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Autogrow Systems Ltd

The benefits that a fully automated greenhouse control systems bring to the grower are many. Obviously, there will be the labour saving aspect but far more importantly, factors such as improved quality of produce and information gathering can mean the difference between earning a profit or suffering substantial losses.  Automation includes automation of the environment, automation of fertiliser dosing and automation of irrigation.  Autogrow Systems manufactures a range of equipment in these general areas ranging from the simple to advanced models.

The  AutoVent and NutriDose control systems have a number of sensors, both inside and outside the greenhouse, that monitor all of the important environmental factors which affect crop growth. In response to these sensors, the control system will adjust vent position, fans, heating, fogging, shading, lighting, irrigation frequency, irrigation nutrient levels and CO2 levels. This is done in an integrated way so that, for example,  CO2 is not injected when the vents are open as this would be wasteful and would also damage the environment. In a similar way, heating and venting are carefully synchronised to control temperature and humidity without wasting valuable heat energy unnecessarily from the vents.

The system also monitors wind gusts and rain and will quickly close the windward vent in response to these events protecting the valuable greenhouse from damage.

The AutoVent 2 has all of the usual features including advanced vent control, heating, shading, fogging and CO2 injection. The AutoVent 3 has added features such as advanced (2 level) shade control as well as multi stage fan/pad cooling. 

Finally, the systems perform an alarm function. Alarm limits may be set for all key variables. If the system measures values outside these limits it will sound a local hooter and also send a message to the PC attached to the next upload. The PC will sound an alarm and can also dial a pocket pager or cell phone (GSM SMS TXT)  informing you which area the problem is in.

An automatic system will tirelessly monitor the key environmental factors that affect crop quality and will make constant changes to the ventilation, heating, humidity, nutrient, light levels and even CO2 levels. The AutoVent 2 and 3 controllers have four time zones which allow very precise profiling of the environmental conditions over a 24 hour period. A grower could not possibly achieve the same consistency and may, from time-to-time allow the environmental factors to slip to quite extreme values, which can have serious effects on the crop. For example, fungal diseases occur from excessive humidity and can take hold quite quickly. Plants with less than optimum light will stretch and grow spindly unless corrective action is taken by adjusting their nutrient mix. Low temperatures at pollination time will cause flower drop and seriously lower total yield. There are many other things that can (and do) go wrong and if the control regime is at all slack then, when a problem is eventually noticed, it is very difficult to determine which event caused it.

This is where the data logging comes in. By continuously uploading data (every few minutes) from the controller and storing it to your PC hard disk, valuable information is archived. This can be retrieved and displayed in graphical form for any day (or week) in the growing season. From this information, the grower can learn much that would otherwise be lost. For example, well into a season it may be realised that this crop is better than ever before. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to review the growing and weather conditions and to compare them with seasons when the crop was not so good. Well, with Autogrow Systems controllers this is simple and automatic.

Most growers employ Hort consultants that visit them periodically. These consultants expect reports to be kept on a daily basis recording such things as Max and Min temperatures, humidities and weather conditions. Again, with Autogrow Systems equipment, this is all done automatically and at the end of the month it just needs to be printed out or emailed to your consultant.

In the event of a failure, either of the controller or of the ancillary equipment, the controller will normally be able to send an alarm signal to the PC which can then dial a pocket pager to alert you if you are away from the site.

If a problem with the controller is suspected, it is possible to access the computer by phone, from another computer anywhere in the world and to carry out diagnosis. Windows XP has remote assistant built in or alternatively proprietary remote access software such as PCAnywhere can be supplied.  Using the remote access software Autogrow can usually isolate faults to a particular setting or circuit board.  

If all else fails and the system continues to have problems, the new range of Autogrow controllers are connected to the fixed wiring with plugs so that is a simple job to completely replace the controller with a swap unit in a matter of minutes. All controllers have been designed to easily fit into a standard 10Kg or 25Kg air courier box to make return to the factory a very simple and inexpensive exercise.  Local agents will normally carry a loan unit allowing the grower to carry on as usual while the controller is being repaired. Very little skill is required as all connectors and sockets are numbered. Compare this with systems that are hard-wired into the system with perhaps 50 or more wires coming into screw terminals. These require considerable time from a skilled technician in order to replace the controller.

The fully automatic, PC interfaced controllers like AutoVent and NutriDose bring the grower so many benefits that it is hard to see viable greenhouses in the future without them. Indeed, it is a common experience that when one grower in a region goes automatic, that within a matter of months, other growers in the area will be inquiring about similar systems.

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