WO2001032000A1

WO2001032000A1 - Apparatus for growing a plant

Info

Publication number: WO2001032000A1
Application number: PCT/GB2000/004245
Authority: WO
Inventors: Christopher John Vernall; Andrew Vernall; John Sawdon-Smith
Original assignee: Central Research Laboratories Limited
Priority date: 1999-11-05
Filing date: 2000-11-03
Publication date: 2001-05-10
Also published as: GB0210195D0; AU1161201A; GB9926266D0; GB2371200B; GB2371200A

Abstract

A plant growth apparatus comprises a plant pot (10) adapted to contain soil (12) and a plant (14). Sensors (24, 26, 28, 42) monitor the instant environment of the plant (14) and feed data to a micro-controller (44) which compares the conditions with the ideal growth conditions for the species of plant (14). Deviation from the ideal is indicated via a screen (18) whereon alphanumerical remedial actions and/or the expression of a face (20) are provided together with spoken messages from loudspeaker (32). Controls (30) or voice recognition via a microphone (34) can select the species of plant (14) to be nurtured. Nurturing ideal criteria vary with growth of the plant (14) and with the season. Interrogation of a user allows remedial action to be taken against degenerative or pathological conditions in the plant (14). User speech repetition is also provided.

Description

APPARATUS FOR GROWING A PLANT

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an apparatus for growing a plant

Background Art

It is known, on a commercial basis, to automatically monitor the growth conditions of plants and to adjust the growth conditions, again automatically, to restore them to within acceptable bounds It is also known for individuals to monitor instruments such as moisture or humidity meters and to take appropnate remedial action, based on their expert knowledge Neither of these approaches is appropnate for an amateur The present invention seeks to provide an apparatus for growing a plant which causes an inexpert amateur to take appropnate remedial action, and which does not require costly automatic controls, nor a knowledge of how to read and interpret instruments

Toys known as "Tamagochi" exist, where an electronic, fantasy creature (with no concrete existence), makes demands upon its owner, based on assumed conditions of nurture, and monitored by a controller. No worthwhile new knowledge is imparted to the owner since the creature's requirements, and the creature itself, are the product of fantasy The present invention also seeks to provide an apparatus, representing a hobby or pastime, based on real life and having real consequences, whereby the user or owner can gain genuine knowledge

Disclosure of Invention

According to the invention there is provided an apparatus for growing a plant as specified in claims 1 to 16

Bnef Descπption of Drawings

An embodiment of the invention will now be descnbed by

of example only, with reference to the accompanying Figures, in which -

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the invention, Figure 2 is a cross-section of Figure 1 along the plane defined by the broken line X-X' as defined by the terminal arrows; and

Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of the entire apparatus.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiment

Referring to Figure 1 there is shown a plant pot (10) containing soil or compost (12) suitable for the growth of a living plant (14). The plant pot (10) includes an outer housing (16) and an inner pot (36). The outer housing (16) includes a display screen (18), for preference a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), but which can also be of any kind adaptable for the use described. The screen (18) displays images (20) which, for preference, present at least a pair of eyes which express a presumed 'degree of happiness' or a presumed 'state of distress' relating to the condition of the plant (14), as interpreted by measured environmental parameters, as will later be explained.

The outer housing (16) also includes a sensor cluster housing (22) including (see Figure 3) an atmospheric humidity sensor (24), a temperature sensor (26) and a light level sensor (28). By these means (24,26,28), the ambient conditions are monitored.

User controls (30) are provided on the outer housing (16) in the form of buttons. By these means (30), as will later be described, the user can inform and program the apparatus (10). A loudspeaker (32) is provided on the outer housing (16), together with a microphone (34).

Figure 2 is a cross section of Figure 1 along the plane defined by the broken line X-X' and the terminal arrows. The inner pot (36) provides the container for the soil (12) and the plant (14), together with drainage means (38), if required. The outer housing (16) and the inner pot (36) define a cavity (39) wherein an electronic assembly (40) is housed, protected from moisture and other contaminants which may be present in the soil (12). A moisture sensor (42) is situated in the soil (12) and is connected to the electronic assembly (40) in such a way as to avoid contaminant ingress into the cavity (39). The electronic assembly (40) is additionally connected to the sensors (24,26,28) in the sensor cluster housing (22), and also to the loudspeaker (32), the microphone (34) and user controls (30).

Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of the apparatus (10). The electronic assembly (40) includes a micro-controller (44) which receives the input from the sensors (24,26,28,42), from the user controls (30), and from the microphone (34). In turn, the micro-controller dnves a speech synthesiser (46) (also part of the electronic assembly (40)) whose output is amplified and fed to the loudspeaker (32). In addition, the micro-controller (44) dnves an LCD dnver (48) which causes the screen (18) to display a selected image.

The micro-controller (44) is coupled to a read-only memory (ROM) (50) which contains the information required for the selection of the image to be displayed, the synthesis details to be used by the speech synthesiser (46), and the environmental conditions required for the growth of the plant (14). The micro controller (44) has an on-board clock (not shown) which keeps track of the time of day and the passage of days, together with the date and time in the season.

When first acquired by the user, the plant growth apparatus (10) comes complete with a young plant (seedling) or with one or more germinatable seeds, of a known species. The user, on first use, employs the controls (30) to indicate that the penod of growth of the plant (14) has commenced The micro-controller (44) consults the ROM (50) to determine the conditions necessary at that time The face on the screen (18) is then ad_justed to indicate the relationship between the immediate environmental conditions that the plant (14) is expenencing, and the acceptable conditions (within stated limits) as defined by the ROM (50) If the date is too early in the season, the face can look perplexed and the loudspeaker can say "It's a bit early/late in the year to begin, are you sure?" The user can then desist, or use the controls (30) to force the operation If environmental conditions are good, the face looks very happy and the loudspeaker (32) says, for example "everything is fine" If conditions are poor for the plant, the face looks very sad or angry, and the loudspeaker (32) indicates what the problem might be, such as "it is too dark" or "I need water" or "it is too hot" or "it is too cold" If things are in an intermediate state, the face might look moderately happy or moderately sad/angry and the loudspeaker (32) might say, for example" I'm a bit hot" or "I'm a bit cold or "it's a bit humid" or "I'll need some water soon". If it is night-time, as defined by lack of light and/or the clock in the micro-controller (44), the face on the screen (18) can look asleep. When day should have broken, as defined by the clock in the micro-controller (44), the face on the screen (18) can become progressively more angry, dependently upon the duration of light deprivation, and the loudspeaker can say, for example "open the curtains, its dawn". If the plant (14) is subjected to artificial light during what would, naturally, be the hours of darkness, the face can look a little sad and the loudspeaker might say "can't a poor plant get some sleep?". Upon the morning restoration of light, the sleepy face could slowly wake up to assume its appropriate expression and the loudspeaker could say "good morning" and/or "you might have opened the curtains" or "it's been very dark in here" or "everything is just great on this fine morning".

So far the description has assumed that a known plant species is provided with the apparatus (10). However, the user may choose to select his own plant species. The ROM (50) is provided with information on the ideal conditions for a plurality of plant species, and the user can select the appropriate species by use of the controls (30). In so selecting, the micro-controller (44) interrogates and instructs the user by means of the loudspeaker (32) and by messages on the screen (18). The clock in the micro-controller (44) is set for time of day and date of year. Where appropriate, there can also be a requirement to indicate in which area of the world the user is situated so that sunrise and sunset times, and the appropriate season, can be included.

As well as monitoring the environment of the plant (14), the micro-controller (44) measures the passage of days and. using the ROM (44), notes the expected development of the plant (14) and adjusts the required ideal conditions, so that the needs of the plant (14) are met. The progress from one set of ideal conditions to another can be controlled by the apparatus interrogating the user who is required to use the controls (30) to provide answers. For example, the loudspeaker might ask "how many centimetres high am I now?" or "how many leaves do I have?" or "do I have any flowers?". Equally, plants require attention of different kinds at different times. A germinating seed is required to be enclosed within a humid housing for the earliest part of its life. A flowering plant requires to have dead blooms removed. All these can be accommodated by interrogation and passage from one set of ideal conditions to another. Perennial and biennial plants go through different phases during the seasons and between seasons and require different treatment on subsequent years. This can be accommodated by interrogation.

The controls (30) can also be used to diagnose other problems. Symptoms of disease can be communicated to the micro-controller (44) and advice given for a cure. Finally, and sadly, plant death must be faced and the interrogation process may elicit the sad message "I'm sorry my life is over. Thank you for looking after me" or, equally, the reverse message if death has been caused by neglect or stupidity on the part of the user!

Any message from the loudspeaker (32) can be displayed alphabetically on the screen (18), as can the current readings of the sensors (24,26,28,42) and the time, date, season. The controls (30) can be used to select which form of communication is chosen.

The style of the face on the screen (18) is chosen to be appropriate to the assumed personality of the species of plant (14). An Oriental plant might have an oriental face, a northern plant might look like a lumberjack or an Eskimo, and so on. Equally, the user can select the style of face, and/or the type of voice, using the controls (30).

The apparatus, shown in Figure 1 is in the general form of a standard European flowerpot. The exact form of the apparatus can be adapted to reflect the type of plant (14) - a cactus having a green jagged pot, a tree having a wood-bark effect with optional branches, and so on according to the wish of the designer of the pot.

The microphone (34) is employed, in a first mode, simply to indicate to the microcontroller that the user has made a sound. This means that the user is present, and the micro-controller (44) can respond by passing messages to the user. In a second mode, the micro-controller (44) has a degree of speech recognition, and can repeat words, using the synthesiser (46), via the loudspeaker (32), or recognise a range of response words when interrogating the user. This last feature can be used as an alternative to, or an adjunct to, the controls (30). Variation may be made to the aforementioned embodiment(s) without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the apparatus may be provided with a programmable memory instead of the read-only memory (50) in order to enable information about uncommon plants to be entered into the plant's memory. This may be achieved by downloading information to the apparatus (10) via a computer using software supplied with the apparatus, or, for example, from a dedicated website. Alternatively, the apparatus could be provided with interchangeable ROMs (50) corresponding to different species of plants.

The outer housing (16) and the inner pot (36) can be formed as a single unit or, alternatively, the outer housing and associated electronics and sensors etc could be provided as a separate unit for use with a "conventional" plant pot. In this case, the moisture sensor (42) will have to be attached to the electronic assembly (40) using a suitable attachment means, so that it can be inserted into the conventional plant pot by the user.

Claims

1. An apparatus (10) for growing a plant (14), said apparatus comprising: monitoring means (24,26,28,42) for monitoring the environmental conditions experienced by the plant; comparison means (44,50) for comparing the environmental conditions with a criterion of adequacy appropriate to the species of the plant; and communication means for communicating to a user the adequacy of the environmental conditions.

2. An apparatus (10) according to claim 1, wherein the communication means comprises a screen (18), to be viewed by the user.

3. An apparatus (10) according to claim 2, wherein the screen (18) is operative to display at least part of a face, whose expression is indicative of proximity of the environmental conditions to adequacy.

4. An apparatus (10) according to any preceding claim, wherein the communication means comprises an audible source of speech (32,46), operative to provide the user with information concerning the adequacy of the environmental conditions.

5. An apparatus (10) according to any preceding claim, wherein the communication means is operative to indicate to a user remedial action required to bring the environmental conditions back towards adequacy.

6. An apparatus (10) according to any preceding claim, wherein the monitoring means comprises one or more of the group consisting of: a humidity sensor (24), a light level sensor (28), a temperature sensor (26) and a soil moisture sensor (42).

7. An apparatus (10) according to any preceding claim, wherein the species of plant (14) to be grown using the apparatus is selectable, and wherein the apparatus is responsive to the selection of species to select a criterion of adequacy appropriate thereto.

8. An apparatus (10) according to any preceding claim, operative to adopt a criterion of adequacy which alters appropriately with progressive development of the plant (14).

9. An apparatus (10) according to claim 8, operative to interrogate a user to learn the actual state of development of the plant (14), and operative to modify the alteration of criterion of adequacy in response to answers from the user.

10. An apparatus (10) according to any preceding claim, operative to interrogate a user concerning aliments and degenerative conditions in the plant (14), and operative, in response thereto, to recommend remedial action to the user.

11. An apparatus (10) according to any preceding claim, including means (34) for receiving sound from a user.

12. An apparatus (10) according to claim 11, including means for speech recognition for receiving control and response voice messages from a user.

13. An apparatus (10) according to claim 12, comprising means for repeating words, spoken by a user.

14. An apparatus (10) according to any preceding claim, wherein the comparison means includes a micro-controller (44) and a memory means for storing information about the plant (14).

15. An apparatus (10) according to claim 14, wherein the memory means includes a readonly memory (50).

16. An apparatus (10) according to claim 14, wherein the memory means is programmable.