Hugo Garcia

Design & Research for a more-than-human world.

TOTOMANatural Intelligence sensors for greenhouse farming

YEAR:
2023

CLIENT:
MA/MSc Innovation Design Engineering

COLLABORATORS :
Lucie Legrandois, Harry Osker, Yifan Wang

HIGHLIGHTS:
Exhibit at the Imperial College Open House.

In the rapidly evolving world of food production, greenhouses are playing an increasingly vital role, with passive greenhouses proving to be 30 times more efficient than traditional farming methods. In Almería, Spain—the heart of Europe's vegetable supply—small, family-owned greenhouses produce a staggering 25% of the vegetables consumed across the EU. However, these small farms, typically spanning 1 to 5 hectares, are struggling to cope with the rising costs of water and fertiliser. While high-tech smart solutions exist, they are often prohibitively expensive and overly complex for small-scale farmers who simply need practical, affordable tools to optimise their resources.

Our project aims to bridge this gap by creating "No-Tech" sensors that provide accurate, actionable data without the high cost or complexity of advanced technology. By analysing data from cutting-edge research greenhouses, we identified the key patterns farmers need to monitor—such as when to adjust irrigation, increase fertilisation, or improve ventilation. We then explored smart materials that change colour or shape in response to environmental factors like temperature, humidity, and radiation.

The result is an innovative sensor system that integrates seamlessly into existing greenhouse elements, such as bumblebee hives and insect hotels. This approach, which we call our "Trojan Horse" strategy, makes it easier for farmers to adopt our solution, seeing it as an improvement to their current setup rather than an entirely new system. The sensor components are combined into a single column, allowing farmers to easily monitor temperature, soil and air humidity, and irradiance, ensuring they use precious resources only when necessary.

Our solution is not only affordable and effective but also adaptable and easy to replicate. With a DIY kit, farmers can implement these sensors in their greenhouses, making advanced resource management accessible to even the smallest of operations. By doing more with less, we are empowering farmers to thrive in an increasingly challenging agricultural landscape.

Context & Challenge

Greenhouse Farmers Need to use Scarce Resources but can’t afford high-tech sensors

El Ejido, Almeria. 30.000 ha of greenhouses. The largest covered area in the world. It produces 25% of all the vegetables in the EU.

Diagram of a typical Passive Greenhouse. The need for reducing costs has benefited the application of bio-strategies, such as ‘Insect hotels” and natural ventilation.

Meet the Farmers. A typical greenhouse is 1-2ha and is owned by a family. In the picture are Rosendo and Maria, who talked with me about their needs and problems.

Vision

Use Natural intelligence over Artificial Intelligence.

Farmers don’t need high-precision sensors; they need accuracy to make the right decisions and utilise precious resources only when required. By leveraging the properties of photo materials and fundamental physics, it's possible to design affordable sensors that can do more with less.

StrategySmart Materials feed by Climate Data.

We analyzed the available data to understand the patterns that farmers need to adjust irrigation, increase fertilisation, or improve ventilation. Then, we looked for smart materials that change colour or shape based on temperature, humidity, or radiation.
The final solution's design involved an iterative process including low-fi prototyping, sketching, and drawing inspiration from natural shapes.

OutcomeA Modular sensor that uses a hive as a trojan horse

TOTOMA combines different materials with existing elements in the greenhouses, such as bumblebee hives and insect hotels. We are selling our solution as an improvement of an existing element in the space. This Trojan Horse strategy helps to convince farmers to accept the sensor station

The different components are integrated into a column that allows farmers to read temperature to adjust ventilation, soil and air humidity to adjust irrigation and fertilization, and irradiance to adjust shadowing. The solution is easily adaptable and can be replicated using a DIY kit.

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Design & Research for a more-than-human world.