The artificial intelligence-controlled greenhouse systems developed by Eskişehir Technical University (ESTU) students aim to provide many opportunities such as lowering or increasing the temperature of irrigation from where the farmer sits and to notify the producer in advance of natural disasters.
At the 17th Project Fair and Competition of Eskişehir Technical University, students competed with their projects. The jury examined the projects one by one and the students made an effort to give detailed information about the projects and to explain the subjects they developed with their presentations. Students, lecturers and supporting companies showed intensity in the area on the 2 September Campus. One of the most striking projects was the greenhouse developed by Nefise Ezgi Özer and Numan Horoz, students at ESTU, which can be controlled by artificial intelligence. The system, which provides the farmer with opportunities such as irrigation, cooling, heating, learning about diseases in plants without going to the greenhouse, also includes capabilities such as direct intervention in case of possible fire and pre-notifying disasters such as floods thanks to its sensors.
“Thanks to the system, water can be used more efficiently”
Speaking about the project they developed, Nefise Ezgi Özer, a 4th year student in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, said, “Our project is about developing smart greenhouse systems based on artificial intelligence. You know that we need to develop a lot of products in the world right now and Turkey is actually a very suitable area for this. Greenhouse farming can be done very well. But it is much more important to anticipate situations, make decisions according to situations and control them with sensors and activators. There is nothing implemented in the literature. In other words, there are certain theses and dissertations, but there is no major project that has been realized. So we wanted to realize a demo version. As you can see in the demo, we are currently growing lettuce. We have a carbon dioxide sensor, humidity sensor, temperature sensor, fans. We also have a soil moisture sensor. At the same time, you can control it manually from your cell phone with mobile applications. We can use a cooler to reduce the temperature. When the temperature decreases, we can use a heater fan to heat it this time. Is there a disease in the plant? How can it develop the disease in the plant? Can artificial intelligence simulate this and decide? With digital twin technology, we can summarize how we can determine this in advance so that we do not lose the crop. It can use certain water tanks more efficiently. Because it will give water when it needs water and cut it off when you don’t need water. So a certain water tank may be enough for this. At the same time, in case of any emergency disaster, in case of collapse, in case the teams lose their crops, they will know this in advance with the help of sensors. For example, in case of fire, since it can detect smoke in advance, it can protect the crop by watching it and closing it itself.”
