Journal of the Society of Agricultural Structures, Japan

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Daily monitoring and control of temperature distribution in a piggery with significant temperature variations is essential to maximize the productivity of temperature-stress-sensitive pigs. In our previous research, we focused on an ultra-sonic probe suitable for measuring air temperature distribution in a large space and explored its design for practical use in a pigpen. This ultra-sonic probe, as mentioned earlier, can be easily constructed by utilizing the signal input/output interface of a general-purpose single-board computer. It can precisely measure the average air temperature in a space, making it suitable for operation in a pigpen where installation space is limited. However, we have not yet demonstrated the measurement of average air temperature and air temperature distribution in a pigpen. Therefore, in this paper, we conducted an experiment to measure the average air temperature and air temperature distribution in a pigpen and evaluated the accuracy of the measurement. The experimental results revealed that the ultra-sonic probe could measure the average air temperature along a 6.83 m line with an error of 0.55 °C and the air temperature distribution (on six surfaces) with an error of 0.73 °C. This indicates that the ultra-sonic probe possesses sufficient measurement accuracy for monitoring and controlling the air temperature in the pigpen. From these results, it can be expected that the proposed ultrasonic probe will contribute to the efficient fattening of healthy pigs and the reduction of the workload of the keepers by controlling the air temperature in the piggery.

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