Prototype of a Low-Cost Compact Horticultural Chamber for Indoor Cultivation of Tropical Highland Wetland Flora

An environmental chamber is a specialistic device used for testing effects of given controlled conditions on a variety of objects. In case of plant growth chambers, the conditions are controlled usually for plant cultivation and propagation or botanical examination undertaken on living plant materia...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Technologies (Basel) 2020-12, Vol.8 (4), p.62
Main Authors: Wrazidlo, Mateusz, Bzymek, Anna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aluminum
Control systems design
Cultivation
Design
digital control systems
Endangered & extinct species
environmental chamber
Habitats
horticultural chamber
Horticulture
Humidity
Light emitting diodes
Low cost
Massifs
National parks
Pantepui
Phase matching
plant cultivation
Prototypes
sensor systems
Test chambers
Wetlands
Wildlife conservation
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Summary:An environmental chamber is a specialistic device used for testing effects of given controlled conditions on a variety of objects. In case of plant growth chambers, the conditions are controlled usually for plant cultivation and propagation or botanical examination undertaken on living plant material. The aim of the project was to design and build a prototype of a desktop device with a control system capable of being used as a chamber supporting plant cultivation and propagation processes by the means of partial automation of environment control. The conditions controlled in the chamber are based on the environmental requirements of plant genera, such as Heliamphora, Drosera, Orectanthe, Cyrilla, Stegolepis, Maguireothamnus, or Utricularia. These plants occur naturally in the Guiana Highlands region of Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana, especially around the upper parts of table-shaped mountain massifs called tepuis. The chamber was designed to simulate some of the peculiar natural factors and phenomena occurring in the high-tepui and surrounding mid-elevation wetland habitats, being the most significant for amateur-level plant cultivation, keeping the design as simple and low cost as possible. It was proven on the basis of the results of several tests made during the evaluation phase that the designed prototype of the chamber operates in a satisfying way, providing basic functionality matching the base assumptions.
ISSN:2227-7080
2227-7080
DOI:10.3390/technologies8040062