Sensor-Guided Glasshouse Acclimation for Tree Hardening
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing horticultural systems for trees are energy and water intensive, leading to inefficiency and increased costs, and fail to adequately transition trees from controlled environments to outdoor conditions, resulting in susceptibility to failure upon planting.
Innovation Solution
A horticultural environment system that uses internal and external sensors to adjust environmental conditions passively, predicting future conditions and minimizing resource use by leveraging external conditions, with a control system that triggers actuators to gradually acclimate trees to outdoor conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If passive glasshouse designs are used for tree propagation, then device complexity is reduced, but manufacturing precision and reliability of tree hardening are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by gradually acclimatizing trees to external environmental conditions before they are planted in woodlands. The control system progressively adjusts the controlled environment to match external conditions over time, preparing trees for outdoor survival and reducing shock when planted.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies dynamics by making the glasshouse environment adjustable and adaptable rather than static. The control system dynamically modifies environmental parameters (temperature, humidity, light) based on external conditions and tree development stage, allowing the environment to evolve with the trees' needs.
2Ease of operation
If manual control and intervention are used in tree propagation, then ease of operation is maintained, but productivity and resource efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by using sensors to continuously monitor environmental conditions inside the glasshouse and outside the environment. The control system receives this sensor data, compares it with target conditions, and automatically adjusts actuators to maintain optimal growing conditions, creating a closed-loop control system that improves precision and efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies self-service by enabling the glasshouse to automatically regulate its own environment without continuous manual intervention. The control system autonomously makes decisions about when to open/close vents, adjust lighting, or modify temperature based on sensor inputs and predetermined algorithms, reducing labor while improving consistency.
3Manufacturing precision
If controlled environment is kept closed to maintain optimal conditions, then manufacturing precision of environmental control is improved, but loss of time for tree acclimatization increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses dynamics by transitioning from a static closed environment to a dynamically adjustable one. The control system progressively opens the glasshouse to external conditions in controlled increments, allowing trees to adapt gradually. This dynamic approach maintains precision during the transition while reducing the total time needed for hardening compared to traditional methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies parameter changes by systematically modifying environmental parameters (temperature, humidity, light intensity, CO2 levels) from optimal growing conditions toward external woodland conditions. The control system adjusts these parameters in staged increments, enabling trees to adapt to changing conditions efficiently without shock.
4Manufacturing precision
If energy-intensive equipment is used to maintain controlled environment, then manufacturing precision of environmental control is improved, but use of energy increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system converts the previously harmful waste of energy into a benefit by utilizing free external environmental conditions. Instead of constantly fighting against external conditions with energy-intensive equipment, the system strategically opens the glasshouse to harness favorable external temperature, light, and humidity, converting what was previously a control challenge into a resource.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies self-service by enabling the glasshouse to naturally regulate its environment through passive exchange with the external environment. The control system opens vents and allows natural airflow, lighting, and temperature regulation to occur without active heating, cooling, or artificial lighting, dramatically reducing energy consumption while maintaining adequate growing conditions.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
A horticultural environment system and method are disclosed. The system includes a controlled environment for accommodating plants, a first sensor configured to monitor an environmental condition of the controlled environment, a second sensor configured to monitor an environmental condition of an external environment comprising an environment external to the controlled environment, an actuator operable to open or close the controlled environment to the environmental condition of the external environment and a control system configured to receive the sensor data from the first and second sensors, to identify a first difference in the environmental condition between the controlled environment and a predetermined setpoint from the sensor data. If the first difference is greater than a predetermined amount, the control system is configured to determine, from the sensor data from the second sensor, a change to the first difference upon the controlled environment being opened to the environmental condition of the external environment. If the control system determining the change reduces the first difference, the control system is configured to trigger operation of the actuator to open the controlled environment to the external environment.