International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)

Volume 3, Issue 8 Aug 2021, pp: 01-05 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

Development of an Automatic Electric Egg

Incubator
Prajwal V M[1], Ravi Prasad C[2],Sanjay S B[3], Rajesh M[4],Mr. Kiran
Kumar G R[5]
[1],[2],[3],[4] Students, [5] Assistant Professor
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.
PES Institute of Technology and Management, Shivamogga, Karnataka, India.

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Submitted: 30-07-2021 Revised: 06-08-2021 Accepted: 08-08-2021
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ABSTRACT: An electric powered incubator using chicks) can hatch just about 10-12 eggs at once in
a forced draft principle was developed using the 21 days, which reduces its productivity as it takes
available local materials and it was tested with time to incubate and hatch the chicks. In contrast,
hatchable hen egg.The aim was to produce a low- some large birds, such as condors and albatross,
cost incubator and increase the production of day- may lay only a single egg every two years. For the
old chicks for small and medium scale poultry world growing population, relying on this natural
farmers.Factors that were considered during the type of incubation is not enough, hence the need
performance evaluation of the incubator were for artificial incubation. This way, a female bird
humidity, 55% and temperature, 37 ℃ during the just concentrates on laying eggs while the
first 18 days and was maintained at 37.5℃ till incubation is done for her artificially.
hatching. Turning of eggs was achieved with the
use of tilting trays mechanism using an electric II. INITIATIVE
gear motor (0.5 h p). The trays were lifted through The start of the project involved literature
an angle of 40° either side of horizontal at every surveys in which a number of research paper were
hour and lasted for four minutes. read to get an overview of the work that has been
KEYWORDS:Development, Automatic, Electric, previously done related to Egg incubation
Incubator, Egg Incubator. process.To make concepts more clear about Egg
incubator a visit to the Poultry Farm house was
I. INTRODUCTION made to see everything in real and a demonstration
Incubation is the management of a of process of incubation was observed.
fertilized egg to ensure satisfactory development of
the embryo inside the fertilized egg into a normal III. LITERATURE REVIEW
chick.An artificial incubator is a chamber in which Incubation is the process by which birds
temperature, humidity and ventilation are hatch their eggs, and to the development of the
controlled for the purpose of hatching a relatively embryo within the egg. The most vital factor of
large numberof eggs than a single hen can handle at incubation is the constant temperature required for
a time.The heat required for incubation is usually its development over a specific period. Especially
provided by coal, oil, gas or electricity. For small in domestic fowl, the act of sitting on eggs to
incubator about 58% relative humidity is kept at incubate them is called brooding, and most egg
120°F (38° to 39°C) up to the 18th day of laying breeds of chicken have had this behaviour
incubation after which, the humidity goes to 70% selectively bred out of them to increase production.
and the temperature is lowered to 96°F (36°C) until Naturally, all birds lay eggs declared Dunne and
the chick is hatched. Eisenbeis (1972), but most reptiles lay eggs, even
Eggs selected should be of normal shape, birds lay their eggs in heaps of soil or decaying
a minimum of 56.7 g in weight, with good shell vegetation and pay no more attention to them.
texture, and free from faults. Their young are able to fly almost at once after
The world’s population is growing at an hatching. The process of egg incubation has left a
alarming rate and so is the demand for protein lot for wonder.Yet all other birds incubate their
especially in the rural areas, poultry is a good eggs by supplying heat from their bodies, and give
source of protein and it is affordable. A broody hen the young devoted care. But during the incubation
(a hen that wants to set and hatch eggs and raise the period, Bucher (1983) found that prepiping and

DOI: 10.35629/5252-03080105 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 1
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 8 Aug 2021, pp: 01-05 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

hatching levels of oxygen consumption are lower offering excellent quality, fast response, anti-
than in some precocial species. interference ability and cost-effectiveness.
However, it is without doubt that more
benefits accrued to artificial incubation and  Relay Module
production of eggs. But also, with same token, A power relay module is an electrical switch
researcher, such as Van Der Heyden (1987) claims that is operated by an electromagnet. The
that artificially incubating to increase egg electromagnet is activated by a separate low-power
production is risky and that many aviculturists have signal from a micro controller. When activated, the
lost more than they've gained by it. Surrogate or electromagnet pulls to either open or close an
foster parents have been successfully used to electrical circuit.
incubate and raise eggs (Gee, 1983; Harrison, A simple relay consists of wire coil
1987; Stoodley, 1984) with the same benefits as wrapped around a soft iron core, or solenoid, an
artificial incubation. Although evidences have iron yoke that delivers a low reluctance path for
shown that the production of rare species can be magnetic flux, a movable iron armature and one or
significantly increased by artificial incubation. more sets of contacts. The movable armature is
hinged to the yoke and linked to one or more set of
IV. MATERIALS the moving contacts. Held in place by a spring, the
 Arduino UNO R3 armature leaves a gap in the magnetic circuit when
Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board the relay is de-energized. While in this position,
based on the ATmega328P. It has 14 digital one of the two sets of contacts are closed while the
input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM other set remains open.
outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz ceramic
resonator (CSTCE16M0V53-R0), a USB  LCD Display
connection, a power jack, an ICSP header and a The term LCD stands for liquid crystal
reset button. It contains everything needed to display. It is one kind of electronic display module
support the microcontroller; simply connect it to a used in an extensive range of applications like
computer with a USB cable or power it with an various circuits & devices like mobile phones,
AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get started. You calculators, computers, TV sets, etc. These displays
can tinker with your Uno without worrying too are mainly preferred for multi-segment light-
much about doing something wrong."Uno" means emitting diodes and seven segments. The main
one in Italian and was chosen to mark the release of benefits of using this module are inexpensive;
Arduino Software (IDE) 1.0. The Uno board and simply programmable, animations, and there are no
version 1.0 of Arduino Software (IDE) were the limitations for displaying custom characters,
reference versions of Arduino, now evolved to special and even animations, etc.
newer releases. The Uno board is the first in a A 16x2 LCD means it can display 16
series of USB Arduino boards, and the reference characters per line and there are 2 such lines.In this
model for the Arduino platform; for an extensive LCD each character is displayed in 5x7 pixel
list of current, past or outdated boards see the matrix.Connection port is 0.1" pitch, single row for
Arduino index of boards. easy breadboarding and wiring.
Specification:
Operating voltage – 5V.
Input voltage – 7-12V.  DC gear Motor
Clock speed – 16MHz. A gear motor is an all-in-one combination
Operating temp- 10-60°C. of a motor and gearbox. The addition of a gear
head to a motor reduces the speed while increasing
 DHT11 Sensor the torque output. The most important parameters
DHT11 Temperature & Humidity Sensor in regards to gear motors are speed (rpm), torque
features a temperature & humidity sensor. complex (lb.-in) and efficiency (%). In order to select the
with a calibrated digital signal output. By using the most suitable gear motor for your application you
exclusive digital-signal-acquisition technique and must first compute the load, speed and torque
temperature & humidity sensing technology, it requirements for your application. ISL Products
ensures high reliability and excellent long-term offers a variety of Spur Gear Motors, Planetary
stability. This sensor includes a resistive-type Gear Motors and Worm Gear Motors to meet all
humidity measurement component and an NTC application requirements. Most of our DC motors
temperature measurement component, and connects can be complemented with one of our unique
to a high- performance 8-bit microcontroller,

DOI: 10.35629/5252-03080105 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 2
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 8 Aug 2021, pp: 01-05 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

gearheads, providing you with a highly efficient amplifies the input signal to control the high
gear motor solution. voltage DC motor without any interception.
Specification:
Voltage: 6V to 12V;  Other Materials
Shaft diameter: 24 x 6 mm 1. Lamp(Bulb): To provide required heat for
Overall size: 80 mm x 40mm hatching of eggs.
RPM: 10r/min at 12V 2. Fan: To control the humidity.
Torque Range: 5 Kg-cm (Approx.).
V. INTERFACING
 Micro Servo Motor 1. Relay Interfacing with Arduino
Tiny and lightweight with high output A relay is used between Arduino’s pin and bulb to
power. Servo can rotate approximately 180 degrees protect Arduino from high voltage or current.
(90 in each direction), and works just like the
standard kinds but smaller. You can use any servo
code, hardware or library to control these servos.
Good for beginners who want to make stuff move
without building a motor controller with feedback
& gear box, especially since it will fit in small
places. It comes with a 3 horns (arms) and
hardware.
Position "0" (1.5 ms pulse) is middle, "90" (~2ms
pulse) is middle, is all the way to the right, "-90"
(~1ms pulse) is all the way to the left.

Specification: The relay has two groups of pins “LOW Voltage

Weight: 9 gm Group” and “HIGH Voltage Group”
Operating voltage: 3.0V~ 7.2V Pins in the low voltage group are GND pin, VCC
Servo Plug: JR pin & IN pin which receives the control signal from
Stall torque @4.8V: 1.2kg-cm Arduino. These pins are connected to Arduino.
Stall torque @6.6V: 1.6kg-cm Pins in the high voltage group are COM pin, NO
pin, NC pin which are connected to bulb.
 L293D Motor Driver In this project we used normally open mode, so IN
L293D IC is known as a motor driver. It is pin is connected to HIGH (5v), so the switch is
a low voltage operating device like other ICs. The closed and the bulb is ON.
other ICs could have the same functions like
L293D but they cannot provide the high voltage to 2. DHT11 Interfacing with Arduino
the motor. L293D provides the continuous DHT11 sensor has 3 pins first pin is VCC pin,
bidirectional Direct Current to the motor. The second pin is DATA pin & third pin is GND.
polarity of current can change at any time without
affecting the whole IC or any other device in the
circuit. L293D has an internal H-bridge installed
for two motors.
H-Bridge is an electrical circuit that
enables the load in a bidirectional way. L293d
bridge is controlled by external low voltage signals.
It may be small in size, but its power output
capacity is higher than our expectation. It could
control any DC motor speed and direction with a
voltage range of 4.5 – 36 Volts. Its diodes also save
the controlling device and IC from back EMF. To
At first the VCC & GND pin is connected to Power
control the max 600mA amount of current an
pin(5v) & ground pin of the Arduino respectively.
internal “Darlington transistor sink” installed in it,
The DATA pin is connected to digital pin 2 of
which could be used to control a large amount of
Arduino.
current by providing a small amount of current. It
has also internal “pseudo-Darlington source” which

DOI: 10.35629/5252-03080105 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 3
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 8 Aug 2021, pp: 01-05 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

LCD pin 1 (GND) is connected to the ground pin

of the Arduino. Pin 2 (Vcc) connect with 5V Vcc
pin of Arduino.
RS pin & En pin are connected to digital pins 13 &
12 of Arduino respectively. R/W pin is connected
to the ground pin of the Arduino.
LCD pins D4, D5, D6 & D7 are connected to
digital pins 11, 10, 9 & 8 of Arduino respectively.

5. Micro Servo Motor Interfacing with

Arduino
Servo motors are very easy to interface with
Arduino because It have built-in motor controllers.

3. Motor Interfacing with Arduino using

IC L293D
An L293D has 4 input pins, 4 output pins,
2 enable pins, Vss, Vcc and GND.Vccis the voltage
that it needs for its internal operation. L293D will
not use this voltage for driving the motor. For
driving the motor, it has a separate provision to
provide motor supply Vss.
Here we are using only one DC motor,
hence the first two input pins of the IC are used. Servo motor has 3 pins namely power pin, control
These are connected to any two digital pins of pin & ground pin.
Arduino (here they are, 6&7). Two output pins M1 Power and ground pin of servo is connected with
& M2 of L293D are connected to a gear motor and 5V and GND pin of Arduino. Control pin is
M3 & M4 are connected to a fan.E1 pin (Enable connected with digital pin-3 of Arduino Uno R3.
Pin) of L293D is then connected to analog pin-2 of
Arduino. Input pins I1,I2,I3,I4 of L293D are
connected to PWM pins 7, 6, 5, 4 of Arduino VI. WORKING PRINCIPLE
respectively. An incubator is based on the principle that
microorganisms require a particular set of
4. LCD Display Interfacing with Arduino parameters for their growth and development.All
The LCD module is use liquid crystal to print incubators are based on the concept that when
visible text on display. organisms are provided with the optimal condition
of temperature, humidity, oxygen, and carbon
dioxide levels, they grow and divide to form more
organisms.

Figure: Block Diagram of Electric Egg Incubator

DOI: 10.35629/5252-03080105 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 4
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 8 Aug 2021, pp: 01-05 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

Before using the incubator, it should be Production in Nigeria: Development of

made sure that no remaining items are present in Cost-Effective Models for Bird-Egg
the incubator from the previous cycles. The door of Incubator”, International Journal of
the incubator should be closed after the eggs are Emerging Technology and Advanced
placed in the egg tray, and then the incubator is Engineering, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 707-717,
switched on. The incubator has to be heated up to 2003.
the desired temperature for the growth of the [4]. Okpagu, P. E. & Nwosu, A. W,
particular organism. “Development and Temperature Control of
When the supply is provided the bulb will Smart Egg Incubator System For various
glow and sensor gives the temperature and Types of Egg”, European Journal of
humidity details which is displayed on the LCD. Enginnering and Technology, vol. 4, no. 2,
It takes 21 days to hatch chicken eggs. In 2016.
order for chicks to develop properly, temperature [5]. S. S. Dandekar, M. L. Chauhan, R.R.
and humidity should be monitored. First 18 days Bhanuse, A. N. Satpute, V. M. Dhumal,
the range of relative humidity is 45-55%. Final 3 “Design of An Egg Incubator For Birds
days 60-65%. The egg was turned in order for the Using PID Controller”,IJARIIE-ISSN(O)-
embryo to sweep into fresh nutrients, allowing the 2395-4396, vol-5, Issue-2, 2019.
embryo to develop. During the first 17 days, the
temperature and humidity are monitored, adding
water to the water reservoir as necessary to
maintain the humidity. Changes in the embryo is
observed in day7 and day 14. The final 3 days
chicks have hatched and dried off. Day 21 is a
hatch day where eggs will begin to rock around a
bit as the chick “pips” the shell. Hatching will be
slow process usually takes a full of 24 hours for
chicks to complete the hatch. After making sure
that the chicks are completely dry and fluffy, they
can be taken out of the incubator.

VII. CONCLUSION
Looking back on this project, the overall
outcome of results to be observed. This can be
evaluated by looking at how well our objectives
were met. The Hatching period of egg in the
incubator will decreases exponentially.The rate of
hatching of eggs will be higher than the normal or
natural hatching rate. It can full fill the market
demands on chicks by faster hatching system. Due
to oscillating motion in the incubator which
increase the healthy growth rate in the chicks.

REFERENCES
[1]. N. Benjamin and N.D.Oye, “Modification of
the design of the Poultry Incubator”,
International Journal of Application or
Innovation in Engineering & Management
(IJAIEM), vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 90-103, 2012.
[2]. B. R. Paguntalan and V. H. Oquino, “Design
and Development of a Microcontroller based
Egg Incubator for Small Scale Poultry
Production”, Global Journal of Science
Frontier Research, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 43-48,
2016.
[3]. A. K. Agboola, O. M. Olanivi, S.O. Aliyu
and B. A. Ayanwale, “Increasing Livestock

DOI: 10.35629/5252-03080105 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 5