Ubiquitous Environment Control System: An Internet-of- Things–Based Decentralized Autonomous Measurement and Control System for a Greenhouse Environment

Abstract

A low-cost and flexible system for environmental measurement and control in greenhouses based on decentralized autonomous technics, Ubiquitous Environment Control System (UECS), was proposed in 2004. The UECS is composed of autonomous nodes as the minimum units of measurement and control. The nodes can connect with each other through Ethernet or Wi-Fi and can communicate information regardless of manufacturer or model. To realize automation and efficiency of protected horticultural production, two consortia for UECS development and extension were established. During the last 10 years, the UECS has been used to apply environment control in large-scale greenhouses and plant factories. The stability and utility of the UECS have been demonstrated and verified in these practical cultivations. Current research and development are being carried out to install information and communication technology (ICT) systems to improve productivity in existing small-to medium-scale greenhouses in Japan. The flexibility and concept of the UECS have been very effective to enable sophisticated environmental control technology to be applied to small-and medium-scale greenhouses. In this chapter, self-fabricated UECS, the renewal of old environmental control systems using the UECS, and Sub-GHz radio band use for communicating UECS nodes among distributed greenhouses are discussed.

Modeling Short-term Yield Changes in Sweet Pepper Based on Dry Matter Production and Fruit Growth

“…B.V., South Holland, the Netherlands). Irrigation and the CO 2 supply were controlled using a ubiquitous environmental controlling system (Hoshi et al 2018). Ventilation windows were automatically opened when the air temperature in the greenhouse exceeded 28 C [0-80 and 210-250 d after transplanting (DAT)].…”

Principles for the Production of Tomatoes in the Greenhouse

“…The computer uses the result to regulate the inner temperature or humidity of the greenhouse. The use of a computer to control the environmental factors makes it easier to balance plant growth [26][27][28]. Control of irrigation and fertilizer application regimes based on environmental conditions can also be computerized.…”

Reconstruction Support for the Greenhouse Strawberry Production Area in Miyagi Prefecture Damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake

“…To do that, we thought that it would be important to promote communication among the growers and provide a means for them to exchange and share information on cultivation techniques (for example, on controlling environmental conditions, growth, yield, workload), which is expected to improve collec-tive knowledge over time. In the 20 greenhouse system, we installed (on a trial basis) UECS (Ubiquitous Environment Control System) environment monitoring systems (Hoshi et al, 2016(Hoshi et al, , 2018, which collect environmental data (temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration) and stores the data on a web server. By using this system in all greenhouses, growers can share information on environmental conditions with each other.…”