Smart Farming Initiative

Initially, the Autonomous Irrigation System had three goals: using natural sunlight for vertical farming, reduction of farming space in urban areas, and autonomous irrigation. To achieve these goals, the system has a slanted surface at the degree of 30, assumed to reduce the surface area taken up, allow the water to flow naturally from the top to the bottom, and increase the sunlight absorbed. 

The Autonomous Irrigation System was initially modeled by Tinkercad then Autodesk Fusion 360. The dimensions of the materials were measured prior to the modeling phase. 

Two water pumps were used, one for each plates, and was controlled by C coded in Arduino. The system was programmed to get data from the soil moisture sensor and turn on the water pump when the soil moisture percentage goes below 50%. 

These photos were taken after 3 days of planting the seeds in each plate. Mung bean was grown on the right half of bottom plate and top plate of the second level and on the top plate of the first level. Spinach was grown on the bottom plate of the first level and lettuce was grown on the left half of the bottom plate of the second level. 

After 2 weeks of growing mung bean, spinach, and lettuce, drawbacks of the system was evident. The first drawback of the system was that mung bean sprouts were collasping due to the angle of the plate. Additionally, the first level in general did not receive enough sunlight to stimulate the growth of spinach and mung bean. 

This 3D model is the final model of the Autonomous Cultivation/Harvesting Aeroponic System. This system incorporates a circular cutter attached to a linear motor that moves around the x plane. The exact design of the circular cutter is in the designing phase and hopes to implement the cut and come again method (a method that allows 3-4 harvests from a single plant). 

Aeroponics will be used in this system. For aeroponics, misters will be attached in the hollow tubes to supply the nutrient solution to the roots of the lettuce.