is, it is required to maintain an
surrounded by other eggs at the same temperature, thereby amount of heat for the period of its operation. The heat flow
reducing the effective radiative surface of the egg [6], [7]. It is involved here occur through two mechanisms of convection
therefore assumed that the main transfer of heat between the and conduction. The convection mechanism ensures the
egg and its surrounding occurs only through convection. evenly distribution of heat throughout the incubator as shown
The Hwater loss term caters for the water loss of the embryo. in Figure 2. This is achieved by the use of extractor fans
Eggs continually lose water throughout the incubation period, which extracts the heat from the sources and circulate it in the
which has been estimated to 12% of the fresh egg weight incubator.
between the onset of incubation and the start of pipping [6]. The conduction occurs through the walls of the incubator due
The phase change from liquid water to water vapour requires to the differences in the temperature inside the incubator and
heat and at incubation temperature this equates to that of its environment. This leads to heat losses to the
approximately 580 cal/g of water lost [6], [11]. environment and has been modelled by equation (5) under
subsection 3
3. MATERIALS AND METHODS
The incubator is a thermal system that is expected to maintain 3.3 Modelling the temperature and the
an amount of heat required to achieve high percentage control of the system
hatchability of any kind of birds incubated in it with high
Since the incubator in this project is mainly being used to for
energy efficiency and at an affordable cost. To achieve this,
quail hatching, the value used for modelling the temperature is
the materials and methods for the construction of the
37.8° C. This notwithstanding, the system can be set to
incubator were selected to achieve the conditions as
different heat levels in order to make it possible for hatching
enumerated in section 2.
other of bird species.

3.1. Materials To achieve this temperature in the 120 x 100 x 140 cm

incubator, with tungsten incandescent bulbs, as the heat
Table 1: List of materials for the construction of the source, we modelled the temperature control of the system in
incubator order to determine the thermal dynamics of the system. This
was done with respect to the desired thermal characteristics of
S/No Material Specification the incubator, the ambient environment of the incubator as
1.5 x 1.5 cm Garden fence well as the incubator heating system.
1 Wire mesh
type
Figure.3 is a block diagram of the heat flow and the feedback
Arduino
process for the proper control of the incubator. The desired
2 microcontroller Arduino Uno - R3
temperature for the incubator is set at the Tset. The heat source
3. Heat Sensor DHT22 controller consists of the Arduino microcontroller and the
4. Incandescent Bulbs 100-watt relays for switching the lights and the blower fans. The
5. Lamp Holder Screw Type disturbance is the heat lost to the ambient environment by
6. Relays 6V, 10A conduction through the walls and the ventilation holes. The
7. Wiper Motor sensor is DHT22 programming sensor which detects the
8. Extractor fans 30-watts, 240V internal temperature of the incubator and sends a feedback to
9. Cables for connection 1.5mm2 summing point which compares it with the set point
10. Flat iron bar 1 inch (Thickness) temperature. If the feedback value is lower than the set point
11. Angled iron 1 inch (Thickness) value (i.e. Tinc < Tset), an error signal is sent to the heat source
12. Square metal pipe 1 X 1 inch controller to close the circuit for more heat to be injected into
the incubator. On the other hand, if Tinc > Tset the controller
The system was constructed from local materials and simple switches the heat source off.
electronic components to make it less expensive. The main The change in the incubator temperature is calculated as
structure was built with plywood lined with Formica in order
to improve the thermal resistance of the boundary walls. Other - (4)
materials and items used in the construction is presented in
table 1 Where:
= mass of air inside the incubator
C = heat capacitance of the incubator
= heat supplied by the heater.

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 International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)
Volume 168 – No.1, June 2017

The environment is modelled as a heat sink with infinity heat If the change in temperature [ in the incubator from
capacity and time varying temperature Tout. Since the initial time (t0) to a time (t) is modelled as
incubator is kept in a room, the average ambient temperature
is considered to be 25°C. The ambient temperature enables us - (6)
to determine the heat losses to environment. These heat losses
and the temperature time derivative are expressed in equation
(5) Where, = heat input from the heat source and
.

- (5) Taking the heat supplied between t0 and t as a product of a

constant C and a change in temperature as in equation (6) then
Where:
- (7)
is the heat losses to the environment
Differentiating (7)
= the amount of heat required in the incubator
= the time varying ambient temperature
= equivalent thermal resistance of the incubator - (8)
3.3.1Thermal capacitance of the incubator
The thermal capacitance of the incubator is the algebraic
relationship that exists between the temperature of the
physical body and the heat stored within it [13].

Figure 3. Heat Flow and Feedback Block Diagram

The constant C is the thermal capacitance of the incubator. 3.4 Egg Tray Turning Mechanism
We assume the thermal gradient in the incubator is very small Research have shown that the position of the eggs and their
as such (8) could be used without dividing the incubator into rotation influence the loss of water during the incubation, as
cells and C is considered as a whole. well as the eclsion percentage [15]. For the rotation, the result
of the presented study shows that it is more favourable to
3.3.2 Heater parameters rotate the eggs at an angle of 180º. This rotation is necessary
In this work, we explored the inefficiency of the incandescent to avoid the attachment of the embryo to the egg shell and
lamp to our advantage. It is estimated that a 100-watt bulb is also to reduce the death rate during the incubation [15].
about 10% efficient for light production [14]. In other words,
it produces light with 10 watts of power and 90 watts is In this project, the sixteen trays are spaced 3cm apart and each
converted to heat. So, the main source of heat are four 100- is pivoted to a rectangular frame (like louver of windows)
watt tungsten incandescent bulbs. which is bolted to the incubator cabinet. A connecting bar
couples the tray stands and a DC motor through a gear. As the
3.3.3 Heat, Temperature and Humidity control motor turns the gear, then, the tray stands move up or down
like a see-saw. The turning is specifically done at the gear side.
The 4 -100w incandescent lamps are well arranged to
The gear is circular, so turning 180° means up and another
maintain the required temperature in the incubator within the
180°means down. The DC motor is actuated by signal from
set range. Extractor fans placed on the lamps pick heat from
the Arduino Microcontroller every three hours to
the bulbs and uniformly distribute it by directing the heat to
automatically rotates the trays through an angle of 15 degrees
the walls so that the heat is evenly distributed from the wall.
which cause the eggs to turn 180 degrees.
The inside temperature is monitored continuously by the
temperature sensor (DHT22). This sensor sends feedback 3.5 Programming Arduino microcontroller
signal to the Arduino microcontroller as shown in Figure 3.
Selection of sensor DHT 22 and controller (Arduino) was one
The Arduino actuates the relays for the heaters based on the
of the key to this incubator, even though many of such are
information obtained from the sensor to control the ON and
available, the Arduino is easy to program and functionalities
OFF states of the heat sources (Lamps). If the sensed
that makes it easy for automated control. Programming
temperature is less than 37.5oC the controller issues ON signal
Arduino microcontroller as an incubator controller employs
to bring in more heat. But if the sensed temperature is greater
special header files in its coding, such as DHT22 header and
or equal to 37.8oC then the controller issues OFF signal to
LCD header.
switch off the heat sources.

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 International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)
Volume 168 – No.1, June 2017

The Arduino microcontroller programming requires programming process involved the programming the LCD, the
knowledge in Arduino programming language (based on DHT22 sensor and the control logic on the microcontroller.
wiring), and the Arduino Software (IDE) [16], programming The flow chart for the program is depicted in Figure 4.
which is similar to C language, has its own compiler, easy for
beginners use, yet flexible enough for advanced users. The

Figure 4. The flow chart for the program

3.5 System Circuit and connections blower fans and switching the gear motor for operating the
The relay circuit consists of four relays each rated 6V, 10A; tray turning mechanism respectively. The connection between
four 100Ω resistors; four 802 Ω resistors; and four IN4001 the various elements making the circuit is shown in Figure 5.
diodes. All of them were wired on a PC board. The relays are The diode rectifier circuit which takes its source from the
triggered using a 2N2222 n-p-n transistor actuated by the secondary of the stepdown transformer, serves as a DC supply
control signal from the Arduino microcontroller. Two relays for the microcontroller. The circuit was simulated and tested
are used for switching two of incandescent lamps to a 240 V with a software called ‘Circuit Maker’ as shown in Figure 6,
supply, while the other two relays are for controlling the before real time implementation.

Figure 5: Incubator heat control circuit diagram

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 International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)
Volume 168 – No.1, June 2017

Figure 6: Circuit Simulation

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION used to successfully hatch 3000 Quail chicks at 94%
hatchability rate, which is an improved efficiency over those
Figureure 7, shows the designed incubator with the
reported in [5] and [17] which achieved hatchability rates of
temperature and humidity display and other parts. It has been
82.6% and 33% respectively.

Figure. 7: A Picture of the incubator: Top part- showing the temperature and humidity readings. Below – the tray racks,
incandescent lamp and other components inside the incubator

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 International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)
Volume 168 – No.1, June 2017

During the testing period, the system was monitored for a 24- incubator varied between 53% and 70%, also an indication
hour period, recoding the temperature and the humidity levels that the designed incubator is able to maintain the averaged
in the incubator as displayed by the LCD screen, every two relative humidity required for successful hatching.
hours. This was to enable the determination of the rate of heat
rise from the initial incubator temperature to the steady state Also, for observed period, the duty cycle of the heater was
temperature of 37.5°C. It was also to determine the correlation 0.25 (25%). That is the heaters were in the ON state for only
between ambient temperature and humidity levels and the that 25% of the observation period, which goes to confirm that the
of the incubator. incubator has a good thermal capacity and also energy
efficient.
Finally, the monitoring enabled us to determine the duty cycle
of the heaters in order to ascertain the power consumption of Effective turning mechanism made from metal (flat iron,
the incubator. Figure 8 shows the correlation between the angle iron and square pipe) and a gear coupled to a wiper
ambient temperature and motor and tray stands helps turning the eggs every three hours.
This prevents the embryo from sticking to the shell and this
that of incubator, while Figureure 9 is a plot of relation avoids chick mortality.
between ambient humidity and that of the incubator.
5. CONCLUSION
Firstly, it could be observed from the temperature graph that
A 14000 quail eggs (4500 chicken egg equivalent) capacity
the temperature in the incubator increased from the initial of
incubator based on Arduino microcontroller is designed and
30.5°C to 37.1°C in the first 2-hours. After this there was not
constructed in this paper. The precise values of temperature
much variation in the incubating temperature from the set
and humidity in the incubator at any point in time are
point value (37.5°C). Even though the ambient temperature
displayed on the 16 X 2 LCD screen. With the working of the
over the 24-hour period varied between a minimum of 24°C
four relays and control of the incandescent lamp, fans and
and a maximum of 34°C, the incubator inner temperature
turning mechanism an energy efficient incubator has been
remained relatively constant, after the first 2-hours varying
designed and fully implemented
between 37.1°C and 38.1°C. This is an indication that heat
lost by conduction through the walls of the incubator is In the future, we envisage the addition of an internet of Things
minimal. (IoT) system to enable the monitoring and control of the
whole system on a 4G cell phone. This would enable the
Secondly, the ambient humidity over the testing period was
operator remotely access conditions in the incubator as well as
between 40% and 73% while the internal humidity of the
to shut it down or switch it on through a cell phone.

Figure 8: Relationship between Ambient Temperature and Incubator Temperature

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 International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)
Volume 168 – No.1, June 2017

Figure 9: Relationship between Ambient Humidity and Incubator Humidity

6. REFERENCES
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Volume 168 – No.1, June 2017

[16] “Getting Started | FOUNDATION > Introduction,” [18] Gregory S. Archer and A. Lee Cartwright, “Incubating and
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