Iranian Journal of Biosystem Engineering

Iranian Journal of Biosystem Engineering

Design, Construction and Evaluation a Vertical Farming System with Automated Controller of Plant Growth Environment Parameters for Developing Urban Farming

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Morteza Sedaghat Hosseini 1
Nazilla Tarabi 2
Mohamad Younesi Alamouti 3
Hamid Khafajeh 4
1 Department of Agricultural Machinery Engineering, Imam Khomeini Higher Education Centre; Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran
2 Faculty of Agricultural Machinery Engineering- University of Tehran, Karaj-Iran
3 Imam Khomeini Higher Education Centre; Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran.
4 Department of Mechanical Engineering of Biosystems, Jahrom University, P.O. Box 74135-111, Jahrom, Iran.
10.22059/ijbse.2026.412587.665645
Abstract
A vertical farming system is a method for solving challenges such as climate changes, increasing population and environmental damage. In urban vertical farming, the usage of an automated control system is necessary. So the aim of this study was to design and construct a hydroponic vertical farming system that controlled plant growth parameters in an indoor environment. This system has a control unit of lighting, heating, cooling, air conditioning units and is able to store and send data. The effect of air flow rate of fans on the time of adjustment of temperature and moisture was studied to choose the optimum setting of heating and air conditioning units. The data of sensors was recorded in 24 hr. The results confirmed that there is no significant difference in the air flow rates of inlet fans for reducing temperature and 101 cfm was suggested. It was observed that there was a significant difference (p<0.01) in the states of lighting unit (on/off) at the time of reducing temperature. Results of ANOVA showed that there was a significant difference (p<0.01) between fan rotating speeds for setting the moisture at range of 50% to 60% and the optimum air flow rate was at 117 cfm. The data of air temperature and the moisture of the vertical greenhouse in 24hr showed that the automated control system can set the temperature and the moisture in the optimum range. RMSE for weight, height and width were 2.45 to 4.54 which showed suitable performance of the system.
Keywords
Vertical faming
Urban farming
Hydroponic, Automated control
Subjects

Introduction

Climate changes, reduced soil fertility and increase in the population in large cities necessitate new approaches in agriculture. Vertical urban farming is an alternative method for traditional greenhouses and open-field agriculture. By integrating vertical cultivation structures and soilless closed-loop irrigation methods, the amount of land and water used per crop is extremely reduced compared to open-field practices. But for increasing efficiency of farming performance, intelligence control system is required. So the aim of this study is design, construction and evaluation of indoor vertical hydroponics farming that equipped with monitoring and controlling system of plant growth parameters such as temperature, moisture, and light, level of water in tank, EC and pH of nutrient water. This system allows monitoring and control of the major characteristics of the leafy vegetables’ cultivation process while still ensuring simplicity of application and management by farmers with average technical skills and knowledge.

Material and methods

In order to evaluate the automated control system, a NFT vertical greenhouse system was designed and constructed. This system consists of vertical hydroponic structure, sensors and actuators, monitoring and control system, air Conditioner system, nutrient container, water and air pump, artificial lighting unit, nutrient and pH adjustments’ solutions unit, and etc. Also control setup consists of a discovery board of STM32f411, LDR sensors, temperature and moisture sensors, pH and EC sensors, electrical current sensors, a water level sensor, fans drivers, an ETHERNET module and a TFT LCD. Air moisture and temperature contents are the most important parameters in plant cultivation in greenhouse. The control system has to set the optimum amount of moisture and temperature. So optimum rotating speed of air conditioner fans for controlling the moisture and temperature were determined. Effects of air flow rates of inlet (blower) and outlet (vacuum) fans (in 101, 105, 109, 117 and 121 cubic feet per minute) on the greenhouse air temperature and moisture adjusting time were carried out. The temperature test was carried out in two modes of active and inactive of lighting and heating units. The results were analyzed by ANOVA. Lettuce seedlings have been chosen to be cultivated for the present study. The lettuce seedlings were first planted in rockwool blocks and then placed into the specific plastic cubic plots before they were transferred to the vertical farm. In order to evaluate the urban vertical farming greenhouse performance, weight, height and width of the cultivated lettuces were measured and compared with the samples and RMSE parameter was determined.

Results and discussion

The results show that there is no significant difference in inlet air flow rates effects the vertical greenhouse air temperature adjusting time. It was observed that there was a very significant difference (p<0.01) in the lighting system statement (on/off) on time of air temperature adjusting and there was no significant difference in inlet air flow rate on time of air temperature adjusting. So the best inlet air flow rate for setting optimum temperature is at 101 cubic feet per minute (cfm). Results of analysis of variance shows that there was a significant difference between five levels of outlet fan air flow rates for setting the greenhouse air moisture content at range of 50% to 60% and by Duncan test was found that there is maximum difference between 101 and 112 cfm. Also the optimum fan speed for setting the greenhouse air moisture content was at 117 cfm. 

Results of recording data of the air temperature and the moisture contents of the vertical greenhouse in 24hr show that the automated control system can setting the temperature and the moisture in optimum range of 16 oC to 24 oC and 50-60 % respectively.

The results for growth of the lettuces in vertical farming with automated control setup show that weight, height and width of the lettuces are in sufficient range. Average of weight, height and width of the lettuces were 128.3 gr, 28 and 25 cm respectively and RMSE of each other were 4.54, 3.28 and 2.45 respectively. The results of RMSE in compare with other studies showed the automated control system has suitable performance.

Conclusion

Due to the increasing world population, loss of arable land, and increasing food demands, new agricultural practices are required. There is an important requirement for new agricultural practices. Therefore, this study has focused on the latest farming technique which is vertical farming. It is the latest technique to deal with the crisis as it offers high yield, less water usage, and is not affected by climate conditions. An automated system employs the use of various sensors to maintain optimum plant growth parameters. For comparative analysis NFT vertical greenhouse that equipped with control setup was designed and constructed. The suggested system is easy to implement and provides intelligent remote management of the plant growing process. It is characterized by mobility, small size, quick and easy installation, and that it does not require personnel with professional experience to operate or specialized service support and is easy to clean.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Authorship contribution

Morteza Sedaghat­ Hosseini: Conceptualization, Design and construction of the system, Formal analysis, acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing original draft.

Nazilla Tarabi: Conceptualization, Design and construction of the control system, Formal analysis, Funding, acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing original draft.

Mohammad Younesi Alamouti: review & editing

Hamid Khafajeh: review & editing

Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process

In this research did not used Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process

Data availability statement

Data available on request from the authors.

Acknowledgements

Authors would like to acknowledge Imam Khomeini Higher Education Centre and Dr. Ahmad Banakar, faculty member of Tarbiat Modares University.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Iranian Journal of Biosystem Engineering
Volume 57, Issue 3
Summer 2026
Pages 71-90

  • Receive Date 11 April 2026
  • Revise Date 29 May 2026
  • Accept Date 01 July 2026