Application of Internet of Things (IoT) technology on a Solar Dryer Dome to enhance the monitoring effectiveness of the coffee bean drying process

Abstract

This study utilises Internet of Things (IoT) technology to enhance the monitoring effectiveness of  coffee bean drying in a solar dryer dome in Karang Sidemen Village, Central Lombok Regency. The objectives of this study are to control the IoT-based solar dryer dome device, analyse the performance of the implemented system, and improve the effectiveness of the monitoring tool during the drying process of coffee beans. The system was designed using an ESP32 microcontroller, a LoRa RA-02 SX1278 communication module, and several sensors, including an SHT31 (for temperature and humidity), a GY-302 BH1750 (for light intensity), and a DS18b20 (for material temperature). Sensor data is transmitted from the LoRa Sender to the LoRa Receiver, stored on an SD card, and sent to the ThingSpeak platform for remote real-time monitoring. The test results indicate that the system can read, transmit, and display data with high accuracy, exhibiting minimal discrepancies between the Sender and Receiver data. During the drying process, the temperature remained between 36°C and 39°C with humidity levels of 48–54% RH, supporting the optimal reduction of coffee bean moisture content. The application of IoT in the solar dryer dome proved effective in facilitating monitoring, reducing manual intervention, and improving the consistency and quality of the drying results.