Soilless Cultivation Control Using Drainage Feedback and AI
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Solution Overview
Problem
Soilless cultivation systems face inefficiencies in irrigation and fertigation due to challenges in estimating evapotranspiration (ETc) and managing nutrient salts, leading to water and nutrient waste, particularly in environments with varying technological capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A smart system utilizing sensors and AI-driven Dynamic Bayesian Networks to monitor and control irrigation and fertigation, predicting crop coefficients and maintaining optimal chemical conditions in real-time, with a portable and easy-to-install setup.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If frequent irrigations with continuous nutrient supply are applied to compensate for low root zone volume, then crop water and nutrient needs are met, but water and nutrient use efficiency decreases due to large uncontrolled drainage
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements closed-loop feedback control by continuously monitoring drainage volume and composition (EC and pH) and using this information to adjust irrigation and fertigation rates. Sensors detect actual water and nutrient uptake by plants, and the control system modifies supply rates to maintain optimal conditions while minimizing drainage losses.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables plants to effectively regulate their own water and nutrient intake by allowing them to control drainage flow through automated valve adjustment. When plants take up less water and nutrients, the system automatically reduces irrigation and fertigation rates, letting plants 'self-regulate' their resource consumption based on actual needs.
2Measurement precision
If climate computers with high technology are used to control irrigation, then irrigation accuracy improves, but system cost and operational complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces expensive climate computers with simple, low-cost sensors and basic control valves that can be easily installed and maintained. The approach uses affordable drainage flow sensors and EC/pH meters instead of sophisticated climate control systems, achieving comparable irrigation accuracy through direct plant response monitoring rather than complex environmental prediction.
Solution Approach 2:
The system substitutes complex electronic climate control systems with a simpler sensor-based feedback mechanism. Instead of using computers to predict and control irrigation based on climate data, the system uses direct physical measurement of drainage flow and composition to automatically adjust irrigation, replacing sophisticated software algorithms with straightforward sensor-control valve mechanics.
3Ease of manufacture
If simple greenhouse structures with low technology are used, then installation cost decreases, but irrigation efficiency deteriorates due to open-loop systems with unrecycled leachate
Solution Approach 1:
The system combines simple greenhouse structures with an integrated closed-loop fertigation control system. Basic drainage collection is merged with automated sensor monitoring and control valve adjustment, creating a unified system that maintains installation simplicity while achieving high irrigation efficiency through continuous feedback control of water and nutrient application.
4Measurement precision
If manual monitoring of drainage volume and chemical characteristics is performed, then fertigation control accuracy improves, but time consumption and operational burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables automatic self-monitoring of drainage characteristics through installed sensors that continuously measure flow volume, electrical conductivity, and pH levels. The system serves itself by automatically detecting drainage conditions and adjusting fertigation without requiring manual intervention, eliminating the time burden of daily drainage checking while maintaining high monitoring accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces manual drainage monitoring with automated electronic sensors and control systems. Instead of growers physically collecting and analyzing drainage samples, electronic sensors continuously measure drainage parameters and feed data to the control system, substituting labor-intensive manual analysis with automated electronic detection and control.
Data Source
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AI summary
The system (100) may be used for managing soilless cultivations in a smart way and comprises at least: a basin (110) configured to carry plants (115), placed in particular in pots (112) or on a slab (113), and plant substrate (116), contained in particular in the pots (112) or the slab (113), and to collect any drainage solution (114), in particular from the pots (112) or the slab (113), a base (120) configured to support the basin (110), at least one weight sensor (130A, 130B) configured to detect weight of the basin (110) with plants (115), substrate (116) and any drainage solution (114), a temperature sensor (142) configured to measure air temperature above the basin (110), a humidity sensor (144) configured to measure air humidity above the basin (110), a radiation sensor (146) configured to measure global radiation above the basin (110), possibly a wind sensor (148) configured to measure wind speed above the basin (110), a drainage valve (170) configured to discharge drainage solution (114) from the basin (110), possibly an irrigation valve (180) configured to irrigate the plants (115) in the basin (110), and a controller (190), comprising in particular an loT device; the controller (190) is coupled to the sensors as well as to the drainage valve (170) and the irrigation valve (180), and is configured to control the valves based on data from the sensor. Such system is able to calculate automatically the current values of several important agronomic parameters as well as to predict for example crop biomass, crop evapotranspiration, crop growth and crop coefficient through one or more Dynamic Bayesian Networks as well as to measure pH and EC of the drainage solution, which is important for optimizing the fertigation in the soilless systems.