Putting IoT in an Aeroponics Farming System
- Ankur Gupta
- May 3, 2020
- 4 min read
Paul, introduced in the previous ARTICLE, led me inside the house and showed me all the aeroponic systems he had setup.
“Can you explain to me how this system works?” I asked him. It was the first time I was seeing an aeroponics system.
“Sure!”
What is Aeroponics Farming?
Aeroponics is a way of farming in which soil is not used while growing plants. The roots are kept either hanging in the air and water is sprinkled on them periodically or they are inserted in some material (sort of a sponge-like substance) which absorbs water and slowly moistens the roots over a period of time.
One possible configuration of an aeroponics system is shown in the diagram below:
The plants are kept hanging in the air and a motor pump sprays water and nutrients onto the roots at pre-specified intervals. The pump also has a timer that sets the intervals at which the pump gets activated to work.
Another possible configuration for an aeroponics system, and the one that Paul had in his house was a vertical farming setup in which the entire garden was placed on a vertical tower.
The plants and their roots are inserted in small flower-pots that are pre-filled with a sponge-like substance that is used to evenly spread water across the roots and hold the plant in place. The motor pump at the bottom pumps up water to the top of the tower where a porous plastic disk and gravity ensure that the water falls back down in the form of constant droplets. In this way, water exposure to the roots is controlled so that the roots don’t get overwhelmed with water and meanwhile there is a constant and even exposure to water. The operation of the pump can be automated using a timer.
So those are the basics of an aeroponics farming system. Interesting? I definitely found it so. So I burdened Paul with hundred more questions about the system: What plants can be grown? Is it possible to grow most of our fruits and vegetables using this system so that we become independent of farmer markets? How much does the system cost? What is the operating cost of one tower?
He patiently tried to answer all my questions and, trust me, it took about an hour to get all of them answered. After a point of time, he was getting irritated with all the questions, and so we moved onto the main technical discussion I was called for.
Why add IoT to an aeroponics farming system?
I asked Paul, “It is possible to run the system without any electronics. Why do you want to add IoT to the system? What is the problem you are trying to solve?”
“Imagine you wanted to buy the system for your house. Would you know when to add water to the plants or when to add nutrients? What if the environment gets too hot and humid? Would you know how much more water to add to the plants?”
“I want to make it easier for inexperienced farmers to begin farming without having to invest too much time in ‘learning’ how to farm. With IoT adding smartness to my system, the buyer wouldn’t need to use a lot of their intellect. The algorithms would handle the system on their behalf.”
What he said made sense. In many systems, automation and IoT are added so that human intervention reduces. The goal is to replace human knowledge with that of algorithms. The human user can then focus on enjoying the results of the automated system, without having to worry about the nitty-gritties of the intricate details.
How to add IoT to an aeroponics farming system?
“How do you want to go about the process?” I asked Paul.
“I’m going to tell you the parameters we need to measure.”
While configuring an aeroponics system, the first decision point is: is the system going to be placed indoor or outdoor? That’s because for an indoor system, you can control the temperature, humidity, and light conditions using an air-conditioner and artificial lights, whereas for an outdoor system, you can’t control the atmospheric conditions.
Paul’s system was an outdoor one, which meant much less control over the atmospheric factors, and lesser scope for installing actuators.
In an outdoor aeroponics system, the following parameters can be measured:
Air Temperature: Plants need an optimal temperature to grow in. A temperature too high or too low can hinder plant growth
Air Humidity:Similar to temperature, the humidity also needs to be optimal, otherwise plants can get dehydrated
Light Intensity:Light intensity varies with the time of day and the weather
Wind Speed:A good-to-know value but not strictly needed
Water pH:Some plants prefer the water to be slightly acidic (maybe around a pH of 5) so that they can absorb nutrients the fastest
Water Electrical Conductivity:The nutrients that plants absorb are in the form of ions, which have an electrical charge. Thus, to detect whether the water has nutrients present, the electrical conductivity of the water should be continuously measured.
Water Temperature:Plants absorb nutrients best at a certain water temperature. The optimal range is different for different plants, but ideally it should be a bit higher than room temperature, or maybe around 30 degrees Celsius.
What other parameters can be monitored? Energy being occupied by the pump, amount of time for which the pump is on and many more.
There is much more to be said about implementing an IoT solution for an aeroponic system, but this post is getting too long. In the next post, I will talk more about the possible actuators, the network that can be formed, and of course the data observation and measurement.
So Stay Tuned!
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