Delivery can be scheduled based on automatically controlling the growth environment and collecting data

Multiple wireless sensors are set up within the Smart Greenhouse. Temperature, humidity, lighting intensity, and carbon dioxide levels are measured through electronic and environmental sensors and data collected are exported to an edge computer. Furthermore, this data is also stored in Cloud. Up until now, a single computer controlled each equipment and multiple environmental conditions were managed individually. Because each equipment was wired, there were limitations on its position and number. However, in a Smart Greenhouse, a single computer can control multiple equipment, minimizing the number of wiring, and all data are automatically collected to the edge computer through a wireless network. There is no need to go back and forth to the greenhouse, since each setting for the cultivating environment to watering the crops are automatically controlled based on a predetermined formula.

Since an entirely new system was implemented, we did not have enough experience during the development phase. We held many discussions to re-evaluate the meaning of added value for our customers through our products and succeeded in newly establishing our efforts. There was also the issue of the development team being experts on IoT and AI, but beginners when it came to agriculture. What kind of crops need which kind of care? This was the type of questions and challenges we managed to solve one at a time, with the cooperation from members of the Bio Innovation Center and other partner companies, who were expertise on plants and agriculture. After repeatedly making an infinite number of prototypes, a successful prototype was finally created for the Smart Greenhouse.

With the test launch of the greenhouse, we started growing tomatoes. We were able to establish our own timing of when the tomatoes became ripe and a system to collect this data. We also developed an algorithm estimating the maturity of the tomato from the several tens of thousands of images collected through the camera. Use of information technology advances with intelligence as data volume increases, allowing temperatures and humidity to be adjusted and delivery to be scheduled with high precision. It also leads to other solutions of improving precision of automatic controls and saving energy. In the future, we hope to install these greenhouses in universities to promote further research on data collection and utilization.