WO2016138075A1

WO2016138075A1 - Method and system for hydroculture

Info

Publication number: WO2016138075A1
Application number: PCT/US2016/019252
Authority: WO
Inventors: Thomas Charles ROMANO
Original assignee: Infinite Harvest, Inc.
Priority date: 2015-02-24
Filing date: 2016-02-24
Publication date: 2016-09-01

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed, in one embodiment, to a method and system for hydroculture comprising a hydroculture growing zone. Additional features may include a plurality of plants and a nutrient delivery system to deliver a nutrient feed solution to the plurality of plants.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR HYDROCULTURE

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

U.S. Provisional Application Serial Nos. 62/120,083, filed February 24, 2015, and 62/158,313, filed May 7, 2015, each entitled "Method and System for Hydroculture", each of which is incorporated herein by this reference in its entirety.

FIELD

The disclosure relates generally to agriculture and particularly to hydroculture.

BACKGROUND

The two main types of hydroponics are solution culture and medium culture.

Solution culture does not use a solid medium for the roots, just the nutrient solution. The three main types of solution cultures are static solution culture, continuous-flow nutrient feed solution culture, and aeroponics. The medium culture method has a solid medium for the roots and is named for the type of medium, e.g., sand culture, gravel culture, or rockwool culture. There are two main variations for each medium, sub-irrigation and top irrigation.

The solution culture may be static or continuous-flow. In static solution culture, plants are grown in containers of nutrient feed solution, such as plastic buckets, tubs, or tanks. In continuous-flow solution culture, the nutrient feed solution continuously flows past the roots. It is much easier to automate than the static solution culture because sampling and adjustments to the temperature and nutrient concentrations can be made in a large storage tank that has potential to serve thousands of plants. A popular variation is the nutrient film technique or NFT, whereby a very shallow stream of water containing all the dissolved nutrients required for plant growth is re-circulated past the bare roots of plants in a watertight thick root mat, which develops in the bottom of the channel and has an upper surface that, although moist, is in the air. An abundant supply of oxygen is provided to the roots of the plants. A properly designed NFT system is based on using the right channel slope, flow rate, and channel length. An advantage of the NFT system over other forms of hydroponics is that the plant roots are exposed to adequate supplies of water, oxygen, and nutrients. In all other forms of production, there is a conflict between the supply of these requirements, since excessive or deficient amounts of one results in an imbalance of one or both of the others. NFT, because of its design, provides a system where all three requirements for healthy plant growth can be met at the same time, provided that the simple concept of NFT is always remembered and practiced. Passive sub-irrigation, also known as passive hydroponics or semi-hydroponics, is a method in which plants are grown in an inert porous medium that transports water and fertilizer to the roots by capillary action from a separate reservoir as necessary, reducing labor and providing a constant supply of water to the roots. Commonly, a tray sits above a reservoir of nutrient solution. Either the tray is filled with growing medium (clay granules being the most common) and planted directly or pots of medium stand in the tray. At regular intervals, a pump fills the upper tray with a nutrient solution, after which the solution drains back down into the reservoir, thereby maintaining the medium flushed regularly with nutrients and air.

In a run-to-waste system, nutrient and water solution is applied periodically to a medium surface. Commonly, a delivery pump, a timer and irrigation tubing deliver nutrient solution with a delivery frequency that is governed by the key parameters of plant size, plant growing stage, climate, substrate, and substrate conductivity, pH, and water content.

Aeroponics is a hydroculture system in which roots are continuously or

discontinuously maintained in an environment saturated with fine drops (a mist or aerosol) of nutrient solution. The method requires no substrate and entails growing plants with their roots suspended in a deep air or growth chamber with the roots periodically wetted with a fine mist of atomized nutrients. Excellent aeration is the main advantage of aeroponics.

There is a need to automate and decontaminate hydroculture systems, including any of the systems described above.

SUMMARY

These and other needs are addressed by the various aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations of the present disclosure. The present disclosure is directed to a method and system for performing hydroculture comprising a hydroculture growing zone having one or more advantageous features.

The system can include:

a hydroculture growing zone comprising a plurality of plants and a nutrient delivery system to deliver a nutrient feed solution to the plurality of plants; and

one or more of (i)-(xi):

(i) a microprocessor executable master controller to control automatically one or more growing parameters across multiple sub-zones of the hydroculture growing zone, whereby the one or more growing parameters are different between at least first and second sub-zones of the multiple sub-zones; (ii) a water treatment system to remove one or more contaminants from an input water stream, the one or more contaminants potentially adversely affecting growth and/or health of the plurality of plants;

(iii) an air treatment system to remove one or more contaminants from an input air stream, the one or more contaminants potentially adversely affecting growth and/or health of the plurality of plants;

(iv) a lighting system to illuminate the plurality of plants, wherein the lighting system moves relative to the plurality of plants or the plurality of plants move relative to the lighting system;

(v) a microprocessor executable computer vision module to identify

automatically a visual characteristic of the plurality of plants;

(vi) a nutrient delivery system to combine treated water from the water treatment system of (ii) with nutrients to form a nutrient feed solution;

(vii) a plant support system comprising a base and an insert to contain one or more of the plurality of plants, the insert configurable to a particular type of plant;

(viii) a biogenerator to recycle plant byproducts into nutrients, the nutrients provided to the nutrient delivery system;

(ix) an environmentally controlled portable container comprising one or more of (i) through (viii) and being powered by an off-energy grid power source comprising one or more of solar, wind, and hydro power;

(x) a microprocessor executable master controller to select automatically a set of power sources to power one or more system components based on a current or forecasted environmental condition exterior to the system; and

(xi) a microprocessor executable master controller to reconfigure automatically, in response to user selection of a particular type of plant to be grown, settings and/or parameters of one or more system components in a selected zone of the hydroculture growing zone.

In a hydroculture growing zone comprising a plurality of plants and a nutrient delivery system to deliver a nutrient feed solution to the plurality of plants, a method can include performing one or more of steps (i)-(xi):

(i) controlling, automatically by a microprocessor executable master controller, one or more growing parameters across multiple sub-zones of the hydroculture growing zone, whereby the one or more growing parameters are different between at least first and second sub-zones of the multiple sub-zones; (ii) removing, by a water treatment system, one or more contaminants from an input water stream, the one or more contaminants potentially adversely affecting growth and/or health of the plurality of plants;

(iii) removing, by an air treatment system, one or more contaminants from an input air stream, the one or more contaminants potentially adversely affecting growth and/or health of the plurality of plants;

(iv) illuminating, by a lighting system, the plurality of plants, wherein the lighting system moves relative to the plurality of plants or the plurality of plants move relative to the lighting system;

(v) identifying, automatically by a microprocessor executable computer vision module, a visual characteristic of the plurality of plants;

(vi) combining, by a nutrient delivery system, treated water of step (ii) from the water treatment system with nutrients to form a nutrient feed solution;

(vii) providing a plant support system comprising a base and an insert to contain one or more of the plurality of plants, the insert configurable to a particular type of plant;

(viii) recycling, by a biogenerator, plant byproducts into nutrients, the nutrients being provided to the nutrient delivery system;

(ix) providing an environmentally controlled portable container performing one or more of steps (i) through (viii) and being powered by an off-energy grid power source comprising one or more of solar, wind, and hydro power;

(x) selecting, automatically by a microprocessor executable master controller, a set of power sources to power one or more system components based on a current or forecasted environmental condition exterior to the system; and

(xi) reconfiguring, automatically by a microprocessor executable master controller and in response to user selection of a particular type of plant to be grown, settings and/or parameters of one or more system components in a selected zone of the hydroculture growing zone.

The present disclosure can provide a number of advantages depending on the particular aspect, embodiment, and/or configuration. It can provide year-round supplies of locally grown, fresh produce for consumers. It can produce higher yields than

greenhouses. Filtration of spent nutrient feed solutions for water recycle can produce low water consumption needs when compared to conventional hydroculture growing systems. Being indoors, it can eliminate risks to crops posed by natural events, such as hail, drought, floods, and other adverse weather, and pests. It can harvest produce and deliver it to customers within hours. The clean room control of the hydroculture growing zone can carefully control contaminant levels in air and water streams introduced into the growing zone. Building automation and control logic algorithms can optimize indoor environment for plant production, along with power consumption efficiency based on indoor requirements and outside weather parameters. The master controller can receive status/state information about selected system components or the plants themselves, which, via its control logic, can manage aspects of the system to provide a more efficient (e.g., from a power, water, and other consumables used perspective) way to grow selected plants autonomously. The hardware design can be reconfigured flexibly, via a software parameter control, to be able to grow various types of plants, rather than just a dedicated type of plant.

These and other advantages will be apparent from the disclosure.

As used herein, "at least one", "one or more", and "and/or" are open-ended expressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation. For example, each of the expressions "at least one of A, B and C", "at least one of A, B, or C", "one or more of

A, B, and C", "one or more of A, B, or C" and "A, B, and/or C" means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B and C together.

When each one of A, B, and C in the above expressions refers to an element, such as X, Y, and Z, or class of elements, such as Xi-X_n, Yi-Y_m, and Zi-Z₀, the phrase is intended to refer to a single element selected from X, Y, and Z, a combination of elements selected from the same class (e.g., Xi and X₂) as well as a combination of elements selected from two or more classes (e.g., Yi and Z₀).

The term "a" or "an" entity refers to one or more of that entity. As such, the terms

"a" (or "an"), "one or more" and "at least one" can be used interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms "comprising", "including", and "having" can be used interchangeably.

The term "anaerobic digestion" is a collection of processes by which

microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence or substantial absence of oxygen. The digestion process begins with bacterial hydrolysis of the input materials. Insoluble organic polymers, such as carbohydrates, are broken down to soluble derivatives that become available for other bacteria. Acidogenic bacteria then convert the sugars and amino acids into carbon dioxide, hydrogen, ammonia, and organic acids. These bacteria convert these resulting organic acids into acetic acid, along with additional ammonia, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide. Finally, methanogens convert these products to methane and carbon dioxide.¹

The term "automatic" and variations thereof, as used herein, refers to any process or operation done without material human input when the process or operation is performed. However, a process or operation can be automatic, even though performance of the process or operation uses material or immaterial human input, if the input is received before performance of the process or operation. Human input is deemed to be material if such input influences how the process or operation will be performed. Human input that consents to the performance of the process or operation is not deemed to be "material".

"Chloramines" are derivatives of ammonia by substitution of one, two or three hydrogen atoms with chlorine atoms: monochloramine (chloroamine, H₂C1),

dichloramine ( HC1₂), and nitrogen trichloride (NC1₃). The term chloramine also refers to a family of organic compounds with the formulas R₂NC1 and RNC1₂ (R is an organic group). Monochloramine (chloroamine) is an inorganic compound with the formula

H₂C1.

The term "computer-readable medium" as used herein refers to any storage and/or transmission medium that participate in providing instructions to a processor for execution. Such a computer-readable medium is commonly tangible, non-transitory, and non-transient and can take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media and includes without limitation random access memory ("RAM"), read only memory ("ROM"), and the like. Non-volatile media includes, for example, NVRAM, or magnetic or optical disks. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as main memory. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk (including without limitation a Bernoulli cartridge, ZIP drive, and JAZ drive), a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape or cassettes, or any other magnetic medium, magneto-optical medium, a digital video disk (such as CD-ROM), any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, a solid state medium like a memory card, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer can read. A digital file attachment to e-mail or other self-contained information archive or set of archives is considered a distribution medium equivalent to a tangible storage medium. When the computer-readable media is configured as a database, it is to be understood that the database may be any type of database, such as relational, hierarchical, object-oriented, and/or the like. Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include a tangible storage medium or distribution medium and prior art-recognized equivalents and successor media, in which the software

implementations of the present disclosure are stored. Computer-readable storage medium commonly excludes transient storage media, particularly electrical, magnetic,

electromagnetic, optical, magneto-optical signals.

The terms "determine", "calculate" and "compute," and variations thereof, as used herein, are used interchangeably and include any type of methodology, process, mathematical operation or technique.

The term "means" as used herein shall be given its broadest possible interpretation in accordance with 35 U.S.C., Section 112, Paragraph 6. Accordingly, a claim

incorporating the term "means" shall cover all structures, materials, or acts set forth herein, and all of the equivalents thereof. Further, the structures, materials or acts and the equivalents thereof shall include all those described in the summary, brief description of the drawings, detailed description, abstract, and claims themselves.

The term "minimum efficiency reporting value" or "MERV rating " is a measurement scale designed in 1987 by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) to rate the effectiveness of air filters. The scale provides precision and accuracy in air-cleaner ratings. For example, a HEPA filter is often impractical in central HVAC systems due to the large pressure drop the dense filter material causes. Experiments indicate that less obstructive, medium-efficiency filters of MERV 7 to 13 are almost as effective as true HEPA filters at removing allergens, with much lower associated system and operating costs. The scale is designed to represent the worst-case performance of a filter when dealing with particles in the range of 0.3 to 10 micrometers. The MERV rating is from 1 to 16. Higher MERV ratings correspond to a greater percentage of particles captured on each pass, with a MERV 16 filter capturing more than 95% of particles over the full range.

The term "module" as used herein refers to any known or later developed hardware, software, firmware, artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic, or combination of hardware and software that is capable of performing the functionality associated with that element.

The term "pressure swing adsorption ("PSA") generally refers to process and/or method that separates some gas species from a mixture of gases under pressure according to the species' molecular characteristics and affinity for an adsorbent material. It operates at near-ambient temperatures and differs significantly from cryogenic distillation techniques of gas separation. Specific adsorptive materials (e.g., zeolites, activated carbon, molecular sieves, etc.) are used as a trap, preferentially adsorbing the target gas species (e.g., CH₄ and/or C0₂) from (other) components of air (e.g., CO, C0₂, 0₂, and N₂) at high pressure. The process then swings to low pressure to desorb the adsorbed material. Pressure swing adsorption processes rely on the fact that under high pressure, gases tend to be attracted to solid surfaces, or "adsorbed". The higher the pressure, the more gas is adsorbed; when the pressure is reduced, the gas is released, or desorbed. PSA processes can be used to separate gases in a mixture because different gases tend to be attracted to different solid surfaces more or less strongly.

"Reverse osmosis" or "RO" is a water purification technology that uses a semipermeable membrane to remove larger particles from drinking water. In reverse osmosis, an applied pressure is used to overcome osmotic pressure, a colligative property that is driven by chemical potential, a thermodynamic parameter. Reverse osmosis can remove many types of molecules and ions from solutions, including bacteria, and is used in both industrial processes and the production of potable water. The result is that the solute or retentate is retained on the pressurized side of the membrane and the pure solvent or filtrate is allowed to pass to the other side.

"Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation" or "UVGI" is a disinfection method that uses ultraviolet (UV) light at sufficiently short wavelength to kill or inactivate microorganisms. UVGI utilizes short- wavelength ultraviolet radiation (UV-C) that is harmful to

microorganisms. It is effective in destroying the nucleic acids in these organisms so that their DNA is disrupted by the UV radiation, leaving them unable to perform vital cellular functions. The wavelength of UV that causes this effect is rare on Earth as the atmosphere blocks it. Using a UVGI device in certain environments like circulating air or water systems creates a deadly effect on micro-organisms such as pathogens, viruses and molds that are in these environments.

Unless otherwise noted, all component or composition levels are in reference to the active portion of that component or composition and are exclusive of impurities, for example, residual solvents or by-products, which may be present in commercially available sources of such components or compositions.

All percentages and ratios are calculated by total composition weight, unless indicated otherwise. It should be understood that every maximum numerical limitation given throughout this disclosure is deemed to include each and every lower numerical limitation as an alternative, as if such lower numerical limitations were expressly written herein. Every minimum numerical limitation given throughout this disclosure is deemed to include each and every higher numerical limitation as an alternative, as if such higher numerical limitations were expressly written herein. Every numerical range given throughout this disclosure is deemed to include each and every narrower numerical range that falls within such broader numerical range, as if such narrower numerical ranges were all expressly written herein. By way of example, the phrase from about 2 to about 4 includes the whole number and/or integer ranges from about 2 to about 3, from about 3 to about 4 and each possible range based on real (e.g., irrational and/or rational) numbers, such as from about 2.1 to about 4.9, from about 2.1 to about 3.4, and so on.

The preceding is a simplified summary of the disclosure to provide an

understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. This summary is neither an extensive nor exhaustive overview of the disclosure and its various aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations. It is intended neither to identify key or critical elements of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of the disclosure but to present selected concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form as an introduction to the more detailed description presented below. As will be appreciated, other aspects, embodiments, and/or

configurations of the disclosure are possible utilizing, alone or in combination, one or more of the features set forth above or described in detail below. Also, while the disclosure is presented in terms of exemplary embodiments, it should be appreciated that individual aspects of the disclosure can be separately claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are incorporated into and form a part of the specification to illustrate several examples of the present disclosure. These drawings, together with the description, explain the principles of the disclosure. The drawings simply illustrate preferred and alternative examples of how the disclosure can be made and used and are not to be construed as limiting the disclosure to only the illustrated and described examples. Further features and advantages will become apparent from the following, more detailed, description of the various aspects, embodiments, and

configurations of the disclosure, as illustrated by the drawings referenced below.

Fig. 1 depicts an embodiment of a hydroculture system;

Fig. 2 depicts an embodiment of an air treatment system; Fig. 3 depicts an embodiment of lighting system control;

Fig. 4 depicts an embodiment of a distributed processing system for multiple, dislocated hydroculture growing zones;

Fig. 5 is a flow or process diagram of one embodiment of a method for water treatment;

Fig. 6 is a flow or process diagram of one embodiment of a method of control of a hydroculture system;

Fig. 7 is a flow or process diagram of one embodiment of a method for light control;

Fig. 8 depicts an embodiment of control of a hydroculture system;

Figs. 9A-B depict an embodiment of a moving lighting system;

Figs. 10A-K depict an embodiment of a plant support structure system;

Fig. 1 1 depicts an embodiment of a bioregenerator;

Fig. 12 is a flow or process diagram of one embodiment of a method of control of a hydroculture system;

Fig. 13 is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of a control system;

Fig. 14 is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of a sensor enabled control system; and

Fig. 15 is a flow or process diagram of one embodiment of a method of control of a hydroculture system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The Hydroculture System 100

An embodiment of the hydroculture system 100 is shown in Figure 1. The system 100 includes a hydroculture growing zone 128 to grow selected plants and produce products such as the plants and/or a plant product (e.g., flowers, fruit, vegetable, and the like); water treatment system 104 to treat input water 108 and form treated water 1 12; a nutrient/water mixing system 1 16 to combine the treated water 1 12 with nutrients (not shown) and form nutrient feed solution 120; a nutrient delivery system 124 to deliver the feed solution 120 to the hydroculture growing zone 128 (which can germinate seedlings and/or grow seedlings or mature plants to yield desired products); a power system 129; an air treatment system 132 to treat input air 136 and form treated air 140 for recirculation through the hydroculture growing zone 128; a lighting system 144 to provide light 148 to the hydroculture growing zone 128; a bioregenerator 152 to receive byproducts or plant waste 156, such as mature plants, from the hydroculture growing zone 128, to convert into nutrients 160 to be provided to the nutrient/water mixing system 116; and a master controller 164 receiving feedback and transmitting commands by various control lines 168 to the foregoing components for automated or semi-automated operation. The

hydroculture growing zone 128 is enclosed in a clean room environment 172 to control biologic and non-biologic contaminants, such as dust, airborne microbes, aerosol particles, larvae, chemical vapors insects, bacteria, fungi, virus, mold spores, other pathogens, foreign seeds, insecticides, herbicides, other pollutants, and the like. As will be appreciated, a "clean room" is an environment, with a low level of environmental contaminants that can affect adversely plant growth or plant product yield. A clean room commonly has a controlled level of contamination of one or more specified contaminants that can be specified by a number of particles per cubic meter at a specified particle size.

The master controller 164 can manage, autonomously and automatically, all aspects of the hydroculture system 100, through a sensor feedback and control

architecture, to provide a more efficient (e.g., from the perspective of a power, water, and other consumables used) way to grow plants. The control can be done by providing a series of controllers, namely a sensor controller to control the sensors, boiler controller to control the boiler (not shown) which supplies heated air to the air treatment system 132, RTU controller to control return air dampeners in the air treatment system 132, condenser controller to control the condenser in the air treatment system 132, an analog out controller that combines analog signal handling with digital control for dampener servo control, a VFD or variable frequency drive controller to control plural motors (e.g., pumps and lighting system movement motors) located in different subsystems in the hydroculture system 100, a light controller to control the lighting system 144, and a relay controller, a series of software modules, namely a sump manager to control a sump of the nutrient delivery system 124, a fault manager to determine a severity of a detected anomaly or anomalous reading with respect to a sensor monitoring a selected subsystem and take autonomous or semi-autonomous actions to safe or correct the issue, a boiler manager to control, by the boiler controller, the boiler, a chemical manager to control, by the nutrient delivery system 124 and/or water treatment system 104, chemical additives to feed solutions, feed solution distribution, and waste solution treatment, a carbon dioxide manager to control carbon dioxide emissions or levels in circulated air by the air treatment system 132, a pressure manager to control system pressures and/or pressure differentials in the water treatment, nutrient delivery and/or air treatment systems 104, 124, and/or 132, an air manager to control the air treatment system 132, a ceiling manager to handle input from hygrometer and thermocouple sensors located near the ceiling of the enclosure housing the system 100, an irrigation manager to control feed solution feed rates by the nutrient delivery system 124, and illumination manager to control, by the light controller, the lighting system 144, and a database containing lookup tables to track selected variables or settings or map sensed variables or settings against a corresponding action or further variable or setting of the same or another component.

The power system 129 can be an integral part of the hydroculture system 100. In some embodiments, the power system can be one of utility power, or renewable energy or both. It can be appreciated that the master controller 164 can determine which power system 129 or combination of power systems 129 to use, how to best use that power system for the current conditions taking into account all aspects of the hydroculture system 100 environment and outside conditions. In some embodiments, the power system can get methane 153 from the bio generator 152 to burn to provide one or more of air, water, heat, or as a fuel to turn a generator for power.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 14, first, second, . . . nth sensors 1400 in communication with the control lines 168 (or via a wireless and/or wireline network 1404) can provide feedback to the master controller 164 while automated components (not shown) execute the commands received from the master controller 164. Sensors can be any device that detects or measures a physical property and records, indicates, or otherwise responds to it. Exemplary sensors include pH sensors (e.g., to measure pH of water and feed solutions), thermocouple sensors (e.g., to measure temperature of ambient or external and internal environments, water streams, feed solutions, etc.), fluid flow sensors (e.g., to measure fluid flow rates, etc.), dew point or humidity sensors (e.g., to measure dew point of the ambient or internal environments, etc.), particulate sensors (e.g., to measure particulate levels in a fluid stream, such as particulates in a gas, total dissolved solids in an aqueous stream), etc.), image sensors (e.g., cameras and video feeds, etc.), volumetric sensors (e.g., to measure relative mixing ratios, etc.), mass sensors (such as scales and analytical balances), pressure sensors (e.g., to measure air pressure in the ambient or interior environment, etc.), humidity sensors (e.g., to water content of the ambient or interior environment, etc.), light sensors (e.g., to measure light intensity and spectral properties, etc.), motion sensors, ultrasonic sensors, chemical sensors (e.g., to measure an analyte level, such as total dissolved oxygen, salinity of an aqueous stream (such as by an electrical conductivity sensor) in an aqueous stream), spectrometric sensors (e.g., mass spectrometer, gas chromatography, etc.), mass flow sensors, and biosensors. The automated components can be any automated device, such as a motor, switch, air or water heater, air conditioner or cooler, condenser, dehumidifier, air or water filtration unit, valve, damper, actuator, pump, compressor, microprocessor, integrated circuit, and the like.

The Hydroculture Growing Zone 128

The hydroculture growing zone 128 can have any configuration suitable for the application. The hydroculture growing zone 128, for example, can be a hydroponic and/or aeroponic system. It can use solution and/or medium culture. It can be static and/or continuous-flow.

It can be appreciated that, the air treatment system 132 can include in some embodiments a condensation collector 250 (Fig. 2) that captures water moisture from moist exhaust air 254 from dehumidification process 220, and reclaims that water 258 to be recycled back into the water treatment system 104 to reduce water usage for irrigation or other components that need water.

In some embodiments, the hydroculture growing zone 128 uses the nutrient film technique or FT and vertical farming. As will be appreciated, vertical farming cultivates plant life on vertically inclined surfaces and/or stacked shelving. In such embodiments, a series of trays are located in each level and the levels are separated from one another and stacked one-on-top-of-the-other. Pumps and piping in the nutrient delivery system 124 deliver the nutrient feed solution to each level and tray within each level. The nutrient feed solution, under the force of gravity, flows past the plant roots in each tray and drains to a discharge line for recycle. The lighting system 144 can illuminate each tray at periodic intervals to foster plant growth. When the plants are mature, the trays can be removed from each level for plant removal.

The hydroculture growing zone 128 is typically enclosed and protected from contaminants by the clean room 172, thereby providing selected (e.g., optimal or near optimal) growing conditions for the plants.

Some embodiment include a plant support structure system 1000 is shown in Figs. 10A-K. The system 1000 generally comprises a channel-shaped base 1010 and an insert 1030, the insert 1030 configured to engage the base 1010, Fig. 1 OA provides a perspective view of the assembled system 1000, with insert 1030 engaged with the base 1010. Figs. 10B-E depict the base 1010. Figs. 1 QF-H depict an embodiment of the insert 1030, and Figs. 10I-K depict also depict an embodiment of the insert 1030. The insert 1030 may engage the base 1010 in any manner known to those skilled in the art, to include an interference fit (generally referred to as a press-fit) as depicted in Fig. 10A. In some embodiments, the insert 1030 and the base 1010 engage by way of a lip protruding into the aperture 1020 area of the base 1010, the lip formed on an interior portion of the upper surface of the base 1010, such as at the inner upper surface portion 1018 as depicted in Figs. IOC and 10E. In the configuration of Fig. 10A, the insert 1030 is configured to rest slightly below the plan of the upper surface of length 1012. In some embodiments, the insert 1030 rests or is disposed to be substantially co-planar with the base 1010.

The base 1010 generally has an inverted U or inverted channel cross-sectional shape with an upper surface cut-out that forms an aperture or void 1020. The base 1010 comprises an upper surface of length 10 2 and lower edge of length 1013; a height 1014; and a width 1016. In some embodiments, the height 1014 is approximately between I inch and 2 inches; the width 1016 is approximately between 3 and 5 inches, and the upper surface length 1012 (and the lower edge length 1013) is/are approximately between 5 and 10 feet. In some embodiments, the thickness of the base 1010 is approximately 1/8 inch. In some embodiments, the aperture 1020 is of width (i.e. the distance parallel to width 1016) of approximately 1.5 to 2,5 inches.

The insert 030 is generally a flat rectangle with one or more insert apertures or insert voids 1040 formed along a longitudinal centerline of the insert 1030.

The insert 1030 comprises an upper surface of length 1032 and lower edge of length 1033, a height 1034; and a width 1036. In some embodiments, as depicted in Figs. 10F-H, the insert apertures 1040 are a plurality (here, seven in number) of circular apertures. Such embodiments are particularly useful for growing heads of lettuce and/or herbs.

In some embodiments, the insert apertures 1040 are approximately between 1 and 2 inches in diameter, and/or are longitudinally spaced every 6 to 8 inches. In some embodiments, as depicted in Figs. 10I-K, the insert aperture 1040 is a rectangular cut-out of width approximately 1 inch. Such embodiments are particularly useful for growing microgreens, salad mixes, and/or high-density crops.

In some embodiments, other types and confi gurations of the insert apertures 1040 are possible. For example, the insert apertures 1040 can comprise square holes (e.g. in an othenvise similar configuration to that of Fig, 10G), a mixture of different sized holes such as differed sized square, round, triangular and rectrangular apertures, the insert apertures 1040 ordered in various manners e.g. co-linear, not co-linear, a plurality of rectangular- shaped slots (e.g. two parallel slots in an otherwise similar configurations to that of Fig. 10J).

In some embodiments, the base 1010 and/or insert 1030 comprise Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC or equivalent, High-Density PolyEthylene (HDPE) or equivalent FDA approved plastic materials, and other materials known to those skilled in the art. In some embodiments, the base 1010 and/or insert 1030 comprise a IJV^" stabilized material.

In some embodiments, the base 1010 length is expandable, via, for example, a telescoping channel arrangement and the insert 1030 is correspondingly telescoping in length so as to engage the base 1010 at the aperture 1020 portion.

In some embodiments, the system 1000 is stackable. Stated another way, the lower edge length 1013 of a first system 1000 is configured to engage the upper surface of length 1012 of a second system 1000 so that the first system 1000 may be stacked on top of the second system 1000.

In some embodiments, the system 1000 is interchangeable, that is a first insert 1030 associated with a first base 1010 may be used with a second base 101.0.

In some embodiments, the hydroculture system 100 is containerized and is powered by off-energy grid power sources, such as solar, wind or hydro power. In some embodiments, the container is a standard-sized shipping container, such as a 48 foot container typically used for rail and/or road freight, or any standard sized commercially used container, to include but not be limited to 20 foot and 40 foot sea containers, and those governed by the ISO 6346 shipping container standard. In some embodiments, the container is a standard 20 or 40 foot reefer container, as typically used where the internal atmosphere of the container must be monitored and controlled. It can be appreciated that the ISO containers are typically modular in nature, so that they can be stacked together and interlinked.

It can be further appreciated that in a stacked and interlinked condition, the ISO containers generally require only one master controller 164. The master controller 164 in one of the ISO containers is designated as the (primary) master controller 164 while the master controllers in the other ISO containers are designated as secondary or slave master controllers. With reference to Fig. 13, the primary master controller 164 in a selected ISO container (not shown) is in communication with first, second, . . . mth slave master controllers 1300a-m in other ISO containers via wireless and/or wireline network 1304. The primary master controller not only performs the tasks for the selected ISO container but also overseas, supervises, and controls all operations of all slave master controllers, each of which is responsible for performing the tasks for the corresponding ISO container and reporting performance results to the primary master controller. The master Moreover, the ISO containers can be easily stacked and interlinked to one or both expand the grow volume and add slave modules (containers).

In other embodiments, a central master controller 164 of a selected ISO container performs the tasks not only for the selected ISO container but also performs the tasks for other ISO containers, via a network 1304. In this embodiment, there is no slave master controller in the other ISO containers; that is, there is only one master controller for all of the stacked and/or interlinked ISO containers.

The tasks performed by the primary master, slave master, or central master controller in these embodiments are the tasks disclosed herein.

In some embodiments, the container is environmentally controlled and contained within a warehouse type structure. Such efficient greenhouses can be constructed nearly everywhere in the world and can operate in almost any environment, in turn, producing fresh vegetables, animal feeds and bio-fuel base products.

In some embodiments, the container is built inside a recycled 40-foot shipping container. Based on green building designs and using renewable energy systems, high- efficiency grow lighting, a semi-closed automatic irrigation and production system, the greenhouse container can grow crops year-round, regardless of the outside environment. Production source water, seeds, and water-soluble plant nutrients are all that is needed to begin crop production. This system also delivers the immediate capacity to begin farming in locations where traditional crop production is not viable due to climate, natural disaster, or lack of water and resources. In some embodiments, each greenhouse container operates as a controlled environment and can produce between 200 to 2,400 plants at one time, depending on the type of crop. In some embodiments, water use is reduced by

approximately 20% with respect to traditional farming methods and, when implemented with regenerative technologies, the container can operate for long periods on minimal water. Such a system may operate in any location where food production is difficult, especially in remote, desolate areas and disaster recovery zones.

Furthermore, by powering and heating/cooling all or most of the system equipment and the building container itself using renewable energies, a reduction of needed power by coal-fired power plants will be obtained, thereby reducing the amount of carbon dioxide emissions due to the lower output of the power plant. The large scale ("off -the-grid") system can have the potential to generate excess power that can be supplied back to the grid, further reducing the carbon dioxide emissions from a local power plant. The Water Treatment System 104

The water treatment system 104, which provides part of the clean room protection, typically treats input water 108 and forms treated water 1 12 for use in making the nutrient feed solution 120.

An example 500 of a water treatment system 104 according to some embodiments is shown in Figure 5.

The input water 108, which is typically domestic water from a water treatment facility or well but can be from any fresh and/or salt water source, is typically passed through a sediment pre-filter 504 to remove most (e.g., more than about 50 wt.% or vol.%) of particulates contained within the input water 108. More typically, more than about 75 wt.%) or vol. %>, even more typically more than about 85 wt.%> of vol. %, yet even more typically more than about 95 wt.%> or vol. %, or still yet even more typically all of the particulates are removed from the input water 108 is removed by the sediment pre- treatment filter 504. The particulates can be particulate sediments, such as sand, silt, loose scale, clay, insoluble heavy metals, or organic material. A pre-filtered water 508 is produced when the input water 108 is passed through the sediment pre-filter 504.. The sediment pre-filter 504 can include a filter medium, such as a paper, ceramic,

polypropylene, acrylic fiber, glass fiber, polyester, spun cellulose, or rayon porous and permeable material, that traps suspended matter on the surface or within the medium. The sediment pre-filter 504 can be any filtration device that removes the entrained particulates typically larger than about 5 microns, more typically larger than about 10 microns, even more typically larger than about 25 microns, and even more typically larger than about 50 microns. In some configurations, the sediment pre-filter 504 comprises a plurality of particle filters, microfilters, ultrafilters or any combination thereof which can be arranged in parallel, series or any combination thereof.

The pre-filtered water 508 may or may not contain one or more contaminants. The contaminate can be any chemical agent and/or compound that negatively affects the health and/or taste of plant being grown in the hydroculture system 100. The pre-filtered water 508 is generally treated by contaminate reduction process 512 to remove most (e.g., more than about 50 mole %) of the contaminant contained in the pre-filtered water 508. More typically, more than about 75 mole %, even more typically\ more than about 85 mole %, yet even more typically more than about 95 mole %, or substantially all of the contaminant contained in the pre-filtered water 508. A pre-treated water 516 can be produced by passing the pre-filtered water 508 through the one or more contaminate reduction processes 512. Any suitable method can be used to remove the contaminants. Usually, the contaminant reduction process 512 can comprise carbon and/or membrane filtration (e.g., nanofiltration, reverse osmosis filters, or leaky reverse osmosis filters). In some embodiments, the contaminant reduction process 512 can include without limitation ultraviolet light, superchlorination (e.g., 10 ppm or more of free chlorine, such as from a dose of sodium hypochlorite bleach or pool sanitizer, while maintaining a pH of about pH 7 (such as from a dose of hydrochloric acid)), addition ascorbic acid and sodium ascorbate (which neutralize chlorine and chloramines), addition of reducing agents such as sodium metabisulfite or potassium metabi sulfite, and addition of sodium thiosulfate. The contaminant reduction process 512 can be omitted when the pre-filtered water 508 is substantially free of contaminants.

In some embodiments, the pre-filtered water 508 may or may not contain one or more of chlorine and chloramines. Chloramines generally comprise a compound of chlorine and ammonia that can take on a number of forms depending on pH and mineral content of the water. Typically, the pre-filtered water 508 can be passed through one or more chloramine reduction process 512 to remove most (e.g., more than about 50 mole %) of the chloramines and chlorine contained in the pre-filtered water. More typically, more than about 75 mole %, even more typically\ more than about 85 mole %, yet even more typically more than about 95 mole %, or substantially all of one or more of the

chloramines can be removed from the pre-filtered water 508 by the one or more chloramines reduction process 512. A pre-treated water 516 can be produced by passing the pre-filtered water 508 through the one or more chloramines reduction processes 512. Any suitable method can be used to remove chloramines and chlorine. Usually, the one or more chloramine reduction processes 512 can comprise carbon and/or membrane filtration (e.g., nanofiltration, reverse osmosis filters, or leaky reverse osmosi s filters). In some embodiments, the one or more chloramines reduction process 512 can include without limitation ultraviolet light, superchlorination (e.g., 10 ppm or more of free chlorine, such as from a dose of sodium hypochlorite bleach or pool sanitizer, while maintaining a pH of about pH 7 (such as from a dose of hydrochloric acid)), addition ascorbic acid and sodium ascorbate (which neutralize chlorine and chloramines), addition of reducing agents such as sodium metabisulfite or potassium metabisulfite, and addition of sodium thiosulfate. The one or more chloramine reduction process 512 can be omitted when the pre-filtered water 508 is substantially free of chloramine and chlorine.

The pre-treated water 516 or pre-filtered water 508 is usually passed through one or more reverse osmosis filters 520 to produce filtered water 524. In some embodiments, the pre-filtered water 508 can be passed through one or more nanofilters. The reverse osmosis filter 520 commonly removes substantially most (e.g., more than about 50 mole %), more commonly at least about 75 mole % or more, more commonly at least about 85 mole % or more, more commonly at least about 95 mole % or more, or all of one or more of dissolved materials and undissolved particles (e.g., solutes) from the input stream. The reverse osmosis membranes commonly have a dense layer in a polymer matrix— either the skin of an asymmetric membrane or an interfacially polymerized layer within a thin- film-composite membrane— where the separation occurs. In some embodiments, the RO membrane is generally designed to allow only water to pass through this dense layer, while preventing the passage of solutes (such as salt ions). This process commonly requires that a high pressure be exerted on the high concentration side of the membrane, usually from about 2-17 bar (or from about 30-250 psi) for fresh and brackish water, and from about 40-82 bar (or from about 600-1200 psi) for seawater. Seawater typically has around 27 bar (390 psi) natural osmotic pressure that must be overcome. To conserve water, the retentate 528 can be passed through the RO filter 520 a second time to further concentrate the removed contaminants in the resulting retentate. By passing the retentate 528 through the RO filter 520 a second time, the filtrate commonly represents at least about 90 vol. % and more commonly at least about 95 vol. % of the input pre-treated water 516 or optionally pre-filtered water 508; therefore, no more than about 10 vol. % and more commonly no more than about 5 vol. % of the input pre-treated water 516 or optionally pre-filtered water 508 is discarded.

The filtrate 524 and/or filtered water 524, are next passed through an ultraviolet filter 532, or UVGI device, to remove most (e.g., more than about 50%), more commonly at least about 75 % or more, more commonly at least about 85 % or more, more commonly at least about 95 % or more, or all of any living or nonliving biological materials, such as microbes (e.g., bacteria, viruses, mold, spores, other pathogens, and the like) and produce treated water 536.

The treated water 536 commonly is substantially free of, more commonly contains no more than about 5 wt.%, more commonly contains no more than about 1 wt.%, and even more commonly contains no more than about 0.5 wt.% of solid and dissolved contaminates, such as solutes, particles, and living microbes.

The treated water 536 is typically next passed through a heat exchanger 540 to heat or cool the treated water 1 12 to a desired temperature range and produce treated water 536 or 112. For optimal or near optimal plant root growth, the temperature is normally in the range of about 65 to about 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The treated water 536 or 112 is usually next passed to the nutrient/water mixing system 116 (discussed below).

The Nutrient/Water Mixing System 116 and Nutrient Delivery System 124

The nutrient/water mixing system 116 generally combines the treated water 526 or

112 with nutrients (not shown) and forms nutrient feed solution 120. A nutrient delivery system 124 commonly delivers the feed solution 120 to the hydroculture growing zone 128 (which can germinate seedlings and/or grow seedlings or mature plants to yield desired products). Control feedback on nutrient feed solution composition can adjust additive levels so as to maintain sensed parameters within desired ranges.

In accordance with some embodiments, the water mixing system 116 can provide one or more of water back to the water treatment system, C0₂ to the air treatment system for injection into the growing zone to stimulate plant growth, and methane (CH₄) to the power system for one or both of heat and energy.

The nutrient/water mixing system 116 can be any system for mixing nutrients with the treated water. Plant nutrients are dissolved in the water and are mostly in inorganic and ionic form. Primary among the dissolved cations are Ca²⁺ (calcium), Mg²⁺

(magnesium), and K⁺ (potassium), and the major nutrient anions in nutrient solutions are NC"3^~ (nitrate), S0₂ ⁴ (sulfate), and H₂P0₄ ^~ (dihydrogen phosphate). Commonly used chemicals for the macronutrients include potassium nitrate, calcium nitrate, potassium phosphate, and magnesium sulfate. Various micronutrients are typically added to hydroponic solutions to supply essential elements; among them are Fe (iron), Mn

(manganese), Cu (copper), Zn (zinc), B (boron), CI (chlorine), and Ni (nickel). Chelating agents are sometimes used to keep the iron in a soluble form, and humic acids can be added to increase nutrient uptake.

In some embodiments, the treated water 536 and/or 112 is pumped into tanks where the dry nutrients are mixed with the treated water to form a concentrated feed solution. One of the tanks can be a pH balance tank to adjust pH to the desired range and/or a two-part nutrient tank. When the total dissolved solids or the electrical conductivity of the nutrient feed solution 120 in the pH tank is outside of the desired range, concentrated feed solution from the two-part nutrient tank and lime, potassium hydroxide, or phosphoric acid are introduced into the pH balance tank to adjust the feed solution to the proper pH value and/or pH range. The concentrated feed solution in the pH balance tank can be diluted with additional treated water in an irrigation tank for provision to the nutrient delivery system 124.

In some embodiments, spent nutrient feed solution from the nutrient delivery system 124 can be provided to the water treatment system 104 to remove most (e.g., more than about 50 mole%), more commonly at least about 75 mole% or more, more commonly at least about 85 mole% or more, more commonly at least about 95 mole% or more, or all of any remaining nutrients from the spent nutrient feed solution and the treated water 536 or 1 12 provided to the nutrient/water mixing system 1 16. Typically, the spent nutrient feed solution 550 introduced to the reverse osmosis filter 520 with or without being combine with the pre-treated water 516. Commonly, the nutrient/water mixing system 1 16 has multiple irrigation tanks, each of which can be isolated fluidly from the other irrigation tanks and its contents directed to the reverse osmosis filter 520 as discussed above. The fluid level in the tanks can be maintained substantially at the same and/or equalized by monitoring one or more of the head pressure and water level sensor for each irrigation tank. In this manner, most (e.g., more than about 50 %), more commonly at least about 75 % or more, more commonly at least about 85 % or more, more commonly at least about 90 % or more, of the water in the spent nutrient feed solution 550 can be recycled to the hydroculture growing zone 128.

In some embodiments, the nutrient delivery system 124 can be a series of pumps, solenoid valves, and piping to deliver the nutrient feed solution 120 to selected plants, plant locations, containers, or trays in the hydroculture growing zone 128. In line sensors typically measure one or more of the feed solution pH, dissolved oxygen levels, total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, and specific ion levels (such as by but not limited to ion specific sensors). These measurements can be used by the master controller 164 to control solenoid valves on any of the pH balance, two-part nutrient, and irrigation tanks to provide desired sensor values for one or more of the parameters. Stated differently, the in line sensors can determine how much fresh (concentrated) nutrient feed solution from one or more of the pH balance and two-part nutrient tanks are mixed with recirculating nutrient feed solution to realize a desired or selected nutrient feed solution composition.

The Air Treatment System 132

In some embodiments, the air treatment system 132, which can provide part of the clean room protection, generally treats input air 136 and forms treated air stream 140 to introduce to the hydroculture growing zone 128.

An example 200 of an air treatment system 132 according to some embodiments is shown in Figure 2.

In some embodiments, ambient or input air 136, which is typically air from the external or outside atmosphere, is passed through a larger particulate filter 204 to remove most (50 wt.% or more), more commonly at least about 75 wt.% or more, more commonly at least about 85 wt.% or more, more commonly at least about 95 wt.% or more, or all of the entrained particulates larger than about 10 micrometers and produce pre-filtered air stream 208. Such removed particulates can include pollen. The larger particulate filter 204 typically has a MERV rating of from about 1 to about 4.

The pre-filtered air stream 208 is usually next passed through finer particulate filter 212 to remove most (50 wt.% or more), more commonly at least about 75 wt.% or more, more commonly at least about 85 wt.% or more, more commonly at least about 95 wt.% or more, or all of the entrained particulates larger than about 0.3 micrometers and produce filtered air stream 216. Such removed particulates can include biological materials (e.g., virus, bacteria, insecticide dust, herbicide dust, mold, and spores). The filter 212 can be, for example, an electronic filter or porous and permeable filtration medium (e.g., bag filter, box filter, pleated filter, cartridge filter, HEPA filter, and ULPA filter). In some embodiments, the finer particulate filter 212 is a HEPA filter having a MERV rating of at least about 14. In some embodiments, the finer particulate filter 212 is an air filter having a MERV rating of from about 7 to about 13.

The filtered air stream 216 can be subjected to a dehumidification process 220 to adjust the water content of filtered air stream 216 by one or more of adding water to filtered air stream 216 and removing water from the filtered air stream. Commonly, at least about 75 wt% or more of the water contained in the filtered air stream 216 is removed from the filtered air stream, more commonly at least about 85 % or more, more commonly at least about 95 % or more, or all of any water contained in the filtered air stream 216 and form dehumidified air stream 228. As will be appreciated,

dehumidification can be performed by two methods, either cooling the air below the dew point and removing moisture by condensation or sorption by a solid or liquid desiccant material. In a typical solid desiccant system, the input air stream contacts a desiccant wheel and exits the dehumidifier hot and dry. The wheel is then rotated so that the desiccant portion that has picked up the moisture is exposed to hot reactivation air and its moisture removed. In a typical liquid desiccant system, there are two separate chambers, one to perform the dehumidification and the other to reactivate or regenerate the desiccant. The moisture-containing desiccant leaving the dehumidification chamber is passed through a heat exchanger and then through the regenerator, where heat is added to remove the moisture. In one application, some, more commonly 25% or more, and even more commonly 50% or more of the moisture absorbed by the desiccant or removed by the dehumidification chamber is recovered and recycled as input water 108 to the water treatment system 104

As can be seen in Figure 2, recirculated air 224 is passed from the hydroculture growing zone 128 through the liquid dehumidification process 220 and combined with the dehumidified air stream 228 for recirculation to the hydroculture growing zone 128.

The dehumidified air stream 228 can be passed through an insect removal screen (not shown) to remove most, more commonly at least about 75 % or more, more commonly at least about 85 % or more, more commonly at least about 95 % or more, or all of any insects, such as aphids, in the recirculated air 224.

The dehumidified air stream 228 can be next passed through temperature, pressure and discharge location control system 232 to form treated air stream 140.

In some embodiments, the treated air stream 140 can be output by the air treatment system 132. The treated air stream 140 is substantially free of, more commonly contains no more than about 5 wt.%, more commonly contains no more than about 1 wt.%, and even more commonly contains no more than about 0.5 wt.% of particulates, such as insecticide dust, herbicide dust, insects, pollen, air pollution particles, and living microbes (e.g., virus, bacteria, mold, and spores).

The Lighting System 144

In some embodiments, the lighting system 144 generally provides light 148 to the hydroculture growing zone 128. Moreover, the lighting system 114 can provide differing and selectable light intensity and/or radiation spectra emissions by a set of lighting elements. With reference to Figure 3, the lighting system 144 can include first, second, third, . . ., and nth lighting assemblies 300a, b, c, . . ., and n. Each lighting assembly 300a, b, c, . . ., and n can include a corresponding light set 304a, b, c, . . ., and n and a corresponding controller 308a, b, c, . . ., and n. Each lighting assembly can be positioned to illuminate selected plant(s), plant location(s), container(s), or tray(s) in the hydroculture growing zone 128.

The light set 304a, b, c, . . . n can be any light source providing the desired electromagnetic radiation spectrum, such as incandescent, radioluminescent,

triboluminescent, piezoluminescent, chemoluminescent, fluorescent, phosphorescent, electric arc, electron-stimulated, electroluminescent, gas discharge lamps, and high- intensity discharge lamps. In some embodiments, the light source can be a pair of light- emitting diodes providing red and blue light, respectively, in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. As will be appreciated, visible light is usually defined as having a wavelength in the range of 400 nanometres (nm), or 400 x 10^"9 m, to

700 nanometres - between the infrared (with longer wavelengths) and the ultraviolet (with shorter wavelengths). Each light set 304a, b, c, . . ., and n commonly includes one or more pairs of red and blue light-emitting diodes.

The controller 308a, b, c, . . ., and n (which includes a microprocessor and computer readable medium typically on an integrated circuit board) can control the corresponding light set(s) in the light assembly. Each controller 308 generally has a unique identifier, such as a serial number, network address (e.g., Media Access Control address, Internet Protocol address, and the like), or other identifier and is separately addressable and independently controllable by the master controller 164 via wireless or wired communication links 312. The master controller 164 can control selectively any operation of each light assembly, including when the corresponding light set is activated and deactivated, the relative output of each of the red and blue light sources in a selected set, and the output light intensity of each of the red and blue lights, as well as control movement of the light assembly in x-, y-, and/or z directions by one or more drive motors (such as the motor assembly 930 of Fig. 9B) that moves the light assembly, read in proximity sensors to provide spatial feedback to light assembly movement motors about a current location of the light assembly relative to a selected or target light assembly location, and control (micro) fans 934 (Fig. 9B) to aid in air circulation around plants, read sensors (temperature/humidity) for determining micro climate conditions around plants 908, and relay that information back to the master controller 164.

For example, one type of plant would optimally have a first set of light set activation and deactivation timing information (e.g., number, duration, and timing of activation periods each 24 hours), relative output of each of the red and blue light sources (e.g., what percentage of output light is red and what percentage is blue), and/or output light intensity, and a different type of plant would optimally have a different second set of light set activation and deactivation timing information, relative output of each of the red and blue light sources, and/or output light intensity. For a given type of plant, one age of plant would optimally have a first set of light set activation and deactivation timing information, relative output of each of the red and blue light sources, and/or output light intensity, and a different age of plant would optimally have a different second set of light set activation and deactivation timing information, relative output of each of the red and blue light sources, and/or output light intensity. For example, younger plants usually have more blue light to create denser foliage while older plants usually have more red light to help elongate or enlarge their leaves. When you have a fruiting plant, such as an apple tree, tomato plant, cucumber plant, and the like, more red light can be provided when the plant is producing fruit while more blue light can be provided when the plant is too young to fruit. Each light assembly can thus have different and/or unique light set activation and deactivation timing information, relative output of each of the red and blue light sources, and/or output light intensity compared to other light assemblies. While a one:one relationship is discussed with relation to the lighting assembly: controller and unique identifier, it is to be understood that multiple lighting assemblies can be associated with one controller and/or unique identifier.

Figure 8 depicts a self-locating lighting system 144 according to some

embodiments that enable a network topology to be automatically generated and maintained by the master controller. Each lighting assembly 300a, b, c, . . ., and n includes a location module 316a, b, c, . . ., and n, such as a satellite positioning system location sensing module (such as a Global Positioning System location sensor or puck) to determine a spatial location of each lighting assembly in the hydroculture growing zone 128. In the network topology, the spatial location of each uniquely identified lighting assembly would be expressed in two- three-dimensional coordinates and optionally be indexed to a location of a selected plant, plant location, container, or tray in the hydroculture growing zone 128. When a lighting system is moved, the master controller would typically update automatically the network topology to reflect the change in location of the lighting system. In some embodiments, location can be determined by triangulation performed by spatial dislocated wireless access points distributed around the hydroculture growing zone 128. The controller of each lighting assembly would emit pings including its unique identifier, which could be sensed by plural wireless access points. The relative signal strengths of each received ping by each wireless access point could be used by the master controller to locate each lighting assembly.

The lighting assembly 300 can move relative to a plant, plant location, container, or tray in the hydroculture growing zone 128 that is being illuminated by the lighting assembly 300. The path of travel of the lighting assembly 300 can be any desired shape, whether arcuate or linear, and can be not only in two dimensions (X and Y in the horizontal plane) but also three dimensions (not only X and Y but also Z in the vertical plane). Movement of the lighting assembly 300 can reduce the number of lighting assemblies required to illuminate a selected area, power requirements for the hydroculture growing zone 128, and capital and operating costs.

An example according to some embodiments is shown in Figures 9A and B. In Fig. 9 A, the lighting assembly 300 is depicted as moving, by means of motor assembly 930) in any of several directions shown as 904a-h. In Fig. 9B, the lighting assembly 300 is shown in several different positions 912a-c during its linear path of travel. These positions 912a-c imitate the path of the sun as its light illuminates different parts of the plant more strongly than others during its movement. In position 912a, the lighting assembly 300 emits light 904 that illuminates the left side of the plant 908 more strongly than the right. This position imitates the sun's illumination during the morning. In position 912b, the lighting assembly 300 is directly over the plant 908 and illuminates the upper portion of the plant more strongly than the lower portion. This position imitates the sun's illumination at midday. In position 912c, the lighting assembly 300 is to the right of the plant 908 and illuminates the right side of the plant more strongly than the left side. This position imitates the sun's illumination in the afternoon. By imitating the movement of the sun, the plant's lower and upper leaves are more fully illuminated, thereby increasing plant health, foliage density, and plant growth rate. Alternatively, the lighting assembly 300 can be substantially stationary while the tray 912 and plant 908 move (as shown by the dashed lines) relative to the lighting assembly 300.

As will be appreciated, the (drive) motor assembly 930 can be any suitable arrangement able to move the light assembly 300 in a desired direction. Examples include without limitation a motor, a continuous belt, a series of intermeshed toothed gears, or other electromechanical displacement system, an electromagnetic displacement system comprising a magnetic material and one or more coils, a magnetic displacement system comprising magnetic materials on the light assembly or shelving and a moving magnetic in proximity thereto, electric displacement system comprising one or more conductors on the light assembly or shelving and or in proximity thereto, and the like.

Figure 7 depicts a light control logic flow 700 of the master controller 164 according to some embodiments. The light assembly can be automatically controlled by the master controller 164, directly controlled by user input overrides, or a set of instructions can be uploaded to each (local) light assembly controller for autonomous control, until provided new instructions by either of the first two inputs. The light assembly controller is separate from the master controller 164 and is resident in proximity to the corresponding light assembly. Each light assembly generally has a corresponding light assembly controller.

In step 704, the master controller 164 can select a lighting assembly 300 to be controlled.

In step 708, the master controller 164 can receive one or more inputs regarding the current status (e.g., activated or deactivated) of the selected lighting assembly 300, movement information (e.g., lighting system position absolute location and/or movement as a function of time), timing information for the selected lighting assembly 300 (when the lighting assembly is to activated and deactivated), lighting intensity and/or red/blue light emission ratio used by the selected lighting assembly 300, air circulation (speed and/or direction as determined by a suitable sensor 1404 (such as an anemometer sensor 1404 and wind vane sensor 1404, respectively), humidity (as determined by a humidity sensor 1404), current spatial location of the light assembly 300 relative to a selected target or reference location (as determined by a contact or non-contact proximity sensor 1404 (such as an inductive sensor, capacitive sensor, photoelectric sensor, magnetic sensor, or mechanical sensor), and illuminated plant information (e.g., plant type, age, state (e.g., fruiting or not fruiting), and target plant state).

In step 712, the master controller 164 can select, based on one or more of the input, a current state (e.g., activated or deactivated), movement information (e.g., lighting system position absolute location and/or movement as a function of time), timing information (when the lighting assembly is to activated and deactivated), lighting intensity, and/or red/blue light emission ratio to be used by the selected lighting assembly 300, air circulation (speed and/or direction as determined by a suitable sensor 1404 (such as an anemometer sensor 1404 and wind vane sensor 1404, respectively), humidity (as determined by a humidity sensor 1404), current spatial location of the light assembly 300 relative to a selected target or reference location (as determined by a contact or non- contact proximity sensor 1404 (such as an inductive sensor, capacitive sensor,

photoelectric sensor, magnetic sensor, or mechanical sensor), and illuminated plant information (e.g., plant type, age, state (e.g., fruiting or not fruiting), and target plant state).

In step 716, the master controller 164 can command the corresponding lighting assembly controller to one or more of configure and activate the selected lighting assembly and fan 934 in accordance with the selected parameters. The Bioregenerator 152

A biogenerator 152 in accordance with some embodiments is shown in Fig. 11. The system 1100 generally receives byproducts or plant waste from the hydroculture growing zone, to convert them into nutrients to be provided to the nutrient/water mixing system. The system 1 100 generally comprises one or more of: anaerobic digestor 1130 module which receives plant material waste input 1170 from grow chamber 1128 module, oxygen input 1130, and water input 1134 from combustion CH₄ burner 1112 module, and outputs CH₄ output 1138 to pressure swing absorption 1108 module, C0₂ output 1140 to pressure swing absorption 1108 module, and dry effluent 1142 output 1142 to solid cleaning separation and storage 1116 module; pressure swing absorption 1108 module outputs air exhaust 1144 output, CH₄ output 1146 to combustion CH₄ burner 1112 module, and C0₂ 1148 output 1148 to gas C0₂ storage module; combustion CH₄ burner 1112 module inputs 0₂ input 1150 and outputs energy output 1152, heat BTUs 1154, and exhaust output 1156 to CO/C0₂ separator 1124; CO/C0₂ separator module 1124 outputs CO output 1158 and C0₂ output 1160 to gas C0₂ storage module 1120; gas C0₂ storage module 1120 outputs fertilizer output 1162 to grow chamber module 1128; and solid cleaning separation and storage 1116 module outputs fertilizer 1164 output to grow chamber 1128. Grow chamber 1128 outputs plant material waste 1170, nutrient food 1168 output and 0₂ output 1166.

System 1 100 is controlled by one or more of the controllers of the disclosure.

Control parameters comprise: power levels for the pressure swing absorption 1108 module, the CO/C0₂ separator 1124, the combustion CH₄ burner 1112 module, the solid cleaning separation and storage 1116 module, and the pump required to pressurize the gas C0₂ storage module 1120; trace gases associated with the anaerobic digestor 1130 module and/or the pressure swing absorption 1108 module; the energy /heat balance, the biomass volume output rate, and the gas generation and/or consumption rate. In one embodiment, the system 110 is solely automatically controlled, i.e. no human intervention is required.

The bioregenerator 152 outputs a methane stream 153 for the power system 129, a water stream 180 to water treatment system 104, and a carbon dioxide-containing stream 184 to the air treatment system 132.

The Master Controller 164

The master controller 164 receives feedback and transmits commands by various control lines 168 to the foregoing components for automated or semi -automated operation. The master controller 164 can, for a selected plant, plant location, container, and/or tray in the hydroculture growing zone 128, select substantially optimal growing parameters that are different for other non-selected plants, plant locations, containers and/or trays. In other words, the master controller 164 can, simultaneously, substantially optimize first growing conditions for a first spatial location (e.g., a sub-zone) within the hydroculture growing zone 128 and second growing conditions for a different second spatial location (or sub-zone) within the hydroculture growing zone 128, with the first and second growing conditions being different. Growing conditions refer to nutrient feed solution flow rate and composition, application frequency, air flow rate, air pressure, humidity, air and/or nutrient feed solution temperature, frequency of contact of the nutrient feed solution with plants in the sub-zone, lighting movement or position, frequency, intensity, red/light illumination ratio, and/or duration, and the like.

The master controller 164 can not only customize growing conditions to specific types and/or ages of plants but also, for a given plant, produce fruit having a customized characteristic (e.g., taste or flavor, appearance, texture, size, and the like). For example, fruit can taste differently under a first set of growing conditions than under a second set of growing conditions. Jalapeno peppers, when grown under stressed under drought conditions, can taste hotter or spicier (due to higher levels of oil secretion)than when grown under non-drought conditions. Grape flavor can depend not only on moisture but also soil composition. The soil composition can be duplicated by customized nutrient feed solutions (e.g., having customized mixtures of nutrients and/or pH), thereby producing the desired grape flavor in the fruit. By fine-tuning the mineral and nutrient content of water, the master controller 164 can subtly alter the flavor of arugula to a customer's preference, giving it more or less of a peppery taste. The master controller, unlike nature, which produces variable weather conditions over a growing season and over multiple growing seasons, can produce a substantially uniform set of growing conditions crop-by-crop, thereby providing uniform fruit characteristics among the crops.

Figure 12 depicts a first exemplary flow logic 1200 for the master controller 164. The master controller 164, in step 1204, detects a stimulus. Exemplary stimuli include passage of a selected period of time, operator input, and occurrence of a predetermined event, such as detection of an anomaly.

In step 1208, the master controller 164 determines current and projected parameters and other conditions of the internal system and exterior environment.

Parameters include any of the parameters or inputs sensed by sensors, weather projections or forecasts received over the Internet from a weather forecasting service. The parameters can include for instance pH sensors (e.g., to measure pH of water and feed solutions), thermocouple sensors (e.g., to measure temperature of ambient or external and internal environments, water streams, feed solutions, etc.), fluid flow sensors (e.g., to measure fluid flow rates, etc.), dew point or humidity sensors (e.g., to measure dew point of the ambient or internal environments, etc.), particulate sensors (e.g., to measure particulate levels in a fluid stream, such as particulates in a gas, total dissolved solids in an aqueous stream), etc.), image sensors (e.g., cameras and video feeds, etc.), volumetric sensors (e.g., to measure relative mixing ratios, etc.), mass sensors (such as scales and analytical balances), pressure sensors (e.g., to measure air pressure in the ambient or interior environment, etc.), humidity sensors (e.g., to water content of the ambient or interior environment, etc.), light sensors (e.g., to measure light intensity and spectral properties, etc.), motion sensors, ultrasonic sensors, chemical sensors (e.g., to measure an analyte level, such as total dissolved oxygen, salinity of an aqueous stream (such as by an electrical conductivity sensor) in an aqueous stream), spectrometric sensors (e.g., mass spectrometer, gas chromatography, etc.), mass flow sensors, and biosensors for the interior system environment and/or anemometers to measure wind speed, wind vanes to measure wind direction, rainfall sensors, barometers, thermometers, hygrometers, ceilometers, visibility sensor, ultrasonic snow depth sensors, and pyranometers.

In step 1212, the master controller 164, based on the determined parameters and other conditions, determines anticipated power usage over a selected time period. Power usage can be estimated based on comparing or matching the determined parameters against one or more historical templates or usage profiles having similar determined parameters. Power usage can also be estimated based on power demand estimates for each component in a selected portion of the hydroculture system, and random or pseudorandom sampling of detailed monitored power usage data, and other techniques known to those of skill in the art.

In step 1216, the master controller 164, based on the determined parameters and other conditions, determines the cost and/or capabilities of each power source. The source selection can be based, for example, on projected weather patterns over a selected time period, time of day, and the like. By way of illustration, where a photovoltaic power source is available the master controller 164 can determine, from the weather forecast, solar energy levels over the selected time period (e.g., cloudless skies and daylight equals higher solar energy levels while cloudy or nighttime equals lower solar energy levels) or where a wind turbine power source is available the master controller 164 can determine, from the weather forecast, wind direction and speed over the selected time period (e.g., windy weather patterns equals higher wind energy levels while windless or low wind weather patterns equals lower wind energy levels).

In step 1220, the master controller 164, based on the cost and/or capabilities of each power source, determines the cost and capabilities of each power source. For instance, where the photovoltaic power source or wind turbine is projected to produce high energy levels over the selected period, they are preferred over the power grid or a generator as the primary power source. Where the photovoltaic power source or wind turbine is projected to produce low energy levels over the selected period, they are not preferred over the power grid or a generator as the primary power source. In that event, the grid or a generator is used as the primary power source not only to provide power to the various components but also to charge batteries for the photovoltaic and/or power turbine power circuits.

In step 1224, the master controller 164, based on the determined parameters and other conditions, determines and applies power use restrictions, requirements, and other power usage rules. For example, where the power grid is the primary power source power use restrictions can be employed at times of peak power demand. Where the hydroculture system is off-grid, power usage restrictions can be employed to conserve stored power levels when low levels of renewable energy production are projected. These rules may require certain components of the hydroculture system to be used less or deactivated altogether.

Figure 6 depicts a second exemplary flow logic 600 for the master controller 164.

In step 604, the master controller 164 selects, for control, a set of plants or sub- zone (which can be one or more plants, plant location, container, and/or tray) in the hydroculture growing zone 128.

In step 608, the master controller 164 receives input regarding the selected sub- zone. Exemplary input includes current growing conditions, such as plant type and/or state, nutrient feed solution flow rate and composition, application frequency, air flow rate, air pressure, humidity, air and/or nutrient feed solution temperature, lighting movement or position, frequency, intensity, red/light illumination ratio, and/or duration, and the like.

"Plant state" refers to the type, health, age, or condition of the plant. This can be determined automatically by image processing. One or more optical cameras or other image processing devices can detect an appearance, optical reflectivity, or light emission characteristics of the plant and ascertain its type, health, age, or condition of the plant. As will be appreciated, flowers have differing optical signatures than leaves. Flowers reflect different wavelengths and/or frequencies of light differently than green leaves. A healthy lush plant produces a different optical image than a dead, dying, sick, pest-ridden, or barren plant. In this manner, autonomous plant and/or fruit identification can be performed using cameras and other sensors, with the sensed image information being processed by a computer vision algorithm, such as based on UV spectrum emitted from flower to identify the flower.

As will be appreciated, computer vision includes methods for acquiring, processing, analyzing, and understanding images and, in general, high-dimensional data from the real world to produce numerical or symbolic information, e.g., in the forms of decisions. Computer vision algorithms typically use one of the following approaches: object recognition (also called object classification) in which one or several pre-specified or learned objects or object classes can be recognized, usually together with their 2D positions in the image or 3D poses in the scene; identification in which an individual instance of an object is recognized (examples include identification of a specific person's face or fingerprint, identification of handwritten digits, or identification of a specific vehicle); and detection in which the image data are scanned for a specific condition (examples include detection of possible abnormal cells or tissues in medical images or detection of a vehicle in an automatic road toll system). Detection based on relatively simple and fast computations is sometimes used for finding smaller regions of interesting image data which can be further analyzed by more computationally demanding techniques to produce a correct interpretation.

A typical computer vision algorithm includes one or more of the following functions:

(i) Image acquisition in which a digital image is produced by one or several image sensors, which, besides various types of light-sensitive cameras, include range sensors, CCD's, etc. Depending on the type of sensor, the resulting image data is an ordinary 2D image, a 3D volume, or an image sequence. The pixel values typically correspond to light intensity in one or several spectral bands (gray images or color images.

(ii) Pre-processing in which, before a computer vision method can be applied to image data to extract some specific piece of information, it is usually necessary to process the data to assure that it satisfies certain assumptions implied by the method. Examples include re-sampling to assure that the image coordinate system is correct, noise reduction to assure that sensor noise does not introduce false information, contrast enhancement to assure that relevant information can be detected, and scale space representation to enhance image structures at locally appropriate scales.

(iii) Feature extraction in which image features at various levels of complexity are extracted from the image data. Typical examples of such features include lines, edges and ridges, localized interest points, such as corners, blobs, or points, texture and shape.

(iv) Detection/segmentation in which, at some point in the processing, a decision is made about which image points or regions of the image are relevant for further processing. Examples include selection of a specific set of interest points and

segmentation of one or multiple image regions which contain a specific object of interest.

(v) High-level processing, at which step the input is typically a small set of data, for example a set of points or an image region which is assumed to contain a specific object. The remaining processing deals with, for example, verification that the data satisfy model-based and application specific assumptions, estimation of application specific parameters, such as object pose or object size, image recognition in which a detected object is classified into different categories, and image registration in which two different views of the same object are compared and combined.

(vi) Decision making in which the final decision required is made for the application. Examples include match/no-match in recognition applications.

In step 612, the master controller 164 selects, based on the input, an optimal or desirable set of growing conditions, including values for one or more of nutrient feed solution flow rate and composition, application frequency, air flow rate, air pressure, humidity, air and/or nutrient feed solution temperature, lighting movement or position, frequency, intensity, red/light illumination ratio, and/or duration.

In step 616, the master controller 164 commands the corresponding units to implement respective parameters. For example, the master controller 164 adjusts operation of the water treatment, nutrient/water mixing, and/or nutrient delivery systems to provide a selected nutrient feed solution flow rate or application frequency, configures the air treatment and delivery system to provide air of a selected temperature, humidity, flow rate, and/or pressure, and/or configures the lighting system to provide a selected lighting movement or position, frequency, intensity, red/light illumination ratio, and/or duration.

The master controller 164 then returns to step 704 and selects a next set of plants for sub-zone or analysis.

Figure 15 depicts a third exemplary flow logic 1500 for the master controller 164. In step 1504, the master controller 164 receives input, such as from a user or operator, selecting a set or type of plants to be grown in a selected hydroculture growing zone.

In step 1508, the master controller 164 determines optimal settings and parameters for all system components to provide the desired growing conditions. This typically requires a database lookup using an identifier of the selected set or type of plants. The lookup table thus indexes, by plant identifier or type, corresponding sets of values for settings and parameters for all system components. The accessed data can be historically collected data for that selected set or type of plants. It can also be projected data to be tried for the selected set or type of plants.

In step 1512, the master controller 164 resets the settings and parameters for the system components to provide the desired growing conditions.

In step 1516, the master controller 164 monitors system components and sensor signals for anomalous readings. Such readings can be based on feedback ranges, thresholds, or other values stored in the lookup table for the selected set or type of plants.

In step 1520, the master controller 164 determines, for the selected anomalous reading, a severity of the anomaly. This can be based on the deviation from the feedback ranges, thresholds, or other values stored in the lookup table or the particular range, threshold, or other values triggered by or applicable to the anomalous reading.

In step 1524, the master controller 164 selects and implements autonomous and/or semi-autonomous actions to safe or correct the anomaly and/or reports the anomaly to an administrator, user or operator.

Remote Operation

Figure 4 depicts a distributed processing system for multiple, dislocated hydroculture growing zones 128. The distributed processing system 400 includes first, second, third, . . . mth master controllers 164a-m, each controlling a different

corresponding hydroculture growing zone 128a-m, communication device 404 (such as a cellular telephone, tablet computer, laptop, personal computer, and the like), central controller 408, and database 412, all interconnected by a wired and/or wireless network 416. The central controller 408 receives feedback from each first, second, third, . . . mth master controller 164a-m regarding a sensed growing parameter in its respective hydroculture growing zone 128a-m and, based on the sensed growing parameter or condition, commands one or more operations of the selected master controller 164. The sensed growing parameter or condition can be, for example, any sensed information sensed by a sensor (including those discussed above), video feed, visual images (e.g., still shots or video feed), and the like. The command can be any of the commands discussed herein, including control of an automated component, or information provided by a graphical user interface to an administrator regarding a state of the plants in the corresponding hydroculture growing zone (e.g., health, fruit bearing ability, age, size, etc.), magnitude of and/or deviation in a growing parameter or condition, plant image(s), and the like. The sensed information can be stored in the database 412 in connection with an identifier of the master controller providing the sensed information. A communication device 404 of a user or administrator can perform any or all of the functions as the central controller 408. This system permits remote access, monitoring, and control of each hydroculture growing zone. This system can enable a contractor to monitor remotely geographically or spatially dislocated hydroculture growing zones 128a-m of customers, thereby improving the hydroculture growing zone yield.

Examples of the processors as described herein may include, but are not limited to, at least one of Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 800 and 801, Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 610 and 615 with 4G LTE Integration and 64-bit computing, Apple® A7 processor with 64-bit architecture, Apple® M7 motion coprocessors, Samsung® Exynos® series, the Intel® Core™ family of processors, the Intel® Xeon® family of processors, the Intel® Atom™ family of processors, the Intel Itanium® family of processors, Intel® Core® Ϊ5-4670Κ and Ϊ7-4770Κ 22nm Haswell, Intel® Core® Ϊ5-3570Κ 22nm Ivy Bridge, the AMD® FX™ family of processors, AMD® FX-4300, FX-6300, and FX-8350 32nm Vishera, AMD® Kaveri processors, Texas Instruments® Jacinto C6000™ automotive infotainment processors, Texas Instruments® OMAP™ automotive-grade mobile processors, ARM® Cortex™-M processors, ARM® Cortex-A and ARM926EJ-S™ processors, other industry-equivalent processors, and may perform computational functions using any known or future-developed standard, instruction set, libraries, and/or architecture.

The exemplary systems and methods of this disclosure have been described in relation to various hardware and software systems. However, to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure, the preceding description omits a number of known structures and devices. This omission is not to be construed as a limitation of the scopes of the claims. Specific details are set forth to provide an understanding of the present disclosure. It should however be appreciated that the present disclosure may be practiced in a variety of ways beyond the specific detail set forth herein. Furthermore, while the exemplary aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations illustrated herein show the various components of the system collocated, certain components of the system can be located remotely, at distant portions of a distributed network, such as a LAN and/or the Internet, or within a dedicated system. Thus, it should be appreciated, that the components of the system can be combined in to one or more devices, such as an integrated circuit board, or collocated on a particular node of a distributed network, such as an analog and/or digital telecommunications network, a packet-switch network, or a circuit-switched network. It will be appreciated from the preceding description, and for reasons of computational efficiency, that the components of the system can be arranged at any location within a distributed network of components without affecting the operation of the system. For example, the various components can be located in a switch such as a PBX and media server, gateway, in one or more communications devices, at one or more users' premises, or some combination thereof. Similarly, one or more functional portions of the system could be distributed between a telecommunications device(s) and an associated computing device.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links connecting the elements can be wired or wireless links, or any combination thereof, or any other known or later developed element(s) that is capable of supplying and/or communicating data to and from the connected elements. These wired or wireless links can also be secure links and may be capable of communicating encrypted information. Transmission media used as links, for example, can be any suitable carrier for electrical signals, including coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, and may take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio-wave and infra-red data communications.

Also, while the flowcharts have been discussed and illustrated in relation to a particular sequence of events, it should be appreciated that changes, additions, and omissions to this sequence can occur without materially affecting the operation of the disclosed embodiments, configuration, and aspects.

A number of variations and modifications of the disclosure can be used. It would be possible to provide for some features of the disclosure without providing others.

For example in one alternative embodiment, a hydroculture growing system is provided containing any combination of features disclosed herein.

In yet another embodiment, the systems and methods of this disclosure can be implemented in conjunction with a special purpose computer, a programmed

microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuit element(s), an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digital signal processor, a hard-wired electronic or logic circuit such as discrete element circuit, a programmable logic device or gate array such as PLD, PLA, FPGA, PAL, special purpose computer, any comparable means, or the like. In general, any device(s) or means capable of implementing the methodology illustrated herein can be used to implement the various aspects of this disclosure. Exemplary hardware that can be used for the disclosed embodiments, configurations and aspects includes computers, handheld devices, telephones (e.g., cellular, Internet enabled, digital, analog, hybrids, and others), and other hardware known in the art. Some of these devices include processors (e.g., a single or multiple microprocessors), memory, nonvolatile storage, input devices, and output devices. Furthermore, alternative software

implementations including, but not limited to, distributed processing or component/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtual machine processing can also be constructed to implement the methods described herein.

In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be readily implemented in conjunction with software using object or object-oriented software development environments that provide portable source code that can be used on a variety of computer or workstation platforms. Alternatively, the disclosed system may be implemented partially or fully in hardware using standard logic circuits or VLSI design. Whether software or hardware is used to implement the systems in accordance with this disclosure is dependent on the speed and/or efficiency requirements of the system, the particular function, and the particular software or hardware systems or microprocessor or microcomputer systems being utilized.

In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be partially implemented in software that can be stored on a storage medium, executed on programmed general- purpose computer with the cooperation of a controller and memory, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, or the like. In these instances, the systems and methods of this disclosure can be implemented as program embedded on personal computer such as an applet, JAVA® or CGI script, as a resource residing on a server or computer workstation, as a routine embedded in a dedicated measurement system, system component, or the like. The system can also be implemented by physically incorporating the system and/or method into a software and/or hardware system.

Although the present disclosure describes components and functions implemented in the aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations with reference to particular standards and protocols, the aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations are not limited to such standards and protocols. Other similar standards and protocols not mentioned herein are in existence and are considered to be included in the present disclosure. Moreover, the standards and protocols mentioned herein and other similar standards and protocols not mentioned herein are periodically superseded by faster or more effective equivalents having essentially the same functions. Such replacement standards and protocols having the same functions are considered equivalents included in the present disclosure.

The present disclosure, in various aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations, includes components, methods, processes, systems and/or apparatus substantially as depicted and described herein, including various aspects, embodiments, configurations embodiments, subcombinations, and/or subsets thereof. Those of skill in the art will understand how to make and use the disclosed aspects, embodiments, and/or

configurations after understanding the present disclosure. The present disclosure, in various aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations, includes providing devices and processes in the absence of items not depicted and/or described herein or in various aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations hereof, including in the absence of such items as may have been used in previous devices or processes, e.g., for improving performance, achieving ease and\or reducing cost of implementation.

The foregoing discussion has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. The foregoing is not intended to limit the disclosure to the form or forms disclosed herein. In the foregoing Detailed Description for example, various features of the disclosure are grouped together in one or more aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. The features of the aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations of the disclosure may be combined in alternate aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations other than those discussed above. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claims require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed aspect, embodiment, and/or configuration. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into this Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodiment of the disclosure.

Moreover, though the description has included description of one or more aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations and certain variations and modifications, other variations, combinations, and modifications are within the scope of the disclosure, e.g., as may be within the skill and knowledge of those in the art, after understanding the present disclosure. It is intended to obtain rights which include alternative aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations to the extent permitted, including alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions, ranges or steps to those claimed, whether or not such alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions, ranges or steps are disclosed herein, and without intending to publicly dedicate any patentable subject matter.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:

one or more of the following (i)-(xi):

(i). a microprocessor executable master controller to control automatically one or more growing parameters across multiple sub-zones of the hydroculture growing zone, whereby the one or more growing parameters are different between at least first and second sub-zones of the multiple sub-zones;

(ii). a water treatment system to remove one or more contaminants from an input water stream, the one or more contaminants potentially adversely affecting growth and/or health of the plurality of plants;

(iii) . an air treatment system to remove one or more contaminants from an input air stream, the one or more contaminants potentially adversely affecting growth and/or health of the plurality of plants;

(iv) . a lighting system to illuminate the plurality of plants, wherein the lighting system moves relative to the plurality of plants or the plurality of plants move relative to the lighting system;

(v) . a microprocessor executable computer vision module to identify

automatically a visual characteristic of the plurality of plants;

(vi) . a nutrient delivery system to combine treated water from the water treatment system of (ii) with nutrients to form a nutrient feed solution;

(vii) . a plant support system comprising a base and an insert to contain one or more of the plurality of plants, the insert configurable to a particular type of plant;

(viii). a biogenerator to recycle plant byproducts into nutrients, the nutrients provided to the nutrient delivery system;

(ix). an environmentally controlled portable container comprising one or more of (i) through (viii) and being powered by an off-energy grid power source comprising one or more of solar, wind, and hydro power;

(xii) a microprocessor executable master controller to select automatically a set of power sources to power one or more system components based on a current or forecasted environmental condition exterior to the system;

(xiii) a microprocessor executable master controller to reconfigure automatically, in response to user selection of a particular type of plant to be grown, settings and/or parameters of one or more system components in a selected zone of the hydroculture growing zone.

2. The system of claim 1, comprising (i).

3. The system of claim 1, comprising (ii).

4. The system of claim 1, comprising (iii).

5. The system of claim 1, comprising (iv).

6. The system of claim 1, comprising (v).

7. The system of claim 1, comprising (vi).

8. The system of claim 1, comprising (νϋ).

9. The system of claim 1, comprising (viii)

10. The system of claim 1, comprising (ix).

11. The system of claim 1, comprising (x).

12. The system of claim 1, comprising (xi).

13. A method, comprising

providing a hydroculture growing zone comprising a plurality of plants and a nutrient delivery system to deliver a nutrient feed solution to the plurality of plants; and performing one or more of the following steps (i)-(xi):

(i) . controlling, automatically by a microprocessor executable master controller, one or more growing parameters across multiple sub-zones of the hydroculture growing zone, whereby the one or more growing parameters are different between at least first and second sub-zones of the multiple sub-zones;

(ii) . removing, by a water treatment system, one or more contaminants from an input water stream, the one or more contaminants potentially adversely affecting growth and/or health of the plurality of plants;

(iii). removing, by an air treatment system, one or more contaminants from an input air stream, the one or more contaminants potentially adversely affecting growth and/or health of the plurality of plants;

(iv) . illuminating, by a lighting system, the plurality of plants, wherein the lighting system moves relative to the plurality of plants or the plurality of plants move relative to the lighting system;

(v) . identifying, automatically by a microprocessor executable computer vision module, a visual characteristic of the plurality of plants;

(vi.). combining, by a nutrient delivery system, treated water of step (ii) from the water treatment system with nutrients to form a nutrient feed solution; (vii) . providing a plant support system comprising a base and an insert to contain one or more of the plurality of plants, the insert configurable to a particular type of plant;

(viii) . recycling, by a biogenerator, plant byproducts into nutrients, the nutrients being provided to the nutrient delivery system;

(ix). providing an environmentally controlled portable container performing one or more of steps (i) through (viii) and being powered by an off-energy grid power source comprising one or more of solar, wind, and hydro power;

(xi) selecting, automatically by a microprocessor executable master controller, a set of power sources to power one or more system components based on a current or forecasted environmental condition exterior to the system; and

14. The method of claim 1 1, wherein step (i) is performed.

15. The method of claim 1 1, wherein step (ii) is performed.

16. The method of claim 1 1, wherein step (iii) is performed.

17. The method of claim 1 1, wherein step (iv) is performed.

18. The method of claim 1 1, wherein step (v) is performed.

19. The method of claim 1 1, wherein step (vi) is performed.

20. The method of claim 1 1, wherein step (vii) is performed.

21. The method of claim 1 1, wherein step (viii) is performed

22. The method of claim 1 1, wherein step (ix) is performed.

23. The method of claim 1 1, wherein step (x) is performed.

24. The method of claim 1 1, wherein step (xi) is performed.