Automation and cost reduction of the hardware and software components of a novel indoor sustainable vertical growing solution

申请人是室内“垂直”种植柜的主要开发者，该种植柜使用户能够在他们自己的家中或工作场所种植他们自己的绿色产品。最重要的是，申请人（Evogro）生产的机柜足够智能，可以为客户远程管理增长过程。Evogro为客户提供完整的集成系统，包括硬件，耗材，远程监控和支持服务，使他们能够以最小的努力种植自己的高品质作物，而无需园艺专业知识。客户可以随时收获新鲜的绿色，避免传统沙拉产品对环境的重大影响。Evogro将这些橱柜出售给现场种植高价值绿色蔬菜的餐厅和酒店。这是一个专业市场，使业务得以发展，但销售量太低，无法使Evogro实现使业务充分盈利所需的规模经济。Evogro的愿景是自动化和简化系统软件，使Evogro操作的劳动密集度降低。此外，Evogro旨在开发和简化橱柜生产过程，使橱柜的成本价格更低。这将使不断增长的系统能够在国内消费者的价格范围内，并在食品服务部门的更广泛的客户。如果Evogro能够获得Innovate UK的贷款支持，该业务项目可以增加不断增长的系统销售，以满足英国和国际上的预期客户群。

The applicants are leading developers of indoor "vertical" growing cabinets that enable the user to grow their own green produce in their own homes or place of work. Most importantly of all, the applicant (Evogro) produces cabinets that are intelligent enough to manage the growth process remotely for the customer. Evogro provides clients with a complete integrated system including hardware, consumables, remote monitoring and support services, which enables them to grow-their-own high quality crops with minimal effort and without needing horticultural expertise. Customers can harvest fresh green at any time and avoid significant environmental impact of conventional salad produce.Evogro are selling these cabinets to restaurants and hotels who grow high value greens on site. This is a specialist market that has enabled the business to develop but the volume of sales are too low to enable Evogro to achieve the economies of scale needed to make the business fully profitable. Evogro's vision is to automate and streamline the system software to make it less labour intensive for Evogro to operate. Furthermore, Evogro aims to develop and simplify the cabinet production process such that the cost price of the cabinet is much lower. This will then enable the growing system to be in the price range of domestic consumers and a wider range of customers in the food services sector.If Evogro is able to secure Innovate UK loan support the business project can increase growing system sales to an expectant client base in the UK and internationally.