Claims:An automated system for maintaining an optimum environment for plants for
optimized water usage, land usage, and fertilizers usage. , Description:TITLE OF THE INVENTION: INDOOR AUTOMATED HYDROPONIC
SYSTEM
FIELD OF INVENTION: MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
5 Hydroponics is a type of horticulture in which plants are usually grown without
normal soil, instead a mineral solution supported by an inert medium such as gravel.
The nutrients used to come from many different sources which include fish excrete,
natural manure, or artificial solutions. Hydroponics has become an upcoming
subject in recent times, though it has been in existence since the early ’80s. Plants
10 commonly grown hydroponically include tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, and
lettuce. The motive behind this invention is to develop and fabricate a hydroponic
setup that is efficient and automated, at the same time gain exposure in this field, to
be able to improvise and adapt to the requirements in the market, and hopefully be
able to generate a patent. We believe that this invention will help us gain hands-on
15 knowledge in fields such as Arduino coding, fabrication, and design, optimization
of plant growth, fine-tuning, and finishing of the setup to come up with a very costeffective and efficient process to grow essential plants at home effortlessly.
Considering the current situation hydroponics can be used as a very efficient way
to build a home garden that produces organic yields of essential fruits and
20 vegetables. Hydroponics produces great quality and yield, and it uses almost onefourth of the water used in normal irrigation. Making hydroponics easily available
to the common man is our group’s vision. Hydroponics will eliminate the fear of
obtaining vegetables that are injected, and which are artificially enhanced and thus
reduce the chances of any negative biomagnification. Overall, we can say that
hydroponics is the future of agriculture. It will be the face of modern techniques of
generating quality in production.
5 PRIOR ART OF WORK
(“US20190191639A1”) : A method of growing plants includes providing a plant
growing apparatus that includes a vertical stack plant assembly including plant pot
holders for pots, a movable light array adjustable to allow effective light for the
plants, and an outer shell assembly including at least one of a wall, a floor, a ceiling
10 creating a grow room. Potted plants are placed in the grow room, and light, water,
and nutrients are provided to the plants, where the light is provided by the movable
light array, water is provided by a watering system, and nutrients are provided by a
nutrient delivery system. A plant growing apparatus includes a vertical stack plant
assembly including plant pot holders for pots, a movable light array adjustable to
15 allow effective light for the plants, and an outer shell assembly including at least
one of a wall, a floor, and a ceiling creating a grow room.
(“US10225994B1”) : A conveyor system (4, 5) moves vertical poles (2) in an
agricultural facility between a growing area (20) and a workstation (W). Each pole
carries plant growing containers (3) at multiple levels (H1-H9). An irrigation
20 reservoir (30) may be mounted on each pole. Irrigation lines (31-33) from the
reservoir may be individually metered (35) at each level to compensate for differing
water pressure with height. Sensors (40) in the reservoir and at each level of the
poles may provide a controller (36) with data input. The controller may impose
different growing conditions in different areas of the facility, including vertically
different grow areas (20A, 20B), and controls pole movements and locations
selectively to provide a sequence of poles at the workstation ready to harvest on a
5 demanding schedule. The workstation may have multiple heights (W1, W2, W3)
for tall poles that increase plant density per facility footprint.
(“KR101766364B1”) : The present specification relates to
a hydroponic cultivation system. More specifically, a portable and multistage hydroponic cultivation system is based on an internet and communication
10 technology (ICT) scheme and is used to grow low-height crops strawberries grown
in a glasshouse on multi-stage beds (hereinafter referred to as cultivation beds) in
a hydroponic cultivation manner. According to an embodiment of the present
invention, the multi-stage hydroponic cultivation system includes a driving unit;
first and second wires; a light amount sensor; a moisture sensor; and a controller.
15 (“KR101766364B1”): The present specification relates to
a hydroponic cultivation system. More specifically, a portable and multistage hydroponic cultivation system is based on an internet and communication
technology (ICT) scheme and is used to grow low-height crops strawberries grown
in a glasshouse on multi-stage beds (hereinafter referred to as cultivation beds) in
20 a hydroponic cultivation manner. According to an embodiment of the present
invention, the multi-stage hydroponic cultivation system includes a driving unit;
first and second wires; a light amount sensor; a moisture sensor; and a controller.
(“KR101951702B1”) : The present invention relates to an automatic temperature
control system of a greenhouse using the temperature difference between external
and indoor air, which can easily perform a temperature control and ventilation,
comprising: a high-installed cultivation bed; a plurality of horizontal supports; a
5 hanger of a swing shape; an air supply pipe; a semi-spherical cover; a suction pipe;
a blocking film; a heat exchange air conditioner; an outlet; a temperature sensor;
and a temperature controller.
(“KR20200035302A”) : An automatic and modular system for handling trays 32
used for accommodating plants grown through hydroponics or hydroponics or
10 aquaponic agriculture, etc., wherein a system is a rectangular plane divided by each
vertical support 31 And a first module 30 having a vertical arrangement, wherein
the first module 30 includes a plurality of substantially horizontal and overlapping
support seats or guides 37, 37 'for the tray 32, respectively. It is operated by an
electric assembly 34 capable of translating the vertical conveying device 33 from
15 the lower position to the raised position or from the raised position to the lowered
position for the two side zones and each tray 32 comprising an It includes a central
zone in which the vertical tray conveying device 33 is slidably moved along the
vertical axis Z disposed on the moving means, and the vertical conveying device 33
includes a resting line for the tray 32. (33 ') and the first means for moving said tray
20 along a first horizontal axis (Y) from each sheet and toward a respective sheet
provided to one of said inner side surface areas are provided. The first module 30
also includes a second means 36 arranged in the central zone in which the elevator
device 33 is operated, the second means 36 having a tray with the elevator device
33 The other shelf 33 'of the other vertical transfer device 33 of the second module
30, which is in charge of the tray 32 when placed on the shelf 33' of the second
module 30 and is connected to and arranged side by side with the first module It is
configured to displace the tray 32 along a second horizontal axis X orthogonal to
5 the first horizontal axis Y to perform a direct transfer of the tray 32 towards.
OBJECTS OF INVENTION
The following presents a simplified summary of the invention to provide a basic
understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive
overview of the present invention. It is not intended to identify the key/critical
10 elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose
is to present some concept of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to a
more detailed description of the invention presented later.
It is soil-less agriculture.
• By using this technic every home can have a small hydroponic system to grow
15 their required vegetables at home.
• Automation in hydroponic farming is done to have many advantages for healthy
growth of plants which leads to an increase in yield of the farm with the proper
amount of nutrients, light, water, and healthy temperature conditions.
• It also shows indicators and alarm systems in unusual conditions.
20 • It stores all the parameters of the farm in the cloud, which gives every minute
information to the owner.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The following description is of exemplary embodiments only and is not intended to
limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather,
the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing
5 exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described
embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements
described without departing from the scope of the invention.
Using automation of the water circulation controller in the construction of a
monitoring system and automation of hydroponic water circulation controllers.
10 Based on temperature and humidity factors, this approach is used to determine
whether water circulation will be accomplished by turning on the pump or not by
shutting off the pump in hydroponics. In building a monitoring system and
automation of hydroponic water circulation controllers, using the fuzzy Sugeno
method for automation of the water circulation controller. This method is applied
15 to help conclude that water circulation will be done by turning on the pump or not
circulating water by turning off the pump in hydroponics based on temperature and
humidity parameters
• All the sensors will be connected to the ESP32NodeMCU.
• ESP32 will be configured with wifi name, password, and Authentication key. •
20 The data sensed by the sensors will be preprocessed by the ESP32NodeMCU
• According to the value changes in the sensor data the NodeMCU will send a signal
to the actuators to create a balanced environment for the plants.
• All the data will be sent to things peek cloud and can be monitored remotely.
• If there is an emergency, a notification will be sent to the respective person.
Hydroponic System- Monitoring (consisting of various sensors), regulating block
diagram of the IoT Based Automated, automating, and storing data are the
5 components of the system. The Arduino Mega 2560 is utilized to meet the need for
interfacing all of these factors to perform synchronization. The temperature and
humidity sensors monitor the environment, while the pH level sensor determines
the pH of the nutrient solution, and the electrical conductivity sensor checks the
nutritional value. Furthermore, the water sprinklers will be able to cool down and
10 manage humidity within the planting house thanks to the Humidity Adjustment
Unit. Sprinklers are required to sprinkle the pH solution/nutrient solution/water as
a result of humidity, pH, and EC sensors. The pH pump will assist the plant in
receiving the pH solution. The pH level should be between 5-6.5 for the plant to be
unaffected. LED Grow lights are used to produce lights (red and blue) at two
15 distinct spectrums simultaneously without bleeding into other wavelengths and
minimal heat production. In addition, the pest detection unit will detect pests on
plants and sprinklers will be activated to sprinkle organic pesticides. The output
data is connected to an ESP8266 Wi-Fi module, allowing it to be saved in the cloud
and watched remotely.
20 The design of the Automated Hydroponics System consists of a frame made of Cast
Iron with space for the hydroponic reservoir. On the upper surface of the frame
would be the wooden swivel plate on which the hydroponics plants would be set
up. The swivel plate would rotate about by a DC motor positioned at the center. The
rotational speed would be relatively slow. The hydroponic plants are placed in PVC
pipes having a 2-inch diameter and are 1 and a half feet in length. 8 holes are cut
for the placement of the hydroponic plants. An electric DC pump motor is placed
5 inside the hydroponic reservoir with its outlet facing towards the plants. There is a
humidity and temperature sensor placed along with a point with a fan as well. The
system also consists of LDR sensors for detecting luminous intensity (sunlight).
When switched on, the ESP32 needs to be connected to a mobile phone with its
internet and hotspot on. On connection, we can observe several parameters on the
10 application BLYNK. By pressing " SPIN " on the app, it facilitates the rotational
movement of the swivel plate. The temperature and humidity parameters of each
plant are being read and monitored on the application. Upon completion of one
rotation, the water level sensor senses the amount of water and supplies it according
from the reservoir to the plants using the DC pump motor. Even when the
15 temperature and humidity go above a certain level, the fan gets initiated and hence
the circulation of air causes the decrease in temperature. If there isn't much sunlight
then the LDR sensor sends feedback which causes the LED light strip placed to
light up to give the required luminosity.
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the specific features of the
20 preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated that many additional features can be
added and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiment without
departing from the principles of the disclosure. These and other changes in the
preferred embodiment of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art
from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the
foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the
disclosure and not as a limitation.
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15
CLAIMS
I/WE CLAIM
An automated system for maintaining an optimum environment for plants for
optimized water usage, land usage, and fertilizers usage.
5
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15
ABSTRACT
Hydroponics is the method of cultivation of plants in a soil-less environment by
focusing on fulfilling the nutritional requirements of the plant. Hydroponics is a
type of modern agriculture that used substantially lesser amounts of water as
5 compared to other primitive types of agriculture. Deep Flow Technology (DFT) is
a type of hydroponics where there is a continuous supply of nutrient solution and
the roots of the plants are always inundated in the water surface. The main
disadvantage of this however is that it requires constant supervision of various
parameters such as the pH, luminosity, water level, and humidity. Hence it was
10 required to create a product that would be Autonomous in its functioning with the
least human intervention. It was required to create an IoT-based system that would
collect the plant growth elements using sensors integrated with an esp32. The
monitoring process using the application "Blynk" will display data on plant growth
elements in form of pH, temperature, humidity, and water level in the hydroponic
15 reservoir. Temperature and humidity are used as water and air circulation
parameters that are processed using the ESP32. From the results carried out, the
system can monitor plant growth elements displayed on the application in real-time
and control water circulation automatically. This system was also created to the
brink of the gap of an indoor hydroponic domestic appliance that was lacking in the
20 market. The current systems were very space and energy-consuming and catered
mostly to the commercial needs of an organization. This product has the potential
to cater to domestic needs