DefinePK

Abstract

This article presents the design and implementation of a prototype dryer. This device will be used for the control and monitoring of the process of dehydration of tomatoes in rural areas of the municipality of Neiva. For this, sensors for the acquisition and measurement of variables such as temperature, relative humidity and weight based on the platform of free hardware-Arduino, are used. The data recorded during the monitoring are stored in a micro SD memory of 4GB and in addition a database is created. An application that allows the user to monitor the drying process of the tomato in real time through the software Visual Studio Ultimate 2013 and a Web page that allows remote monitoring are also presented. The sensor data is sent via XBee devices to a computer for storage and viewing. The prototype has an alert system that activates when the levels measured by the sensors are not adequate. This ensures a good drying process for tomatoes. Finally, the internal ventilation of the dryer and the covering system once the dehydration process has finished is done through an automated door.