Project Overview

For our project, we used the current University of Kentucky dairy farm for research and comparison. Their current system consists of a row of nozzles along the feed line all connected to one ball valve. The valve is opened based on a timer to mist the whole line at once. We saw upon our visit that the majority of the time only a few cattle were feeding at the same time as the valve openings.

Our new design for the farm will reduce water use by creating a system which will only activate specific nozzles when a cow likely to be in heat stress is detected near it. Heat stress in cattle reduces milk production overall along with reducing fat and protein content (J. A. Hernandez-Rivera, 2011). This design will save the farm money on water in addition to increasing quality dairy production.

The system we have created is a proof of concept to demonstrate the potential for a full-fledged dairy misting system. The overall setup will use an ambient temperature and humidity sensor input to calculate the temperature humidity index. The temperature humidity index is a value calculated which will indicate whether the cattle are likely to be in heat stress (Fournel, 2017). The second input will come from a radio frequency identification eartag which will detect if a cow wis within a 6-8ft range of the antenna mounted near the nozzle. These inputs will be processed by a Raspberry Pi acting as a microcontroller. If heat stress is induced and an eartag is detected the Raspberry Pi send a 5V signal to the power relay and thus activate the solenoid valve and the nozzle will mist the cow.

We will create a four-nozzle testing system utilizing two RFID antennas, one pump, and one raspberry pi. The testing setup will use 1.5in diameter PVC piping to carry a flowrate of around .1155 in³/s to each of the 4 nozzles which will be placed 5ft apart. The water will be powered by a HP pump. To hold up this, we have a designed a 24ft long wooden support to attach the PVC to. The Raspberry Pi and two RFID antennas will be supported by a wooden T frame.