KR20150074776A - Apparatus for Measuring Photo-environment of Plants Factory and Method for Measuring the Same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus for measuring a photo-environment of a plant factory and a method for measuring the same. More specifically, the apparatus for measuring a photo-environment of a plant factory measures a photo-environment of a plant factory with a sensor and transmits the measured photo-environment to an external control apparatus, which makes the photo-environment inside the plant factory appropriately controlled. The apparatus for measuring the photo-environment of a plant factory includes: a photo sensor (13) comprising multiple channels; a transmission unit (14) which transmits detected light from the photo sensor (13); a control unit (11) which processes data transmitted by the transmission unit (14); and a setting unit (12) which determines a detection condition of the photo sensor (13) by the control of the control unit (11). The control unit (11) displays a profile of the photon flux density transmitted from the photo sensor (13) in a determined cycle.

Description

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to an optical environment measuring apparatus and a measuring method thereof,

The present invention relates to an optical environment measuring apparatus and a measuring method thereof in a plant factory. Specifically, the optical environment of a plant is measured by a sensor and transmitted to an external control apparatus, The present invention relates to an optical environment measuring apparatus and a measuring method thereof for a plant factory.

A plant plant is a facility that allows artificial control of the cultivation environment such as light, temperature, humidity, or carbon dioxide inside the facility so that plants can be continuously produced regardless of the season. Plant factories are capable of producing agricultural products in the suburbs or in the city, and they are suitable for indoor farming, so they can be produced all year round and can be supplied in a stable manner. However, all the facilities must be made artificially, Price competitiveness can be lowered.

Light is one of the main factors affecting the growth of plants, and mainly cathode ray tube fluorescent lamp, high pressure sodium lamp or light emitting diode (LED) lighting can be used mainly as a light source. Since the light of a plant plant should be controlled artificially, it is advantageous to automatically adjust the wavelength band or light quantity from sowing to harvest. In order to automatically control the lighting of such plant factories, the light inside the plant must first be measured.

As a prior art related to automatic plant management, Patent Publication No. 2012-0066191 entitled " Plant automatic management system " The prior art includes a plant information database for confirming the current environmental condition by operating the power supply and for creating an environment necessary for the user or the apparatus to grow plants; A sensor for detecting the environmental condition of the soil in the pollen and the environmental condition of the pollen surface; An information display part for receiving the growth environment information of the target plant from the plant alert database according to input information of a target plant to be grown and comparing the information with the detection information of the sensor and displaying the information; A water supply part for supplying water according to growth conditions of the target plant according to display information of the information display part; An information notification section for informing the user of the comparison result of the information display section; And a control section for controlling the plant information database, the sensor, the information display section, the water supply section, and the information notification section, wherein the plant information database stores optimum temperature and humidity information necessary for growing various plants The present invention relates to an automatic plant management apparatus including a plant.

Another prior art related to plant cultivation is Patent Publication No. 2012-0072985 'Plant cultivation management system and method'. The prior art includes a photographing apparatus for photographing at least one plant and a reference unit disposed adjacent to the plant; A cultivation environment management device for regulating cultivation environment conditions of the plant based on environmental variables; And a control unit for receiving the image of the taken plant and the cultivation environment condition, detecting the size information of the plant from the image of the plant based on the photographing condition of the photographing apparatus and the size of the reference unit, And a control device for controlling the cultivating environment management apparatus based on the size information.

Prior art related to plant management is Patent Registration No. 1296509, Plant Manager. The prior art includes a form environment detecting means for detecting a form environment of a plant and a plant alarm display portion provided in the body of the manager for notifying the manager of the plant status according to the form environment sensed through the form environment sensing means, A probe mounting part protruding from a lower portion of the body of the manager so that the planted flower pot can be installed on the soil, a plant management control part for controlling the notification of the plant notification display part by calculating the form environmental data inputted through the environment sensing part, And a power supply portion provided in the manager body and having an operation power supply.

The prior art discloses a method for appropriately managing the environment in relation to plant growth information, but does not disclose the method or apparatus for measuring each factor directly affecting plant growth and the processing of information measured therefrom Do.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art and has the following purpose.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical environment measuring apparatus and a measuring method for measuring optical environment inside a plant factory and for processing related information.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a measurement device for measuring the optical environment of a plant factory in real time includes: a photosensor having a plurality of channels; A transmission unit for transmitting light detected from the photo sensor; A control unit for processing data transmitted from the transmission unit; And a setting unit for determining the detection condition of the photosensor by the control of the control unit, wherein the control unit displays the profile of the density of photons transferred from the photosensor at a predetermined cycle on the display unit.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the photosensor includes a body having a housing space formed therein, a light distribution plate disposed in the accommodation space, a silicon photodiode arranged in a line at regular intervals along the light distribution plate, And a side wall formed with a connection port while being fixed.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of measuring optical environment of a plant factory, comprising: preparing a photosensor having a plurality of silicon photodiodes; Setting an initial condition and correcting a measurement factor; Measuring the density of photons detected by the photosensor at different locations; Forming an optical density profile according to the measured photon density; Determining whether the optical density profile agrees with a predetermined range of reference values; And controlling the operation of the illumination unit according to whether or not the determination is made.

The measuring apparatus according to the present invention has an advantage in that it is possible to detect the light environment in the plant factory in real time and control the growth conditions of the plant. Further, the measuring apparatus according to the present invention is advantageous in that it can be installed in a movable or fixed form, and can be suitably applied to optical environment detection if necessary. In addition, the measuring method according to the present invention has an advantage in that it can be applied to plant factories having optical lighting conditions of different wavelength bands by setting various wavelength bands.

Figure 1 shows an embodiment of a measuring device according to the invention.
FIG. 2A shows an embodiment of a detection sensor applied to a measuring apparatus according to the present invention.
2B shows an embodiment of a circuit diagram of a photosensor in a detection sensor according to the present invention.
FIG. 3A illustrates an example of a measurement process according to a measurement method according to the present invention.
FIG. 3B shows an embodiment of a photon density profile by a measuring method according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In the following description, components having the same reference numerals in different drawings have similar functions, so that they will not be described repeatedly unless necessary for an understanding of the invention, and the known components will be briefly described or omitted. However, It should not be understood as being excluded from the embodiment of Fig.

Figure 1 shows an embodiment of a measuring device according to the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a measuring apparatus according to the present invention for measuring the optical environment of a plant in real time includes a photo sensor 13 having a plurality of channels; A transmission unit (14) for transmitting the light detected from the photosensor (13); A control unit (11) for processing data transmitted from the transmission unit (14); And a setting unit (12) for determining the detection condition of the photosensor (13) under the control of the control unit (11), wherein the control unit (11) Can be displayed on the display (D) unit.

The present invention can be applied to a plant factory by LED illumination, but can be applied to a plant factory by fluorescent light, sodium lamp or laser diode (LD) illumination through appropriate design modification of the photosensor 13, Is not limited by the applied illumination.

Plant plants can use light of various wavelength bands for growing crops, and the measurement apparatus according to the present invention can measure light environment of various wavelength bands. The measuring device may be comprised of hardware and software, the hardware may be associated with detection, conversion, communication and display, and the software may be associated with operation or control, analysis and storage of the device. However, hardware and software can be integrated and not as separate and distinct elements.

The control unit 11 may be, for example, a central processing unit or a microprocessor included in, for example, a personal computer or a notebook, and may operate the measurement device via various software or hardware installed in a personal computer or a notebook. The software for the operation of the measuring device according to the present invention may be installed in the form of an application program on a personal computer or a notebook computer. The control unit 11 may be connected to the display unit 151 and may have an internal or external storage medium 152. The control unit 11, the display unit 151 or the storage medium 152 may take any form in this field and the present invention is not limited by the type of the control unit 11. [

The setting unit 12 has a function of setting the detection condition of the photosensor 13, and can be set, for example, such as a wavelength band or an inflow angle to the sensor channel, an amplification ratio, or a signal transmission rate. The setting unit 12 may be substantially formed integrally with the control unit 11 and may be in soft form or may be set by software.

The photosensor 13 is for detection of the optical environment and may be composed of a plurality of channels, and each channel may include a photodiode. The photodiode may preferably be a silicon photodiode and may optionally include an optical filter for passage through a particular wavelength band. The photosensitivity photon flux density (PPFD) applied to the area to be measured by the photosensor 13 per second can be measured and transmitted to the transmission unit 14. The density of the photons measured by the photosensor 13 may be converted into a current signal or a voltage signal, for example, and transmitted to the transmission unit 14.

The transmission unit 14 may have a function of connecting the photosensor 13 and the control unit 11 and may include, for example, a connection connector or a USB port. The transmission unit 14 may have a function of receiving signals of the photodiodes of the respective channels and transmitting them to the control unit 11, for example, at intervals of 1 to 5 seconds.

The photosensor 13 according to the present invention may be of a movable structure or a portable structure and may be connected to the control unit 11 by a transmission unit 14. The photosensor 13 can measure the density of photons at different positions and transmit them to the control unit 11 and the control unit 11 can measure the light intensity of the entire plant plant interior based on the detection values transmitted at different positions The environment can be detected. An embodiment of a photosensor having such a movable structure is described below.

FIG. 2A shows an embodiment of a detection sensor applied to a measuring apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2B shows an embodiment of a circuit diagram of a photosensor in the detection sensor according to the present invention.

2A, the photosensor 13 includes a body 21 having a housing space therein, a light distribution plate 211 disposed in the accommodation space, and a light distribution plate 211 disposed in a line at regular intervals along the light distribution plate 211 And the sidewalls 22a and 22b formed with the connection port 221 while being fixed to the side surfaces of the body 21 and the silicon photodiode 23.

The body 21 may have a receiving space formed with side walls 22a and 22b joined to both ends thereof while extending in the longitudinal direction. The body 21 can be made of, for example, a metal material such as aluminum or a synthetic resin such as acrylic, but is not limited thereto. The light distribution plate 211 may be disposed in the accommodation space formed in the body 21 and the silicon photodiode 23 may be disposed in the light distribution plate 211 at regular intervals.

The silicon photodiode 23 shown in FIG. 2B is formed such that when a light L in a wavelength range of 100 to 2000 nm is incident, current flows to the diode by a zero bias, forward bias, or reverse bias operation of the PN-semiconductor junction layer 231 . The generated current is output through the amplifier 232 and can be transmitted to the control unit via the transmission unit described above. The embodiment shown in FIG. 2B is an example, and a silicon photodiode 23 according to various circuit configurations can be applied to the photosensor 13 according to the present invention.

The silicon photodiodes 23 may be arranged in a line at regular intervals along the light distribution plate 211 and the light detected by each of the silicon photodiodes 23 may be transmitted to the control unit. The silicon photodiode 23 may have an optical filter, and one of the silicon photodiodes 23 may be a reference channel 23a if necessary. The optical filter is intended to remove the wavelength region except for the wavelength band of the illumination used in the plant. In addition, the reference channel 23a may be installed to compensate the temperature of the measured value since the absorption coefficient of the silicon nitride passivation layer varies depending on the temperature in the silicon photodiode 23. Light in the photosynthesis wavelength range can be detected by the optical filter and the optical environment inside the plant factory can be accurately detected by the reference channel 23a. The reference channel 23a may be installed in the adjustment panel 211 to adjust the internal temperature of the silicon photodiode to be equal to the temperature inside the plant.

The number of the silicon photodiodes 23 that can be disposed on the light distribution plate 211 is not particularly limited and may be, for example, 4 to 12, and may be adjusted by adjusting lenses (not shown) in front of the silicon photodiodes 23 Can be installed. The adjustment lens may have a direction adjusting function to make the directions of light incident on the respective silicon photodiodes 23 different from each other.

The silicon photodiode 23 may include various elements for improving the accuracy of detection, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown.

The light distribution plate 21 may be made of a material having a high light transmittance or a high absorption rate and may be provided with various electronic modules for operating the silicon photodiode 23 on the rear side of the light distribution plate 21. The electronic module may be connected to a power source or a control unit through a connection connector 221 provided on the side wall 22b.

The process of detecting the optical environment inside the plant by the photo sensor 13 will be described below.

FIG. 3A shows an embodiment of a measuring process according to the measuring method according to the present invention, and FIG. 3B shows an embodiment of a photon density profile according to the measuring method according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3A, a method for detecting an optical environment inside a plant plant according to the present invention includes: preparing a photosensor having a plurality of silicon photodiodes (S31); Setting an initial condition and correcting the measurement factor (S34); Measuring (S35) the density of photons detected by the photosensor at different locations; Forming a light density profile according to the measured photon density (S36); Determining (S37) whether the optical density profile is consistent with a predetermined range of reference values; And controlling the operation of the illumination unit according to whether or not the determination is made (S38).

In order to detect the optical environment, the device must first be set (S31). The setting of the apparatus includes a measurement module 31 including a photosensor 13 and a transfer unit 14 and a processing module 32 provided with a program for data processing and control of the measurement module, And connecting the transmission unit 14 to the processing module 31 and setting each module in a measurable state. When the apparatus is set (S31), the photosensor 13 can be set (S31). The setting of the photosensor 13 may include, for example, a wavelength band, illumination color, temperature or humidity. When the photosensor 13 is set, initial detection can be performed (S32). The initial detection is to check whether the sensor settings are set in accordance with the environment inside the plant. And to check the operation state of each of the plurality of channels. The initial detection value can be compared with the illumination value or the reference value of the plant factory, and it can be confirmed whether or not the value detected in each channel corresponds to the allowable range (S31). If at least one channel is out of the predetermined tolerance range (NO), the sensor may be set again (S311). On the other hand, if all the channels are within the tolerance range (YES), the factor correction can be performed (S34). The factor correction means temperature correction, humidity correction or distance correction. The temperature correction can be made by the reference channel as described above, for example. And the humidity correction can be corrected based on the absorption rate of the wavelength band of the specific band depending on the humidity. And the distance correction refers to the distance-based correction from the light source for illumination. When the parameter correction is performed (S34). The value detected by the photosensor 13 may be transmitted to the processing module 32 through the transmission unit 14 (S35).

As shown in FIG. 3B, the value transmitted from each channel may be displayed in photodiode density in the first display window 321 in the processing module 32. The form displayed on each first display window 321 may be various forms depending on the setting. The measured values can be made for a predetermined time range, for example, at regular intervals, and can be respectively stored. Again, the measurement module 31 may move and the photon density may be detected and transmitted (S35). Then a photon density profile for the measured value may be made in the second display window 322. [ The photon density profile can be made based on the time zone or the measurement location.

The generated profile can be compared with a predetermined reference value in the plant factory (S37). If the measurement profile falls within the range of the reference value (YES), measurement may be performed after a predetermined time elapses (S35). On the other hand, if it does not fall within the reference value range (NO), the lighting device of the plant factory can be controlled (S38). Control of the lighting device may be based on the generated profile. In the course of the operation control, the measurement can be made again as needed. The generated profile can then be stored and used as a reference for future measurements (S39).

The measurement method according to the present invention can be performed by various processes, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown.

The measuring apparatus according to the present invention has an advantage in that it is possible to detect the light environment in the plant factory in real time and control the growth conditions of the plant. Further, the measuring apparatus according to the present invention is advantageous in that it can be installed in a movable or fixed form, and can be suitably applied to optical environment detection if necessary. In addition, the measuring method according to the present invention has an advantage in that it can be applied to plant factories having optical lighting conditions of different wavelength bands by setting various wavelength bands.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . The invention is not limited by these variations and modifications, but is limited only by the claims appended hereto.

11: control unit 12: setting unit
13: Photoelectric sensor 14: Transmission unit
21: body 22a, 22b: side wall
23: Silicon Photodiode
31: measurement module 32: processing module

Claims (3)

A photosensor 13 comprising a plurality of channels;
A transmission unit (14) for transmitting the light detected from the photosensor (13);
A control unit (11) for processing data transmitted from the transmission unit (14); And
And a setting unit (12) for determining the detection condition of the photosensor (13) under the control of the control unit (11)
Characterized in that the control unit (11) displays on the display (D) a profile of the density of photons transferred from the photosensor (13) at regular intervals. The light sensor according to claim 1, wherein the photosensor (13) comprises a body (21) having a housing space formed therein, a light distribution plate (211) disposed in the accommodation space, And a side wall (22a, 22b) formed with a connection port (221) while being fixed to a side surface of the photodiode (23) and the body (21). A method for measuring optical environment of a plant factory,
Preparing a photosensor having a plurality of silicon photodiodes;
Setting an initial condition and correcting a measurement factor;
Measuring the density of photons detected by the photosensor at different locations;
Forming an optical density profile according to the measured photon density;
Determining whether the optical density profile agrees with a predetermined range of reference values; And
And controlling the operation of the illumination unit according to whether or not the determination is made.

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