The research team at the Semarang State Polytechnic (Polines) succeeded in creating an innovative tool system prototype to help the development of orchids.
The Polines research team, chaired by a Polines Electronics Department lecturer, Helmi, has implemented his innovation at the Von Florist Green House, Bandungan, Semarang Regency.
"There are five parameters monitored through this prototype, namely greenhouse temperature, humidity, sunlight intensity, NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium), and also the visuals of the green house. The system prototype we made can remotely adjust the temperature according to the user's wishes," he told the Jatengnews.id team, Wednesday (11/30/2022).
Helmi said the creation of this system was inseparable from complaints submitted by one of his partners, namely Von Florist. According to him, besides having outlets for selling orchids, Von Florist also has a green house that is used for flowering.
“There is a problem there, namely 10 percent interest usually has a yellow knob. So flowering can't be maximized, some even die and so on," he said.
Helmi continued that this problem was caused by the orchid not feeling "comfortable" with the environment around it. Therefore, his team decided to create a prototype to monitor and regulate parameters, one of which is the temperature for green houses.
After this prototype system was created, Helmi stated that the problem of crop damage by the previous 10 percent could be reduced to 5 percent. It was further stated that this research was the result of funding from the DUDI Directorate of Partnership and Alignment and the Education Fund Management Institute (LPDP).
Helmi said the success of creating a prototype tool for monitoring and controlling the parameters of orchid growth was also inseparable from the support from the Director of the Semarang State Polytechnic, Prof. Totok Prasetyo.
Helmi revealed that the proposal for making this prototype was one of 66 proposals received from vocational schools throughout Indonesia, even though the registrants themselves reached 600.
"The contract itself starts from November 25 2021 to November 25 2022, the term is one year," he said.
According to Helmi, the uniqueness of the prototype made by his team is that the nodes are installed in several areas, not just centered on one point. These nodes will later become detectors as well as temperature controllers for green houses, namely using a drum fan.
Not only beneficial for green house owners, this innovation is of particular benefit to students who are involved in research. Helmi said that all stages of making research involve students which will also be used as the topic of the final project.
According to Helmi, students who participate in research can graduate faster and also get a job first.
"When they have finished the final project trial, finished revisions and so on, there is only one subject left that he has not finished yet. That he can already apply for work. With the provision of a letter from the head of study program (which contains) has completed the final project trial. If you haven't graduated, you can already be accepted to work at Telkomsel," he continued.
Regarding the research conducted by his team, Helmi admitted that the prototype he created was not limited to being used only for orchids. According to him, the tool system he created can be applied in places that require cooling temperature settings and can be ordered directly.
"It's easy to use. After installing the tool, all you have to do is install the application, it's already on the Google Play Store, log in, just have a look and be able to monitor the parameters in the green house as well as be able to adjust the temperature," he concluded. (Nizar-01)