Automation of pesticide-free cilantro aeroponic crops

Introduction−Aeroponics allows the possibility to grow plants in places where conventional open-field agriculture is difficult. The use of technology improves the efficiency of the process although some energy control and irrigation system solutions must be improved.Objective−Implement an autonomous power supply and an irrigation control system for pesticide-free food pro-duction.Methodology−The autonomous system was designed using MATLAB-Simulink-MPLAB tool to perform the control model and to be applied to the crop. A dsPIC was programmed for the irrigation cycle control algorithms using MATLAB-Simulink blocks.Results−The results show that the irrigation cycle and power supply of the aeroponic system help maintain uni-formity of plant growth during the tests period, which allows a better development of the aeroponic crop.Conclusions−Cultivation by aeroponics reduces the use of pesticides, growing space, water consumption, and nu-trients consumption. Automation in irrigation and power supply systems allows good growth in coriander, which can be evidenced by increases in the weight and volume of the test plants.

• Autores: Hoyos, Fredy E.; Candelo Becerra, John Edwin; chavarria, hector
• Tipo de recurso: Article of journal
• Fecha de publicación: 2019
• Institución: Corporación Universidad de la Costa
• Repositorio: REDICUC - Repositorio CUC
• Idioma: eng
• OAI Identifier: oai:repositorio.cuc.edu.co:11323/5617
• Acceso en línea: https://hdl.handle.net/11323/5617; https://doi.org/10.17981/ingecuc.15.1.2019.01; https://repositorio.cuc.edu.co/
• Palabra clave: Pesticide-free food; Aeroponics; Autonomous irrigation system; Clean production; Autonomous electric power supply; Sistemas de irrigación autónoma; Alimentos libres de pesticidas; Aeroponía; Producción limpia; Fuente de potencia eléctrica autónoma
• Rights: openAccess
• License: CC0 1.0 Universal