A framework for modelling, control and supervision of poultry farming

Thermal comfort is a decisive factor in broiler chicken production, as it defines the relationship between food consumption and meat production. Temperature and humidity are major parameters for thermal balance. In spite of available automation technology, poultry farming is still dependent on an expert to observe the process and set up control parameters accordingly. Besides being inefficient, this is also uncomfortable and error-prone. This article proposes a framework for control, supervision, and decision-making in poultry farming. We initially set up a plant architecture that enables us to take advantage of emerging modern technologies, such as sensor networks, control theory, and remote monitoring, to handle temperature and humidity inside a poultry house. Then, we present the steps of modelling, synthesis, and implementation of a controller that observes events in the plant and commands the actuators in a minimally restrictive, controllable and non-blocking way, while complying with a set of operational requirements. Our final result provides a dual-channel web-based supervision system that shows the process status remotely for users and allows them to interfere with control, whenever convenient.