Project
| # | Title | Team Members | TA | Documents | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | PhytoHome - Regulated Aeroponic System |
Joseph Rapp Pablo Catalan Umme Kulsoom |
Christopher Horn | design_document1.pdf design_document2.pdf final_paper1.pdf presentation1.pdf proposal1.pdf |
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| [Joseph Rapp - jprapp2], [Umme Kulsoom - kulsoom2], [Pablo Catalan - pabloc2] **PROBLEM** In today’s world there are several problems that exist as it regards traditional horizontal farming. The first of these problems is the enormous amount of space that needs to be available for traditional farming, and a growing lack of this needed space in certain areas of the world due to increased residential and urban populations. Second, traditional farming in certain areas of the world has seasonal limitations due to weather conditions as well as risk of lower yield or crop destruction due to potentially experiencing strenuous weather conditions during periods of production. These first two problems highlight the physical limitations of traditional farming. Third, pollution from pesticides is a harmful side effect of traditional farming. Although pesticide may help to sustain crop yields, it is resulting in contamination of fertile land, water pollution, and arguably less healthy food. Ultimately, these problems effect humans and the environment in many places around the world, and in particular these problems effect farmers. The problems exist year-round and wherever weather conditions in farm land are harsh or wherever there is a growing need for and lack of space. These problems need to be fixed because they affect our environment and deal with how we grow and produce food, which is one of the fundamental physical needs of humans. **SOLUTION OVERVIEW** A solution to these three problems is an aeroponics system. Aeroponics allows for food production to grow vertically, and allows easy provision of an enclosed, regulated environment which protects plants from pathogens and a physically harsh environment that has the potential to reduce annual yield. Due to this isolated, protected growing environment, the need for pesticides, if not completely eliminated, is dramatically reduced. Additionally, aeroponics also allows for increased plant watering efficiency due to being able to apply water and nourishment directly to the roots of the plant. Finally, aeroponics allows for steady, year-round food production. The idea behind our proposed aeroponics system is that it is a model that could be used commercially and/or scaled to a much larger level for mass-scale food production. **SOLUTION COMPONENTS** The features of this aeroponics system are described below. The system may be powered through solar panels, and/or rechargeable lithium ion batteries, or through a wall-outlet. The model aeroponics device consists of a central control unit that interacts with the environment through the following three subsystems: • **Lighting Subsystem** o Consists of organic LEDs that emit specific wavelengths that are absorbed by the plants o The system will monitor and account for natural light that has entered the closed environment and use this data to determine LED operation time according to a specified protocol for how much light a given plant should receive. o The sensor needed for the fulfillment of this subsystem is a photo sensor to monitor the amount of natural light that the plant is receiving. • **Water/Feeding Subsystem** o The water feeding system will use mist injectors to spray nutrient-laden water onto the roots of the plants. o A motor may be used to pressurize the water/plumbing and the control system will have the ability to either open or close the valves at the injector. o The injectors may activate either on a specified intermittent time period and/or based on feedback from the HVAC. o The components of the water/feeding system would be the water/nutrient tank, water pump, and mist injectors. • **Self-Regulating HVAC Subsystem** o Consists of sensors to detect temperature and humidity o Regulates temperature and humidity through a space heater, fan, and by indirectly controlling the water system **CRITERION FOR SUCCESS** The criterion for success would be proper demonstration that all of the systems mentioned above are working properly and is able to sustain plant life. This would involve designing a series of tests to ensure proper functionality of each sub-system under a variety of different environment conditions. **ADDITIONAL NOTES** Notes on design novelty: Obviously the idea of vertical farming is not new, and so this idea of a scalable aeroponics system is not novel. Our idea is more innovative than novel. We have found that other systems that implement aeroponics on a small-scale level like our system have some of the following “issues” or downsides. 1) They do not have an enclosed, controlled atmosphere. 2) If a protected environment is present, it is not regulated. 3) They do not have organic light which is more efficient than regular white LED lighting. Thus, our system would be an improvement of certain other solutions we have found since it would offer environment and power advantages. |
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