Customer application
Smart Light Control for Light like in the Gulf of Mexico

The SwissShrimp AG in Rheinfelden was the first Swiss company dedicated to sustainable prawn farming. Because the lighting is crucial, this startup relies on lighting controllers from WAGO.

Let the raw shrimp marinate for half an hour in a mixture lime juice, chili and cilantro, and then serve them cold – that’s Markus Thon’s favorite recipe for this delicacy. However, it takes quite a bit of time before the production manager of SwissShrimp AG can enjoy his ceviche. Delivered during the post-larval stage at a scant three to four millimeters in size, the shrimp require at least six months to mature until they are as big around as a man’s thumb and as long as a pen. Only then are they ready for the Central American dish. In order for the animals to remain healthy, they require plant-based food, which is produced in Europe, and the correct lighting. These fast swimmers don’t like sudden changes in light at all – they give them such high stress levels that they can die of heart failure, in which case they end up as food for more stress-resistant members of their colony.

The animals should grow up in the environment they are familiar with.

Rafael Waber, CEO of SwissShrimp AG

Simulating the Natural Habitat with an Intelligent Lighting Concept

Out in the wild, prawns can spend time among mangrove roots and algae, for example. However, these features would impair the water treatment system’s function – once per hour, it completely processes the contents of the large plastic ponds, at 40 by 5 meters, and cleans the excretions of the approximately 80,000 inhabitants from the 100 cubic meters of water. Additional organic waste would require a more complex system. So, how can the natural habitat of saltwater organisms be recreated without stretching the water treatment equipment to its limits? SwissShrimp found an interesting approach: By using 210 DALI lights, they could simulate the lighting conditions in the Gulf of Mexico in two windowless halls. Additional structures to increase surface area, like plastic tubes lowered into the ponds, create places for the organisms to retreat to, without the contaminants that mangroves or algae would bring.

By simulating the light in the Gulf of Mexico, SwissShrimp has blazed a trail that could prove to be groundbreaking for the entire sector. In most aquaculture operations, the first employee to arrive in the morning switches the lights on, and the last to leave at night shuts them off. Smooth transitions from darkness to light and vice versa, which would substantially help the animals, are difficult to achieve with a simple light switch.

Simulating the sun’s position through programming is not a typical task, even for us.

Reto Guglielmo, Autcomp AG

Finely Graduated Dimming without Programming Experience

But how do you simulate the day-and-night cycle in the Gulf of Mexico? This question led Rafael Waber and Marcus Thon to Autcomp AG. This engineering services provider, headquartered in Chur with subsidiaries throughout Switzerland, has helped provide the right lighting for buildings and tunnels for decades. However, despite this expertise, this project was something special even for the Building Automation department in Wohlen, Switzerland.

The problem of gradually dimming proved very easy with a PFC100 Controller from WAGO. Using e!COCKPIT, Reto Guglielmo programmed an intuitive visualization, which is easy to operate and provides only the most essential basic functions. This approach allows the employees without programming experience to operate the controllers and, for example, manually define a light curve for the daylight cycle.

Light Control via Web Visualization

To allow production manager Marcus Thon to perfectly tailor the light to the growth phase of the shrimp, the pond lighting in the two halls is divided into two groups: one light strand for each of the four pools in the first floor, and the same for the four on the second floor. These can act independently and play back an individual lighting program in automatic mode. Eleven of these can be defined, stored and assigned to the respective light strands by the lighting program. The best part: Thon only has to define one brightness value per hour to simulate daylight; the program automatically divides each hour into six parts in order to more gradually alter the brightness level. The controller transmits the newly calculated value to all the lights every ten minutes via the DALI bus.

The managers of SwissShrimp are very satisfied with the lighting solution from Autcomp AG. It is easy to operate and allows for individual lighting scenarios that can be adapted to the prawns’ growth phases. Thon is quite happy that he can access the Web visualization using a laptop, desktop, tablet or smartphone, from anywhere and at any time. While he lives within a stone’s throw of his workplace, now he can also travel without guilt. After all, the health of the shrimp is very important to him – even if he likes them best as ceviche.

Photos: SwissShrimp AG

Product Overview

Item no.: 753-647

DALI Multi-Master

Item no.: 750-8100

Controller PFC100 ; 2 x ETHERNET ; ECO

Item no.: 762-1104

Web Panel ; 26.4 cm (10.4") ; 640 x 480 pixels

Lighting Installation and Automation that Proves its Worth

Modern lighting is demand-oriented, convenient and energy-saving. This assumes that your skilled planning, an optimum installation and intelligent lighting control fully exploit the potentials your system offers.

Intelligent Lighting Management from WAGO

WAGO Lighting Management is the refined solution for lighting control in large spaces such as production facilities or warehouses. Using a combination of predefined hardware and user-friendly software, WAGO offers a lighting management system that facilitates design and commissioning of new lighting systems while providing numerous additional advantages for their operation.

Riding the Waves under LED Light

With indoor surfing, an integrated fitness studio, regular sport events and a full range of services, the L&T Sporthaus in Osnabrück, Germany, makes sport a lively experience. The lighting concept itself plays a central role. Around 4500 LED lights, managed by WAGO's Controllers, create a wonderfully unique atmosphere at L&T.

Your WAGO Contact

Vertrieb_kontaktmodul_kundenservice_vertrieb_mann_gettyimages_482100240_400x346

Customer application Smart Light Control for Light like in the Gulf of Mexico