Students Developed Soilless and Unmanned Agricultural System

Selcuk University at the Faculty of Agriculture Agricultural Machinery and Technologies Engineering A group of students studying in the Department of soilless agriculture developed a system that limits human influence in technology. Students who are the architects of the project; A robotic arm system with sensor, image processing, which allows agriculture without soil and without humans. “Next Generation Smart Agriculture System” gave his name.

Aviation, Space and Technology Festival TEKNOFEST 2021‘to “Young Makers Team” This study of the students who participated as third it happened. The project tells the story of an astronaut who goes on a mission to Mars, starring Matt Damon. ‘The Martian’ The similarity to the plant growing system in the movie also drew attention.

Soilless, fast and low cost production

Founder of Young Makers Team Muhammed Celalettin, member of team Sedat Demircialan and his advisors, Assoc. Dr. Ali Yavuz Selekhas rolled up its sleeves for cost-effective and fast production for the application of soilless agriculture. Robotic technologies and automation were also included in the project, which was designed with the soilless farming method.

In the system prototype, which allows to grow as high quality products as possible with limited resources, artificial intelligence and image processing Thanks to its technology, the plant grows more efficiently under the best conditions. The system, which processes the data in the development of the plant and intervenes when necessary, also prepares the appropriate environment and values ​​and increases the yield.

Noting that they are happy to represent Selçuk University in the best way at TEKNOFEST 2021, consultant Assoc. Dr. Ali Yavuz Selek, “The system consists of a mechanism that automatically adjusts the nutrients needed by the plant in the water and the ‘pH’ level of the water at the desired level. We met the light need of the plant with the LED system. The robot arm we placed on our system is also a system that works with image processing techniques. We designed this as a demo. However, in the future, we think that this camera system will also be used in harvesting processes or in the detection of diseases of plants.” the system they developed a new generation hydroponic system stated that.

A new generation agriculture system that aims to produce food under all conditions.

Emphasizing that their projects are different from other hydroponic farming systems, Team Captain Özer said in his statement. “In addition to the sensors, we used image processing techniques to examine the health status of the plant. With image processing, we detect the root development of the plant, whether there is a pathological problem in the leaf. We grow a natural drug-free product that can be put directly on the table. We created a robotic arm unit to offer a clean product. This system will also be used in planting, planting and harvesting processes in the future.” made statements.

Emphasizing that they aim to create a new generation agricultural system and to produce food under all conditions, Özer said, “We started this journey with the idea of ​​growing crops in an earthquake-prone area, in a military area or in areas where the soil is not suitable, regardless of the climate. The more important the national defense is, the more important our soil is to us. “We aim to make fresh production possible. For example, we can grow fresh lettuce in a desert. We both provide a solution for the user in fresh produce and create a cheaper consumption plan compared to others.” continued as.

While the project was met with great interest at TEKNOFEST, Özer also stated that they need more teammates for the projects they want to implement in the future and that they expect interested people to join the team.