JP2023105946A - Artificial weather device and artificial weather system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an artificial weather device that can reproduce the natural environment with high precision.SOLUTION: An artificial weather device for plant growth includes a test room including internal space to allow plant cultivation, an LED light source to irradiate the test room with light, an air conditioner to regulate the temperature and humidity of the test room, and a controller to control the LED light source and the air conditioner. The controller controls the air conditioner and the LED light source on the basis of environment data including data on wavelengths of light with which the test room is irradiated by the LED light source.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Applied for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Law Exhibited at Tokyo Big Sight from November 24th to November 26th, 2021

Applied for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Law September 17, 2021 Video posted on the website

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an artificial weather device and the like used for various cultivation test studies including plant breeding using an artificial light source.

2. Description of the Related Art There is an artificial weather device for developing new plant varieties by having a cultivation room, creating a simulated growth environment in the cultivation room, and evaluating the growth results. In Patent Document 1, by adjusting the weather conditions in the cultivation room with a weather control device, a desired weather event is generated according to data measured by a weather data observation device installed in a specific farmland and database information of a weather agency. A simulated environment device or the like that creates an environment that simulates the Patent Document 2 discloses a plant cultivation system that adjusts the internal environment of a cultivation unit according to control model information that is determined according to the type of plant and growth degree control information that controls the growth degree according to specified cultivation conditions. etc. are disclosed. Patent Document 3 discloses a method for growing sprouts by irradiating buckwheat with light from an LED, wherein the quality of light emitted from the LED, the duty ratio, and the pulse frequency are determined according to the breed or growth state of the buckwheat to be grown. , a method for growing sprouts that adjusts the light-dark cycle, etc. is disclosed. Patent Document 4 discloses an artificial weather booth in which weather conditions such as temperature, humidity, air volume, and light intensity can be set as desired by the user within a limited space.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-047340 Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-172700 JP 2005-151850 A JP-A-7-194255

Conventional artificial weather devices using artificial light sources for cultivation tests such as those described above use metal halide lamps, xenon lamps, high-pressure sodium lamps, or the like as light sources in order to reproduce a light environment close to the natural environment. I had a lot of things to do. In such an artificial weather apparatus using an artificial light source, environmental data required by the apparatus are input according to the light source, and the temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide gas concentration, etc. of the test room are set and controlled. Conventional artificial weather equipment using metal halide lamps requires a large amount of power, such as 1 kw or 2 kw, in order to obtain light with high lamp output, and the cooling load required for temperature control is also large. The amount of electric power has increased, and the running cost has increased. For metal halide lamps, the amount of light can be adjusted with an electronic ballast, but the quality of light changes, so the limit is dimming within the range of 40% to 100% of the maximum amount of light. By lighting, the lamp life was shortened to about half of the rating. On the other hand, although Patent Document 3 uses an LED light source, there is a limit to the light that can be set with a single LED light source.

In addition, in the conventional apparatus, environmental settings such as the light, temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide concentration in the test room can be set with a controller or the like provided in the artificial weather apparatus. It was impossible to reproduce environmental conditions in real time.

In addition, the growth prediction of a plant to be tested requires environmental data during cultivation and various numerical data representing the growth observed during cultivation. However, with the conventional device, it was impossible to accumulate environmental data and breeding data in a server provided outside the device without contact.

In addition, AI technology is used to select an environment suitable for plant growth, reproduce future weather conditions based on climate change scenarios, and acquire verification data for the optimal environment and future crop environmental response data. It was impossible to evaluate

An object of the present invention is to provide an artificial weather device that solves any of the above problems.

An artificial weather device according to one embodiment of the present invention is a device for cultivating plants, and includes a test room having an internal space for cultivating plants, an LED light source for irradiating the test room with light, and An air conditioning unit that adjusts temperature and humidity, and a control unit that controls the LED light source and the air conditioning unit. and control the LED light source.

Such an artificial weather device employs an LED light source as a light source in place of a metal halide lamp or the like, and when controlling the LED light source, uses environmental data including data on the wavelength of the light that the LED light source irradiates into the test room. . This makes it possible to reproduce a more accurate natural environment in the test room. In addition, by adopting an LED light source, it is possible to expand the dimming range from 0 to 100%, and by making it possible to control even the wavelength of light, it is possible to perform tests that reproduce the natural environment with high precision. At the same time, the range of tests can be expanded, so plants suitable for specific environments can be efficiently selected. In addition, it is possible to investigate weather conditions suitable for cultivating specific plants. In addition, since the artificial weather equipment enables tests that reproduce the natural environment with such high precision, we will quickly provide excellent varieties that can achieve robust and stable productivity even against weather changes. etc. becomes possible.

In the above artificial weather device, it is preferable that the LED light source is replaceable. According to such an artificial weather device, it is possible to reproduce the natural environment with high accuracy, which is difficult with a single LED light source.

In the above artificial weather device, it is preferable that the environmental data is generated from measured values obtained by an observation device placed outdoors. Such an artificial weather device can reproduce weather conditions at any point in the world.

In the above artificial weather device, the environmental data can be generated from actual measurements obtained immediately before by the observation device. According to such an artificial weather device, it becomes possible to reproduce the weather conditions of any point in the world in real time.

It is preferable that the artificial weather device further includes a plurality of imaging units that capture images of the test room. Furthermore, it is preferable to have a configuration further comprising a state determination unit that determines the state of the plant in the test room based on the imaging results of the plurality of imaging units. According to such an artificial weather device, it is possible to automatically determine the state of the plants in the test room, so it is possible to more efficiently select plants suitable for a specific environment. In addition, it is possible to more efficiently investigate weather conditions suitable for cultivating specific plants.

Preferably, the artificial weather device further includes a sensor that detects at least one of the state of the test room and the state of plants in the test room, and a storage unit that stores the detection result of the sensor. According to such an artificial weather device, it is possible to autonomously store in a server or the like environmental numerical data indicating the state of the test room, image data captured by a camera, and the like.

An artificial weather system according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises the above artificial weather device and an observation device placed outdoors, the artificial weather device further comprising a receiver that communicates with the observation device, and the observation device: It is preferable to further include a transmission section for transmitting environmental data to the artificial weather device.

According to one embodiment of the artificial weather device of the present invention, for example, in breeding selection, phenotypic differences between a plurality of genetically different breeds are observed to clarify the environment that maximizes the performance of the breed. It becomes possible.

1 is a conceptual diagram of an artificial weather system according to an embodiment; FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the artificial weather system which concerns on embodiment.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments described below are merely specific examples for carrying out the present invention, and are not intended to limit the interpretation of the present invention. Also, in order to facilitate understanding of the description, the same reference numerals are given to the same constituent elements in each drawing, and redundant description may be omitted.

The artificial weather system of the present embodiment is a system for growing plants, which creates an environment for cultivating plants arranged in a test room based on environmental data, and can observe the growth of the plants.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an artificial weather system 1 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1 , the artificial weather system 1 includes a PC (Personal Computer) 10 , a plurality of artificial weather devices 30 and an observation device 40 . In the artificial weather system 1, the environment data generated from the measured values by the observation device 40 placed outdoors is given to the artificial weather device 30 via the PC 10, and the predetermined create an environment of Cameras, sensors, and the like are arranged in the test room, and image data and detection results by the sensors can be fed back to the PC 10 to perform environment control.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a specific configuration of the artificial weather system 1 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2 , the artificial weather system 1 includes a PC 10 , a control panel 20 , a plurality of artificial weather devices 30 , an observation device 40 and a server 50 . The control panel 20 may be a part of the functions of the artificial weather device 30 or may be a device independent of the artificial weather device 30 . The server 50 may be provided separately from the PC 10 or may also be used as the PC 10 . That is, the server 50 may be part of the PC 10 . Although two artificial weather devices 30 are shown in FIG. 2, the number of artificial weather devices 30 included in the artificial weather system 1 can be changed arbitrarily.

The observation device 40 is placed at an arbitrary point, such as outdoors, to be reproduced by the artificial weather device 30, and measures and acquires weather data to be reproduced by the artificial weather device 30. FIG. Observed meteorological data is data of meteorological conditions such as day length, light quality, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide gas concentration, and wind speed, displayed for each unit time. The day length and light quality include not only the hours of sunshine, but also the brightness at each hour, the combination and intensity of the wavelengths of the emitted light, and the like. The observation device 40 transmits meteorological data obtained by the measurement to the PC 10 through a transmission unit (not shown). The transmission of the weather data by the transmission unit may be performed by wired communication or wireless communication as long as it can be transmitted from the observation device 40 to the PC 10, and may be via the Internet or other networks. The observation device 40 does not necessarily have to directly transmit weather data to the PC 10 . For example, the observation device 40 may transmit weather data to a server or the like for storage, and then the PC 10 may receive the weather data. By operating the artificial weather device 30 so as to use the weather data as environmental data immediately after the meteorological data is observed by the observation device 40, the environment of the place where the observation device 40 is arranged can be realized in real time.

The PC 10 receives weather data transmitted from the observation device 40 by a receiving section (not shown). The PC 10 generates environment data based on the received weather data. The PC 10 outputs to the control panel 20 environmental data representing the weather conditions created in the test room 31 of the artificial weather device 30 . The environment data is, for example, csv data. The environmental data provided from the PC 10 to the artificial weather device 30 via the control panel 20, like the weather data observed by the observation device 40, includes day length, light quality, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide gas concentration, and wind speed. This data indicates weather condition data for each unit of time. The weather data and the environmental data may have the same data format, but the environmental data used by the artificial weather device 30 is data thinned out, supplemented, or processed in some other way based on the weather data. may be

The PC 10 may output data other than the weather data acquired by the observation device 40 to the control panel 20 as environmental data. Such environmental data may be generated, for example, based on data observed by a method other than the observation by the observer 40, or may be arbitrarily generated using meteorological conditions that the user wishes to test. good too. For example, the user can operate the PC 10 to run a program, change the times of sunrise and sunset, customize the temperature within an arbitrary range, and operate the area where the observation device 40 is not installed. It is also possible to reproduce different weather and climate change scenarios.

A server and a PC terminal may be used instead of the PC 10, or a tablet device or a mobile device may be used.

The control panel 20 includes a program setter 21 and a controller 22 corresponding to the artificial weather devices 30 to be controlled. A program setter 21 and a controller 22 are provided according to the number of artificial weather devices 30 included in the artificial weather system 1 . However, one program setter 21 and control unit 22 may control all the artificial weather devices 30 .

The program setter 21 can set environmental data used by the artificial weather device 30 . The program setter 21 may be set to use the environmental data given from the PC 10 in the artificial weather device 30, or may store a plurality of environmental data and allow the user to decide which environmental data to use. . Also, the program setter 21 may receive environmental data input by the user, and may be set to use the environmental data in the artificial weather device 30 . Moreover, the program setter 21 may have a function of notifying the user of a problem or the like that has occurred in the artificial weather device 30 . The program setter 21 has an input/output device such as a touch panel or a keyboard and a display device, for example.

The control unit 22 controls the artificial weather device 30 to create predetermined weather conditions in the test room 31 of the artificial weather device 30 based on the given environmental data. Specifically, the control unit 22 controls the LED light source 34, the blower unit 35, and the temperature/humidity control unit 36 of the artificial weather device 30 to bring the weather conditions in the test room 31 to the state indicated by the environmental data. . Also, the control unit 22 can control acquisition of an image by the imaging unit 33 .

The artificial weather device 30 is a device for creating weather conditions for cultivating plants in the test room 31, and includes the test room 31, an imaging unit 33, an LED light source 34, a blower unit 35, and a temperature and humidity control unit 36. , and a sensor 38 .

The test chamber 31 has an internal space in which plants can be cultivated. The test chamber 31 has an opening/closing door 32 .

The imaging unit 33 is arranged inside the test room 31, takes an image of the plant arranged inside the test room 31, and acquires an image as an imaging result. The imaging unit 33 acquires still images or moving images as images. The imaging unit 33 includes a plurality of cameras such as an RGB camera, a depth camera, and an infrared camera to enable stereoscopic confirmation of plants in the test room 31 and to acquire various visual information. In order to be able to confirm the plants in three dimensions, it is preferable to have a configuration including a plurality of cameras that capture images of the inside of the test room 31 from different angles. The imaging unit 33 transmits the acquired image to the server 50 and stores it in the storage unit 52 . Since the images captured by the imaging unit 33 are images captured at different angles, the imaging target can be stereoscopically recognized by performing image processing. As a result, the artificial weather device 30 can obtain the surface area of the leaves of the plants in the test chamber 31 .

The LED light source 34 is arranged in the upper part of the artificial weather device 30 and irradiates the test room 31 with light from the ceiling side. The control unit 22 controls the wavelength and intensity of the light emitted from the LED light source 34 . The LED light source 34 can be replaced from the outside of the artificial weather device 30 and is replaced as appropriate according to the weather conditions created in the test room 31 . The LED light source 34 is selected according to target crops and target traits, such as an increase in the amount of functional ingredients and an increase in biomass.

The air blower 35 blows air to the test chamber 31 . The blower 35 is controlled by the control unit 22 in the direction and strength of the blown wind.

The temperature and humidity control section 36 controls the temperature and humidity of the test chamber 31 . The temperature and humidity control unit 36 is controlled by the control unit 22 so as to bring the temperature and humidity in the test chamber 31 into desired states.

The air blowing unit 35 and the temperature/humidity control unit 36 are collectively referred to as an air conditioning unit 37 . The air blower 35 and the temperature/humidity control unit 36 may be integrated, or may have a configuration in which the temperature control function and the humidity control function are realized by different configurations.

The sensor 38 is a combination of various sensors, measures the wavelength and intensity of light, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide gas concentration, and wind speed in the test chamber 31, and transmits the measurement results to the server 50 for storage. 52. The PC 10 or the controller 22 may perform feedback control to adjust the wavelength and intensity of light, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide gas concentration, and wind speed in the test chamber 31 based on the measurement results of the sensor 38 . Such feedback control may be performed by the artificial weather device 30 alone. In this case, the LED light source 34 and the air conditioner 37 are operated by feedback control.

Note that only one of the imaging unit 33 and the sensor 38 may be arranged. Further, the sensor 38 may be configured to measure only part of the wavelength and intensity of light, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide gas concentration, and wind speed in the test chamber 31 .

The server 50 is capable of wired or wireless communication with the artificial weather device 30 and the PC 10, and constructs a network. The server 50 includes a state determination section 51 and a storage section 52 .

The storage unit 52 stores image data and environmental numerical data of measurement results acquired by the imaging unit 33 and the sensor 38 of the artificial weather device 30 . These data stored in the storage unit 52 can be checked on the PC 10 or the like. The server 50 can be accessed not only from the PC 10, which is a part of the artificial weather system 1, but also from other PCs. can. For example, by checking the data in the storage unit 52 from a PC other than the artificial weather system 1, the plant to be tested has poor growth at low temperatures and low sunlight, elongated conditions at high temperatures and high humidity, or phase change timing when flower bud formation occurs. etc. can be detected together with environmental data from a remote location.

The state determination unit 51 can determine the state of plants in the test room 31 based on image data and measurement result data acquired by the imaging unit 33 and the sensor 38 of the artificial weather device 30 . For example, the state determination unit 51 performs image processing on the image data stored in the server 50 to determine the growth state, disease state, and the like of the plant to be imaged. The state determination unit 51 is software realized by executing a predetermined program on the PC 10 . State determination unit 51 may be included in PC 10 .

According to the artificial weather system 1 of the present embodiment, it is possible to construct models for growth prediction and trait prediction from environmental data and various growth data obtained from data measured by the imaging unit 33 and the sensor 38. . It can be applied to growth prediction by the non-parametric DVR method.

Also, with the artificial weather system 1 of the present embodiment, it is possible to observe environmental responses of crops using various local environments and weather conditions predicted in the future.

In addition, soil microorganisms also affect cultivation in actual areas. By comparing culture soil containing fertilizer with local soil, it is possible to confirm the effects of soil microorganisms that are observed only in the simulated environment.

In addition, the artificial weather system 1 of the present embodiment can also be used for efficacy evaluation of agricultural chemicals or verification of effectiveness of microbial materials under a reproduced environment.

Furthermore, until now, it was necessary for researchers and others to arbitrarily set environmental conditions based on information obtained from literature and experience, and to perform programming, but by using the artificial weather system 1 of this embodiment , real-time weather data obtained by the observation device 40, or past weather data obtained from the Internet. This makes it possible to reproduce an arbitrary cultivation environment all year round without performing complicated programming.

In addition, in the conventional variety development, it sometimes took ten years or more from mating to creating varieties. According to the artificial weather system 1 of the present embodiment, the evaluation of varieties can be accelerated, and cultivation and selection, which could only be performed once a year when using the natural environment, can be increased to several times a year, and the cultivation and selection can be performed several times a year. The production period can be significantly shortened.

1... artificial weather system 10... PC
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20... Control panel 21... Program setter 22... Control part 30... Artificial weather apparatus 31... Test room 32... Opening/closing door 33... Imaging part 34... LED light source 35... Ventilation part 36... Temperature and humidity control part 37... Air conditioning part 38 ... sensor 40 ... observation device 50 ... server 51 ... state determination unit 52 ... storage unit

Claims (8)

a test chamber having an internal space capable of cultivating plants;
an LED light source that illuminates the test chamber;
an air conditioning unit that adjusts the temperature and humidity of the test chamber;
A control unit that controls the LED light source and the air conditioning unit,
The control unit controls the air conditioning unit and the LED light source based on environmental data including data on the wavelength of light emitted from the LED light source to the test chamber.
Artificial weather equipment for growing plants. wherein the LED light source is replaceable;
The artificial weather device according to claim 1. The environmental data is generated from actual measurements obtained by an observer placed outdoors.
The artificial weather device according to claim 1 or 2. wherein the environmental data is generated from actual measurements obtained immediately before by the observer;
The artificial weather device according to claim 3. further comprising a plurality of imaging units for imaging the test chamber,
The artificial weather device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. Further comprising a state determination unit that determines the state of the plant in the test room based on the imaging results of the plurality of imaging units,
The artificial weather device according to claim 5. A sensor that detects at least one of the state in the test room and the state of the plant in the test room;
Further comprising a storage unit that stores detection results by the sensor,
The artificial weather device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. An artificial weather system comprising the artificial weather device according to claim 2 and the observation device placed outdoors,
The artificial weather device further comprises a receiving unit that communicates with the observation device,
The observation device further comprises a transmission unit that transmits the environmental data to the artificial weather device.
Artificial weather system.

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