Indoor lighting for aeroponic vegetable plant growth in confined underground space

Abstract

The rapid growth of population and the urbanization of cities require the conversion of farmlands to other use in many rapid developing countries. This is also complicated by the rapid depletion of water and energy resources. There is a long term potential risk of global food shortage to feed the growing population. High tech urban agriculture or farming of plants in urban high rising factories (sometimes it is referred as vertical farming) is going to play a critical role of future agricultural development for fulfilling the global food supply. The vertical farming factories help to reduce the carbon footprint for transportation of plant food produces from sub-urban farms to the users in cities. For the success of vertical farming, the lighting is the main factor affecting the efficient growth of plants. Once the efficient lighting system is developed, the plant growth processes will have the chance to be controlled efficiently. In this project, an energy efficient LED lighting system for plant growth is illustrated.

Nowadays, the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to contribute in shaping the future where every physical objects will be connected to the Internet and be able to identify themselves to other devices. In this project the internet-enabled micro-controller or IoT controller (Particle Photon Wifi Develop Kit) is used as the platform for developing the LED lighting system for plant growth in vertical farming.