Listening to plants in the greenhouse
Technological advances in recent years have not yet solved the labour shortage in the greenhouse sector. However, the advent of 5G can accelerate innovation in sustainable food supply while improving cultivation efficiency.
Currently, plant health is often still assessed visually. Delft startup Plense Technologies aims to improve crop quality with sensors that record ultrasound via 5G.
What does this research focus on?
Duration: March - August 2024
Partners: TU Delft (Do IoT Fieldlab, RoboHouse), Plense Technologies, TNO, MCS, Tomatoworld.
ULTRASOUND FOR AUTOMATED AND PRECISE CROP MONITORING
Growing healthy plants in greenhouses requires a lot of attention. Until harvest, plants are usually visually assessed for their condition by employees, often based on experience.
Plense aims to automate these checks with sensors that record ultrasound (sound that is inaudible to humans), mapping the needs of plants in detail. The data collected is presented clearly to the grower, who can thus monitor crop health and make adjustments if necessary. This technology complements manual and visual checks and leads to more sophisticated cultivation.
OPERATION
Plense listens to the flow of moisture in plants. Small microphones are used to capture the sound a plant makes. The sensors measure plants' xylem vessels, send ultrasound waves through the stem and capture them with a microphone.
When the plant heats up, perspires or reacts to its environment, its internal structure changes, affecting the sound waves passing through it. Plense translates these changes in vibration into data, information and actions via algorithms.
This data offers growers insight into the needs of their crops, such as moisture content, substrate condition and the microclimate around the plant. They can also see how plants respond to changes in the growing process, leading to more informed and data-driven decisions.
CAPABILITIES OF 5G
Plense's sensors were previously physically connected to a computer because wireless data communication in greenhouses did not work well. Obstacles such as greenhouse construction (glass and metal) and the plants themselves hindered Bluetooth and WiFi connections.
This experiment tests a 5G connection in combination with the sensors. One line of research focuses on data analytics in the cloud. Although current sensor data volumes are low, they are expected to increase. Fast data transfer will then become crucial for plant monitoring.
5G offers opportunities for fast, secure and reliable wireless data communication in greenhouses with lower energy consumption, which is attractive to growers as the number of sensors increases.
Plense is conducting this research at two locations. The first phase takes place at the TU Delft fieldlab RoboHouse, where the technology is being tested and calibrated. The second phase is scaling up at Tomatoworld, where 5G experiments are taking place in a fully functional greenhouse.
MCS is collaborating with TNO, TU Delft, RoboHouse and Tomatoworld on this project.