AeroTower
When searching for an inexpensive aeroponics system, which was also scalable and modifiable, not many options were found. That is how this project came to life.
The AeroTower is designed to serve as an easy entry into the world of aeroponics. You can start at low cost, modify everything as you build it and finally scale the system up, if you want to.
In its final form, the AeroTower should be completly open source (model, electronics, firmware), self-sufficient in terms of energy through a solar panel and connected like an IoT device.
Below, you can see a picture of the printed tower:
Vertical Farming
Vertical Farming is a new approach to growing food safely and consistently. Instead of using flat land to produce food, multiple layers can be stacked on top of each other, maximizing the overall grow aera. Moreover, the production can be moved into cities and inside buildings, much closer to where the food is consumed eventually and independent of weather and other environmental factors. To grow crops indoors efficiently, techniques like hydro- or aeroponics are often used.
The original vision (opens in a new tab) of a vertical farm is that of a skyscraper, where different crops can be harvested on multiple stories, throughout the year.
The AeroTower is designed to make this concept more tangible while also allowing for scaling the system up to a complete farm, which can be operated indoor or outdoor.
The Model
The model itself is inspired by archipelagourbanfarms' Modular Hydroponic System (opens in a new tab) but designed from the ground up. A 3d printable water tank is added, the parts can be screwed together and everything is printable on machines as small as the Prusa Mini (opens in a new tab). You can view the source files here (opens in a new tab) or edit them. For editing, it is recommended to first take a look at Cadquery 2 (opens in a new tab), which is used here.
For print instructions and previews, head over to the models page.
Electronics
To build the electronics of the AeroTower, please have a look here. The tower can be powered with USB-C or alternatively by solar, for which another module is needed. For building the solar module, please refer to the build instructions found here.
Grow Media
Any kind of grow media will work, but the one tested so far is Seramis (opens in a new tab), a fine clay granulate. It prevents the fog from spilling out of the cups.
Nutrient Solution
To cultivate your crops with aeroponics (or hydroponics), you will need a special fertilizer to replace the nutrients which would be provided by the soil.
One product which is recommended elsewhere (opens in a new tab) can be found here (opens in a new tab).
At the moment, only this product (opens in a new tab) is tested with the AeroTower.
Different types of salad were grown indoors under artificial lighting with a nutrient solution mixed according to manufacturer specifications. While the plants did grow, the success was mediocre, which can also be related to the lighting not being powerful enough. The test will be repeated under sunlight soon.
Lighting
By intention, lighting is not part of the AeroTower. The tower is designed to supply plants with water and nutrients while being powered by light itself.
If you plan to use the tower indoors with artificial lighting, you can follow this link (opens in a new tab) to learn about metrics for grow lights.
To find the right light system for you, a good start could be to search for lights using the LM301B, an energy efficient LED from Samsung (opens in a new tab) which could also be bought here (opens in a new tab).