Controlling device for a greenhouse

• US 8,061,080 B2
• Filed: 12/03/2007
• Issued: 11/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Budde, Wolfgang O., Jacobs, Joseph Hendrik Anna Maria, Loebl, Hans-Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): PALO, FRANCIS T
• Application Number:
  US12/517,296
• Publication Number:
  US 20100076620A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,450 Days
• Field of Search: 47/17, 47/581.LS
• US Class Current: 47/58.1LS
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 9/249 Lighting means with special arrangements for promoting growth A01G7/045
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 40/25 Greenhouse technology, e.g. cooling systems therefor

Abstract

The invention relates to a controlling device (10) for a greenhouse (15), with a computerized control element (20), a lighting element (30) and at least one detector element (40), wherein the lighting element (30) and the detector element (40) are connected with the computerized control element (20), wherein the lighting element (30) comprises at least one light emitting mean (31), emitting a light (32), wherein the light (32) illuminates a plant (70) growing in the greenhouse (15).

Claims

1. A controlling device for a greenhouse, the controlling device comprising:

a computerized control element,

a lighting element comprising at least one light-emitting element for illuminating a plant growing in the greenhouse,

at least one first detector element for measuring an oxygen partial pressure in the greenhouse, and

at least one second detector element for measuring a photosynthesis activity of the plant,

wherein an amount of light emitted by the light emitting element is controllable by the computerized control element, based, at least in part, on the measured oxygen partial pressure.

2. A controlling device according to claim 1 wherein the controlling device comprises at least one third detector element for measuring at least one of:

a temperature of a substrate or a soil, an ambient temperature within the greenhouse, a humidity of the substrate or soil, a concentration of fertilizer in the substrate or soil, a humidity of the air, a carbon dioxide partial pressure, an amount of air, coming in or out of the greenhouse, a flux of external sunlight, a spectrum of external sunlight and/or a spectrum of the light.

3. A controlling device according to claim 1, further comprising at least one supply element for supplying a resource to the plant, wherein an amount of the resource is controllable by the computerized control element.

4. A controlling device according to claim 1, wherein the light-emitting element is a LED, an OLED, a gas discharge lamp, a high intensity discharge lamp, an incandescent lamp, a fluorescent lamp or a high pressure sodium lamp.

5. A controlling device according to claim 1, further comprising at least one moveable shading element for controlling a level of sunlight shining into the greenhouse.

6. The controlling device of claim 1, wherein the at least one second detector element comprises at least one of:

(1) a detector for measuring a starch level of the plant; and

(2) a detector for measuring a glucose level of the plant.

7. The controlling device of claim 6, wherein the amount of light emitted by the light emitting element is controllable by the computerized control element, based, at least in part, on the at least one the measured starch level of the plant and the at least one measured glucose level of the plant.

8. The controlling device of claim 1, wherein the at least one second detector element comprises at least one of:

(1) a detector for measuring a starch level of the plant;

(2) a detector for measuring a glucose level of the plant, and (3) a detector for measuring an amount of light absorbed by a leaf of the plant.

9. The controlling device of claim 1, further comprising a spectrometer for measuring a wavelength distribution of the light emitted by the lighting element.

10. The controlling device of claim 1, wherein the at least one first detector element for measuring an oxygen partial pressure in the greenhouse includes a plurality of detector elements spaced apart and disposed within the greenhouse for measuring the oxygen partial pressure at a plurality of different spatial positions within the greenhouse.

11. The controlling device of claim 1, wherein the lighting element includes at least one blue light-emitting element emitting blue light and at least one red light-emitting element emitting red light, and wherein the computerized control element controls a relative amount of light emitted by the at least one blue light-emitting element and a relative amount of light emitted by the at least one red light-emitting element to achieve a ratio in a desired range for controlling the growth of the plant.

12. A method for controlling a growth of a plant in a greenhouse, the method comprising:

measuring an oxygen partial pressure within the greenhouse, said oxygen partial pressure related to a photosynthetic activity of a plant in the greenhouse,

measuring at least one level including at least one of a glucose level and a starch level of the plant;

transmitting the value of the oxygen partial pressure to a computerized control element,

determining an optimal amount of light for a desired growth of the plant depending at least in part on the measured oxygen partial pressure and the measured level, and

adjusting an actual amount of light emitted by a lighting element to the optimal amount.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising measuring the oxygen partial pressure at a plurality of different spatial positions within the greenhouse and calculating a spatial averaged value of the oxygen partial pressure within the greenhouse.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising comparing the calculated spatial averaged value with values measured in the past.

15. The method according to claim 12, further comprising repeating the method for controlling the growth of the plant in a feedback loop and influencing the adjustment of the optimal amount of light by an input through a user interface.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising measuring a wavelength distribution of the light emitted by the lighting element.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the lighting element includes at least one blue light-emitting element emitting blue light and at least one red light-emitting element emitting red light, and wherein the method further includes controlling a relative amount of light emitted by the at least one blue light-emitting element and a relative amount of light emitted by the at least one red light-emitting element to achieve a ratio in a desired range for controlling the growth of the plant.

18. A controlling device for a greenhouse, the controlling device comprising:

a computerized control element,

a lighting element comprising a plurality of light-emitting elements for illuminating a plant growing in the greenhouse with light including a grow light component and a control light component, the plurality of light-emitting elements including;

a first group of light-emitting elements comprising a grow light unit providing the grow light component to the plant, wherein the first group of light-emitting elements includes at least blue light-emitting elements emitting blue light and red light-emitting elements emitting red light, and

a second group of light-emitting elements comprising a control light unit providing the control light component to the plant, wherein the second group of light-emitting elements includes at least blue light-emitting elements emitting blue light and green light-emitting elements emitting green light, and

at least one first detector element for measuring an oxygen partial pressure in the greenhouse, and

wherein computerized control element is configured to control an amount of the light emitted by the light emitting element, based, at least in part, on the measured oxygen partial pressure,

wherein the computerized control element is configured to control a percentage of blue light within the grow light component to be from 80% to 90% of the grow light component and to control a percentage of red light within the grow light component to be from 10% to 20% of the grow light component, and

wherein the computerized control element is configured to adjust the control light component to influence at least one of a blooming of the plant, a propagation of the plant, and a size of the plant.

19. The controlling device of claim 18, further comprising at least one moveable shading element for controlling a level of sunlight shining into the greenhouse.

20. The controlling device of claim 18, further comprising a spectrometer for measuring a wavelength distribution of the light emitted by the lighting element.