Development of an automated weight measurement system with response to temperature for Harumanis mango fruit growth

Abstract

In this research, an automatic weight measurement system was developed using load cell sensor to monitor the fruit weight daily until it matured and to find the relationship between tempe rature of the day and night with fruit weight since Harumanis mango fruit is only grown in special climate like northern Perlis, Malaysia. The main goal of this research is to calibrate load cell sensor with the temperature because it c can cause weighing errors due to thermal conversion. After that, the comparison between automatic developed system with weight balance was made to check the accuracy. Lastly, evaluate the relationship of the mass variation rate with response to the temperature of the day and night. Sensors were left for days in the greenhouse to do the calibbration with temperature and after that fruits were attached to the sensors to measure the fruit weight. Data were collected from Thingspeak.com and the analysis of the fruit weight during the day and night were done using Microsoft Excel. Clear and highly significant graphs between weight and temperature were found during the calibration. Equation obtained from the graphs was inserted into the system so that the fruits i measured automatically temperature compensated. Moreover, the accuracy of the developed system is proven when comparing it with weight balance. Analysis of fruit growth with temperature day and night shows that, the fruit weight is lower during the day compared to the night. ''S'' type load cell sensor is recommended to use in this system as its accuracy is better than straight bar load cell sensor.