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Aeroponics is a method for growing plants using air or mist without soil. It is an alternative method for cultivation that is not affected by environmental phenomena such as drought or excess water, which generate minor quantity and low quality in cultivation. Aeroponics is a good technique to use in places where the climate does not favor growth for certain plants. In addition, plants do not invest energy to extend and grow their roots; instead, this energy is used to increase the quality of the cultivation as size, flavors, and nutritive properties improve. However, this method requires investment and hard training from experts, which is expensive in the initial stages.
Some advantages of aeroponics include the absence of contamination produced by farming machines, no erosion risks, the availability of intensive production, possible cultivation in cities, contributions to resource conservation, the use of a chemical-free method, and the ability to automate almost the entire process. To develop a system that manages all resources including power supply and nutriments, controls environmental variables to obtain optimal results in cultivation, and minimizes the system losses by using an intelligent system and green engineering techniques, we proposed a novel, portable, intelligent greenhouse prototype based on aeroponics that can be used in places such as restaurants or for domestic purposes in cities because of its flexibility and ease of use.
Two main qualities characterize the greenhouse. First, a conventional greenhouse typically cannot be placed inside buildings or houses, but a portable greenhouse is designed to be located in places where traditional greenhouses could not be before. Second, the greenhouse is intelligent. Variables and the cause-and-effect reaction that affect growth are taken into account and the system generates a response based on an analysis of this information.
Using the portable intelligent greenhouse presents many advantages: people who are not experts in aeroponics can operate it; the initial cost of developing a greenhouse can be considerably reduced; and we can individually grow a variety of produce such as tomatoes, chilies, and lettuce. Our portable intelligent greenhouse will be used as the main platform for a new generation of greenhouses including a 1,200 m2 greenhouse in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.
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