The 2024 Smart Agriculture Competition is being held on Chongming Island in east China's Shanghai. The competition involves a number of teams led by young people as they compete to grow lettuce using a variety of cutting-edge technologies. The team that manages to achieve high yields, top-notch quality, low energy consumption, and minimal expenses will emerge victorious.
Among the participants is Qin Chuhan, founder of a vertical agriculture company in Canada. Qin, formerly a programmer, sees the world as a place where everything can be quantified and follows specific rules. In his view, coding can be applied to all things, even agricultural production. Qin aims to create a high-tech plant factory that doesn't rely on natural conditions for plant growth. By using his coding skills, he can precisely control the environment for plants, providing the right temperature, light, water, air, and nutrients they need.
One of the teams brought a student energy dynamics at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. This team brightened up the interior of the container by applying a reflective film on the walls, which increased light efficiency and saved 45 percent of energy consumption. They also developed an energy-saving control algorithm for the air conditioning system, reducing daily power consumption from 70 kWh to less than 30 kWh within the container.
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