Design and testing of automated tube-based hydroponic system

Tube-based hydroponics is one of the main production methods of greenhouse gardening in China. The traditional tube-based hydroponics method is labor intensive, inefficient, and labor costly to sustain. In this paper, an automated tube-based hydroponics system was designed, consisting of a longitudinal conveying mechanism, a transverse conveying mechanism, and a cleaning and disinfection mechanism, which can complete the automatic conveying of planting tubes, cleaning and disinfection of planting tubes, and realize the automatic production of leafy vegetables. In addition, key components for planting tube slope were designed and prototype preparation and performance testing were studied. The results showed that the prototype’s longitudinal conveying success rate was 100% with an average period of 2.09 s and transverse conveying success rate was 98.67% with an average period of 12.17 s. The prototype performance met the agronomic requirements. This equipment provides the technical basis for the unmanned production of piped hydroponic leafy vegetables.