JP7315217B2 - Cultivation support system, controller and control method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cultivation support system, controller, and control method.

Producers of agricultural products such as vegetables, fruits, and grains generally cultivate agricultural products according to cultivation guidelines provided by research institutes such as agricultural experimental stations and agricultural technology centers in order to be able to harvest high-quality products in large quantities. Cultivation guidelines are so-called ``intuitions when cultivating agricultural products'' such as the timing of irrigation and fertilization to enable a large amount of high-quality products to be harvested. Various techniques for supporting the cultivation of agricultural products have also been proposed, one example of which is the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1. Patent Literature 1 discloses a fertilization management technique for hydroponic plants in which the amount of nutrient solution required for plant cultivation is adjusted according to the amount of light required for photosynthesis and the amount of dissolved oxygen consumed by root respiration, depending on the time of day or regardless of the time of day, and supplying it to a cultivation bed.

JP-A-2-273129

However, even if agricultural products are cultivated according to the cultivation guidelines, there are cases where the expected yield cannot be obtained or high-quality products cannot be obtained due to root rot, wilting, disease, and the like. In the case of open-field cultivation in which the culture medium for cultivating agricultural products is installed in the open air, root rot, wilting, and disease are considered to be caused by inadequate irrigation and fertilization adapted to the weather and temperature that change from day to day. Producers of agricultural products try to deal with the problem by staggering the timing of irrigation and fertilization specified in the cultivation guidelines through trial and error, but sometimes the situation worsens.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique that makes it possible to use the amount of heat energy given to the leaves of agricultural products to be cultivated as temperature data, and to support the cultivation of agricultural products by taking into account at least the temperature data.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a measurement mechanism that measures at least the amount of heat energy given to the leaves of agricultural products to be cultivated as temperature data, a watering mechanism that uses water supplied from a water source to irrigate a culture medium in which the agricultural products are cultivated, and a first controller that controls the watering mechanism according to cultivation guideline information that defines at least the frequency of irrigation to be performed multiple times between a control start time and a control end time according to the type of the agricultural product, wherein the higher the temperature, the higher the irrigation frequency. wherein after the control start time, the first controller performs a first step of causing the irrigation mechanism to perform a first irrigation out of the irrigation performed a plurality of times when temperature data representing a temperature within an appropriate temperature range predetermined for growing agricultural products is measured by the measurement mechanism after the control start time, and a second step of performing irrigation in the second and subsequent irrigation out of the irrigation performed a plurality of times, and in the second step, the first controller is set to the appropriate temperature range. A watering interval, which is a time interval from the end of the previous irrigation to the start of the next irrigation, is set for each temperature zone according to the lower limit temperature and the cultivation guideline information, a timer is assigned to each temperature zone, and the elapsed time of each temperature zone is measured by the timer while referring to the temperature represented by the temperature data measured by the measurement mechanism. A cultivation support system characterized by causing the irrigation mechanism to perform irrigation according to the earliest irrigation timing among a plurality of irrigation timings determined according to each irrigation interval set for each of the plurality of temperature zones, and repeating a process of resetting a timer assigned to each of the plurality of temperature zones until the control end time. For example, in the case of outdoor cultivation, it is conceivable to set the time of sunrise in the region where the culture medium is installed as the control start time and the time of sunset in the region where the culture medium is installed as the control end time. According to the present invention, the amount of heat energy given to the leaves of agricultural products to be cultivated is used as temperature data, the frequency of watering the agricultural products can be adjusted according to the temperature represented by the temperature data, and at least the temperature can be taken into account to support the cultivation of agricultural products.

In a more preferred aspect, the irrigation mechanism is characterized by including a liquid fertilizer mixer for mixing liquid fertilizer into the water supplied from the water source. According to this aspect, it is possible to adjust the frequency of watering the agricultural products to be cultivated according to the temperature, and to fertilize the agricultural products at the same time as the watering.

A further preferred embodiment is characterized by comprising a second controller that adjusts the amount of liquid fertilizer mixed by the liquid fertilizer mixer with respect to a unit volume of water according to the temperature represented by the temperature data measured by the measuring mechanism. According to this aspect, it is possible to adjust the frequency of watering the agricultural products to be cultivated according to the temperature, and to apply fertilizer while adjusting the amount of liquid fertilizer mixed in a unit volume of water, that is, the concentration of the fertilizer, according to the temperature.

Another more preferred aspect is characterized by having a second controller that adjusts the amount of liquid fertilizer mixed by the liquid fertilizer mixing device with respect to a unit volume of water according to the time period to which the watering timing belongs. According to this aspect, it is possible to adjust the frequency of watering the agricultural products to be cultivated according to the temperature, and to perform fertilization while adjusting the fertilizer concentration according to the time zone of watering.

In a more preferred aspect, the culture medium is installed in the open air, includes a rain sensor, and the first controller adjusts the amount of irrigation per time according to the measurement result of the rain sensor. According to this aspect, it is possible to adjust the frequency of watering the agricultural products to be cultivated according to the temperature, and it is possible to adjust the amount of watering per time according to the measurement result of the rain sensor. Specifically, a rain sensing sensor may be used as the rain sensor, and the amount of irrigation per time may be adjusted according to the presence or absence of rain. Moreover, when it is necessary to consider rainfall, a rainfall sensor may be used as the rain sensor, and the amount of irrigation per time may be adjusted according to the rainfall.

In a more preferred aspect, the measuring mechanism includes a climate sensor that measures, as temperature data, the amount of heat energy given to the leaves of the agricultural product to be cultivated via solar radiation or air temperature. According to this aspect, it is possible to support the cultivation of agricultural products by taking into account the amount of heat energy given to the leaves of the agricultural products to be cultivated through the sunlight or temperature.

In another preferred aspect, the method includes a thermal energy supply mechanism that supplies thermal energy to the leaves of the agricultural product to be cultivated via heat or light, and the measurement mechanism measures the temperature data by converting the amount of thermal energy supplied by the thermal energy supply mechanism into temperature. Specific examples of the thermal energy supply mechanism include a floodlight for irradiating artificial light on agricultural products, and a heater for warming the culture medium or agricultural products. According to this aspect, it is possible to support the cultivation of agricultural products in consideration of the amount of heat energy supplied from the thermal energy supply machine to the leaves of the agricultural products to be cultivated.

In a more preferred aspect, the first controller estimates the growth stage of the agricultural product from the integrated temperature value represented by the temperature data measured by the measurement mechanism, and adjusts the frequency of irrigation according to the estimated growth stage. According to this aspect, it is possible to adjust the frequency of watering the agricultural product to be cultivated according to the temperature and the growth stage of the agricultural product.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention also provides a controller for controlling an irrigation mechanism that uses water supplied from a water source to irrigate a culture medium in which agricultural products are cultivated using water supplied from a water source, in accordance with cultivation guideline information that defines, according to the season, at least a frequency of irrigation that is performed multiple times between a control start time and a control end time, according to the type of the agricultural product, wherein the higher the temperature, the higher the irrigation frequency, the controller measures at least the amount of thermal energy given to the leaves of the agricultural products as temperature data after the control start time. When the temperature data representing the temperature within a predetermined appropriate temperature zone for growing agricultural products is measured by the measuring mechanism, a first step of causing the watering mechanism to perform the first watering of the plurality of times of watering, and a second step of performing watering of the second and subsequent waterings of the plurality of times of watering are performed. A watering interval, which is a time interval from the end of the previous watering to the start of the next watering, is set for each temperature zone according to the lower limit temperature and the cultivation guideline information, a timer is assigned to each temperature zone, the elapsed time of each temperature zone is measured by the timer while referring to the temperature represented by the temperature data measured by the measuring mechanism, and a plurality of watering intervals are determined according to each watering interval set for each of the plurality of temperature zones. To provide a controller characterized by causing said watering mechanism to perform watering according to watering timing that arrives earliest among watering timings, and repeating a process of resetting timers assigned to each of said plurality of temperature zones until said control end time. According to the present invention, it is also possible to adjust the frequency of watering agricultural products to be cultivated according to the temperature.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a control method for controlling an irrigation mechanism that uses water supplied from a water source to irrigate a culture medium in which agricultural products are cultivated, according to cultivation guideline information that defines, according to the season, at least the frequency of watering that is performed multiple times between a control start time and a control end time, according to the type of the agricultural product, wherein the higher the temperature, the higher the irrigation frequency. a first step of causing the irrigation mechanism to perform the first irrigation of the plurality of times of irrigation when the temperature data representing the temperature within the predetermined appropriate temperature zone for growing the agricultural products is measured by the measuring mechanism that measures at least; A watering interval, which is a time interval from the end of the previous watering to the start of the next watering, is set for each temperature zone according to the lower limit temperature and the cultivation guideline information, a timer is assigned to each temperature zone, the elapsed time of each temperature zone is measured by the timer while referring to the temperature represented by the temperature data measured by the measuring mechanism, and the temperature is determined according to each watering interval set for each of the plurality of temperature zones. To provide a control method characterized by causing a watering mechanism to perform watering according to watering timing that arrives earliest among a plurality of watering timings, and repeating a process of resetting a timer assigned to each of the plurality of temperature zones until the control end time. According to the present invention, it is also possible to adjust the frequency of watering agricultural products to be cultivated according to the temperature.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a program that causes a general computer such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) to execute the first step and the second step, that is, a program that causes the computer to function as the controller of the present invention. According to this aspect as well, it is possible to irrigate agricultural products to be cultivated while considering the temperature. As a specific mode of providing the program, a mode in which the program is written in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory) or a flash ROM (Read Only Memory) and distributed, or a mode in which the program is distributed by downloading via an electric communication line such as the Internet can be considered.

It is a figure showing an example of composition of cultivation support system 1A by a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the control method which the irrigation controller 30 contained in cultivation support system 1A performs. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of a history of temperature changes measured by the climate sensor 10 when the climate sensor 10 is installed at various locations in the house. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of a history of the number of irrigation starts in one day; It is a figure which shows the structural example of the cultivation support system 1B by 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of 1 C of cultivation support systems by 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
(A: First Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a cultivation support system 1A according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The cultivation support system 1A is a computer system for supporting hydroponic cultivation of agricultural products such as tomatoes. As shown in FIG. 1, the cultivation support system 1A includes a climate sensor 10, a watering mechanism 20A, and a watering controller 30. The climate sensor 10 and the irrigation mechanism 20A are each connected to the irrigation controller 30 via signal lines. In this embodiment, the climate sensor 10 and the irrigation mechanism 20A are wired to the irrigation controller 30, but the climate sensor 10 and the irrigation mechanism 20A may be wirelessly connected to the irrigation controller 30 via, for example, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network).

In FIG. 1, the code CF refers to a culture medium in hydroponics. The medium CF may be water supplied from a water source WS such as a tank storing agricultural water through a water channel WC, or may be a solid medium supplied with the water such as rock wool. The culture medium CF may be installed in a greenhouse such as a vinyl house, or may be installed in the open air. In this embodiment, an example of applying the present invention to hydroponics of agricultural products will be described, but the present invention may of course be applied to support open-field cultivation using soil as the medium CF.

A climate sensor 10 is provided in the vicinity of the culture medium CF. The climate sensor 10 includes at least a temperature sensor that detects the ambient temperature of the culture medium CF. More specifically, the climate sensor 10 needs to be installed at a position affected by direct sunlight when the culture medium CF is installed in a house or outdoors, and at a position affected by the amount of solar radiation under shade when the culture medium CF is installed in a light-shielded environment. This is for measuring, as temperature data, the amount of thermal energy received by the leaves of agricultural products to be cultivated through temperature or solar radiation. The climate sensor 10 may include a humidity sensor that measures humidity, a solar radiation sensor that measures solar radiation energy, and the like, in addition to the temperature sensor. The climate sensor 10 is an example of a measurement mechanism that measures at least the amount of heat energy given to the leaves of agricultural products to be cultivated as temperature data. The climate sensor 10 outputs temperature data indicating the measured temperature to the irrigation controller 30 .

20 A of watering mechanisms are provided in the water channel WC from the water source WS to the culture medium CF. Under the control of the irrigation controller 30, the irrigation mechanism 20A irrigates the culture medium CF using water supplied through the water channel WC. As shown in FIG. 1, the irrigation system 20A includes a liquid manure mixer 210A and a valve 220. As shown in FIG. The liquid fertilizer mixer 210A mixes liquid fertilizer into the water supplied through the water channel WC. The valve 220 is switched between opening and closing by the irrigation controller 30 . When the valve 220 is switched from the closed state to the open state, water mixed with liquid fertilizer is supplied to the culture medium CF by the liquid fertilizer mixer 210A.

Although detailed illustration is omitted in FIG. 1, the liquid fertilizer mixer 210A includes a pump that draws water from the water source WS through the water channel WC. The amount of water drawn by the pump from the water source WS per unit time (for example, 1 minute) is predetermined. The user of the cultivation support system 1A can set the amount of liquid fertilizer (in other words, the concentration of the fertilizer in the water supplied to the culture medium CF) to be mixed in a unit volume of water (for example, the amount of water drawn by the pump within a unit time) for the liquid fertilizer mixer 210A. A user of the cultivation support system 1A is a producer who cultivates agricultural products in the culture medium CF while receiving support from the cultivation support system 1A.

Although the details will be described later, in this embodiment, watering is performed multiple times from sunrise to sunset. Each of the multiple times of irrigation is performed in the following manner. The liquid fertilizer mixer 210A operates the pump in synchronism with the switching of the valve 220 from the closed state to the open state, and mixes and discharges the amount of liquid fertilizer set by the user into the water drawn in per unit time. Thereby, irrigation for one time is started. Then, the liquid manure mixer 210A stops the pump in synchronism with the switching of the valve 220 from the open state to the closed state. This completes the watering for one time. Below, the time from the start time to the end time of one irrigation is referred to as "irrigation time". In the present embodiment, the amount of water supplied from the irrigation mechanism 20A to the culture medium CF per unit time is constant, so the amount of water supplied to the culture medium CF by one irrigation is determined according to the length of the irrigation time. The user of the cultivation support system 1A can set the watering time for the watering controller 30, which will be described later. Also, hereinafter, the time interval from the end time of irrigation to the start time of the next irrigation is referred to as "irrigation interval".

The watering controller 30 is, for example, a computer device such as a personal computer, and is an example of a first controller that controls the watering mechanism 20A. Although detailed illustration is omitted in FIG. 1, the irrigation control controller 30 includes a CPU, a volatile memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), a nonvolatile memory such as a hard disk, a user interface unit including a liquid crystal display and a keyboard, and a communication interface unit such as a NIC (Network Interface Card). A communication interface unit of the irrigation controller 30 is connected to the electric communication line NW via a relay device such as a router. The irrigation controller 30 performs data communication with various server devices connected to the electric communication line NW via the electric communication line NW. In this embodiment, a case where the irrigation controller 30 is a personal computer will be described, but the irrigation controller 30 may be a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller). When a PLC is used as the irrigation controller 30, an SD card may be used locally as a data storage destination, and a database server on the cloud may be used in the cloud, and a personal computer, a tablet terminal, a smartphone, etc. may be used to check the stored data.

Specific examples of the various server devices connected to the electric communication line NW include a first server device that is operated and managed by a meteorological observatory or the like that has jurisdiction over the area where the culture medium CF is provided and that distributes information indicating the sunrise and sunset times in that region, and a second server device that is operated and managed by an agricultural testing center or the like that has jurisdiction over the region and distributes cultivation guideline information representing a cultivation guideline. In the cultivation guideline information, the number of times of irrigation to be performed from sunrise to sunset is stipulated according to the season according to the type of agricultural product to be cultivated and the area where the culture medium is provided. According to plant growth control theory, the growth rate of plants is said to change greatly depending on the amount of thermal energy (in other words, temperature) given to leaves via air temperature or solar radiation, and cultivation guidelines are generally set based on this growth control theory. It is preferable to perform irrigation more frequently as the growing speed is faster. Therefore, in the cultivation guideline information, the higher the temperature, the higher the number of times of watering.

The irrigation controller 30 acquires time information indicating the time of sunrise and the time of sunset in the area where the culture medium CF is provided from the first server device by data communication via the telecommunication line NW. In addition, the irrigation controller 30 acquires the cultivation guideline information corresponding to the area where the agricultural products to be cultivated and the culture medium CF are provided by data communication via the telecommunication line NW.

In the non-volatile memory of the irrigation control controller 30, a control program for implementing a control method emphasizing the features of the present invention is pre-installed. The volatile memory of the irrigation controller 30 is used as a work area when executing the control program. When the CPU of the irrigation controller 30 is given an instruction to execute the control program via the user interface unit, it reads the control program from the nonvolatile memory to the volatile memory and starts executing it. The CPU of the irrigation controller 30 operating according to the control program prompts the user to set the variety of the agricultural product to be cultivated and the area where the culture medium CF is provided, and when these settings are made, the corresponding cultivation guideline information is acquired from the second server device. Thereafter, the CPU of the irrigation controller 30 acquires time information from the first server device at a predetermined time (for example, 0:00 a.m.) that is presumed to be sufficiently before sunrise on a daily basis, and executes the above control method.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the flow of the above control method. As shown in FIG. 2, this control method includes a first step SA100 and a second step SA110. The processing contents of each of the first step SA100 and the second step SA110 are as follows.

The first step SA100 is a process executed at sunrise. In this first step SA100, the CPU of the irrigation controller 30 determines whether or not the temperature represented by the temperature data measured by the climate sensor 10 is within a predetermined proper temperature range for growing agricultural products. The appropriate temperature range may differ depending on the type of agricultural product to be cultivated, but is, for example, a temperature range of 10°C to 30°C. It is said that the optimum temperature for growing plants in the temperate zone is within the range of 10°C to 30°C, with the optimum value being 25°C, which generally agrees with experience. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the optimum temperature range for growing agricultural products to be cultivated is defined as a temperature range of 10°C to 30°C.

When the determination result is "Yes", the CPU of the watering controller 30 keeps the valve 220 open for the watering time described above and causes the watering mechanism 20A to perform the first watering. On the other hand, if the determination result is "No", the CPU of the irrigation controller 30 waits for a predetermined time and then executes the above determination again. If the determination result is "Yes" at sunrise, the first irrigation is performed at sunrise. On the other hand, if the determination result is "No" at sunrise, the first irrigation is not performed at sunrise, but is performed after the temperature rises to the appropriate temperature range.

The second step SA110 is a step of performing the second and subsequent irrigation out of the irrigation performed multiple times from sunrise to sunset. In the second step SA110, the CPU of the irrigation controller 30 first sets a plurality of temperature zones as appropriate temperature zones. More specifically, the CPU of the irrigation controller 30 sets a plurality of temperature zones with the lower limit of the proper temperature zone or a plurality of temperatures set at equal intervals within the proper temperature zone as the lower limit and the upper limit of the proper temperature zone as the upper limit. For example, if the appropriate temperature range is a temperature range of 10° C. to 30° C., and the intervals between multiple temperatures set at equal intervals within the appropriate temperature range are 5° C., that is, if the multiple temperatures set at equal intervals within the positive temperature range are 15° C., 20° C., and 25° C., the CPU of the irrigation controller 30 sets the following four temperature ranges. That is, the first temperature range is a temperature range from 10°C to 30°C. The second temperature zone is the temperature zone from 15°C to 30°C. The third temperature zone is the temperature zone from 20°C to 30°C. And the fourth temperature zone is a temperature zone from 25°C to 30°C. Next, the CPU of the irrigation controller 30 sets the irrigation interval, which is the time interval from the end of the previous irrigation to the start of the next irrigation for each of the plurality of temperature zones, that is, the irrigation interval until the next irrigation timing for each temperature zone according to the lower limit temperature and the cultivation guideline information. More specifically, the CPU of the irrigation controller 30 divides the time interval from sunrise to sunset according to the frequency of irrigation specified in the cultivation guideline information according to the lower limit temperature, and sets the irrigation interval for each temperature zone. In this embodiment, separate watering intervals are set for each of the first to fourth temperature zones. As described above, in the cultivation guideline information, the higher the temperature, the higher the frequency of irrigation.

The CPU of the irrigation controller 30 measures the elapsed time for each of the plurality of temperature zones using a timer while referring to the temperature represented by the temperature data measured by the climate sensor 10 . Specifically, the CPU of the irrigation controller 30 causes the timer corresponding to the temperature range including the temperature represented by the temperature data measured by the climate sensor 10 to count time. For example, if the temperature represented by the temperature data measured by the climate sensor 10 is 18° C., the timer assigned to the first temperature zone and the timer assigned to the second temperature zone are started to measure time. Then, the CPU of the watering controller 30 causes the watering mechanism 20A to perform watering according to the earliest watering timing among a plurality of watering timings determined according to each watering interval set for each of the plurality of temperature zones, and repeats the process of resetting the timer until sunset. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the higher the temperature measured by the climate sensor 10 is, the shorter the watering interval is and the more frequently watering is performed.

For example, in the morning when the temperature gradually rises, the watering interval is gradually shortened and the frequency of watering is increased, while in the afternoon when the temperature is gradually falling, the watering interval is gradually lengthened and the frequency of watering is low. In other words, the cultivation support system 1A of the present embodiment functions as an AI that autonomously performs watering according to the theory of plant growth control, and can adjust the frequency of watering agricultural products to be cultivated according to the temperature. As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to perform irrigation that accurately responds to changes in climate, and to reduce human error. As a result, according to this embodiment, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of root rot or wilting and prevent a reduction in yield.

The user of the cultivation support system 1A can supervise the operation of the cultivation support system 1A and finely adjust the watering time (in other words, the watering amount per time) to adjust the cultivation conditions for each region and house. Although the irrigation mechanism 20A of the cultivation support system 1A includes the liquid fertilizer mixer 210A, the liquid fertilizer mixer 210A may be omitted. Further, when the climate sensors 10 are installed at various locations in the house, the history of temperature changes measured by the climate sensors 10 and the history of the number of irrigation starts in a day may be recorded, and in response to the user's instruction, graphed as shown in FIG. 3 or 4 and displayed on the user interface unit of the irrigation controller 30. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of the temperature change history measured by the climate sensor 10 when the climate sensor 10 is installed at various locations in the house, and each graph curve in FIG.

In this embodiment, the time of sunrise in the area where the culture medium CF is provided is set as the control start time by the irrigation controller 30, and the time of sunset is set as the control end time. However, the time before sunrise may be set as the control start time, and the time after sunset may be set as the control end time. In short, the control start time should be after the control end time of the previous day and before the control end time of the current day, and the control end time should be before the control start time of the next day. A nighttime period with no insolation may be included between the control start time and the control end time of the day. If the night time period is included between the control start time and the control end time in a day, it becomes possible to program an algorithm according to the growth of the plant, not only during the time when the amount of energy for photosynthesis is given, but also when watering is required during the dark reaction, depending on the time of day, temperature, and the elapsed time of the temperature zone.

(B: Second Embodiment)
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a cultivation support system 1B according to the second embodiment of the invention. In FIG. 5, the same components as in FIG. 1 are labeled with the same reference numerals. As can be seen by comparing FIG. 5 and FIG. 1, there are two differences between the cultivation support system 1B and the cultivation support system 1A. 1stly, it is the point which replaced with the watering mechanism 20A and provided the watering mechanism 20B. Secondly, the fertilization control controller 40 is provided. In addition, in the present embodiment, the cultivation guideline information differs from the first embodiment in that the frequency of irrigation to be performed between sunrise and sunset is defined according to the season according to the type of agricultural product and the region where the culture medium CF is provided, and the optimal value of the fertilizer concentration is defined.

The watering mechanism 20B differs from the watering mechanism 20A in that it has a liquid-manure mixer 210B instead of the liquid-manure mixer 210A. The liquid fertilizer mixer 210B differs from the liquid fertilizer mixer 210A in that the amount of liquid fertilizer mixed with water per unit volume supplied from the water source WS is varied in accordance with instructions from the fertilizer application controller 40 .

The fertilization controller 40 is a personal computer like the irrigation controller 30 . As shown in FIG. 5, the fertilization controller 40 is connected to the liquid fertilizer mixer 210B and to the irrigation controller 30. As shown in FIG. The irrigation controller 30 is an example of a first controller included in the cultivation support system 1B, and the fertilization controller 40 is an example of a second controller included in the cultivation support system 1B. Temperature data is provided to the fertilization controller 40 via the watering controller 30 .

The fertilizer application controller 40 instructs the liquid fertilizer mixer 210B on the amount of liquid fertilizer to be mixed with the water per unit volume supplied from the water source WS according to the temperature indicated by the temperature data measured by the climate sensor 10 . Specifically, the fertilization controller 40 uses the optimal value of the fertilizer concentration determined by the cultivation guideline information as a reference, increases the fertilizer concentration when the temperature indicated by the temperature data measured by the climate sensor 10 is low, and decreases the fertilizer concentration when the temperature is high. In addition, if the cultivation guideline information specifies the suitable values for the increase and decrease of the fertilizer concentration according to the temperature, the fertilization controller 40 may increase or decrease the fertilizer concentration according to the cultivation guideline information and the temperature measured by the climate sensor 10.

According to this embodiment, in addition to being able to adjust the frequency of watering the agricultural products to be cultivated according to the temperature, it is also possible to adjust the fertilization of the agricultural products to be cultivated according to the temperature. It should be noted that the control start time in this embodiment may also be the time of sunrise, or may be the time before sunrise. Similarly, the control end time may be the time of sunset, or may be the time before sunset. If the period of the day from the start time of control to the end time of control includes a time period during the night when there is no sunlight, it becomes possible to program an algorithm according to the growth of the plant, not only during the period when the amount of energy for photosynthesis is given, but also when irrigation and fertilization are required during the dark reaction, depending on the time period, temperature, and the elapsed time of the temperature zone. In this embodiment, the fertilizer concentration is adjusted according to the temperature measured by the climate sensor 10, but the fertilizer concentration may be adjusted according to the time period during which irrigation is performed. Specifically, it is conceivable to lower the concentration of fertilizer when watering is performed in the morning, increase the concentration of fertilizer when watering is performed in the afternoon, and increase the concentration of fertilizer when watering is performed at night. By doing so, it was possible to reduce the occurrence of cracked fruit and softened balls. In addition, although the irrigation controller 30 and the fertilization controller 40 are separate devices in this embodiment, one controller may serve both the irrigation controller 30 and the fertilization controller 40 .

(C: Third Embodiment)
In the above-described first embodiment, heat energy is given to agricultural products to be cultivated by natural light. In contrast, the present embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the culture medium CF is installed indoors isolated from natural light, and thermal energy for growing agricultural products is supplied by artificial light.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the cultivation support system 1C of this embodiment. In FIG. 6, the same components as in FIG. 1 are labeled with the same reference numerals. As is clear from a comparison of FIG. 6 and FIG. 1, the difference between the cultivation support system 1C and the cultivation support system 1A is that they include a thermal energy supply mechanism 50 that supplies thermal energy to agricultural products to be cultivated using artificial light. The thermal energy supply mechanism 50 is a floodlight that irradiates the agricultural products with artificial light. In the cultivation support system 1C, the thermal energy supplied by the thermal energy supply mechanism 50 is measured by the climate sensor 10 as temperature data. In this embodiment, since the thermal energy for growing agricultural products is supplied by artificial light, the control start time is determined independently of the sunrise time, and the control end time is also determined independently of the sunset time. The control start time may be any time after the control end time of the previous day and before the control end time of the current day, and the control end time may be any time before the control start time of the next day.

As for the cultivation guideline information, if the cultivation guideline information indicating the guideline for cultivation under artificial light is available, the irrigation controller 30 may be made to acquire the guideline information for cultivation indicating the guideline for cultivation under artificial light. If there is no cultivation guideline for artificial light, or if cultivation guideline information indicating the cultivation guideline cannot be obtained, the optimum parameters may be found by setting the initial values of the parameters such as the watering interval or the amount of water per watering according to the irrigation frequency or the like indicated by the cultivation guideline information indicating the cultivation guideline for natural light, and adjusting various parameters according to the growth status of agricultural products by the user. By accumulating parameter setting values and data on cultivation results, AI-based cultivation support can function effectively.

According to the present embodiment, it is possible to irrigate agricultural products to be cultivated in a manner that accurately corresponds to the heat energy supplied by artificial light, and it is possible to reduce artificial failures such as failures due to user's trial and error. As a result, in the cultivation of agricultural products using artificial light, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of root rot or wilting and prevent a decrease in yield. In addition, although the thermal energy supply mechanism 50 in this embodiment is a light projector, it may include a heating device. When a heating device is included in the thermal energy supply mechanism 50, a device that calculates the amount of heat supplied by the heating device from the fuel consumption or power consumption of the heating device and the climate sensor 10 may constitute a measurement mechanism. Further, in the present embodiment, the cultivation support system 1C is configured by combining the cultivation support system 1A with the thermal energy supply mechanism 50, but the cultivation support system 1B of the second embodiment may be combined with the thermal energy supply mechanism 50.

(D: deformation)
Although each embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the following modifications may of course be added to these embodiments.
(1) The irrigation controller 30 in each of the above embodiments adjusts the irrigation interval according to the temperature represented by the temperature data measured by the measurement mechanism such as the climate sensor 10, but at least one of the irrigation interval and the irrigation time may be adjusted according to the growth stage of the agricultural product (whether it is a growing season or a cultivation season). This is because plants in the seedling growing season have a small number of leaves and do not require frequent irrigation, so excessive watering during the seedling growing season directly leads to root rot. Specifically, the user is prompted to input the initial value of the number of leaves of the agricultural product (for example, the number of leaves at the start of cultivation) to the irrigation controller 30. Thereafter, the irrigation controller 30 calculates the integrated value of the temperature represented by the temperature data measured by the measuring mechanism every day from the start of cultivation, and calculates the number of leaves according to the integrated value. Then, the irrigation controller 30 adjusts at least one of the irrigation interval and the irrigation time according to the calculated number of leaves. For example, during the seedling raising period, the watering intervals are adjusted to be wide. Alternatively, the watering interval may be adjusted according to the temperature, and the watering time may be adjusted according to the number of leaves. When the user trims the leaves, the user manually corrects the number of leaves to the value after the trimming, and thereafter, the irrigation controller 30 fixes the number of leaves of the agricultural product to be cultivated to the number of leaves at the time of trimming.

(2) When the culture medium CF is installed in the open air, the user may separately set the watering time for fine weather and the watering time for rainy weather. Especially in the case of open-field cultivation, there is a large amount of medium in which plants can grow their roots, and frequent irrigation is not required. In this case, a rainfall sensor that measures rainfall is connected to the irrigation controller 30 as a rain sensor, and the irrigation time per irrigation time, in other words, the irrigation controller 30 may adjust the amount of water per irrigation according to the measurement result of the rain sensor (that is, the measured rainfall). Also, when the culture medium CF is installed in a house, a rain sensor that measures the presence or absence of rain may be connected to the irrigation controller 30 as a rain sensor, and the irrigation controller 30 may adjust the time per irrigation according to the presence or absence of rain measured by the rain sensor.

(3) The irrigation controller 30 or a controller having both the function of the irrigation controller 30 and the function of the fertilization controller 40 may be manufactured and sold alone. Alternatively, a program that causes a general computer such as a CPU to function as the irrigation controller 30 or a program that functions as the irrigation controller 30 and the fertilization controller 40 may be manufactured and sold separately.

(4) In each of the above embodiments, watering is performed while adjusting the watering interval, which is determined at least according to the cultivation guideline based on the type of agricultural product to be cultivated, according to temperature changes during the day. However, if it is desired to fine-tune the growth control theory that is the basis of the cultivation guideline, a control program may be created so that the number of times of watering can be increased or decreased for each time zone of the morning, afternoon, and night. In addition, the cultivation support system of the present invention may be constructed so as to accurately input and accumulate data such as the cultivation environment, cultivation conditions, and yield, and each of the numerous cultivation support systems may be driven with random numerical values to collect data from each system and perform machine learning, etc., to create an AI based on a new growth control theory. It takes a long time to grow plants, so it takes a lot of time to collect a lot of data with one system.

1A, 1B... cultivation support system, 10... climate sensor, 20A, 20B... irrigation mechanism, 210A, 210B... liquid fertilizer mixer, 220... valve, 30... irrigation control controller, 40... fertilization control controller, 50... thermal energy supply mechanism.

Claims (9)

a measuring mechanism that measures at least the amount of thermal energy given to the leaves of the agricultural product to be cultivated as temperature data;
an irrigation mechanism that uses water supplied from a water source to irrigate a medium in which the agricultural product is cultivated;
Cultivation guideline information that defines the frequency of irrigation to be performed multiple times between the control start time and the control end time at least according to the type of the agricultural product, wherein the higher the temperature, the higher the irrigation frequency is determined according to the cultivation guideline information.
The first controller is
a first step of causing the irrigation mechanism to perform a first irrigation out of the irrigation performed a plurality of times when temperature data representing a temperature within a predetermined appropriate temperature range for growing agricultural products is measured by the measurement mechanism after the control start time;
a second step of performing the second and subsequent irrigation out of the irrigation performed multiple times;
In the second step, the first controller
For each of a plurality of temperature zones set in the appropriate temperature zone, each of which has a lower limit of the appropriate temperature zone or a plurality of temperatures set at equal intervals within the appropriate temperature zone as a lower limit and an upper limit of the appropriate temperature zone as an upper limit, an irrigation interval, which is a time interval from the end of the previous irrigation to the start of the next irrigation, is set for each temperature zone according to the lower limit temperature and the cultivation guideline information, a timer is assigned to each temperature zone, and the elapsed time of each temperature zone is measured by the measurement mechanism. and making the irrigation mechanism perform irrigation according to the earliest irrigation timing among a plurality of irrigation timings determined according to each irrigation interval set for each of the plurality of temperature zones, and repeating a process of resetting the timer assigned to each of the plurality of temperature zones until the control end time. The cultivation support system according to claim 1, wherein said watering mechanism includes a liquid fertilizer mixer for mixing liquid fertilizer into water supplied from said water source. 3. The cultivation support system according to claim 2, further comprising a second controller that adjusts the amount of liquid fertilizer mixed by said liquid fertilizer mixer with respect to a unit volume of water according to the temperature represented by the temperature data measured by said measuring mechanism. 3. The cultivation support system according to claim 2, further comprising a second controller that adjusts the amount of liquid fertilizer mixed by said liquid fertilizer mixing device with respect to a unit volume of water according to the time period to which the watering timing belongs. The culture medium is installed in the open air,
including a rain sensor,
The first controller is
The cultivation support system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the amount of water per irrigation is adjusted according to the result of measurement by the rain sensor. 6. The cultivation support system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the measurement mechanism includes a climate sensor that measures, as temperature data, the amount of thermal energy given to leaves of agricultural products to be cultivated via solar radiation or air temperature. The first controller is
7. The cultivation support system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the growth stage of the agricultural product is estimated from an integrated temperature value represented by the temperature data measured by the measurement mechanism, and the frequency of irrigation is adjusted according to the estimated growth stage. Cultivation guideline information according to at least the type of the agricultural product that defines, according to the season, the frequency of irrigation in which an irrigation mechanism that uses water supplied from a water source to irrigate a culture medium in which the agricultural product is cultivated is performed multiple times between the control start time and the control end time, and that the higher the temperature, the higher the irrigation frequency, wherein the controller performs control according to the cultivation guideline information,
a first step of causing the irrigation mechanism to perform the first irrigation out of the irrigation to be performed a plurality of times after the control start time, when temperature data representing a temperature within a predetermined appropriate temperature range for growing the agricultural product is measured by a measurement mechanism that measures at least the amount of heat energy given to the leaves of the agricultural product as temperature data;
a second step of performing the second and subsequent irrigation out of the irrigation performed multiple times;
In the second step,
For each of a plurality of temperature zones set in the appropriate temperature zone, each of which has a lower limit of the appropriate temperature zone or a plurality of temperatures set at equal intervals within the appropriate temperature zone as a lower limit and an upper limit of the appropriate temperature zone as an upper limit, an irrigation interval, which is a time interval from the end of the previous irrigation to the start of the next irrigation, is set for each temperature zone according to the lower limit temperature and the cultivation guideline information, a timer is assigned to each temperature zone, and the elapsed time of each temperature zone is measured by the measurement mechanism. and making the irrigation mechanism perform irrigation according to the earliest irrigation timing among a plurality of irrigation timings determined according to each irrigation interval set for each of the plurality of temperature zones, and repeating the process of resetting the timer assigned to each of the plurality of temperature zones until the control end time. A control method for controlling according to the cultivation guideline information, wherein a watering mechanism that uses water supplied from a water source to irrigate a culture medium in which agricultural products are cultivated is performed multiple times between a control start time and a control end time, according to at least the type of the agricultural product, wherein the frequency of irrigation is defined according to the season, and the higher the temperature, the higher the watering frequency is determined,
a first step of causing the irrigation mechanism to perform the first irrigation out of the irrigation to be performed a plurality of times after the control start time, when temperature data representing a temperature within a predetermined appropriate temperature range for growing the agricultural product is measured by a measurement mechanism that measures at least the amount of heat energy given to the leaves of the agricultural product as temperature data;
a second step of performing second and subsequent irrigation out of the irrigation performed multiple times;
In the second step,
For each of a plurality of temperature zones set in the appropriate temperature zone, each of which has a lower limit of the appropriate temperature zone or a plurality of temperatures set at equal intervals within the appropriate temperature zone as a lower limit and an upper limit of the appropriate temperature zone as an upper limit, an irrigation interval, which is a time interval from the end of the previous irrigation to the start of the next irrigation, is set for each temperature zone according to the lower limit temperature and the cultivation guideline information, a timer is assigned to each temperature zone, and the elapsed time of each temperature zone is measured by the measurement mechanism. and making the watering mechanism perform watering according to the earliest watering timing among a plurality of watering timings determined according to each watering interval set for each of the plurality of temperature zones, and repeating a process of resetting the timer assigned to each of the plurality of temperature zones until the control end time.