Automated Drying of Moringa Leaves Using an Arduino Uno Microcontroller

Abstract

The aim of this research is to explore how to design and implement the use of a DHT11 sensor with Arduino in a moringa leaf dryer for temperature and humidity control. The device design process involves the preparation of all necessary equipment and the creation of Arduino source code. This code makes connections between the Arduino uno, DHT11 sensor, LCD display, relay and fan using jumper cables, allowing the results obtained to be displayed on the LCD screen. Temperature and humidity are monitored at 15 minute intervals over a 7 hour period and the fan is automatically activated in the event of temperature fluctuations during each drying phase. The research results show that the device design system includes hardware components such as the Arduino Uno and the DHT11 sensor, LCD display and fan. In addition, the software program for the monitoring system, initialised using the Arduino IDE, has been successfully designed and works effectively. Based on the equipment test results, the average moisture content of the Moringa leaves is 7.2% compared to the initial moisture content of 73%. These results underline the efficiency of the developed system in achieving the desired drying results.