Design of a Low-Cost Aeroponic Plant Growth Chamber

Operating Environment
The operating environment for our project will consist of the physical environment that the
growth chamber is placed in. It does not consist of the environment inside the growth chamber,
thought it may effect it. The growth chamber gets its air from the outside environment, so
conditions such as temperature and humidity do affect it to some degree.
Operating Parameters
The growth chamber is designed to be placed in a relatively stable lab setting. The chamber does
have some facilities to change its internal temperature and humidity, but these are not effective
outside a certain range. This range is determined by the insulation factor of the chamber walls,
but in general should be limited to between 50 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. There are many
reasons for this limitation, the most important of which is that the plumbing and mineral water
tank are not insulated. Freezing temperatures would render the irrigation system inoperable, and
possibly damaged. The exterior of the chamber is not water proof, so it should not be placed in a
location that is very moist or where there is a possibility of rain.
Some plant growth chambers on the market today are of a chamber-in-a-chamber design. Our
chamber does not have this requirement, it is self sufficient as long as the operating environment
is kept to the reasonable levels stated above.
The aeroponics growth chamber requires a stable, moderate, and dry environment in which to
grow plants. The environment is free to fluctuate in a normal fashion, within the operating
parameters, and the chamber will be able to maintain a reasonable environment for growing
plants.
User Interface Description
The server will host an ASP.NET website to enable remote control of any number of growth
chambers connected to the server. A user will be able to control many settings including, but not
limited to, temperature control, lighting on/off timing, speakers on/off timing, and possibly the
frequency of which the nutrient solution is sprayed. There will also be many aspects of the
chamber that will be monitored, stored, tracked, and made available for viewing. This would
include, but is also not limited to, the monitoring of the temperature, humidity level, timing of
the pump (nutrient spray), CO2 & O2 concentration, and when the speakers are on. These things
will be periodically stored in a SQL database. The website will be secure, requiring a user name
and password to enter. Only accounts given administrator privileges will be allowed to change
any growth chamber settings.
Functional Requirements
1) To build a fully-functional, low-cost aeroponics growth chamber
2) To keep the roots of the plants in the dark, as required for aeroponics growth chambers
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