JP2015053882A - Hydroponic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hydroponic apparatus capable of improving environmental condition according to a state of plants.SOLUTION: A hydroponic apparatus comprises: a tank 3 which stores nutritious liquid F; a cultivation tank 2 which holds a plant P inside thereof and gives the nutritious liquid F to roots Q of the plant P; a circulation part 5 which circulates the nutritious liquid F stored in the tank 3 via the cultivation tank 2; a detection part 6 which detects physical quantity regarding the nutritious liquid F; a determination part 74 which determines growth stage of the plant P based on changes of the physical quantity detected by the detection part 6; and an environment changing part 75 which changes at least one environmental condition out of temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, oxygen concentration, illuminance, and wind speed of the cultivation tank 2, pH and temperature of the nutritious liquid F, and concentration of nutrients based on the growth stage determined by the determination part 74.

Description

  The present invention relates to a hydroponic cultivation apparatus, a hydroponic cultivation system, and a hydroponic cultivation method for growing a plant by hydroponic cultivation.

  Some plants have different optimum environmental conditions depending on the growth stage. For such plants, the environmental conditions of cultivation are ideally changed depending on the growth stage. In recent years, almost complete environmental control is possible in a completely closed plant factory (Patent Document 1). In such a plant factory, it is possible to provide a better environment for plants if the timing for changing environmental conditions and the contents of the change are clear. Environmental conditions are changed according to the appearance of plants and the number of days.

JP 2004-56265 A

However, changes in environmental conditions are difficult to cope with individual differences and varietal differences. In addition, when changing the environmental conditions depending on the appearance of the plant, the technique required by the observer is necessary, and the timing of the change differs depending on the subjectivity of the observer, which may not be the optimal timing.
An object of this invention is to provide the hydroponic cultivation apparatus, hydroponic cultivation system, and hydroponic cultivation method which can improve environmental conditions according to the state of a plant in view of the said problem.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention includes a tank for storing a nutrient solution, a cultivation tank for holding a plant therein and supplying the nutrient solution to the root of the plant, and a nutrient solution stored in the tank. A circulation part that circulates through the cultivation tank, a detection part that detects a physical quantity related to the nutrient solution, a judgment part that judges the growth stage of the plant based on a change in the physical quantity detected by the detection part, and a judgment part An environment changing unit that changes at least one environmental condition among the temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, oxygen concentration, illuminance, wind speed, nutrient solution pH, temperature, nutrient concentration of the cultivation tank based on the determined growth stage. It is a summary to be a hydroponic cultivation apparatus provided with.

Moreover, in the hydroponic cultivation apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, in the hydroponic cultivation apparatus according to the first aspect, a database in which changes in physical quantities, plant growth stages, and environmental conditions are associated with each other is provided. In addition,
The environment changing unit is characterized by changing an environmental condition according to a change in a physical quantity with reference to a database.

  Moreover, in the hydroponic cultivation apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, in the hydroponic cultivation apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the physical quantity is the amount of nutrient solution, the pH of the nutrient solution, or the concentration of the nutrient solution. It is characterized by at least one quantity.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a tank for storing a nutrient solution, a cultivation tank for holding a plant therein and supplying the nutrient solution to the root of the plant, and a nutrient solution stored in the tank are circulated through the cultivation tank. Based on the growth stage determined by the determination unit, the determination unit for determining the growth stage of the plant, the detection unit for detecting the physical quantity related to the nutrient solution, the change of the physical quantity detected by the detection unit, Environment change part that changes at least one environmental condition among temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, oxygen concentration, illuminance, wind speed, nutrient solution pH, temperature, nutrient concentration of cultivation tank, change of physical quantity, plant The environmental change unit refers to the database and changes the environmental condition according to the change in the physical quantity.

  Moreover, in the hydroponic cultivation apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the hydroponic cultivation apparatus according to the first or third aspect further includes a server for managing the database, and the environment changing unit is a server via the network. It is characterized by referring to the database.

  A sixth aspect of the present invention includes a step of holding a plant in a cultivation tank and supplying a nutrient solution to the root of the plant, a step of circulating the nutrient solution stored in the tank through the cultivation tank, A step of detecting a physical quantity relating to the liquid; a step of judging a growth stage of the plant based on the detected change in the physical quantity; and a temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, oxygen of the cultivation tank based on the judged growth stage. The gist of the present invention is a hydroponics method including a step of changing at least one environmental condition among concentration, illuminance, wind speed, pH of the nutrient solution, temperature, and nutrient concentration.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the hydroponic cultivation apparatus, hydroponic cultivation system, and hydroponic cultivation method which can improve environmental conditions according to the state of a plant can be provided.

It is a typical figure explaining the basic composition of the hydroponic cultivation apparatus concerning an embodiment of the invention. It is a figure explaining the growth stage and nutrient solution consumption of a plant. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the control part with which the hydroponic cultivation apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention is provided. It is a table | surface explaining the growth stage table of the cultivation database with which the hydroponic cultivation apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention is provided. It is a table | surface explaining the environmental condition table of the cultivation database with which the hydroponic cultivation apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention is provided. It is a schematic diagram explaining the basic composition of the hydroponic cultivation system concerning other embodiments of the present invention.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description of the drawings, the same or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted. However, the embodiment described below exemplifies an apparatus, a system, and a method for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the configuration of the apparatus and the method illustrated in the following embodiment is configured. Not specific. The technical idea of the present invention can be variously modified within the technical scope described in the claims.

(Hydroculture device)
As shown in FIG. 1, the hydroponic cultivation apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a hydroponic cultivation unit 1 that grows a plant P by supplying a nutrient solution F to the plant P, and a hydroponic cultivation unit 1. And a control unit 7 for controlling the operation.

  The hydroponic cultivation part 1 holds the plant P inside, a cultivation tank 2 that supplies the nutrient solution F to the root Q of the plant P, a tank 3 that stores the nutrient solution F, a first channel 41, and a second channel. 42, a pump 5, and a detection unit 6. The first flow path 41 and the second flow path 42 are respectively connected between the cultivation tank 2 and the tank 3, and form a circulation path through which the nutrient solution F circulates together with the cultivation tank 2 and the tank 3. The pump 5 is, for example, a circulation unit that is installed in the first flow path 41 and circulates the nutrient solution F by sucking the nutrient solution F stored in the tank 3 and discharging it to the cultivation tank 2.

  The cultivation tank 2 is a rectangular parallelepiped container which opens the whole upper surface, for example. The cultivation tank 2 holds the plant P so that the roots Q of the plurality of plants P are immersed in the nutrient solution F, respectively. The plant P is, for example, potato. In the cultivation tank 2, the end of the first flow path 41 is disposed on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the cultivation tank 2, and the end of the second flow path 42 is disposed on the other end side. The nutrient solution F discharged from the first flow path 41 flows through the inside of the cultivation tank 2 along the longitudinal direction of the cultivation tank 2 and is discharged from the second flow path 42. The nutrient solution F discharged to the second flow path 42 flows through the second flow path 42 and is stored in the tank 3.

  The detection unit 6 detects a physical quantity related to the nutrient solution F. The detection unit 6 is disposed, for example, inside the tank 3 and detects the amount of the nutrient solution F stored in the tank 3. In addition, the detection unit 6 may be various sensors that detect the electrical conductivity (EC) of the nutrient solution F, the hydrogen ion index (pH), the concentration of any nutrient in the nutrient solution F, and the like.

  The control unit 7 includes a calculation unit 71 that processes the output signal of the detection unit 6, a memory unit 72 that stores programs and data necessary for the operation of the hydroponic cultivation apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, and the plant P A determination unit 74 for determining a growth stage and an environment change unit 75 are provided.

  The calculation unit 71 acquires the physical quantity detected by the detection unit 6 through signal processing, and automatically calculates a change per unit time. For example, the calculation unit 71 calculates the amount of change in nutrient solution per day by comparing the obtained nutrient solution amount with the nutrient solution amount obtained at the same time the previous day.

The memory unit 72 has in advance a growth database 73 in which changes in physical quantities related to the nutrient solution F, the growth stage of the plant P, and environmental conditions are associated with one another. In the embodiment of the present invention, the environmental conditions, the temperature inside the culture vessel 2, humidity, carbon dioxide (CO ₂₎ concentration, the oxygen _{(O 2)} concentration, intensity, wind speed, pH of the nutrient solution F, the temperature, For example, the concentration of nutrient solution F. The memory unit 72 is a display as a logical configuration, and may be configured by integral hardware or may be configured by separate hardware.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the growth stage of the plant P that bears fruit includes a vegetative growth period in which leaves and stems are stretched, and a vegetative translocation period in which the stored nutrients are translocated. Depending on the plant P, the optimal environmental conditions may differ between the vegetative growth period and the vegetative translocation period. For example, when shifting from the vegetative growth phase to the vegetative translocation phase, the amount of photosynthesis of the plant P decreases, and as a result, the amount of nutrient solution F consumed by the plant P decreases.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the determination unit 74 refers to the breeding database 73 to determine whether or not the change in physical quantity per unit time calculated by the calculation unit 71 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold (step S1). When judging that it is below the threshold value, the judgment part 74 automatically judges that the growth stage of the plant P has shifted to the nutrient translocation stage, and changes the environmental conditions of the hydroponic cultivation part 1 to the environment change part 75. (Step S2).

  The determination unit 74 determines the growth stage of the plant P based on the change in the physical quantity detected by the detection unit 6, but determines the growth stage by combining information other than the detected physical quantity with the change in the physical quantity. Also good. For example, the memory unit 72 stores the change in the physical quantity detected by the detection unit 6, and the growth stage is the day when the day when the determination unit 74 determines that the change in the physical quantity is less than or equal to the threshold value from the storage content of the memory unit 72 is three consecutive days. May be determined to have been transferred.

The environment changing unit 75 refers to the breeding database 73 and changes the environmental condition to the environmental condition corresponding to the change in the physical quantity detected by the detecting unit 6, that is, the growth stage of the plant P. The environment changing unit 75 includes various devices such as a pump, a heater, and an actuator necessary for changing the environmental conditions of the hydroponic cultivation unit 1. Based on the determination of the determination unit 74, the environment changing unit 75 has the hydroponic cultivation unit 1 temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) concentration, oxygen (O ₂ ) concentration, and illuminance inside the cultivation tank 2. Change environmental conditions such as wind speed, pH of nutrient solution F, temperature, concentration of nutrients of nutrient solution F, etc.

  For example, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the growth database 73 associates the growth stage table in which the change in the physical quantity related to the nutrient solution F and the growth stage of the plant P are associated with each other, and the growth stage and the environmental conditions are associated with each other. Environmental condition table. The growth stage table in FIG. 4 indicates the type of physical quantity detected by the detection unit 6 in “sensing”, and indicates the threshold for determining the growth stage in “condition”. The environmental condition table of FIG. 5 indicates the type of environmental condition changed by the environment changing unit 75 in “setting item” and the value of the environmental condition in “setting value”.

  When potato is cultivated as the plant P and the nutrient solution F has been reduced by about 10 liters every day until then, only 3 liters have been reduced. The judging unit 74 refers to the growth stage table shown in FIG. Judge that the potato has entered the nutritional translocation phase.

  The environment changing unit 75 refers to the environmental condition table shown in FIG. 5 and changes EC to 0.8 (mS / cm) and illumination to L9 / D15 so that the environmental condition corresponds to the nutrient translocation period. The EC corresponds to the concentration of the nutrient solution F and is changed by adjusting the concentration by adding liquid fertilizer to the nutrient solution F.

  The hydroponic cultivation apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention determines the timing of changing the environmental condition according to the change in the physical quantity related to the nutrient solution F, regardless of the subjectivity of the observer, so that the growth stage of the plant P The environmental conditions can be automatically improved according to the situation.

(Other embodiments)
As mentioned above, although this invention was described by embodiment, it should not be understood that the description and drawing which form a part of this indication limit this invention. From this disclosure, various alternative embodiments, examples and operational techniques will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

  For example, in the already described embodiment, the hydroponic cultivation apparatus is a hydroponic cultivation system in which the breeding database 73 is stored and managed in the server 9 via the wired or wireless network 8 as shown in FIG. Also good. In addition, the determination unit 74, the environment change unit 75, and the like may refer to the breeding database 73 stored in the server 9 via the network 8.

  In addition to the above, it goes without saying that the present invention includes various embodiments that are not described herein, such as configurations to which embodiments and modifications of the present invention are applied. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is defined only by the invention specifying matters according to the scope of claims reasonable from the above description.

2 Cultivation tank 3 Tank 5 Pump (circulation part)
6 detection unit 8 network 9 server 73 training database (database)
74 Judgment Department 75 Environment Change Department

Claims (6)

A tank for storing nutrient solution,
A cultivation tank that holds a plant inside and gives a nutrient solution to the root of the plant,
A circulation unit for circulating the nutrient solution stored in the tank through the cultivation tank;
A detection unit for detecting a physical quantity related to the nutrient solution;
Based on the change in physical quantity detected by the detection unit, a determination unit that determines the growth stage of the plant,
Based on the growth stage determined by the determination unit, at least one environmental condition among the cultivation tank temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, oxygen concentration, illuminance, wind speed, pH of the nutrient solution, temperature, nutrient concentration A hydroponic cultivation apparatus comprising: an environment changing unit that changes A database in which the change in physical quantity, the growth stage of the plant, and the environmental conditions are associated with each other;
The hydroponic cultivation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the environment change unit changes the environmental condition according to a change in the physical quantity with reference to the database.   The hydroponic cultivation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the physical quantity is at least one of an amount of the nutrient solution, a pH of the nutrient solution, and a concentration of the nutrient solution. A tank for storing nutrient solution,
A cultivation tank that holds a plant inside and gives a nutrient solution to the root of the plant,
A circulation unit for circulating the nutrient solution stored in the tank through the cultivation tank;
A detection unit for detecting a physical quantity related to the nutrient solution;
Based on the change in physical quantity detected by the detection unit, a determination unit that determines the growth stage of the plant,
Based on the growth stage determined by the determination unit, at least one environmental condition among the cultivation tank temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, oxygen concentration, illuminance, wind speed, pH of the nutrient solution, temperature, nutrient concentration The environment change department to change
A database in which the change in physical quantity, the growth stage of the plant, and the environmental conditions are associated with each other;
The hydroponic cultivation system, wherein the environment changing unit changes the environmental condition according to a change in the physical quantity with reference to the database. A server for managing the database;
The hydroponic cultivation system according to claim 4, wherein the environment change unit refers to the database of the server via a network. Holding the plant inside the cultivation tank and providing a nutrient solution to the root of the plant;
Circulating the nutrient solution stored in the tank through the cultivation tank;
Detecting a physical quantity related to the nutrient solution;
Determining the growth stage of the plant based on the detected change in physical quantity;
Based on the determined growth stage, at least one environmental condition is changed among the temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, oxygen concentration, illuminance, wind speed, pH of the nutrient solution, temperature, and nutrient concentration of the cultivation tank. A hydroponics method comprising the steps of:

Images