US-12621916-B2 - Controlling an environmental condition based on anticipated influence of control of a further environmental condition

US12621916B2US 12621916 B2US12621916 B2US 12621916B2US-12621916-B2

Abstract

A system ( 31 ) for determining at least one control parameter for at least one device ( 41 ) controlling an environmental condition in a plain growing environment is configured to obtain one or more target values for the environmental condition and receive information relating to control of a further environmental condition in the plant growing environment, e.g. from another system ( 1 ). The system is further configured to determine data which represent an anticipated influence of the control of the further environmental condition on the environmental condition from the information and determine the at least one control parameter for the at least one device controlling the environmental condition based on the one or more target values and the data. The system is also configured to output or store the at least one control parameter.

Inventors

Marcellinus Petrus Carolus Michael Krijn
Lambertus Antonius Johannes VAN DE WIJDEVEN
Rob Franciscus Maria Van Elmpt

Assignees

SIGNIFY HOLDING B.V.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20200907
Priority Date: 20190910

Claims (19)

1 . A system for determining at least one control parameter for at least one device controlling an environmental condition in a plant growing environment, said system comprising: at least one communication interface; and at least one processor configured to: obtain one or more target values for said environmental condition corresponding to future values of the environmental condition, wherein the environmental condition corresponds to at least one of lighting conditions or climate conditions provided to the plant growing environment, use said at least one communication interface to receive information relating to control of a further environmental condition in said plant growing environment, wherein said further environmental condition relates to a different physical property of the environment than said environmental condition, and wherein the further environmental condition corresponds to at least one of lighting conditions or climate conditions provided to the plant growing environment, determine, from said information, data which represent an anticipated influence of said control of said further environmental condition on said environmental condition, wherein said anticipated influence corresponds to a future anticipated change in the environmental condition caused by controlling said further environmental condition, determine, prior to the controlling of said further environmental condition, said at least one control parameter for said at least one device controlling said environmental condition based on said one or more target values and said data, and output or store said at least one control parameter.
2 . The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said at least one device comprises a plurality of devices and/or said at least one control parameter comprises a plurality of control parameters for controlling said at least one device during a control period.
3 . The system as claimed in claim 2 , wherein said control period is a future control period.
4 . The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said at least one processor is configured to use said at least one communication interface to control said at least one device according to said at least one control parameter.
5 . The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said at least one processor is configured to obtain a grow protocol for growing a plant, said grow protocol comprising said one or more target values, each of a plurality of growth stages being associated with at least one of said one or more target values.
6 . The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said environmental condition comprises temperature and said further environmental condition comprises lighting.
7 . The system as claimed in claim 6 , wherein said information comprises a profile representing expected heat dissipation and/or expected temperature increase.
8 . The system as claimed in claim 6 , wherein said at least one processor is configured to determine an anticipated temperature variation from said information, subtract said anticipated temperature variation from said one or more target values for said temperature and determine said at least one control parameter based on a result of said subtraction.
9 . The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said environmental condition comprises lighting and said further environmental condition comprises temperature.
10 . The system as claimed in claim 9 , wherein said at least one device comprises at least one lighting device which comprises at least one component for cooling and/or heating and said information comprises a profile representing anticipated environmental temperature variations and wherein said at least one processor is configured to determine said at least one control parameter for said at least one lighting device so as to adjust said cooling and/or heating in dependence on said anticipated environmental temperature variations exceeding a threshold amount.
11 . The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said at least one processor is further configured to use said at least one communication interface to obtain electricity cost and/or demand information and determine said at least one control parameter further based on said electricity cost and/or demand information.
12 . The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the determining of the data which represent the anticipated influence of said control of said further environmental condition on said environmental condition includes using a using a mathematical model associated with said control of said further environmental condition on said environmental condition.
13 . A system for controlling an environmental condition in a plant growing environment, said system comprising: at least one communication interface; and at least one processor configured to: use said at least one communication interface to receive one or more target values for said environmental condition corresponding to future values of the environmental condition, wherein the environmental condition corresponds to at least one of lighting conditions or climate conditions provided to the plant growing environment, and wherein the further environmental condition corresponds to at least one of lighting conditions or climate conditions provided to the plant growing environment, determine information from said one or more target values, said information comprising data which represent an anticipated influence of said control of said environmental condition on a further environmental condition, wherein said further environmental condition relates to a different physical property of the environment than said environmental condition and wherein said anticipated influence corresponds to a future anticipated change in the future environmental condition caused by controlling said environmental condition, use said at least one communication interface to transmit said information, and control said environmental condition based on said one or more target values, wherein the determining of the information comprising data which represent the anticipated influence of said control of said environmental condition on said further environmental condition occurs prior to the control of said controlling said environmental condition.
14 . The system as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the determining of the information comprising data which represent the anticipated influence of said control of said environmental condition on a further environmental condition includes using a mathematical model associated said control of said environmental condition on said further environmental condition.
15 . A method of determining at least one control parameter for at least one device controlling an environmental condition in a plant growing environment, said method comprising: obtaining one or more target values for said environmental condition corresponding to future values of the environmental condition, wherein the environmental condition corresponds to at least one of lighting conditions or climate conditions provided to the plant growing environment; receiving information relating to control of a further environmental condition in said plant growing environment, wherein said further environmental condition relates to a different physical property of the environment than said environmental condition, and wherein the further environmental condition corresponds to at least one of lighting conditions or climate conditions provided to the plant growing environment; determining data which represent an anticipated influence of said control of said further environmental condition on said environmental condition from said information, wherein said anticipated influence corresponds to a future anticipated change in the environmental condition caused by controlling said further environmental condition; determining, prior to the controlling of said further environmental condition, said at least one control parameter for said at least one device controlling said environmental condition based on said one or more target values and said data; and outputting or storing said at least one control parameter.
16 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions, the instructions, when executed by a computer system causes the computer system to perform the method of claim 15 .
17 . The method as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the determining of the data which represent the anticipated influence of said control of said further environmental condition on said environmental condition includes using a using a mathematical model associated with said control of said further environmental condition on said environmental condition.
18 . A method of controlling an environmental condition in a plant growing environment, said method comprising: receiving one or more target values for said environmental condition corresponding to future values of the environmental condition, wherein the environmental condition corresponds to at least one of lighting conditions or climate conditions provided to the plant growing environment, and wherein the further environmental condition corresponds to at least one of lighting conditions or climate conditions provided to the plant growing environment; determining information from said one or more target values, said information comprising data which represent an anticipated influence of said control of said environmental condition on a further environmental condition, wherein said further environmental condition relates to a different physical property of the environment than said environmental condition and wherein said anticipated influence corresponds to a future anticipated change in the future environmental condition caused by controlling said environmental condition; and transmitting said information; controlling said environmental condition based on said one or more target values, wherein the determining of the information comprising data which represent the anticipated influence of said control of said environmental condition on said further environmental condition occurs prior to the controlling of said controlling said environmental condition.
19 . The method as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the determining of the information comprising data which represent the anticipated influence of said control of said environmental condition on said further environmental condition includes using a mathematical model associated said control of said environmental condition on said further environmental condition.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATIONS This application is the U.S. National Phase application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/EP2020/074942, filed on Sep. 7, 2020, which claims the benefit of European Patent Application No. 19196320.6, filed on Sep. 10, 2019. These applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a system for determining at least one control parameter for at least one device controlling an environmental condition in a plant growing environment and a system for controlling an environmental condition in a plant growing environment. The invention further relates to a method of determining at least one control parameter for at least one device controlling an environmental condition in a plant growing environment and a method of controlling an environmental condition in a plant growing environment. The invention also relates to a computer program product enabling a computer system to perform such methods. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The world population is expected to grow from 6.5 billion now to 9 billion in 2050. Society is rapidly becoming predominantly urban. This will place major constraints on the availability of food and clean water. The space available for food production will become scarcer. Innovation in production methods is needed to deliver higher yields from smaller footprints, while becoming more sustainable (minimum use of energy and water). Producing food in closed environments such as vertical farms is a method to meet these demands. In vertical farms (a.k.a. plant factories and city farms), food is grown in multiple layers, making much better use of the available space as compared to outdoor growth or growth in greenhouses. This implies that daylight will not be able to reach all plants and nearly all the light must come from artificial lighting. Horticulture lighting control systems are therefore becoming more and more advanced, just like horticulture climate control systems. The optimal growth conditions (climate conditions and light conditions) are described in a so-called grow recipe or grow protocol. Traditionally, during the execution of such a grow recipe, the control of the climate is done separately from the control of the light. The benefit is that the producers of climate control systems and lighting control systems can optimize their systems based on their specific expertise and independent of each other. An example of a method of controlling an artificial light plant growing system in which the control of the climate is not done totally separately from the control of the light is disclosed in US 2017/135288 A1. The method disclosed in US 2017/135288 A1 includes receiving information indicative of a production demand for a plant type to be grown in the artificial light plant growing system and information indicative of an energy supply for a light source of the artificial light plant growing system, and controlling operation of the light source of a plant growing environment of the artificial light plant growing system in dependence on the received information so that the production rate of a plant of said plant type grown in the system versus the production demand and energy supply is optimized. In an embodiment, the level of CO2 in the plant growing environment is controlled based on the determined operation of the light source. A drawback of the method disclosed in US 2017/135288 A1 is that the synergy between multiple environmental parameters is only taken into account in a limited manner. SUMMARY THE INVENTION It is a first object of the invention to provide a system, which is able to facilitate simultaneous control of multiple environmental parameters such that the synergy between the environmental parameters is taken into account thoroughly. It is a second object of the invention to provide a method, which is able to facilitate simultaneous control of multiple environmental parameters such that the synergy between the environmental parameters is taken into account thoroughly. In a first aspect of the invention, a system for determining at least one control parameter for at least one device controlling an environmental condition in a plant growing environment, comprises at least one communication interface and at least one processor configured to obtain one or more target values for said environmental condition, use said at least one communication interface to receive information relating to control of a further environmental condition in said plant growing environment, determine data which represent an anticipated influence of said control of said further environmental condition on said environmental condition from said information, determine said at least one control parameter for said at least one device controlling said environmental condition based on said one or more target values and said data, and output or store said at least one control parameter. Said at least one c