Miniature Greenhouse for Precision

Agriculture
PROJECT PLAN

Team Number: DEC1617

Adviser: Liang Dong
Xinran Wang

Team Members/Roles:
Victor Gomez (Communication Leader)
Esdras Murillo (Team Leader)
Pat Martin (Webmaster)
Romina Rivadeneira (Webmaster)
Yufeng Huang (Key Concept Holder)
Austin Zehr (Key Concept Holder)
Team Email: DEC1617@iastate.edu
Team Website: dec1617.sd.ece.iastate.edu

Revised: February 20th, 2016

Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Project statement
1.2 Purpose
1.3 Goals
2 Deliverables
3 Design
3.1 Previous Work/Literature
3.2 Proposed System Block Diagram
3.3 Assessment of Proposed Methods
3.4 Validation
4 Project Requirements/Specifications
4.1 Functional
4.2 Non-functional
5 Challenges
6 Timeline
6.1 First Semester
6.2 Second Semester
7 Conclusions
8 References

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1 Introduction
1.1 PROJECT STATEMENT
In cooperation with the Plant Science Institute, our project aims to enable testing and controlling plant
growth under different conditions with relative ease. The main goal of this project is to create a system that
will follow a plants development. This system with also allow for testing different variables such as
temperature, light intensity, soil moisture, soil nutrient content, and CO2 levels. An automatic robotic
imaging system will be used to capture plant growth and watering of the plants will be controlled by a
water pump system in conjunction with a soil moisture sensor. This acquired data will then be made
wirelessly available and controllable by the use of a Raspberry-Pi microcomputer.

1.2 PURPOSE
In a world that is becoming more and more populated, efficient farming techniques are becoming essential.
The specifications for this type of system are important because they allow for complete control over a
plants environment, enabling researchers to understand their plant growth for better productions.

1.3 GOALS

Make use of a robotic arm to take images of plant growth.

Implement and expand the water pump system for water irrigation created by the previous senior
design group.
Build and test small greenhouses that can keep conditions constant for plant growth.
Design a sensor that detects the nitrate and ammonia levels in the soil.

2 Deliverables
In the end, we will create Greenhouse chamber in which we can use the robotic arm to take images of plant
growth. Inside the Chamber, we have the ability to control temperature, light, and water for the plant
growth. Our plan is to create a system that will be easily expandable.

3 Design
Include any possible methods and/or solutions for approaching the project at hand. You may want to
include diagrams such as flowcharts to, block diagrams, or other types to visualize these concepts.

3.1 PREVIOUS WORK/LITERATURE

Prior to starting work on this project, the team decided to gain some background knowledge on how
greenhouses work. Research was conducted on what techniques are used in greenhouses to facilitate plant
growth. Information on this can be found at source, How Greenhouses Work located in the References
section.
Previously, a wireless soil moisture sensor, watering system, and leaf thickness sensor were designed as
part of DEC1514s Senior Design project. We are tasked with updating this system and improving it to
include double the plant count, as well as implement a nutrient sensor system into the array. The previous
groups code is available from the referenced source current.ino in the References section.
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3.2 PROPOSED SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM

3.3 ASSESSMENT OF PROPOSED METHODS

For the moisture sensor, many different products are available. One is a probe that allows water to flow up
using a capillary method and is very reliable and accurate, but this wicks the water away from the system,
which can dramatically change the growth environment. The most common type is one that uses the
resistance measured across two to four parallel brass plates and relating it to a relative moisture content.
We will be using this approach, unless we find a better way, as it is already well proven to work.
For the watering system, the most common autonomous method used is to use an electric water pump that
is switched on when needed. If we were trying to push very small amounts of water around, this method
would be the least efficient. This method was used in the previous project, and no reason to deviate from
this has been found because we are pumping many milliliters of water at a time. The soil nutrient sensor
may have some sort of piezoelectric pump, or something that only pumps microliters at a time, due to the
amount of water siphoned for analyzation changing the soil environment dramatically.
For the lighting system, many different types of lighting are available. The main types are natural,
incandescent, fluorescent, and LED. We will be using LED lighting because the greenhouse will be inside a
lab, and natural lighting is not possible in most lab environments. LEDs are the most power efficient
option, and they are also small and available in almost any visible color spectrum choice desired.
For the robotic arm, our goal is to make use of it in as many practical ways as possible. We are exploring
ideas that include having the arm open a door or slide open a screen using a gripper, and the ability to pick
up a camera to take images of the plant. After we make sure that our base functions are in place, we will
look into expanding our options for use of the robotic arm.

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Because of the size of the greenhouses, a thermal control device must be used to change the temperature in
the growing space. There are two main options for heating; infrared and radiated heat. Because infrared can
change the growing pattern, we will use a radiated heat source. This source will be a small commercial offthe-shelf space heater switched with either a mechanical or a solid state relay. The two main cooling
sources are refrigerant-based and Peltier-type cooling. Due to refrigerant-based systems requiring large
spaces to run, and being quite noisy during operation, we will be using a Peltier device. This is less
efficient, but can fit into very small spaces.

3.4 VALIDATION
We will be using 32 mini greenhouses, and can try any and all solutions presented and compare the results
to obtain the best solution. Most confirmation will be software-based, as the major conformation portion
will be in the wireless communication, and the sensor readings verification.
The main goal of this project is to supply an environment where we control all the variables that affect
plant growth. Success in this project is measured by our ability to do so. We will have succeeded when we
can alter every variable to our specifications.

4 Project Requirements/Specifications
4.1 FUNCTIONAL
In order to fulfill the specifications of the project there are specific requirements that must be met for each
specification.

Specification: Create a system that controls the temperature in an environmental chamber (small
greenhouse) for plant growth.
o

Specification: Collaborate to create an improved and simple design of sensors to capture

important variables for plant growth.
o

Requirement: Sensors used throughout this project must be simple and accurate in their
measurements and must not be too expensive, as they are used in up to 32 growth
chambers.

Specification: Expand the capabilities of the previous automated water irrigation pump system.
o

Requirement: The system that controls the temperature inside each individual growth
chamber must feature a heating and cooling system and must keep the temperature
uniform throughout the inside of the chamber.

Requirement: New water pump system must be developed from the previously
developed system. New system should be improved to be more user friendly, and also
double the capabilities of irrigation from 16 to 32. This irrigation system should be able
to work in control with the automated robot.

Specification: Develop an LED lighting system capable of adjustable light intensity within the
growth chamber.
o

Requirement: In order to facilitate the best plant growth, the light intake needs to be
managed, by using an LED system that can have its light intensity controlled through a
micro controller. LED lighting system must be located inside the chamber, but must not
block the view of the robotic imaging system.
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Specification: Program a robotic arm to periodically take images of plant development.

o

Requirement: The client wants an up-to-date progress report on plant development at

any given time. In order to facilitate this, we will program a robotic arm that will take
images using a camera with a gripper attachment. The images will then be uploaded and
made available to whoever has access.

4.2 NON-FUNCTIONAL
The soil nutrient sensor is part of a separate PhD project, we are tasked with interfacing it into our endsystem. As long as the input/output data requirements are provided for this sensor system before the end of
the greenhouse project, we shall implement it into the final system.
The final system must be able to be expanded from one greenhouse up to 32 greenhouses/plants, allowing
the monitor and control of each of these plants separately.
The system must be reliable and able to monitor and control soil moisture levels with minimal human input
if necessary. There must be enough storage space to ensure that the data will not overflow, as well as
having regular time intervals between measurements. This will be achieved by the use of wirelessly
transmitting the sensor data to a raspberry-pi, or other type of wirelessly connected server.

5 Challenges

Cost

Money at the moment isnt an issue, but as the project progresses unforeseen purchases
may need to be made.

Material
Finding the proper materials for insulation and light control has required some work up to
this point and is still being researched.
Equipment
We are currently looking into equipment that is compatible with our system and able to
complete the desired actions.
Knowledge of Area
Research is needed in most areas of this project before we are able to move forward. The
electrical system of water management, modeling software for design purposes, and
programming for the robotic arm.

6 Timeline
6.1 FIRST SEMESTER
Temperature Control (Yufeng Huang)
Control system in place to adjust temperature in greenhouses.
Lighting Control (Victor Gomez)
System in place to provide required lighting, and adjust for image quality.
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Water Pump System (Esdras Murillo and Romina Rivadeneira)

Set up for expansion of greenhouse system, able to monitor 32 plants.
Soil Sensor Monitoring System (Pat Martin)
Initial implementation of soil sensor to monitor soil moisture.
Robotic Arm (Austin Zehr)
Ability to take periodic images, documenting growth of the plant.
Ability to open a door/shutter, in order to take image of plant.
Website (Romina Rivadeneira and Pat Martin)
Have a fully functioning website documenting progress on the project.

6.2 SECOND SEMESTER

Temperature Control (Yufeng Huang)
Revision and improvement of system from first semester.
Lighting Control (Victor Gomez)
Revision and improvement of system from first semester.
Water Management (Esdras Murillo and Romina Rivadeneira)
Revision and improvement of system from first semester.
Soil Sensor Monitoring System (Pat Martin)
Revision and improvement of system from first semester.
Robotic Arm (Austin Zehr)
Revision and improvement of system from first semester.
Website (Romina Rivadeneira)
Revise and update the project with the final details before the end of the semester.

7 Conclusions
In this project, we will mainly create a Greenhouse chamber in which we can use the robotic arm to take
images of plant growth. Inside the Chamber, we have the ability to control temperature, light, and water for
the plant growth. Specifically, we will divide this project into four parts which are cooling and heating
system, lighting system, water pump control and robot control. In the first semester, we will set four groups
people to work in different parts. For cooling and heating part, we will mainly build a case for the cooling
machine and control the temperature inside the chamber. For lighting system, we will use blue, red and
green LED to control the light inside the chamber. For water pump control, we will develop the water
pump system to double the capabilities of irrigation from 16 to 32. For robot control, we will program the
robot arm and make it take images using a camera with a gripper attachment. In the second semester, we
will combine the four different parts to make it work together. In the end, we will have a complete chamber
for the final demo.

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8 References
current.ino, Matt Clucas, https://github.com/MattClucas/SeniorDesign/tree/master/Arduino/
How Greenhouses Work, Sara Elliot,
http://home.howstuffworks.com/lawn-garden/professional-landscaping/alternativemethods/greenhouse.htm

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