| CPC H04N 7/183 (2013.01) [A01G 7/02 (2013.01); A01G 7/045 (2013.01); A01G 9/24 (2013.01); A01G 25/167 (2013.01); G06T 7/0012 (2013.01)] | 15 Claims |
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1. A horticulture time lapse camera photo and sensor data capture system configured to monitor and automatically maintain a growing environment, said horticulture time lapse camera photo and sensor data capture system comprising:
a time-lapse camera that is configured to capture time-lapse photography of a plant in the growing environment, wherein the time-lapse camera comprises a camera lens that is configured to focus the time-lapse camera according to a time-lapse camera focus setting, wherein the time-lapse camera focus setting focuses the time-lapse camera on the plant within a field of view visible through the camera lens, wherein the time-lapse camera focus setting comprises one of an automatic focus setting and a manual focus setting, wherein the time-lapse camera is configured to override the time-lapse camera focus setting by remote focal control of the camera lens;
a thermometer that is configured to measure temperature in the growing environment;
a temperature control device that is configured to provide one of heat and cooling to adjust temperature in the growing environment;
a humidity sensor that is configured to measure a level of humidity in the growing environment;
a humidity control device that is configured to automatically adjust the level of humidity when the measured level of humidity is beyond a threshold humidity level;
a carbon dioxide (CO2) sensor that is configured to measure a level of CO2 in the growing environment;
a CO2 tank and dispenser that is configured to automatically dispense carbon dioxide based on the level of CO2 in the growing environment;
a soil PH probe that is configured to measure an acidity level of soil in which the plant is potted in the growing environment;
a power control box comprising a built-in regulator, a power control box display screen that is configured to display sensor data and a plurality of settings, a plurality of directional buttons for navigation of the plurality of settings displayed on the power control box display screen, and a plurality of selection and settings buttons for selecting and setting one or more particular setting in the plurality of settings, and a plurality of power outlets from which a plurality of connected components comprising the time-lapse camera, the temperature control device, the humidity control device, and the CO2 tank and dispenser obtain power to operate, wherein the power control box is configured to track wattage usage of each connected component, wherein the plurality of settings displayed on the power control box display screen comprises a plurality of sensor threshold settings and a plurality of view configuration settings, wherein the plurality of sensor threshold settings comprises a threshold temperature, a threshold humidity level, and a threshold level of CO2, wherein the power control box is further configured to (i) automatically trigger the temperature control device to adjust temperature in the growing environment when the temperature measurement of the thermometer is beyond the threshold temperature, (ii) automatically trigger the humidity control device to adjust the level of humidity in the growing environment when the measured level of humidity is beyond the threshold humidity level, and (iii) automatically dispense carbon dioxide when the level of CO2 measured in the growing environment by the CO2 sensor is less than the threshold level of CO2 in the growing environment;
a wireless communication device that is communicably connected to the power control box and powered by the power control box by connection to one of the power outlets, wherein the wireless communication device is configured to provide wireless WiFi access to a network and an external storage device that is configured to store sensor data from the thermometer, the humidity sensor, the CO2 sensor, and the soil PH probe; and
a mobile application that is configured to enable a user to remotely (i) connect over the network to the power control box through the wireless communication device, (ii) control focus of the time-lapse camera by user interactions in the mobile application that manipulate a focal ring of the camera lens to remotely override the time-lapse camera focus setting and re-focus the time-lapse camera with the field of view visible through the camera lens, and (iii) monitor the growing environment by visually outputting the time-lapse photography of the plant and the growing environment within the field of view for playback by the user and time-synchronized atmospheric conditions within the growing environment over a period of time spanning the time-lapse photography and based on data captured by the sensors and probes, wherein the mobile application is further configured to visually output a timeline over the period of time spanning the time-lapse photography, wherein the mobile application is further configured to visually output some of the sensor data along the timeline based on a single view configuration selection of a single view configuration setting in the plurality of view configuration settings, wherein a plurality of view configuration selections of all view configuration settings in the plurality of view configuration settings triggers the mobile application to visually output all of the sensor data along the timeline including the sensor data from the thermometer, the sensor data from the humidity sensor, the sensor data from the CO2 sensor, and the sensor data from the soil PH probe.
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