A molecular air control system includes a shell including an enclosed area, a cart moving on a track within the enclosed area, an air supplier configured to output air into the enclosed area, and a controller. The controller includes one or more processors, one or more memory modules, and machine readable instructions stored in the one or more memory modules that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the controller to: identify a plant on the cart; determine a target carbon dioxide concentration level for the identified plant based on a molecular recipe for the identified plant; receive a current carbon dioxide concentration level from a carbon dioxide sensor; compare the target carbon dioxide concentration level with the current carbon dioxide concentration level; and adjust carbon dioxide concentration level of the air output from the air supplier based on the comparison.

A control system includes a shell including an enclosed area, one or more carts moving on a track within the enclosed area, an air supplier within the enclosed area, one or more vents connected to the air supplier and configured to output air within the enclosed area, and a controller. The controller is configured to: identify a plant on the one or more carts; determine a humidity recipe for the identified plant; control the air output from the one or more vents based on the humidity recipe for the identified plant; receive an image of the plant the in one or more carts captured by the imaging sensor; and update the humidity recipe for the plant based on the captured image of the plant.

A harvesting system is provided. The harvesting system includes a track, a cart configured to move along the track, the cart including an upper plate configured to support a plant, one or more sensors, a lifter, and a controller. The controller includes one or more processors, one or more memory modules, and machine readable instructions stored in the one or more memory modules that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the controller to: receive information from the one or more sensors, determine whether the plant in the cart is ready to harvest based on the information, and send to the lifter an instruction for tilting the upper plate by a degree in response to determination that the plant in the cart is ready to harvest.

Assembly line grow pods that include watering stations positioned to provide water plant material at predetermined days of growth and methods of supplying the same are disclosed. An assembly line grow pod includes a track extending a length between a seeder component and a harvester component, a plurality of watering stations arranged adjacent to the track at a plurality of locations along the length of the track between seeder and harvester components, and a cart supported on and movable along the track from the seeder component to the harvester component such that seeds that are placed by the seeder component within the cart grow into plant material that is harvested at the harvester component. Each one of the plurality of watering stations is positioned between the seeder and harvester components such that water is provided by the watering station to the cart at a predetermined growth metric.

A method using ultra wide band (UWB) communication for determining a location of an object inside a plant growing environment, wherein the object is provided with an UWB transmitter; the plant growing environment is provided with multiple UWB receivers; and the receivers are connected to a processing unit. The method includes: broadcasting a message from the object over UWB using the transmitter; receiving the message at at least some of the receivers; and determining a location estimate for the object through lateration and/or angulation, by the processing unit. A UWB communication system for performing the method and a plant growing environment comprising such a system.

A planter may include a housing configured to house one or more growth units, which are individual positions in the planter for growing an individual plant. The planter may include one or more liquid supply lines embedded in an upper portion of the housing, and a drain line embedded in a lower portion of the housing. A drain that is configured to remove liquid from the planter and supply the removed liquid to a pump via the drain line may also be provided. An upper surface of the housing of the planter may include, for each of the one or more growth units, a through hole that passes through the upper surface of the planter housing into the inner chamber of the growth unit.

A growing apparatus for plants, the growing apparatus including a planting side; a harvesting side; a flexible conveyor belt including cutouts that transports the plants in the cutouts along a conveying path from the planting side to the harvesting side; a nutrition device that feeds a liquid nutrition medium for the plants to a root side of the flexible conveyor belt so that the plants root at the root side and sprout at an illuminated sprout side of the conveyor belt that is arranged opposite to the root side, wherein the flexible conveyor belt is folded into creases at the planting side wherein the creases extend in a direction transversal to the conveying path, wherein the creases are moved from the planting side to the harvesting side and thus straightened and leveled along the conveying path, wherein the cutouts are respectively arranged on ridge lines of the creases.

A method for harvesting and post-production packaging of leafy crops by hydroponic technique comprises the steps of spraying a plurality of vital plants such to create a water film on leaves to keep them hydrated. The method includes pre-cooling the vital plants at a temperature lower than or equal to +5 C. within a period of about 12 hours and cutting and separating the plants from the supporting substrate and from roots. The method also includes packaging the plants at a temperature not higher than 5 C. The invention also includes a plant for harvesting and post-production packaging of leafy crops by hydroponic technique.

The present disclosure is directed to improved vertical farming using autonomous systems and methods for growing edible plants, using improved stacking and shelving units configured to allow for gravity-based irrigation, gravity-based loading and unloading, along with a system for autonomous rotation, incorporating novel plant-growing pallets, while being photographed and recorded by camera systems incorporating three dimensional/multispectral cameras, with the images and data recorded automatically sent to a database for processing and for gauging plant health, pest and/or disease issues, and plant life cycle. The present disclosure is also directed to novel harvesting methods, novel modular lighting, novel light intensity management systems, real time vision analysis that allows for the dynamic adjustment and optimization of the plant growing environment, and a novel rack structure system that allows for simplified building and enlarging of vertical farming rack systems.

An assembly line grow system for measuring growth of a plant, includes a rail system, carts moving along the rail system and carrying plants, seeds, or both, weight sensors, a proximity sensor, a camera and a master controller. The master controller is communicatively coupled to the carts, the weight sensors, the proximity sensor, and the camera. The master controller is operable to receive information from the weight sensors, the proximity sensor, and the camera, determine a growth state of a selected plant based on the information indicative of weight, color, height, or a combination thereof, and control a dosage supply component to provide a modified dosage based on the growth state.