Modular Cultivation System with Ambulatory Growing Modules
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vertical farming systems are inefficient and labor-intensive due to their fixed, immobile designs, which hinder economic feasibility and maximize crop productivity within limited space.
Innovation Solution
A modular, expandable, and collapsible cultivation system featuring ambulatory growing modules and a circular automated operational protocol, utilizing robots for mobility and automation in planting, growing, and harvesting, allowing for flexible configuration and optimal use of space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional fixed vertical farming systems are used, then structural stability is maintained, but mobility and accessibility for maintenance are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by transforming the fixed vertical farming system into a mobile one. The complete cultivation system including growing modules, shelving units, and support structures is designed to be movable on wheels or tracks, allowing the entire system to be relocated and reconfigured within the facility, thereby improving accessibility for maintenance and harvesting operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the vertical farming system into modular components including individual growing modules, shelving units, and support structures that can be independently moved and reconfigured. This segmentation allows flexible arrangement and easy access to different parts of the system without requiring movement of the entire structure.
2Productivity
If fixed cultivation systems are used, then space utilization is maximized, but labor intensity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile system allows dynamic reconfiguration of growing modules to optimize space utilization while reducing labor intensity. Modules can be easily moved to accessible positions for maintenance and harvesting without requiring complex machinery or extensive manual handling, thereby maintaining high productivity per unit space while reducing operational labor requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile growing modules are designed with multi-functionality, serving both as cultivation containers and as movable units that can be easily transported and repositioned. This universal design allows the same structure to fulfill multiple functions including space-efficient cultivation and easy accessibility, reducing the need for additional equipment or infrastructure.
3Adaptability or versatility
If modular expandable systems are implemented, then adaptability to different spaces is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into standardized modular components including growing modules, shelving units, and support structures with uniform connection interfaces. This segmentation enables flexible assembly and expansion to adapt to different space configurations while maintaining relatively simple individual component designs, balancing adaptability with structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple functional elements are merged into integrated modular units that combine growing containers, shelving, and support structures into single assembly units. This merging reduces the number of separate components and connection points, thereby simplifying the overall assembly structure while maintaining high adaptability to different spatial configurations.
Data Source
AI summary
Modular cultivation systems utilized in a Vertical Farm or Plant Factory is described herein. The modular cultivation system has a growing module that includes an expandable and collapsible support frame with growing boards or pods, lighting boards, and an irrigation system arranged within the support frame to maximize the quantity of crops that can be grown within an available volume of space in a Vertical Farm unit, warehouse or greenhouse per unit time. The modular cultivation system further includes a mover robot for moving the growing module. The Vertical Farm relies on an ambulatory cultivation system and a cyclical automated operational protocol for planting, growing and harvesting made possible by the ambulatory growing module. Thus, access for crop planting, maintenance and harvesting is conveniently carried out through automation, that is, by commanding a specific ambulatory cultivation system to move autonomously to designated locations in the vertical farm.