Abstract
With the rapidly growing cannabis industry - especially in cannabis farms, innovation has been geared towards automation and process efficiency. Automation can be best applied once data is analyzed. One critical data in the greenhouses is the product volume flow rate. This report provides an overview of the problem statement based on the RFP released by Keirton, a description of the design approach and implementation, and a discussion of the results obtained. The project involves the design and prototype of a volume flow rate measurement control system that allows manual or automatic motor speed control. The volume flow rate measurement device is achieved using a custom designed level measurement device in conjunction with a PLC. A MSP430 microcontroller is used as part of the sensor to output a cross-sectional area measurement to the PLC where it is used with speed data from the VFD to calculate the volume flow rate. An HMI (human-machine interface) displays the current volume flow rate through the sensor and allows the user to choose one of two available modes. Automatic mode requires a user input volume flow rate setpoint and adjusts the motor speed accordingly to achieve the setpoint. Manual mode only displays the volume flow rate reading and allows users to control conveyor speed directly. The project cost came to $4,500, and termination date was May 10, 2019.