Grow Tower Interface for Automated Vertical Farming Processing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current controlled environment agriculture systems lack efficient automated processing and conveyance mechanisms for vertical grow towers, limiting the ability to optimize crop yield, nutrition, and space utilization in vertical farming.
Innovation Solution
An automated crop production system that integrates horizontal-to-vertical interfaces for grow towers, including conveyance mechanisms and processing stations for harvesting, cleaning, and transplanting, with tower buffers to enhance system efficiency and adaptability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automated processing and conveyance mechanisms are integrated for vertical grow towers, then productivity and system efficiency are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the automated processing function into separate modular stations (harvesting station, cleaning station, transplanting station) that independently process grow towers at different stages. Each station is self-contained and can be maintained or replaced without affecting other stations, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining high productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
Tower buffers serve as intermediary storage zones between processing stations, decoupling the operational cycles of different stations. This allows each station to operate at its optimal speed without being constrained by the pace of other stations, improving productivity while simplifying the coordination complexity through standardized buffer interfaces.
2Adaptability or versatility
If horizontal-to-vertical interfaces are implemented for grow tower processing, then adaptability and versatility are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs dynamically reconfigurable routing mechanisms that can adapt the flow path of grow towers based on processing needs. Conveyance mechanisms can be programmed to route towers to different processing stations or bypass certain stations entirely, providing versatility without requiring permanent complex infrastructure for each possible routing scenario.
Solution Approach 2:
The horizontal-to-vertical interface design incorporates universal mounting and transfer mechanisms that can handle different grow tower configurations and processing requirements through a single standardized interface. This multi-functional interface reduces the need for multiple specialized mechanisms, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining adaptability.
3Productivity
If tower buffers are added at select locations in the processing path, then productivity and system efficiency are improved, but device complexity and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of implementing buffers throughout the entire processing path, the system strategically places tower buffers only at critical decoupling points where they provide maximum throughput improvement. This partial implementation achieves productivity gains while minimizing the space required for buffer infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The tower buffer design utilizes vertical stacking arrangements where multiple buffer positions are nested within a compact vertical structure. This nesting approach allows the system to provide sufficient buffering capacity for high productivity while occupying minimal horizontal floor space, effectively resolving the space versus throughput contradiction.
Data Source
AI summary
An automated crop production system for controlled environment agriculture that includes a horizontal-to-vertical grow tower interface between a vertical grow structure that includes vertical grow towers and associated conveyance mechanisms for moving the vertical grow towers through a controlled environment, and a processing system that performs one or more processing operations—such as harvesting, cleaning and/or transplanting—on the grow towers in a substantially horizontal orientation. The present disclosure also describes an automated crop production system for controlled environment agriculture that selectively routes grow towers through various processing stages of an automated crop production system.