Insect Experiment Box : Portable Temperature Controlled Enclosure for Insect Experiments

Sammanfattning

Studying insect behavior under different temperatures often requires precise environmental control, typically only available in laboratory settings. This project introduces the Insect Experiment Box, a portable, customizable, and user-friendly temperature-controlled enclosure designed to support experiments on insects in the field. The system combines Infrared Radiation (IR) heating, temperature sensors, and fans, all managed by a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller running on an Arduino Uno microcontroller. A custom graphical user interface and webpage enables real-time control, monitoring and recording. These features are intended to broaden the system’s usability. Tests demonstrated that the system maintains stable preset temperatures between ambient temperature and 32°C throughout the box with deviations of less than ±2°C. However, achieving uniform temperature distribution becomes more difficult at temperature setpoints above 32°C, occasionally exceeding the ±2°C error margin threshold. Despite this, the system performs reliably for most experimental conditions. Future improvements could include better thermal insulation, the addition of active cooling using Peltier elements, expanded sensor coverage, and consolidation of the control system onto a single ESP32 microcontroller. Usability testing of the interface is also recommended. The Insect Experiment Box offers a flexible and user-friendly solution for temperature-sensitive field research, bridging the gap between lab-grade precision and on-site practicality.