A worldwide first: An automated seedling selection system for plant factories
2014/11/10
Tsubakimoto Chain (Headquarters: Osaka, Japan. President: Isamu Osa), in cooperation
with Osaka Prefecture University (OPU), has developed an automated system for plant
factories that ascertains the quality of vegetable seedlings and transplants the
superior seedlings to a cultivation panel.
This automated system was installed in OPU's Green Clocks New Generation (GCN) Farm,
which was completed in September 2014 (daily production: 5,000 stalks of leaf vegetable).
This marks the first time in the world that an automated system has been used to
select superior seedling at an early stage and thus boost productivity in a plant
factory.
Tsubakimoto Chain (Headquarters: Osaka, Japan. President: Isamu Osa), in cooperation
with Osaka Prefecture University (OPU), has developed an automated system for plant
factories that ascertains the quality of vegetable seedlings and transplants the
superior seedlings to a cultivation panel.
This automated system was installed in OPU's Green Clocks New Generation (GCN) Farm,
which was completed in September 2014 (daily production: 5,000 stalks of leaf vegetable).
This marks the first time in the world that an automated system has been used to
select superior seedling at an early stage and thus boost productivity in a plant
factory.
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Seedling selection system (Greenery room) |
Seedling selection system (Greenery room) |
This automated system is composed of an "inspection robot," which uses the university's clock gene diagnosis technology to determine the activity of small seedlings when they are just turning green, and an automatic transplanting machine, which transplants the superior seedlings to a cultivation panel.
Based on assessment standards developed by Associate Professor Hirokazu Fukuda, who specializes in botanical clock gene research (OPU Graduate School of Engineering), the inspection robot assesses changes in seedling activation within a 24-hour period a few days after sowing. It then decides which seedlings get a passing grade. Inspections are conducted on 600 seedlings at a time, and inspection results for all seedlings are recorded on an IC tag attached to the germination tray.
The automatic transplanting machine selects superior seedlings based on the results
encoded in the IC tag and transplants them to the cultivation panel. It deftly controls
a robot hand to take green seedlings from the urethane mats where they germinated
(300 per mat), separate the seedlings by size, and insert them into the appropriate
spot in the cultivation panel. This process is carried out by a method unique to
Tsubakimoto Chain.
This automated seedling selection system will be on display from November 12 (Wed)
to 14 (Fri) at the Agribusiness Creation Fair 2014, to be held at Tokyo Big Sight.
Look for the Osaka Prefecture University Plant Factory Research Center booth.
Reference: Seed selection process
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Seeds sown on urethane mats |
Mats are placed in darkrooms to promote germination. |
After germination |
- Inspection robot (to ascertain seedling quality)
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Seedlings are automatically conveyed to the seedling diagnosis device. |
Seedling quality is recorded on an IC tag and the mat is conveyed to the automatic transplanting machine. |
- Automatic transplanting machine (to transplant seedling)
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Among the 600 seedlings on a urethane mat, superior seedlings are picked out based on the IC tag data and are transplanted to a cultivation panel. |
