Indoor Vertical Farming
Farming in an automated and controlled environment.
Roles & Responsibilities
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User Research: Interviews, User Personas, Affinity Mapping
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UX Design: Ideation & Conceoting, Prototyping & User testing and coding in C#
Project Details
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Fall 2021
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10 Weeks
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Solo project
Languages
Arduino Uno
C#
Overview
Indoor Vertical Farming is an extension of the project Bluum
Climate change causes erratic and extreme weather conditions which leads to crop destruction, impacts plant longevity, growth and maintenance.
This project is a working prototype of how vertical farming can be practiced at home with small plants using the Arduino Uno tool kit.
Problem
In countries as densely populated as India, all-around crop production is a necessity in order for farmers to sustain a living and for people in rural areas to feed themselves and their families. However, the growth rate and quality of crops produced are heavily dependent on factors such as weather conditions, the use of additional pesticides, physical care, and efforts put into the production batch.
How can one create automated solutions that encourage effortless indoor farming while accounting for the external factors that might hamper crop production?
Research Methods
Survey (200+)
To validate the problem and find painpoints area within a wide user group.
User Interviews (8)
Collect first-hand reports of current and prior framing experiences to narrow pain points and ideate towards the solution.
Scholarly Articles (30+)
Gather expert level opinion in the field of vertical farming and understand the limitations of already exisiting solutions.
Research Themes & Insights
After collecting insightful data from the project Bluum, the next step was to find out the painpoints of convention farming that affects crop production. I broke the study finidings into 3 insights —
Adverse weather conditions play a huge role in destruction of crop production.
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Major changes in temperature, precipitation, or wind patterns, among other effects, that occur over for a long period of time can destroy te crop.
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Controlled weather conditions can reduce harvest times and improve volume without compromising on flavour or quality, which always remains consistent.
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If one could eliminate the effects of mother nature, there would be no 'seasonal crop' and growers won’t suffer from losses as they try to push the production windows of ‘seasonal cropping’.
Conventinal farming takes up vast proprtion of natural resources such as water and land.
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Agricultural production is currently responsible for the vast majority of global consumptive freshwater use.
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Water scarcity decreases crop yields, and which could result in people suffering from malnutrition.
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Depending on the crop type, the production system and the environmental conditions, large differences regarding water and land use are observed.
Harmful chemicals are used to kill pesticides but could intern kill crops
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Pesticides can produce negative effects on crop physiology―especially on photosynthesis―leading to a potential decrease in both the growth and the yield of crops.
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Pesticides can have adverse effects on the environment if they are not biodegradable as they can accumulate in the bodies of organisms over time.
Solution
An Indoor Vertical farming prototype that adopts an effective and efficient method to conduct farming in a controlled environment solving problems like erratic weather conditions, use of harmful chemicals, and crop decay which leads to inconsistent production.
Inhouse farming uses significantly less water and pesticides than traditional agricultural methods. Being indoors, the crops aren't subject to seasons and hence give high productivity year-round. Additionally, it also solves problems such as plant longevity, maintenance, and care that arise due to busy schedules and the lack of plant care knowledge.
Light Sensor
Turns on when there is not enough natural light. LED light strips to light up and give the plant artificial light in order to speed up the growth process. For example, it would turn on during the evening to nighttime. The amount of light can be adjusted on the light sensor itself.
LCD Screen
Shows the user the temperature of the environment in degree Celsius and if the level of moisture in the soil is high or low.
Moisture Sensor
Detects the moisture level in the soil. If the moisture level is low, the water pump will give out adequate water to the plant. With the way I have currently set it up, if its moisture is below 25% the water pump will give out water to the plant with the help of the pipe. This can be adjusted.
Temperature Sensor
Detects the temperature of the environment. If the temp is above 25 degrees, the fan will turn on and if the temp is below 25, it’ll remain off.
Testing the Prototype
Tested the key features and the functionality of every feature to make sure the prototype was working well.
1
Temperature Sensor
Tested if the sensor gives an accurate value in Degree Celsius or Fahrenheit.
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Climate Sensor
Tested the fan speed is adequate for the plant and if the speed can be controlled.
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Light Sensor
Tested the light strip to observe if it gave adequate light to the plant.
Changes Implemented after testing
Tested the key features and the functionality of every feature to make sure the prototype was working well.
Switched the Relay with transistors
Initally used a Relay but switched to using transistors since it allowed flexibility to control the intensity of the wind/light etc
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Changed the transistor
Used (transistor BC 547), then switched it to a higher current one since the current required for the water pump was not supported by the transistor
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Added light intensity control
Used an LDR to measure the intensity of ambient light and then control the brightness of the LED which had intensity control.
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fin.
Download the Process Book