US 12,245,561 B2
Control system for controlling humidity in an indoor growing environment
Christopher Robert Mihelich, Kalamazoo, MI (US)
Filed by Christopher Robert Mihelich, Kalamazoo, MI (US)
Filed on Feb. 22, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/652,091.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/151,512, filed on Feb. 19, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0014943 A1, Jan. 19, 2023
Int. Cl. A01G 9/24 (2006.01); G05D 22/02 (2006.01)
CPC A01G 9/246 (2013.01) [G05D 22/02 (2013.01)] 13 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A control system for an indoor grow operation having a grow room in a defined area for growing plants, said control system comprising:
a controller;
at least one dehumidifier;
one or more sensors placed in one or more locations of the grow room wherein said locations comprise a crop canopy over the growing plants, a surrounding area of said grow room, a dehumidifier intake, a dehumidifier output and an external area, said sensors operatively connected to said controller and configured to detect both temperature and humidity for each of said locations in which said sensors are placed;
each of said one or more sensors directly measuring at least one of Temperature and Relative Humidity and said one or more sensors in each of said locations communicating measured Temperature and Relative Humidity values as sensor data to said controller that indicates the measured Temperature and measured Relative Humidity values in each said location;
said controller comprising a server and a processor configured to receive said sensor data and calculate a calculated average of the sensor data to provide an average per sensor profile of said measured Temperature and Relative Humidity values for said one or more locations, said calculated average of the sensor data being processed by said server to calculate a current Saturation Vapor Pressure (SVP), wherein said current Saturation Vapor Pressure (SVP) and current Relative Humidity (RH) are calculated from said sensor data and then are used to calculate a current Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD) defined as a difference between an amount of moisture in room air and an amount of moisture the air can hold when it is saturated;
said server further being configured to determine a profile for a target VPD for the room air wherein said controller controls said dehumidifier to raise and lower room humidity wherein if said current VPD exceeds said target VPD, dehumidification by said dehumidifier is terminated, and if said current VPD is lower than said target VPD, dehumidification by said dehumidifier is executed, whereby said current VPD is controlled continuously to reach said target VPD during crop growth to improve crop yields.