Automatic Livestock Waterer Prototype Based on IoT Using a Microcontroller Board

Water control in a livestock waterer is a crucial task to keep the animals properly hydrated and thus ensure milk production and weight gain. However, when not done correctly, it can lead to flooding of the pen, influx of diseases, or, on the other hand, it can result in water scarcity, causing poor hydration that may lead to the animal′s death if prolonged. The prototype automatic livestock waterer was developed to scale at a 1:3 ratio of a full‐size livestock waterer, using the evolutionary prototyping methodology, which enabled iterative improvements and the ongoing integration of both functional and nonfunctional requirements, in close collaboration with end users. The research objective was to design and implement an IoT‐based system using a microcontroller board programmed with Arduino to control the water level in a livestock waterer. The main results were that in 100% of the tests conducted, the automatic trough filled the water correctly, taking into account the lower level sensor and the upper level sensor, in an average time of 6 min, and it emptied the water correctly, considering the turbidity sensor, in an average time of 9 min. It was concluded that the automatic livestock waterer using IoT allows for effective water control from the mobile application, offering both automatic and manual control, as well as real‐time water level monitoring, simplifying the livestock caregiver′s task, and it prevents both water shortage and overflow.