from Cannabis Business Times...
Monitoring, Controlling and Automating Your Cannabis Cultivation Facility
The devil is in the details of these three strategies, and the differences can help your business grow.
May 2, 2019
Sponsored Content: Surna
Know Your Grow Sponsored by Surna
When it comes to climate control, cannabis cultivators often group monitoring, controlling and automating the various aspects of their grow under one umbrella, but the three concepts are actually quite different, and each is an important piece to the indoor environmental control puzzle.
Monitoring systems provide cultivators with data for review. While many variables can be monitored in a cultivation system, most commonly monitored are temperature, relative humidity, vapor pressure deficit (VPD), CO2 concentration, light levels, air movement and soil moisture levels.
“There are sensors out there for pretty much anything, so we have a lot of options when it comes to monitoring,” says Agrios Global Holdings Chief Technical Officer Andrew Lange. “The more we monitor, the more data we have to optimize our grow environment.”
Of course, simply placing sensors anywhere in a cultivation area will not automatically provide useful data, he adds—proper placement is important. For example, Lange recommends placing CO2 monitoring sensors near the canopy, and at the same level, for obtaining more accurate concentration levels.
Sensor resolution and frequency must also be considered, Lange adds, noting relative humidity (RH) measurements as an example. “If our sensors are only accurate within 5 percent RH, then we can only be within a plus or minus 5 percent range for that data. If you want tighter tolerances, which is recommended, then you need a higher-resolution sensor. Also, if your sensor is only giving you one data point every 10 minutes instead of every minute, then you will generally see larger swings and less stability when taking the next step to control it.”
Controlling is the next piece of the climate control puzzle and allows cultivators to act on the data they receive while monitoring.
“Controls allow us to turn that data into actions,” Lange says. “For instance, if we have monitoring equipment for something common like temperature, it’s going to tell us that our room is 74 degrees Fahrenheit (F), but that’s it. Now, with controls, we can input a target set point of 72 degrees F, and when our monitoring equipment says our room is at 74 degrees, the controls system determines that is above the target temperature and will turn on the air conditioners in that space until it hits the 72-degree target temperature.”
Controls come in multiple configurations, from basic on/off controls to predictive software that helps optimize efficiency as it performs assigned tasks.
“Controls allow us to fully use the monitoring data we are collecting and truly help increase the quality of product produced as well as improve consistency,” Lange says.
Automation occurs when a control system is set up to replace manual responses to the monitoring systems. “We are automating some processes by completely removing the manual steps that our control system has taken over,” he says.
In the above example where temperature is monitored, for example, the monitoring system could send an alert that the temperature is outside the desired target; adjustments to the temperature setting can be made manually, or as in the example cited, the control system can automate that task.
“Automation can be implemented in many areas of the cultivation and processing side of the business to increase consistency and reduce labor costs,” Lange says.
Automating watering or potting are useful cost-effective improvements in cultivation, Lange says, while automating trimmers and packaging equipment can decrease the costs of post-harvest processing.
“The goal with automation should always be an increase in consistency with a decrease in labor,” Lange says.
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Surna Launches SentryIQ Sensors, Controls and Automation Platform
The platform offers a single, fully integrated technological solution.
May 1, 2019
Posted by Melissa Schiller
Vendor News
Boulder, Colorado, April 2, 2019 — PRESS RELEASE — Surna Inc. has announced the launch of SentryIQ, its new sensors, controls and automation platform that will help its customers achieve the precision environmental control, energy management and advanced automation required by cannabis growers. A formal product introduction was made April 2 at the Cannabis Conference in Las Vegas.
“As the industry continues to evolve and energy efficiency and precise environmental control gain importance, it became obvious that the existing controls systems in the marketplace were limiting our ability to reach the full potential of the systems we design. To meet cultivator performance demands, Surna has developed its own climate control platform featuring proprietary controls sequences developed with the predictive algorithms essential to optimum climate control, including direct temperature and humidity control as well as CO2 monitoring,” said Troy Rippe, Surna’s director of engineering and R&D.
The introduction of the SentryIQ product line solves two major problems for cannabis growers:
1. Cultivators can now source both their heating, ventilation and air conditioning products and their sensors, controls and automation technology from Surna, as a single vendor offering a turnkey solution.
2. In addition to agricultural considerations, critical energy conservation needs are also addressed in a single, fully integrated technological solution.
Surna can now budget and quote its sensors, controls and automation (SCA) systems to existing or prospective customers. We also have a demonstration center in our Boulder offices which provides a real-time operational experience.
Surna can now budget and quote its sensors, controls and automation (SCA) systems to existing or prospective customers. We also have a demonstration center in our Boulder offices which provides a real-time operational experience.
Our launch of the SentryIQ product line marks the completion of several milestones as part of our recently announced strategy and “Product/Service Depth and Facility Lifecycle Matrix.” Going forward, we plan to develop and sell an expanded offering of products and services to meet a wider range of cultivators’ environmental control needs over the full lifecycle of their facility. We will now be offering products and services across all four phases of the facility lifecycle, as compared to the past where we only addressed two of the facility stages. The four stages are what we define as the “full lifecycle” of a facility: (1) Pre-build, (2) Construction, (3) Startup, and (4) Operation.
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