Title: Smart Poultry Farming.
We address the Greenius programme with a project bringing together innovative near-market technologies into a smart solution which addresses the three challenges by examining the feasibility of a broiler solution that uses Ozone to purify air and water supplies linked to managed renewable energy technologies. We know of no other similar solution that combines the scientific application of Ozone with environmental sensors which sample contaminants and send data to a central location. This means that large numbers of broiler houses can be centrally managed using low cost Machine to Machine wide area data networks. We draw on emerging smart home devices which can contribute to the development of smart poultry farms which better manage energy, food and water resources in an efficient and sustainable manner. This also leads on to concept of the "Internet of Things" which the TSB is now investigating in other projects.
The team consists of Trusted Renewables Ltd plus Biotech Industries Ltd and University of Hertfordshire (UH). Trusted Renewables are the Prime Contractor and are part of BT’s Innovation Martlesham project. Biotech Industries cover the biotechnology and farming elements of the project and UH have a new ‘smart’ systems laboratory. The team is also involved in the Smart Homes & Buildings Association (SH&BA) whose objective is to grow Smart Built Environment market. This includes farming.
From technology perspective, the most of our components are based well-understood readily available technology. Agricultural buildings – especially broiler houses - are ideal locations for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. Renewable energy from wind and anaerobic digestion are also valuable resources. As well as ozone generation systems, renewable energy can power broiler equipment which would otherwise take electricity from the grid. With many farms in remote areas, this can take the pressure off the electricity distribution network.
The farm environment is challenging. The broiler shed is very dusty; particles can block up sensors and cover PV arrays and affect the performance the Ozone equipment. If we can solve these environmental problems, our solution should be capable of rapid commercialisation by applying emerging mass-market smart home techniques to sheds. There is a complex relationship between seasonal weather changes and production cycles and sensor networks can help maintain environmental variables at optimum levels and thus improve the productivity of the farm. Phase 2 commercialisation revolves round proving what has been developed can be assembled and sold commercially. Trusted Renewables will continue develop the technology whilst Biotech Industries take the solution to market, enhancing the credibility of their Ozone systems and growing the installed base of existing commercial solutions. Phase 2 also provides the opportunity to take new IPRs to market which includes Trusted Renewables' “intelligent PV arrays” patent. We feel we have a really promising technological innovation which falls exactly into the Greenius competition scope.