Embodiments described herein generally relate to systems and methods directed to growing plants in a bed seed holder and, more specifically, to a bed seed holder for an assembly line grow pod.
While crop growth technologies have advanced over the years, there are still many problems in the farming and crop industry today. As an example, while technological advances have increased efficiency and production of various crops, many factors may affect a harvest, such as weather, disease, infestation, and the like. Additionally, while the United States currently has suitable farmland to adequately provide food for the U.S. population, other countries and future populations may not have enough farmland to provide the appropriate amount of food.
Additionally, while many current greenhouses utilize a controlled environment, these embodiments typically utilize trough-like planters with soil to grow pants. As these current solutions not only introduce undesirable chemicals, pesticides, and the like, the efficiency of growth is typically compromised. As such, a need exists in the industry.
Disclosed herein are bed seed holders and assembly line grow pods incorporating bed seed holders for growing plants. The bed seed holders and the assembly line grow pods may allow for growing plants in a highly-monitored manner, such that conditions of the seed or plant positioned within the bed seed holder can be monitored and conditions can be adjusted based on pre-determined conditions.
According to some embodiments, a bed seed holder includes a body having an elevation envelope, at least one seed receptacle extending into the body, where the seed receptacle is adapted to maintain a fluid within the seed receptacle, and a spigot that is adapted to maintain a level of the fluid within the body below the elevation envelope.
According to some embodiments, an assembly line grow pod includes a track, a plurality of industrial carts adapted to translate along the track, and at least one bed seed holder positioned on the industrial carts. Each of the bed seed holders includes a body and at least one seed receptacle extending into the body, where the seed receptacle is adapted to maintain a fluid within the seed receptacle. The assembly line grow pod also includes a watering component that evaluates the water level within the at least one seed receptacle and selectively controls distribution of water to and from the bed seed holders to maintain to a pre-determined level.
According to some embodiments, a method of growing a plant from a seed includes delivering seed to at least one seed receptacle of a bed seed holder using a seeder component and distributing water to the bed seed holder. The method also includes evaluating a level of water in the at least one seed receptacle with a water level sensor, and distributing additional water to the bed seed holder to increase the level of water to a predetermined level.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are merely exemplary, and are intended to provide an overview or framework to understanding the nature and character of the claimed subject matter. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate one or more embodiment(s), and together with the description, serve to explain principles and operation of the various embodiments.
The embodiments set forth in the drawings are illustrative and exemplary in nature and not intended to limit the disclosure. The following detailed description of the illustrative embodiments can be understood when read in conjunction with the following drawings, where like structure is indicated with like reference numerals and in which:
Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Whenever possible, the same reference numerals will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the exemplary embodiments.
Numerical values, including endpoints of ranges, can be expressed herein as approximations preceded by the term “about,” “approximately,” or the like. In such cases, other embodiments include the particular numerical values. Regardless of whether a numerical value is expressed as an approximation, two embodiments are included in this disclosure: one expressed as an approximation, and another not expressed as an approximation. It will be further understood that an endpoint of each range is significant both in relation to another endpoint, and independently of another endpoint.
Directional terms as used herein—for example up, down, right, left, front, back, top, bottom—are made only with reference to the figures as drawn and are not intended to imply absolute orientation.
As will be discussed in greater detail below, embodiments disclosed herein include a bed seed holder and methods of processing seeds using a bed seed holder. Some embodiments are configured with a static bed seed holder with a plurality of cells for receiving one or more seeds. In the context of an assembly line grow pod, these individual cells may then be monitored for growth of the plant from deposit to harvest. Additionally, some embodiments of the bed seed holder have a flange and a spigot. In these embodiments, the bed seed holder may receive and maintain a predetermined volume of water (and/or nutrients) such that the seeds are submerged in the water. The flange allows water to pool, thereby submerging the seeds. The spigot may be positioned to prevent water from pooling to a depth that is greater than a predetermined depth and is positioned such that overflow is directed to a waste receiving reservoir, such as on a track. The bed seed holder and methods of using the bed seed holder will be described in more detail below.
Referring now to the drawings,
While not explicitly illustrated in
Also depicted in
In the embodiments where a multiple section tray is utilized with one or more of the industrial carts 104, the seeder component 108 may be configured to insert seeds into one or more of the sections of the tray. Again, the seeds may be distributed on the tray (or into individual cells) according to a desired number of seeds, a desired area the seeds should cover, a desired depth of seeds, and the like.
The assembly line grow pod 100 may include a watering component 109 that may be coupled to one or more water lines 110, which distribute water and/or nutrients to one or more trays at predetermined areas of the assembly line grow pod 100. In some embodiments, seeds may be sprayed to reduce buoyancy and then the tray may be flooded. Additionally, water usage and consumption may be monitored, such that at subsequent watering stations, water usage and consumption data may be utilized to determine an amount of water to apply to a seed at that time.
The assembly line grow pod 100 may also include airflow lines 112. The master controller 106 may include and/or be coupled to one or more control components that delivers airflow to the assembly line grow pod 100 from the airflow lines 112 for temperature control, pressure, carbon dioxide control, oxygen control, nitrogen control, and the like. Accordingly, the airflow lines 112 may distribute the airflow at predetermined areas in the assembly line grow pod 100.
As an example, some embodiments of the bed seed holder 230 may be configured as a static component. However, some embodiments may be configured such that the bed seed holder 230 may receive and execute commands from the master controller 106 and/or from the cart computing device. As an example, the spigot may be movable, such that water may be stored or evacuated upon command. Similarly, some embodiments may be configured such that one or more of the cells are configured for opening and/or closing to allow disposal of water and/or seeds.
It should be understood that the cells 332 are depicted as having a rounded cross section, the particular shape of the cells does not limit the scope of the embodiments described herein. In some embodiments, the cells 332 may have a circular cross section, a rectangular cross section, a triangular cross section, and the like. The shape of the cells 332 may be selected based on the type of seed (or types of seeds) being grown. Similarly, the three dimensional shape of the cells 332 may be spherical, rectangular, cylindrical, and/or other shape as selected to grow the desired plant. The spacing and number of cells 332 may also depend on the type plant being grown and/or other factors.
The shape, size, and configuration of the cells 332 in the bed seed holder 330 may be selected to encourage desired growth properties of the seed that is positioned within the cells 332. For example, in some examples, the seed in the cells 332 will grow into plants having root mass that uptakes water and nutrients. For some plant types, at least portions of the root mass will grow out of the cell 332 and intertwine with roots of other plants in the bed seed holder 330. By selecting particular shapes, sizes, and configurations of the cells 332, the growth characteristics of the plant types can be encouraged to occur at a predetermined growth stage of the plant.
It should be understood that the area between cells 332 may be relatively flat (as shown in
Referring again to
The spigot 336 may be controlled to manage the level of water in the cell 332 throughout the growth cycle of the plant type For example, in some plant types, the presence of too much water when the plant is a seed or a seedling may lead to adverse pressures on the plant. Therefore, during these portions of the growth cycle, the spigots 336 may be controlled to allow water to be drained away from the seed or seedling, thereby preventing water from pooling around the seed or seedling. In contrast, as the seedling progresses in maturity, the plant may benefit from higher quantities of water being present. During these portions of the growth cycle, the spigots 336 may be controlled to allow water to be maintained in the cells 332 to enhance growth of the plant. In some embodiments, the spigot 336 may be an electronically controlled valve, for example, a solenoid valve, that selectively opens or closes, thereby allowing water to exit the cells 332 that are in fluid communication with the electronically controlled valve.
In various embodiments, the spigot 336 may control the rate of water removal from the cell 332. In some embodiments, the spigot 336 may be selected to have a high rate of water removal from the cell 332 at times corresponding to periods of the plant's growth cycle in which excess water is undesired and may be selected to have a low rate of water removal from the cell at time corresponding to periods of the plant's growth cycle in which additional water is desired. In such an embodiment, the spigot 336 may include an adjustable nozzle that increases in size to allow for an increased flow rate of water and decreases in size to allow for a decreased flow rate of water.
In some embodiments, the spigot 336 may be placed in fluid communication with the bed seed holder 330, such that all non-absorbed water may be drained from the bed seed holder 330. In some embodiments, the spigot 336 may be placed in fluid communication with the each of the cells 332 of the bed seed holder 330, such that all non-absorbed water may be drained from the cells 332. In some embodiments, the bed seed holder 330 may include a wicking media (not shown) that extends into each of the cells 332 of the bed seed holder 330, and allows water to flow into the cells 332 or out of the cells 332 based on the position of the wicking media and the relative moisture levels at positions along the wicking media.
As discussed above, the spigot 536 may be positioned at a vertical height above the cells 532 and/or may be positioned at a vertical height below the bottom of the cells (as shown in
The bed seed holder 530 may include a water level sensor 514 that determines the level of the water in at least one of the cells 532, as described below. The water level sensor 514 forms part of the watering component, and is used in evaluating the water that is present in the sampled cell 532. Examples of such water level sensors including, for example and without limitation, a float switch, a magnetic switch, an RF switch, a thermal dispersion sensor, a magnetic level gauge, a magnetorestrictive gauge, an RF transmitter, a radar sensor, or an ultrasonic sensor. The water level sensor 114 may be in electronic communication with a computing device, as described below, which monitors the level of water in the bed seed holder 530, and initiates distribution of additional water from the watering component or release of water from the selectable spigot 536.
Additionally, the assembly line grow pod 100 is coupled to a network 750. The network 750 may include the internet or other wide area network, a local network, such as a local area network, a near field network, such as Bluetooth or a near field communication (NFC) network. The network 750 is also coupled to a user computing device 752 and/or a remote computing device 754. The user computing device 752 may include a personal computer, laptop, mobile device, tablet, server, etc. and may be utilized as an interface with a user. As an example, a user may send a recipe to the computing device 130 for implementation by the assembly line grow pod 100. Another example may include the assembly line grow pod 100 sending notifications to a user of the user computing device 752.
Similarly, the remote computing device 754 may include a server, personal computer, tablet, mobile device, etc. and may be utilized for machine to machine communications. As an example, if the assembly line grow pod 100 determines a type of seed being used (and/or other information, such as ambient conditions), the computing device 130 may communicate with the remote computing device 754 to retrieve a previously stored recipe for those conditions. As such, some embodiments may utilize an application program interface (API) to facilitate this or other computer-to-computer communications.
The memory component 740 may store operating logic 842, the grow logic 744a, and the cell logic 744b. The grow logic 744a and the cell logic 744b may each include a plurality of different pieces of logic, each of which may be embodied as a computer program, firmware, and/or hardware, as an example. A local interface 846 is also included in
The processor 830 may include any processing component operable to receive and execute computer readable instructions (such as from a data storage component 836 and/or the memory component 740). The input/output hardware 832 may include and/or be configured to interface with microphones, speakers, a display, and/or other hardware.
The network interface hardware 834 may include and/or be configured for communicating with any wired or wireless networking hardware, including an antenna, a modem, LAN port, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) card, WiMax card, ZigBee card, Bluetooth chip, USB card, mobile communications hardware, and/or other hardware for communicating with other networks and/or devices. From this connection, communication may be facilitated between the computing device 130 and other computing devices, such as the user computing device 752 and/or remote computing device 754.
The operating logic 842 may include an operating system and/or other software for managing components of the computing device 130. As also discussed above, grow logic 744a and the cell logic 744h may reside in the memory component 740 and may be configured to perform the functionality, as described herein.
It should be understood that while the components in
Additionally, while the computing device 130 is illustrated with the grow logic 744a and the cell logic 744h as separate logical components, this is also an example. In some embodiments, a single piece of logic (and/or or several linked modules) may cause the computing device 130 to provide the described functionality.
As illustrated above, various embodiments systems and methods for providing a bed seed holder are disclosed. These embodiments may be configured to provide care of individual seeds, with the ability to monitor and control a water level on a tray and/or in a particular cell.
While particular embodiments and aspects of the present disclosure have been illustrated and described herein, various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Moreover, although various aspects have been described herein, such aspects need not be utilized in combination. Accordingly, it is therefore intended that the appended claims cover all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of the embodiments shown and described herein.
It should now be understood that embodiments disclosed herein include systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable mediums for providing a bed seed holder. It should also be understood that these embodiments are merely exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 62/519,310, filed on Jun. 14, 2017, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62519310 | Jun 2017 | US |