Abstract
This paper describes a newly developed automated plant cultivation system consisting of a simple conveyor robot servicing a multi-shelf rack containing cultivation trays. The robot is situated between two multi-shelf racks, enabling easy access to any tray in any rack. Each multi-shelf rack is divided into sections and each section has artificial lighting at the top and nutrient solution circulated through its cultivation tray. This is a flexible system that has the ability to move plants between any sections in the rack by means of program commands that have been developed specifically for cultivation processes. The cultivation system described here has been operating in the Plant Factory Research Center of Osaka Prefecture University as a novel automated system of lettuce cultivation which requires no manual intervention during its 15-day cultivation process, from seedling planting until harvesting.
