Vertical Growing Containers With Robotic Grid Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional crop growing systems require large areas of land and are inefficient in terms of land use, capital, and labor, and existing storage and retrieval systems for containers are costly and impractical for handling multiple product lines in enclosed spaces.
Innovation Solution
A mechanized plant growing system utilizing a grid pattern of parallel rails with robotic load handling devices that can lift and move containers, equipped with service means for cultivation, such as sensors, data logging, communication, water, and lighting, allowing for efficient storage and retrieval of plants in a compact area.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional crop growing systems are used, then crops can be grown in open fields, but large areas of land are required and efficiency in terms of land use, capital and labor is low
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from two-dimensional ground-based farming to three-dimensional vertical stacking of containers. Multiple layers of containers are stacked vertically, allowing crops to be grown in multiple levels within the same footprint area, thereby dramatically increasing land use efficiency and productivity per unit area.
Solution Approach 2:
The growing system is divided into discrete, modular containers that can be independently stacked, moved, and managed. Each container serves as an independent growing unit, allowing for segmented control of growing conditions and enabling efficient space utilization through vertical arrangement.
2Reliability
If hydroponics systems are used, then high quality crops can be grown indoors with high utilization of lighting, water and fertiliser, but efficiency in terms of land use, capital and labour is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
By implementing vertical stacking of hydroponic containers, the system maintains the high crop quality benefits of hydroponics while dramatically improving land use efficiency. The multi-layer configuration allows the same capital investment to serve multiple growing levels, thereby increasing productivity per unit area compared to traditional single-level hydroponic systems.
3Volume of stationary object
If freestanding stacks of containers with hoisting mechanisms are used, then storage volume is reduced, but the cost is impractical and complicated mechanisms are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical hoisting mechanisms with a simplified rail-based transport system. Containers are moved along horizontal rails using less complex mechanisms, eliminating the need for sophisticated vertical lifting and positioning systems while maintaining efficient space utilization through standardized stacking.
4Productivity
If robotic load handlers with tubes are used, then multiple containers can be lifted at once, but the height of the tube must be as least as high as the height of the largest stack
Solution Approach 1:
The load handling function is segmented into multiple independent robotic units, each responsible for a specific grid space. This allows containers to be handled in smaller, manageable increments rather than requiring a single tall mechanism to reach the entire stack height, thereby reducing the overall system height while maintaining handling efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system distributes handling operations across multiple horizontal levels rather than requiring vertical reach. By positioning robotic load handlers at different heights on the grid, containers can be accessed and transferred at various levels, eliminating the need for a single tall tube structure.
5Volume of stationary object
If stacks of containers are arranged within a frame structure, then space is utilized efficiently, but robotic load handlers covering multiple grid spaces reduce the density of load handlers
Solution Approach 1:
Each robotic load handler is assigned to a specific grid space rather than covering multiple spaces. This segmentation increases the density of load handlers within the system, allowing more concurrent operations to occur simultaneously. Each unit operates independently within its designated space, maximizing overall system productivity while maintaining efficient vertical stacking.
Data Source
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AI summary
A growing system is described where plants are grown in containers 10 and the containers (10) are stored in stacks (12). Above the stacks (12) runs a grid network of tracks on which load handling devices (30) run. The load handling devices take containers (10) from the stacks (12) and deposit then at alternative locations in the stacks or deposit then at stations where goods may be picked out. The containers (10) may be provided with one or more of the following services: power, power control, heating, lighting, cooling, sensing means, data logging means, growing means, water and nutrients. The provision of these services within individual containers rather than across the system as a whole, allows for flexibility in storage whilst reducing cost and inefficiency and enables multiple crops to be grown in a single area.