Sains Malaysiana 47(11)(2018): 2831–2840

http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2018-4711-26

 

Microcontroller-Based Moisture Meter for Ginger

(Meter Kelembapan Berasaskan Mikropengawal untuk Halia)

NUR BIHA MOHAMED NAFIS¹, ZULKIFLY ABBAS^1*, JUMIAH HASSAN¹, NORADIRA SUHAIME¹, LEE KIM YEE², YOU KOK YEOW³ & ZAULIA OTHMAN⁴

 

¹Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

 

²Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, 53300 Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory, Malaysia

 

³Department of Radio Communication Engineering (RaCED), Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia

 

⁴Bank Gene and Seed Center, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, (MARDI) MARDI Headquarters, Persiaran MARDI-UPM, 43400 Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

 

Received: 15 April 2018 /Accepted: 27 July 2018

 

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the development of a simple method to determine the permittivity and moisture content (m.c.) of ginger. The measurement system consists of a microwave sensor, directional coupler and a PIC microcontroller. The microwave sensor is a square flanged open-ended coaxial (OEC) sensor made from SMA stub contact panel with outer diameter (O.D) 4.10 mm. The microwave oven drying method was used to determine the actual m.c. of the ginger. All data acquisition, processing and display were accomplished using a PIC16F690 microcontroller programmed using Flowcode software. The actual values of the permittivity of ginger were obtained by using the Agilent (now Keysight Technologies) 85070B dielectric probe along with a HP 8720B Vector Network Analyzer (VNA). The results showed good relationships between m.c., permittivity (dielectric constant (εʹ) and loss factor (ε̋)) and reflected voltage. The calibration equations between reflected voltage and m.c. have been established for the sensor. The measurement system provides a simple, fast and accurate technique to predict m.c., εʹ and ε̋ of ginger from reflected voltage measurements alone. The accuracy in determination of m.c., εʹ and ε̋ in ginger was within 2.9%, 2.7%, and 3.6%, respectively.

 

Keywords: Microcontroller; moisture content; open-ended coaxial sensor; permittivity; reflected voltage

 

ABSTRAK

Kertas ini menghuraikan mengenai pembangunan satu kaedah yang mudah untuk menentukan kadar ketelusan dan kandungan lembapan (m.c.) halia. Sistem pengukuran ini terdiri daripada sensor gelombang mikro, pengandingan arah dan mikropengawal PIC. Sensor gelombang mikro adalah pengesan berpaksi terbuka bersegi empat (OEC) yang dibuat daripada panel sentuh stub SMA dengan diameter luar (O.D) 4.10 mm. Kaedah pengeringan ketuhar gelombang mikro digunakan untuk menentukan m.c. halia yang sebenar. Semua pemerolehan, pemprosesan dan paparan data telah diperoleh dengan menggunakan mikropengawal PIC 16F690 yang diprogram menggunakan perisian Flowcode. Nilai sebenar kadar ketelusan untuk halia diperoleh dengan menggunakan Agilent (sekarang Keysight Technologies) 85070B peranti deria sepaksi hujung terbuka sekali dengan penganalisis rangkaian vektor HP 8720B (VNA). Keputusan menunjukkan hubungan yang baik antara m.c., kadar ketelusan (pemalar dielektrik (εʹ) dan faktor kehilangan (ε̋)) serta voltan yang dipantulkan. Persamaan penentukuran antara voltan yang dipantulkan dan m.c. telah dibangunkan untuk sensor tersebut. Sistem pengukuran ini menyediakan teknik yang mudah, cepat dan tepat untuk meramalkan m.c., εʹ dan ε̋ halia daripada pengukuran voltan yang dipantulkan sahaja. Ketepatan dalam menentukan m.c., εʹ dan ε̋ halia adalah dalam 2.9%, 2.7% dan 3.6%.

 

Kata kunci: Kadar ketelusan; kandungan lembapan; mikropengawal; pengesan sepaksi terbuka; pantulan voltan

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*Corresponding author; email: za@upm.edu.my