The Romanian company uses Unipi Neuron units to monitor and control the growth of microgreens in micro-greenhouses supplied directly to retail chains.
The Romanian company Ultragreens (formerly Microgreens) specializes in the cultivation and B2B supply of microgreens and edible flowers using the indoor vertical agriculture technology. More than 1,000 Romanian restaurants already use their products and are recognized for them by HoReCa professionals (food and hotel industry; Hotel/Restaurant/Café).
Micro plants are vegetables and aromatic herbs that are only grown to a very young stage of development. This is to ensure a more intense taste and higher nutritional content than in adult plants and make them a popular concept (so-called functional plants, superfood) in the world of health and wellness.
The plants are not grown classically in the soil, but on boards/shelves with nutrients-enriched water. These boards can then be effectively stacked (easily up to a height of 12 meters), this is the so-called hydroponic method of cultivation. Hydroponics uses LED lighting in shades of red, blue and white, creating the characteristic purple light of the greenhouses. At the same time, it is a modular, customizable solution that can be adapted to the needs of the space where it is to be installed. Ultragreens' micro-greenhouses, known as mircosera, are an example of this, as they are adapted to the size for retail chains.
Challenge
In 2019, Ultragreens decided not only to supply micro plants to customers, but also to expand its products to retail chains (Carrefour, Metro, Mega Image, etc.), that bring their customers fresh food on a daily basis. The solution is semi-industrial micro greenhouses (microsera), in which micro-plants and edible flowers can be grown all year round. However, such a micro greenhouse needs a powerful and reliable controller that would not only monitor the indoor environment of the greenhouse, but also control all its functions.
Solution
Due to the complexity of the project, the company decided to cooperate with Unipi technology and use the Neuron M523 units with a vision of long-term collaboration.
PLC Unipi Neuron in each microsera greenhouse monitor:
- Flow sensors - check that there is no obstruction in the system preventing water flow
- Thermometers - according to which a suitable temperature is maintained, ideal for fast plant growth
- Humidity sensors - helping to maintain stable growing conditions along with thermometers
- Sensors monitoring the water level in the tank - to control both recirculation, irrigation, drainage, and water valves for refill
- Filter status - used to trigger notification for the operator to change filters without the need for manual inspection
- PH meter – monitors pH level of water for deviances from stable environment to identify possible impurities in the system
- Electrical conductivity meter - similarly to the pH meter, it helps to monitor the water status in the entire greenhouse
Based on the measured values, the PLC controls:
- LED lighting - supporting the growth of micro plants, which is automatically controlled according to a time schedule
- Ventilation - regulating especially the humidity in the micro greenhouse and the supply of fresh air
- Heating that, based on the values from the thermometers, maintains the ideal temperature within the range specified by the operator
- Irrigation cycle - set to run at specific hours and for a certain period of time
- Drain cycle - returning excess water to the system
- Water recirculation for energy savings and maximum solution efficiency
- Washing cycles for system maintenance
- Water supply control - if the sensors detect a low water level in the tank, the water supply valve opens
SCADA system
As a software solution, micro greenhouses use the Mervis system, an officially supported full-fledged software platform for Unipi products, including:
Mervis IDE (integrated development environment) - for creating, debugging and remote management of drivers for Unipi controllers.
“Mervis software gives me the possibility to program the controller very easily and to build an HMI.” - Vlad Zorzonel, System Engineer
Mervis SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) - a cloud service for remote dispatching, control, and analysis of historical data with the ability to monitor and control all connected systems regardless of their location in a clear graphical interface. Thanks to the use of Mervis SCADA, the company can monitor any intervention in the project and based on historical data, also guarantee economic results.
„This [Mervis solution] was very easy to implement and helped me a lot with our "Microsera" device that we install in the supermarkets and grow herbs there.” - Vlad Zorzonel, System Engineer
The greenhouse operators have control of the entire HMI, where they can clearly see the status of the entire system. Here they can create time schedules for irrigation, cleaning and recirculation or manually start/stop a certain part of the cycle. Remote monitoring thus saves time and money and is an effective way to maintain the entire micro greenhouse.
Next steps
Thanks to the success of the microseras, the company is not only working on others to make them more and better accessible but is also building a vertical farm with an area of more than 2,000 m2. They would like to develop their technology further towards internal vertical agriculture together with research and cultivation of fresh functional foods.
