Production facility layout for automated controlled environment agriculture
Facility layouts and configurations for an automated crop production system for controlled environment agriculture. In particular implementations, the core of the facility comprises a controlled growth environment and a central processing system. The controlled growth environment includes systems for exposing crops housed in modules, such as grow towers, to controlled environmental conditions. The central processing system may include various stations and functionality both for preparing crop-bearing modules to be inserted in the controlled growth environment, for harvesting crops from the crop-bearing modules after they have been extracted from the controlled growth environment, and for cleaning or washing crop-bearing modules for re-use. The remaining aspects of the crop production facility—such as seeding stations, propagation facilities, packaging stations and storage facilities—are arranged to achieve one or more desired efficiencies relating to capital expenditures or operating costs associated with an automated crop production facility.
1 . A crop production system for controlled environment agriculture, comprising:
a vertical grow tower conveyance system comprising
one or more grow lines;
a plurality of grow towers, each of the plurality of grow towers vertically attached to, and moveable along, a respective one of the one or more grow lines, wherein each of the plurality of grow towers includes a plurality of grow sites extending at least along one face thereof; and
a grow tower conveyance mechanism operative to move the one or more grow towers along a respective grow line from a first end to a second end;
a horizontal infeed conveyor to convey grow towers to one or more processing stations;
an automated laydown station comprising a first robot including an end effector adapted to releasably grasp a grow tower, and control logic operative to cause the first robot to pick the grow tower from a pick location in a vertical orientation, rotate the grow tower to a horizontal orientation and place the tower on the horizontal infeed conveyor; and
a harvester station comprising a crop harvesting machine, and a feeder mechanism to receive a first end of a grow tower in a horizontal orientation from the horizontal infeed conveyor and feed the grow tower through the crop harvesting machine in a horizontal orientation in a direction along the length of the grow tower.
2 . The crop production system of claim 1 wherein the horizontal infeed conveyor conveys the grow tower in a direction along the length of the grow tower to the harvester station.
3 . The crop production system of claim 1 wherein the horizontal infeed conveyor comprises a belt conveyor including a belt and a plurality of projections extending outwardly from the belt, the projections configured to engage a grow tower at corresponding points thereof to provide a gap between the belt and the grow tower.
4 . The crop production system of claim 1 wherein the vertical grow tower conveyance system is substantially encapsulated in a controlled growth environment.
5 . The crop production system of claim 1 further comprising an unload transfer conveyor comprising a plurality of carriages disposed on a track; and wherein the unload transfer conveyor is configured to convey carriages carrying grow towers releasably attached thereto from the one or more grow lines in the controlled growth environment to a pick location reachable by the first robot of the automated laydown station.
6 . The crop production system of claim 5 wherein the unload transfer conveyor is operative to selectively route grow towers to a select one of a plurality of pre-harvest buffers for pick up by the automated laydown station.
7 . The crop production system of claim 5 further comprising two or more pre-harvest buffers; and wherein the unload transfer conveyor is operative to selectively route grow towers to a select one of the two or more pre-harvest buffers for pick up by the automated laydown station.
8 . The crop production system of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of grow towers comprises a first plurality of plug containers arranged along a first face of the grow tower.
9 . The crop production system of claim 8 wherein each of the plurality of grow towers comprises a second plurality of plug containers arranged along a second face of the grow tower, wherein the second face is opposite to the first face.
10 . The crop production system of claim 1 wherein the end effector comprises a beam, a first gripper attached to a first end of the beam, and a second gripper attached to a second end of the beam, wherein the first and second grippers are configured to releasably grasp a grow tower.
11 . The crop production system of claim 1 wherein the first robot comprises a robotic arm movable in six axes.
12 . The crop production system of claim 1 further comprising a post-harvest processing facility located adjacent to the harvester station.
13 . The crop production system of claim 12 further comprising a cold storage facility adjacent to the post-harvest processing facility.
14 . The crop production system of claim 13 further comprising a conveyor configured to carry bins or harvested product directly on the belt from the harvester station to the post-harvest processing facility.
15 . The crop production system of claim 13 further comprising a loading bay adjacent to the cold storage facility.
16 . A crop production system for controlled environment agriculture, comprising:
a controlled grow environment comprising
one or more grow lines;
a plurality of grow towers, each of the plurality of grow towers vertically attached to, and moveable along, a respective one of the one or more grow lines, wherein each of the plurality of grow towers includes a plurality of grow sites extending at least along one face thereof; and
a conveyor operative to transfer a grow tower from the one or more grow lines to a pick location;
a horizontal infeed conveyor;
an automated laydown station comprising a first robot including an end effector adapted to releasably grasp a grow tower, and control logic operative to cause the first robot to pick the grow tower from the pick location in a vertical orientation, rotate the grow tower to a horizontal orientation and place the tower on the horizontal infeed conveyor; and
a harvester station comprising a crop harvesting machine, and a feeder mechanism to receive a first end of a grow tower in a horizontal orientation from the horizontal infeed conveyor and feed the grow tower through the crop harvesting machine in a horizontal orientation in a direction along the length of the grow tower.
17 . The crop production system of claim 16 wherein the horizontal infeed conveyor conveys the grow tower in a direction along the length of the grow tower to the harvester station.
18 . The crop production system of claim 16 wherein the horizontal infeed conveyor comprises a belt conveyor including a belt and a plurality of projections extending outwardly from the belt, the projections configured to engage a grow tower at corresponding points thereof to provide a gap between the belt and the grow tower.
19 . The crop production system of claim 16 wherein the conveyor is operative to selectively route grow towers to a select one of a plurality of pre-harvest buffers for pick up by the automated laydown station.
20 . The crop production system of claim 16 further comprising two or more pre-harvest buffers; and wherein the conveyor is operative to selectively route grow towers to a select one of the two or more pre-harvest buffers for pick up by the automated laydown station.