Students at UNY once again demonstrated their role in delivering real solutions for society. Through the Student Creativity Programme – Application of Science & Technology (PKM-PI), a student team introduced “SmartCleaner: Solar-Powered Cleaning System & Ammonia Monitoring”, to assist the farmers’ group “Kelompok Tani Ngudi Makmur” in Gunung Manuk Village, Patuk District, Gunungkidul.

The innovation emerged from concerns over a classic issue faced by cattle farmers: the barn is difficult to clean regularly and high levels of ammonia gas pose danger to the livestock.

The creative team consists of Veri Saputra (Electrical Engineering Education), Shafa Feby Ayuningtyas (Electrical Engineering Education), and Anida Syafa Hapsari (Biology). They went into the field, spoke directly with farmers, and found that due to time and manpower constraints, barn cleaning was done only 3-4 times a week. As a result, manure built up, ammonia gas rose, and the health of the cattle suffered: weight drop of up to 15 % and economic losses reaching around Rp 400 million per cycle.

The SmartCleaner system was built in the Electrical workshop of the Faculty of Engineering at UNY. It integrates core components: a solar panel as the main green energy source; the solar‐electric power drives an automatic scraper motor working on a schedule via a Real-Time Clock (RTC) module; a sensor (MQ-137) detects ammonia gas concentration; if the ammonia level exceeds threshold, an exhaust fan activates automatically and a notification is sent to the farmer’s smartphone via an IoT application; the manure scraped is collected in a special container to be processed into organic fertiliser.

The implementation has shown significant results: barn cleaning that used to take 1–2 hours is reduced to about 15 minutes per day. The farmers’ workload is reduced, the cattle are healthier (weight gain increased by about 0.3–0.8 kg per day), and productivity improved. The organic fertiliser derived from the waste opened new economic potentials.

Team leader Veri Saputra shared his hope: “SmartCleaner is not only helping the Ngudi Makmur farmers, but can become a model for implementing renewable energy and IoT in smallholder livestock farming across Indonesia. We hope farmers’ welfare will increase, the environment will be healthier and national food security stronger.”

This innovation aligns with UNY’s “UNY Berdampak” campaign, and the “Dikti Saintek Berdampak” initiative, through transforming science & technology into real-world solutions. It also strengthens the university’s commitment to the Tri Dharma of Higher Education (education, research, community service).