01
Sense
Environmental and system sensors measure the state of the farm.
What we do
Designing a farm as a complete system.
QVFT combines aeroponics, mechanical design, sensing, control and software to build a small-scale automated vertical farm and make its learnings useful beyond the team.
Why vertical farming
More control. Less land. A different way to grow.
Vertical farming grows crops in controlled indoor environments, where lighting, water, nutrients and climate can be tuned around the crop instead of the weather.
The approach is especially interesting for engineering because it turns agriculture into a tightly integrated system: fluid delivery, structures, sensors, controls, data and plant science all affect one another.
QVFT's focus: build a functional research-scale system on campus and document the work openly so future teams and researchers can keep improving it.
Aeroponic system
Nutrients delivered as a mist.
In an aeroponic setup, plant roots hang in an enclosed growth zone rather than sitting in soil. A nutrient solution is mixed, pumped through a supply line, atomized around the roots and then returned for recirculation.
That creates clear engineering zones for the team to design around: mixing and nutrient management, pumping and supply, the plant growth chamber, and the return loop.
System guide ↓A simplified view of the farm loop
Mixing tankNutrients + water
Supply linePump + pressure
Growth zoneMisting + roots
Return lineRecirculation
Automation + software
Closing the loop between sensing and action.
The farm's controls and data stack are meant to keep conditions stable while giving operators visibility into what the system is doing.
02
Control
Embedded logic drives pumps and other actuators based on operating targets.
03
Understand
Data is logged and reformatted so technicians can monitor, compare and improve the farm over time.
Technical documentation
View system guide ↗System Guide
The QVFT System Guide documents the farm architecture, automation, software stack and plant-science work in greater technical detail.