What is a PFC?

"To boldly grow where no one has grown before."


A PFC (Personal Food Computer) is a table-top sized growing chamber, in which all of the inputs required to grow food are monitored and controlled by a small computer. Within this digital garden, there are many sensors that record and adjust variables, such as air temperature, humidity, CO2, and light, amid the growing process.

The PFC is an example of what is called controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) technology. The goal of CEA technology is to maintain optimal growing conditions throughout the development of a crop which in turn, optimizes the use of resources such as water, energy, and square footage. Additionally, CEA techonology platforms can range in size from a large hydroponic farm to a table-top version like the PFC.


Ultimately, because of the its compact size and open sourced DIY build concept, the PFC provides citizens everywhere the opportunity to boldly grow where no one has grown before.

How to build a PFC...

"Computer, what is your recipe?"


Hardware

The bill of materials for a PFC consists of over 400 parts, which forms the two major sections of the hardware:

  • The Growing Chamber
  • The Electronics Chamber

The growing chamber is like an automated 3’ x 3’ x 3’ terrarium, where sensors supply heat, light, water, and nutrients to the plant. While this enclosure is insulated to stabilize the environment in terms of temperature and humidity control, it also includes a large window to allow humans to visually monitor the harvest.


The electronics chamber is also insulated, but for altogether different reasons. One of its purposes is to store the raspberry pi, which is the small computer where the climate recipe software is loaded. Likewise, the Arduino, which connects and monitors the sensors, resides within the electronic chamber. With such sensitive cargo, it is up to the electronics chamber to maintain a cool and dry atmosphere. Therefore, it is protected by a clear, thick custom-fitted casing, which sheilds its contents from the external environment as well as the wet growing chamber.


Below are some of the major components of the PFC:

  • Shell – Serves as the growing chamber.
  • Sensors – Monitors growth elements such as carbon dioxide, dissolved oxygen, and root zone temperature.
  • Arduino – Collects data from sensors and then relays it to the Raspberry Pi.
  • Raspberry Pi – Stores data from Audrino and provides digital farmers with a collective dashboard where they can revise conditions accordingly.

Software

The software consists of hundreds of files that serve in three major capacities:

  • The User Interface
  • Sensor Control
  • The Climate Recipe

Below is a list of each open source sofware component:

  • MIT Open Agriculture User Interface
  • Operating systems: Derived from those utilized on the Raspberry Pi and Arduino.
  • Software languages: Python, C++, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS
  • MIT Sensor Control System Software
  • For more details and specs regarding the programming languages implemented in this project please visit: https://github.com/openaginitiative
  • Climate Recipe: Consists of instructions, software programs, and data, that are stored in the computer. These instructions run the sensors which provide the right amount of inputs at the appropriate times to produce the desired physical qualities of the plant.

The PFC Movement

"It's the logical choice."


The PFC Movement allows anyone with modest resources to grow and harvest their own nutritious food. Many hope that in the near future, hundreds, thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of new PFCs will be built, climate recipes will be shared, and the digital farming movement will explode. When this happens, solving global problems such as hunger, malnutrition, and climate dependencies may just be within our reach.

Creative Commons - Earth's sunrise in space.

Coordinates

"Beam me up, Scotty!"