Construction of Ultrasonic Fruit Fly Repellent Device in Orange Orchard

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Journal of Physics: Conference Series

PAPER • OPEN ACCESS

Construction of Ultrasonic Fruit Fly Repellent Device in Orange Orchard

To cite this article: S U Rahayu et al 2023 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 2421 012030

View the article online for updates and enhancements.

Construction of Ultrasonic Fruit Fly Repellent Device in Orange Orchard

S U Rahayu^1*, Nasruddin¹, Susilawati¹, H A Sianturi¹, Faturrahman¹, J G Manurung¹

1Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Jalan Bioteknologi No. 1, Medan 20155, Indonesia

*E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. Ultrasonic waves are stated to be able to repel several types of pests. This study aimed to design a device to repel fruit fly in orange orchard using ultrasonic waves with a frequency range of 20-80 KHz. The device employed a microcontroller and real time clock (RTC) to control the ultrasonic wave transmitter automatically, in which the electrical energy is obtained from solar panel. The objective of using the solar panels is to directly powered device without installing the cable to the main power source (PLN) because the device should be placed in the middle of the orchard, which is located far from the main power source. Based on the design analysis, the solar panel should be placed facing the southern part of the orchard with the angle of around 5ºC since the orchard in the Karo regency, Sumatera Utara, Indonesia.

The current was measured for each frequency, and based on that measurement the electrical power was calculated to be 142.56 Watt, so by using the battery of 1200 Watt, the device could work properly for 8 hours even without full sunlight. The resulted frequency was measured using oscillator; the results show that the average accuracy is 0.24%, which shows that the ultrasonic wave transmitters generate the ultrasonic wave accurately. Based on these results, it can be concluded that the ultrasonic fruit fly repellent device designed in this study is successfully constructed and works properly to generate the ultrasonic wave with the range frequency satisfied the condition to repel the fruit fly.

1. Introduction

Orange is one of the local fruit commodities that have an important role at home and abroad, both fresh and processed. Related to that, North Sumatra Province, especially in Karo Regency, is the main producing center in addition to the provinces of East Java and West Kalimantan. The growth in the harvested area for orange commodities in Karo Regency shows a fairly high increase of 24.01 percent/year. However, the increase in rate production is only 21.93 percent/year. The main factor contributed to this increment is the expansion of harvested area [1].

One of the obstacles faced by orange farmers in Karo Regency is the fruit fly pest, Bactrocera sp.

(Diptera: Tephritidae). This fruit fly is a pest that attacks horticultural crops in tropical and subtropical areas, fruit flies lay their eggs under the skin of the fruit, which then hatch into larvae that consume the pulp so that the fruit will rot faster and fall from the tree prematurely [2]. Various methods, both biologically and chemically, have been used to control fruit fly populations, for example by using

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pesticide traps [3]. However, the traps have not been able to effectively reduce fruit fly pests in the orange orchard of Karo Regency.

Several studies have stated that the use of ultrasonic waves is able to repel several types of pests, such as leafhoppers with a minimum frequency of 40 KHz [4], grasshoppers with a frequency of around 50 KHz [5], mosquitoes with a frequency of 30 KHz [6]. In fact, Sirait (2016) has conducted laboratory-scale research which states that ultrasonic waves with a frequency range of 25-30 KHz can cause fruit flies to feel disturbed [7].

Based on the above explanation, this study aimed to design a fruit fly repellent device in orange orchard using ultrasonic waves with a frequency range of 20-80 KHz; this device employed a microcontroller to control the on-off tool for 8 hours, which is defined by real time clock (RTC). The power source used was from solar panels so that farmers do not need to connect it to a source of electrical energy from the main power source (PLN). The tests to be carried out are testing the accuracy of the frequency generated by the device compared to an oscilloscope and the testing of the amount of power required to switch on 16 ultrasonic wave transmitters. The results of this study are hoped to provide the enhanced knowledge of overcoming fruit fly pests in orange orchard.

2. Experimental Section 2.1. Control System Design

The ultrasonic fruit fly repellent device in this study consists of microcontroller ATMEGA329-P, real time clock (RTC), ultrasonic wave transmitter, and transistor as signal processing. The power source is obtained from the sun through solar panel module, which converted the sunlight into electrical energy saved in battery via control charge. The block diagram of the whole control system is shown in Figure 1, while the electrical circuit is given in Figure 2.

Figure 1. Block diagram of the ultrasonic fruit fly repellent device

The working principle of this device is that the microcontroller produces digital pulses with a frequency above 20 KHz, which is strengthened by a transistor as signal processing for greater amplitude. This electric signal was the sent to an ultrasonic wave transmitter which can convert the electrical signal into ultrasonic waves. The use of RTC, which is connected to microcontroller (as shown in Figure 2), is to automatically count the working time of the device so that the device will automatically switch on and off after 8 hours, start from 6 AM to 6 PM. The time was set due to the working temperature of the fruit flies [8]; as mentioned by Manurung et al. (2012), the fruit flies was found to be active in the orchard in Karo Regency at 6 AM to 6 PM [2] since their body temperature threshold is around 18ºC [9]. Based on the datasheet of the microcontroller, the oscillator is also used to improve the performance of the microcontroller.

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Figure 2. The electrical circuit of the ultrasonic fruit fly repellent device 2.2. Control System Programming

In order to automatically control the working time of the device, the microcontroller was programmed by using C language. The flowchart of the system is given in Figure 3.

Figure 3. The flowchart of the ultrasonic fruit fly repellent device

As depicted, the RTC is first defined to switch on and off the device; when the condition of the

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signal related to ultrasonic frequency (20 KHz to 80 KHz), which is sent to transistor to be amplified and eventually converted into ultrasonic waves by ultrasonic transmitter. Other than the time set by RTC, the device turns off automatically; still, the user can switch it off manually by press the button provided in the control system box.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Analysis of the Physical Design of the Device

The design of the fruit fly insect repellent device is shown in Figure 4. As given, the device uses sixteen ultrasonic transmitters because it is placed in the middle of the garden, so that the resulted waves can travel around the orchard. The height of the device is designed to be 3 meters long in order to get maximum sunlight. Meanwhile, the transmitter will be placed at a height of between 1 meter and 2 meters from the ground since the activity of fruit flies is mainly at an altitude of 1.5 meters; this happens, for the position of the fruit, which is the target of the fruit flies, is at an average height of 1.5 meters [10]. The position of the control contacts will be located at the bottom of the transmitter and protected by a protective case. As for the ultrasonic wave transmitter, it is placed inside the pipe to amplify the resulted waves.

Figure 4. (a) The physical design of the ultrasonic fruit fly repellent device, (b) The real physical appearance of the ultrasonic fruit fly repellent device

As mentioned previously, the working time of the device is 8 hours, from 6 AM to 8 PM, following the active working time of the fruit flies [2]. The dimension of the device follows the dimension of the solar panels. The use of solar panel as the power source is intended for helping the farmer not to provide long cable to obtain the electrical energy source from PLN. Since Karo Regency is in North

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Sumatra Province, which is located above the equator, the device located facing the south with the slope angle of the panel is around 5º.

3.2. Analysis of the Electrical Power Used

As seen in Table 1, an ultrasonic transmitter only needs 5 V to generate the frequency of 20 KHz to 80 KHz. Since the circuit is inductive, the current decreases with increasing frequency. Therefore, based on the relation between current, voltage, and power; the power needs to supply the device decreases.

Table 1. The consumption of electrical energy for the frequency resulted from one ultrasonic transmitter

No Duty Cycle (%)

Frequency (KHz)

Voltage (V) Current (A)

Power (Watt)

1 50 20 5 0.371 1.855

2 50 30 5 0.324 1.620

3 50 40 5 0.264 1.320

4 50 50 5 0.234 1.170

5 50 60 5 0.217 1.085

6 50 70 5 0.198 0.990

7 50 80 5 0.174 0.870

The selected solar panel can charge a battery for 100 Watt/hour; in which the battery used has the ability to produce current of 100 A and voltage of 12 V, resulting in power of 1200 Watt. Therefore, the time needed to charge the battery is 12 hours whereas the average required power is given as follows

P̅=I_total×V=1.782×5=8.910 Watt

This power is just for one ultrasonic transmitter, so the power needed by 16 ultrasonic transmitters is 142.56 Watt. Based on that calculation, battery life in the absence of sunlight is equal to 8 hours.

This result indicated that the use of solar panels in this device is able to supply the electrical energy required from the device.

3.3. Analysis of the Resulted Frequency

In order to examine the accuracy of the device in generating the ultrasonic waves, the oscilloscope is used as a measurement tools. The results are given in Table 2.

Table 2. The resulted frequency measurement obtained from oscillator No Duty Cycle (%) The Frequency set in the

device (KHz)

The Frequency measured by oscilloscope

(KHz)

Accuracy (%)

1 50 20.00 19.98 0.10

2 50 30.00 29.96 0.13

3 50 40.00 39.92 0.20

4 50 50.00 49.88 0.24

5 50 60.00 59.81 0.32

6 50 70.00 69.78 0.31

7 50 80.00 79.68 0.40

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As can be seen in Table 2, the average accuracy of the device is only 0.24%; therefore it can be said that the device works properly in generating the ultrasonic waves. Based on the results conducted by Sirait (2016), the range of frequency that can disturb the fruit fly is 25-30 KHz [7]; therefore, the ultrasonic wave generating by this device that has the range of 20-80 KHz fulfill the requirement to repel the fruit fly in the orange orchard.

4. Conclusion

In summary, ultrasonic fruit fly repellent device in orange orchard has successfully constructed with the range of resulted frequency of 20 KHz to 80 KHz generating from 16 wave transmitters with high accuracy measured by oscilloscope. The range of frequency in this device satisfies the circumstances to disturb the fruit fly. In addition, the power supply is obtained from solar panel that can give the energy to the device for 8 hours in the absence of sunlight and should be placed facing the south of the orchard with the slope angle of around 5º, so this device is suitable to be employed in the orange orchard.

Acknowledgment

The author would like to thank to Universitas Sumatera Utara for the funding to conduct the experiment through Penelitian Dosen Muda Scheme of TALENTA 2020 with grant number:

376/UN5.2.3.1/PPM/SPP-TALENTA USU/2020.

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