Systems and methods for testing for contaminants in an assembly line grow pod

{
  "publication_number": "US11067524B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Systems and methods for testing for contaminants in an assembly line grow pod",
  "abstract": "A system for testing for contaminants in an assembly line grow pod includes a tray moving along a track arranged in an assembly line grow pod, a plurality of cells arranged on the tray and a contaminant sensor. Each cell supports seeds, plants, or both, and a selected cell includes side walls and a base that define a cavity. The contaminant sensor is arranged in the cavity of the selected cell. The contaminant sensor includes a sensing device and a control device. The sensing device directly senses a characteristic of a content present in association with the selected cell. The control device is coupled to the sensing device and operable to receive a signal from the sensing device. The control device may determine a likelihood of contamination based on the received signal.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A system for testing for contaminants in an assembly line grow pod, comprising: a master controller; a tray moving along a track arranged in an assembly line grow pod; a plurality of cells arranged on the tray and supporting seeds, plants, or both, wherein a selected cell includes side walls and a base that define a cavity; and a contaminant sensor arranged in the cavity of the selected cell, comprising: a sensing device for directly sensing a characteristic of a content present in association with the selected cell; and a control device coupled to the sensing device and operable to receive a signal indicative of the characteristic of the content from the sensing device, and transmit the signal to the master controller, wherein the control device of the contaminant sensor forgoes making a determination of a likelihood of a contaminant being present in the selected cell, the master controller then makes the determination of the likelihood of the contaminant being present in the selected cell based on the signal received from the control device of the contaminant sensor.",
    "2. The system of claim 1, wherein the contaminant sensor includes a circuit board that includes components for detecting a presence of a contaminant within the selected cell.",
    "3. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensing device further includes a plurality of probes made from an electrically conductive material and at least one of the plurality of probes is electrically coupled to a power source.",
    "4. The system of claim 3, wherein the control device is configured to receive one or more signals from at least one of the plurality of probes and determine a likelihood of a contaminant being present in the selected cell based on the received signals.",
    "5. The system of claim 3, wherein the control device is configured to receive one or more signals from at least one of the plurality of probes and transmit the signals to the master controller as a relay between the plurality of probes and the master controller.",
    "6. The system of claim 3, wherein the plurality of probes include a first probe and a second probe spaced apart from the first probe and wherein the first probe provides an electrical charge while the second probe measures an amount of charge that has been detected.",
    "7. The system of claim 6, wherein the amount of charge measured at the second probe is used to determine conductivity of a fluid and the second probe transmits a signal to the control device, wherein the signal corresponds to an amount of charge that is detected.",
    "8. An assembly line grow pod system, comprising: a continuous track that holds one or more carts; a tray supported by the one or more carts moving on the continuous track and including a plurality of cells that support seeds, plants, or both, where a selected cell includes side walls and a base that define a cavity; a contaminant sensor arranged in the cavity of the selected cell, comprising; a sensing device for directly sensing a characteristic of a content of the selected cell; and a control device coupled to the sensing device and operable to receive a signal from the sensing device; a master controller in communication with the contaminant sensor and including a processor and a memory storing instructions, wherein the instructions, upon execution by the processor, perform operations comprising: obtaining from the contaminant sensor initial information indicative of absence of contamination; establishing a baseline reading based on the initial information and storing the baseline reading in memory; obtaining updated information from the contaminant sensor; determining whether updated information is different from the baseline reading; upon determination of a difference, determining a presence of contamination; and upon determination of no difference, determining whether plants are ready for harvest, wherein the control device of the contaminant device forgoes making a determination of the presence of contamination and transmits the signal to the master controller, the master controller making the determination of the presence of contamination in the selected cell.",
    "9. The assembly line grow pod system of claim 8, wherein the instructions, upon execution by the processor, further perform: obtaining another set of data from an optical sensor to identify a particular contaminant.",
    "10. The assembly line grow pod system of claim 9, wherein the instructions, upon execution by the processor, further perform one of the following: upon determination of the presence of contamination, disposing of the particular contaminant, cleaning the selected cell, and supplying additives to correct the particular contaminant.",
    "11. The assembly line grow pod system of claim 8, wherein the sensing device further includes a plurality of probes made from an electrically conductive material and at least one of the plurality of probes is electrically coupled to a power source.",
    "12. The assembly line grow pod system of claim 11, wherein the control device is configured to receive one or more signals from at least one of the plurality of probes and transmit the signals to the master controller as a relay between the plurality of probes and the master controller.",
    "13. The assembly line grow pod system of claim 11, wherein the control device of the contaminant sensor stops sensing whether a contaminant is present in the selected cell, while the control device operates as a relay between the plurality of probes and the master controller.",
    "14. The assembly line grow pod system of claim 8, wherein the master controller monitors and controls operations of the contaminant sensor.",
    "15. A method for testing for contaminants in an assembly line grow pod, comprising: obtaining initial information indicative of absence of contamination from a control device of a first contaminant sensor with respect to a content present in a selected cell among a plurality of cells, wherein the cells are arranged on a tray and support seeds, plants, or both, wherein the selected cell includes side walls and a base that define a cavity; establishing a baseline reading based on the initial information; periodically obtaining new information from the first contaminant sensor with respect to the content present in the selected cell; determining whether the new information is different from the baseline reading; upon determination of no difference, determining whether plants are ready for harvest; upon determination of a difference, determining a presence of contamination within the selected cell; transmitting the presence of contamination to a plurality of components of the assembly line grow pod; and cleaning the selected cell and after cleaning, periodically obtaining the new information from the first contaminant sensor with respect to the content present in the selected cell, wherein the control device of the contaminant sensor forgoes making a determination of a the presence of contamination in the selected cell, but instead sends the initial information and the new information to a master controller for making the determination of the presence of contamination in the selected cell.",
    "16. The method of claim 15, further comprising arranging one or more sensors in connection with the selected cell and measuring with the sensors: a concentration of nutrients, a color of a plant within the selected cell, presence and volume of fluid in the selected cell, a pH of a fluid in the selected cell, an impedance of the fluid in the selected cell, or a combination thereof.",
    "17. The method of claim 15, wherein transmitting the presence of contamination further comprises transmitting the presence of contamination to a seeder component such that the seeder component stops depositing seeds in the selected cell.",
    "18. The method of claim 15, further comprising: upon determination of the presence of contamination within the selected cell, applying relevant additives to the selected cell to remove the contamination.",
    "19. The method of claim 15, wherein transmitting the presence of contamination further comprises transmitting the presence of contamination to a sanitizer component such that the sanitizer component sanitizes the selected cell and the tray where the selected cell is arranged."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "Embodiments described herein generally relate to systems and methods for providing an assembly line grow pod and, more specifically, to systems and methods for testing contaminants in an assembly line grow pod when the assembly line grow pod is in use.\n\nWhile crop growth technologies have advanced over the years, there are still many problems in the farming and crop industry today. As an example, while the United States currently has suitable farmland to adequately provide food for the U.S. population, other countries and future populations may not have enough farmland to provide the appropriate amount of food. Accordingly, there is a need to provide an organized plant grow pod system which facilitates a quick growing, small footprint, chemical free, low labor solution to growing microgreens and other plants for harvesting. At the same time, there is a need that the organized plant grow pod system may provide controlled environmental conditions (e.g., the timing and wavelength of light, pressure, temperature, watering, nutrients, molecular atmosphere, and/or other variables) to optimize plant growth and output, and ensure that plants ready for harvesting are not contaminated, thereby producing chemical free and environmentally clean plants.\n\nSystems and methods for testing for contaminants in an assembly line grow pod are described. One embodiment of the system includes a tray moving along a track arranged in an assembly line grow pod, a plurality of cells arranged on the tray and a contaminant sensor. Each cell supports seeds, plants, or both, and a selected cell includes side walls and a base that define a cavity.",
  "cpc": [
    "G01N 27/06",
    "A01G 25/16",
    "A01G 29/00",
    "A01G 31/04",
    "A01G 31/042",
    "A01G 9/085",
    "A01G 9/143",
    "A01G 9/26",
    "G01N 33/1826",
    "G06Q 50/02",
    "Y02P 60/21"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "A01G 25/16",
    "A01G 29/00",
    "A01G 31/04",
    "A01G 9/08",
    "G01N 27/06",
    "G01N 33/18",
    "A01G 9/14"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Grow Solutions Tech LLC"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Gary Bret Millar"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2018-05-11",
  "publication_date": "2021-07-20",
  "grant_date": "2021-07-20",
  "priority_date": "2017-06-14",
  "application_number": "US-201815977399-A",
  "family_id": "64657705",
  "cited_by_count": 1,
  "citations": [
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    "US20190000019A1"
  ]
}