Design and Development of a Cost-effective Natural Sunlight Mimicking Smart LED Lamp for Domestic Aquatic Environments.

Abstract

One of the main factors affecting the health of a natural aquatic environment is exposure to sunlight during the daytime. Therefore, in domestic aquariums, providing lighting that simulates sunlight with natural intensity variation is highly beneficial. This study focuses on developing a smart LED lamp capable of simulating the intensity variation of natural sunlight. A cost-effective light intensity sensor (BH1750) was used to collect data on the natural intensity variation of sunlight, and the accuracy of its readings was verified using a PASCO high-sensitivity light sensor, which is limited to 100 lux. The BH1750 sensor showed excellent agreement with the PASCO sensor, with an R-squared value of 0.9997, indicating a near-perfect correlation in light intensity measurements. After analyzing the variation in natural sunlight intensity throughout the day over a period of more than two months, a pattern for the average light intensity was developed to simulate a typical day's progress. An ESP32-WROOM-32 board was used to control the 240 addressable RGB LEDs of the lamp, which can collectively produce a maximum luminosity of 4800 lumens. The lamp was able to simulate the natural sunlight intensity pattern, with peak wavelengths for the red, green, and blue LEDs ranging from 620 - 630, 515 - 530, and 465 - 475 nm, respectively. These RGB LEDs are commonly used for artificial lighting in the aquarium industry worldwide. The Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities of the ESP32 microcontroller were used to control the lamp via mobile devices, making it more user-friendly. This smart LED lamp, which mimics the intensity variation of natural sunlight, has the potential to help maintain conditions similar to natural aquatic environments in domestic aquariums and may also be used to reduce unwanted algae growth by controlling light intensity.