Farmionic has set itself the goal of developing a container system for the fully automated cultivation of vegetables and herbs indoors. In addition to a robot that independently handles all tasks from planting the seeds to harvesting, the container is equipped with a system for the intelligent control of climate, light, fertiliser and water. This allows the environmental conditions to be controlled and customised to the plants being grown. The container system is complemented by a cloud-based solution for monitoring and analysing all system processes and the health status of the cultivated plants. Farmionic's vision is to install the fully automated containers, for example in car parks, underground car parks, train stations and other central locations in cities.
The problem
The year-round availability of fresh, regional vegetables is a challenge that is already pushing conventional agriculture to its limits. The increase in extreme weather conditions due to climate change is putting further pressure on the system and requires ever greater resources and personnel. Added to this are the costly storage of harvests and long transport routes, with the result that many organically grown products also end up with a poor CO2 footprint.
