This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
SUPPLEMENT PPMA SHOW PREVIEW A STACK OF GROWING BENEFITS


Omron, a regular exhibitor at the PPMA show, discusses the growing popularity of vertical farming, and the role its hardware and software both play


V


ertical farming has been widely talked about as a method of solving a


number of issues associated with the food supply chain. The technique involves growing crops in trays, which are stacked vertically as the name suggests, to generate reliable harvests with low overheads - the method uses less water, pesticides and fertiliser and has low labour costs. Although it enables food to be grown closer to the point of use, even in urban settings, or areas not normally suitable for agriculture, until now there have been concerns about the high energy demands required for the technique. The commercial and environmental prospects for vertical farming in the UK have now improved thanks to a new partnership between Scotland’s leading farming and environmental research organisation, the James Hutton Institute, and vertical farming entrepreneurs Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS). A new £2.5 million facility is being built at the Institute’s site in Invergowrie near Dundee. The purpose-built facility, which will be built in phases, aims to explore the optimal use of LED lighting for crop growth, and should overcome the other issues of vertical farming systems, such as operating at height and high energy demands.


Henry Aykroyd, CEO of IGS, said: “Vertical farming allows us to provide the exact environmental conditions necessary for optimal plant growth. The collected growth data ensures the technique is repeatable in any location, at any time, providing fresh, consistent crops with less wastage.”


The ten-year project will investigate


optimal growing conditions for a range of crops, by analysing previous crops using scientific equipment. Crops to be grown include red and yellow chard, bulls blood, red and green mizuna, garden cress, red mustard frill, red mustard, tatsoi, red lambs cress, baby kale, romaine, red orrach, purslane, chick weed and salsola. The tower design features sixty-four,


4m x 1.6m growing trays in a stacking system. The design is also scalable, as each tower has its own control system. Unlike some systems, all the labour intensive processes are carried out at no more than one metre from the ground, providing easier and safer access to the growing trays for planting, harvesting and other activities. This also enables a more comprehensive automation system, for


S6 SEPTEMBER 2017 | PROCESS & CONTROL


example by using robots to transplant trays, which further drives down costs and increases productivity. One issue with other vertical farming systems is the heavy use of LED lighting. Although LEDs are much more efficient than traditional high pressure sodium


lights, high energy consumption had made many first generation vertical farming projects unviable. IGS has patented a new technology which maintains energy efficiency irrespective of the light output or wavelength being produced by the LEDs. In addition to energy savings, it will also allow plant scientists at James Hutton to explore the best lighting conditions for different crops and growth stages. Indoor farming also uses considerable


amounts of energy for other processes, such as environmental control and mechanisation. However, electricity companies offer subsidies for energy users who are willing to respond to grid demand and turn their facilities off at certain periods. The electricity supplier will be able to take control of the system at key times, effectively turning it into a giant capacitor for the electricity grid. This, and maximising the use of cheaper rate electricity, reduces overall energy costs and the carbon footprint of the project. One of the key factors which made this design possible is the future-proof control system designed specifically for IGS by Omron. “Not only did our solution have to integrate a number of complex systems in


Top: The patented LED technology enables experiments to ascertain the effect of different lighting regimes on crop growth


Above: Growing trays are accessed at the bottom of the tower and moved automatically during the growing phase. This vertical method of farming has been called ‘an agricultural revolution’


a single design, but, as this is very much about optimising production, it needed to provide enough flexibility to quickly accommodate any changes in the prototype designs,” said Omron Field Sales Engineer Kassim Okera. The stacking system, lighting, hydroponics and other components in each tower will be controlled by an Omron NJ machine controller, which can output secure data directly to a SQL database and communicate straight to the cloud. Other hardware includes an Omron NXCIF105 serial controller with two communication channels, allowing communication between different system elements such as lighting and conveyor control. The Omron hardware is supported by the


company’s Sysmac machine automation platform software, giving a single platform which can both develop the control software, and then control and monitor the towers. It will allow changes to the system as the trial progresses. Once construction of the new facility is


The integration of the stacking system, LED control, hydroponics and power systems is


complex, especially since the design had to allow for new features and towers to be added when necessary. Omron’s NJ machine controller was the answer to this challenge


finished, IGS will incorporate Omron’s Adept LD range of Autonomous Indoor Vehicles (AIVs) to assist with the transport of samples and materials. Dave Scott, IGS’ Technical Director, added: “Now we can control and monitor every aspect of our system, each motor, fan, luminaire, all the watering, nutrition, even the power consumption, everything in real-time. The Omron Sysmac machine controller is powerful, robust and simple, allowing us to completely eliminate all traditional causes of down-time and failure. “Omron's Sysmac approach will change the way industry uses data and automation. The next phase for us will be to integrate robots into the seeding and harvesting. We are currently working on real-time crop sensing, this will enable the crops to talk to the lights, ensuring we only create light the plants can use. Machine learning will rocket this technology forward and our facility is ready for this evolution today.”


Omron Industrial Automation www.industrial.omron.co.uk


/ PROCESS&CONTROL


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64