Ongoing projects:

ARTECS Smart Greenhouse Automation

Utilizing CE certified control unit and software developed in the Remote Monitoring and Control Project, which was completed successfully in scope of 2018 KOSGEB R&D and Innovation Support Program, and the knowledge and experience gained through the project, ARTECS Smart Greenhouse Automation has begun to be developed. A small-scale greenhouse was established in Ar&TeCS laboratories for testing of the system. In addition, 30 hectares of agricultural land was purchased in Ankara Bala for the real size tests.

We, ARTECS, started to work on national and innovative solutions for the development of agriculture and greenhouse automation technology in Turkey to reduce external dependency in this field. ARTECS Smart Greenhouse Automation is being developed to contribute to the cultivation of efficient and high-quality products and together with the use of smart systems in agriculture, to achieve Agriculture 4.0 in parallel with Industry 4.0 in Turkey.

Greenhouse Intelligent Automation software is being developed using licensed LabVIEW Professional, which also has been used by CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research); and no license fee payments are required from the costumers for the software. For the hardware, the National Instrument CompactRIO, CompactDAQ chassis and related National Instrument modules, that are also used in CERN, are utilized; but cost-effective solutions are available too.

Thanks to ARTECS Intelligent Greenhouse Automation, workforce utilization and occupational accidents can be minimized; all controls can be fully automated, eliminating human error. Thus, product quality and efficiency can always be kept at their highest level in a standardized manner.

Within the scope of the project, experiments are being carried out in a small-scale laboratory using the sensors / actuators listed below; also, an article describing the results of these tests will be published. The equipment of the prototype system in our laboratory to measure and control different values ​​are the following:

• Thermocouples and PT-100s for temperature measurements inside and outside of the greenhouse
• Spectrometer for the measurement of LEDs used for illumination, which is specially designed for lighting and can provide light at different intensity and wavelengths,
• Moisture sensors with different properties to measure the humidity of the soil, internal and external environment
• PH sensor for measuring pH value of nutrients and soil,
• EC sensor for measuring electrical conductivity of nutrients,
• Infrared and sonar distance sensors for measuring plant growth rate,
• Pressure sensors for measuring the ambient pressure,
• Different gas sensors to measure ratio of gases ​​in the environment,
• Sensors to measure the precipitation,
• Engines for delivery of water and nutrients,
• Fans for ventilation,
• LEDs whose intensity can be controlled.

In addition, some equipment that may be added are;

• PAR sensors to measure the energy of incoming sunlight,
• Wind sensors for measuring wind direction and speed
• Phosphorus and nitrogen sensors to measure the rate of eutrophication
• Automatic curtains to adjust incoming sunlight,
• Windows that can be opened to control ambient temperature,
• Heaters and coolers if necessary, to control the ambient temperature.

LabVIEW program and National Instruments modules are used for the automation and control of the above-mentioned equipment. Our control system, written with LabVIEW, a user-friendly and professional program, enables us to automatically control the greenhouse by minimizing human interaction.