Indoor and greenhouse farming benefit from a vast array of technology. Everything from precise monitoring, automated irrigation or fertigation events, lighting controls, crop tracking, controlled environment systems, and seed-to-sale platforms, there's no shortage of new technology that improves growers’ lives. But the one thing that doesn't receive much attention is smart motor controllers. Let's examine this reliable workhorse and how it can improve your grow operation.
What is a smart motor controller?
Motor controllers have been around for a long time, but the 'smart' aspect is new sophisticated versions that are wireless and controllable by your smartphone or tablet. They can control DC, AC, and 3 phase motors locally or remotely. When joined with advanced operating systems, smart motor controllers become completely programmable, allowing you the capability to set timers, triggers, and schedules.
Benefits of smart motor controllers.
Motor controllers have many benefits, but smart motor controllers stand out because they're capable of being controlled wirelessly, giving growers more flexibility in programming them. Here are the key benefits of smart motor controllers.
- Automate opening or closing of vents, shades, and curtains
- Built-in safety features
- Control wirelessly
- Set sensors, triggers, timers, and schedules in advance
- Make changes on the fly from your smartphone or tablet, anytime, anywhere
- Controls any type of reversible motor (DC, AC, 3 phase)
- Set thresholds and limit switches
- Save on labor by automating tasks
Obviously, a fully programmable, wireless, smart motor controller is an essential part of your indoor or greenhouse cultivation operation.
Integrated into your climate-controlled operating system, it communicates with the platform to continuously improve. Integrated sensors monitor conditions, allow communication between devices, and offer a facility-level view of consolidated data from your system. You can use this data to create rules to automate your grow and run the smart motor controller when specific criteria are met; for example, if temperature rise above 90 degrees, trigger vents to open and fans to turn on. Adversely, when the temperature dips below 78, it triggers vents to close and fans to turn off. You get the picture. Automate previously labor-intensive tasks easily and effortlessly.
Final thoughts
Regardless of whether you grow indoors or employ a greenhouse for your commercial cultivation facility, you can enjoy the convenience of technology, save money on labor costs, and appreciate the flexibility of making changes from anywhere at any time. It seems like a pretty smart decision to us. Implement a smart motor controller in your grow operation today!
