Advanced Growth Chamber for Rapid Optimisation of Vertical Farming Systems (AGROVerSe)

为了满足不断增长的人口需求，并最大限度地减少农业的环境成本，迫切需要最大限度地提高作物生产效率。垂直农业，即作物在人工照明和精确控制的环境条件下在室内水培生长，是一种作物生产方法，有望比传统农业生产效率高出数百倍，对环境的影响更小。然而，今天的垂直农业远没有达到它可能或需要的效率或生产力。正因为如此，大多数垂直农场都是无利可图的，而且通常需要比传统农业更多的能源来生产同样数量的食物。垂直农场效率低下的一个原因是植物生长条件，包括光谱，温度和营养，并没有针对每种作物进行优化。找到合适的植物生长条件可能意味着将作物产量提高15%，这在某些作物中可能意味着利润率翻一番。由于光谱、温度和营养会影响植物的生化过程，也会影响植物的产量，因此在垂直农场中种植的药用植物的正确植物生长条件可能意味着一种可行的药物和浪费的作物周期之间的差异。我们针对垂直农场生产力和盈利能力低下的问题的解决方案是AGROVerSe，用于快速优化垂直农场系统的高级生长箱。AGROVerSe是一个让垂直农场主和农学家进行大规模、多室、多变量实验的系统，以确定作物生长条件，从而获得最大的作物质量和产量。AGROVerSe是一个小型、可堆叠、气候控制的室，携带许多创新技术。AGROVerSe拥有先进的高光谱成像系统，可持续收集植物生长和发育的数据。它有一个光谱可调的LED照明系统，因此可以检查不同光谱对植物质量和产量的影响。该培养箱具有数字控制的水培系统，因此可以进行精确的营养剂量。最后，一系列传感器持续测量并反馈到一个新型的HVAC系统，该系统在整个作物周期内精确调节温度和湿度。所有这些组件都连接在一起，并通过基于网络的平台进行控制，该平台收集和分析数据，并为用户提供预测的植物生长条件，以最大限度地提高作物质量和产量。

To meet the demands of a growing population, and to minimise the environmental cost of farming, there is an urgent and profound need to maximise the efficiency of crop production. Vertical farming, where crops are grown hydroponically indoors under artificial lighting and under precisely controlled environmental conditions, is a method of crop production that promises to be many hundreds of times more productive than traditional farming, and with less of an environmental impact. However, vertical farming today is nowhere near as efficient or productive as it could be, or as it needs to be. Because of this, most vertical farms are unprofitable, and often require more energy than traditional farming to produce the same amount of food.One reason vertical farms are inefficient is that plant growth conditions, including light spectrum, temperature, and nutrition, have not been optimised for every crop. Finding the right plant growth conditions could mean increasing the yield of a crop by 15%, which in some crops could translate to a doubling of profit margins. Because light spectrum, temperature, and nutrition affect plant biochemical processes as well has plant yield, the right plant growth conditions for a medicinal plant grown in a vertical farm could mean the difference between a viable medicine and a wasted crop cycle.Our solution to the problem of weak productivity and profitability in vertical farming is AGROVerSe, the Advanced Growth Chamber for Rapid Optimisation of Vertical Farming Systems. AGROVerSe is a system that lets vertical farmers and agronomists carry out large-scale, multi-chamber, multivariable experiments in order to identify plant growth conditions for maximum crop quality and yield.AGROVerSe is a small, stackable, climate-controlled chamber that carries a number of innovative technologies. AGROVerSe has an advanced hyperspectral imaging system to continuously collect data on plant growth and development. It has a spectrum-tuneable LED lighting system, so that the effects of different light spectra on plant quality and yield can be examined. The chamber has a digitally-controlled hydroponics system, so that precise nutrient dosing can be carried out. Finally, an array of sensors continuously measures and feeds back to a novel HVAC system that precisely regulates temperature and humidity throughout the crop cycle. All of these components are connected together and controlled through a web-based platform, which collects and analyses data, and provides the user with plant growth conditions predicted to maximise crop quality and yield.