Design and Validation of a Low Cost Programmable Controlled Environment for Study and Production of Plants, Mushroom, and Insect Larvae

Murali Padmanabha,Stefan Streif

doi:10.3390/app9235166

Abstract

Study and optimization of biological processes involved in food production require the quantitative study of the environment’s influences on the organism and eventually the products and byproducts consumed and produced. Commercial growth chambers do not fully support such quantitative study due to the underlying limitations (cost, size, resource exchange, programmability, user interaction, etc.). This work presents a low cost programmable system designed to facilitate such studies in organisms such as plants, fungi, and insect larvae. The proposed system consists of modular units performing specific functions. A sensor cluster for measuring gas concentrations, air properties (temperature, humidity, pressure), and growing medium properties was implemented and tested. Actuators for resource exchange, air conditioning, and light spectrum adjustment are proposed. A three-tier hierarchical software framework consisting of open-source cloud platform for data aggregation and user interaction; microcontroller firmware; and an application development framework for test automation and experiment regime design is developed. Series of experiments and tests were performed using the designed hardware and software to evaluate its capabilities and limitations. This controlled environment was used to study photosynthesis in Ocimum basilicum and, in a second experiment, the evolution of the metabolic activity of Hermetia illucens larvae over its larval phase.

Highlights

The problems associated with food production due to the growing population, changing climate, reduced ground water resources, and increased transportation costs could be solved using concepts such as vertical farming [1], urban agriculture, and plant factories with artificial lights (PFAL) [2]
These modern food production techniques prove to be effective in increasing the biomass throughput per volume of water used per growing area, in comparison to the conventional farming techniques
Several studies have been undertaken to evaluate the economic feasibility of a typical vertical farm and how these farms could be made profitable by combining different organisms and exploiting the symbiotic behavior between them

Summary

Introduction

The problems associated with food production due to the growing population, changing climate, reduced ground water resources, and increased transportation costs could be solved using concepts such as vertical farming [1], urban agriculture, and plant factories with artificial lights (PFAL) [2] These modern food production techniques prove to be effective in increasing the biomass throughput per volume of water used per growing area, in comparison to the conventional farming techniques. Several studies have been undertaken to evaluate the economic feasibility of a typical vertical farm and how these farms could be made profitable by combining different organisms (e.g., plants and fishes) and exploiting the symbiotic behavior between them Such investigations are noticeable in the area of space research and exploration projects for designing bio-regenerative life-support systems: MELiSSA (Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative) [4], ACLS

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