Development of an electronic system for the control of climatic parameters in a phytotron

Abstract

Phytotrons are incubators with controlled environment facility. These artificially and naturally lighted controlled-environment rooms are used to provide a multiplicity of environment conditions for the mass re-production of plants and also for the preservation of rare plants. Hereby, a new phytotron typology based on two phases of growth, built with the specific aim of studying the effect of climate change on plant is described. An electronic control system including air temperature, relative humidity and lighting as environmental parameters is presented. After a suitable testing period, several operation cycles were performed in order to assess the control system’s stability and to optimize the management of all systems involved.