Control and sensor systems for an environmentally controlled vertical farming system

A vertical farming system, the system comprising:

• an environmentally-controlled growing chamber;
• a vertical growth column located within said environmentally-controlled growing chamber;
• a plurality of growth modules configured for use with said vertical growth column, each growth module of said plurality of growth modules comprising (i) an attachment mechanism configured for detachable attachment of each growth module to said vertical growth column, (ii) a growth media contained within each growth module of said plurality of growth modules, (iii) a growth opening configured to allow at least one growing plant to grow through said growth opening of each growth module of said plurality of growth modules, and (iv) an upper opening and a lower opening configured to allow an aqueous crop nutrient solution to flow therethrough;
• a light emitting source configured to emit light toward said growth opening of each growth module of said plurality of growth modules;
• a measuring device configured to monitor a growth characteristic of a crop grown within said plurality of growth modules during plant growth of said crop;
• a first sensor system configured to monitor a plurality of operating conditions within said environmentally-controlled growing chamber, said plurality of operating conditions including humidity, ambient carbon dioxide concentration, ambient oxygen concentration, and temperature during plant growth of said crop, wherein the first sensor system comprises a first sensor unit coupled to the vertical growth column, and the first sensor unit is configured to monitor the plurality of operating conditions;
• a second sensor system configured to monitor flow rate of said aqueous crop nutrient solution through said plurality of growth modules during plant growth of said crop;
• a regulatory system configured to control humidity, ambient carbon dioxide concentration, ambient oxygen concentration, and temperature within said environmentally-controlled growing chamber and to control flow rate of said aqueous crop nutrient solution through said plurality of growth modules;
• and
• a control system comprising at least one processor, a memory, and an operating system, said control system configured to receive (i) a first set of data from said measuring device, said first set of data corresponding to said growth characteristic, (ii) a second set of data from said first sensor system, said second set of data corresponding to said plurality of operating conditions, (iii) a third set of data from said second sensor system, said third set of data corresponding to said flow rate of said aqueous crop nutrient solution through said plurality of growth modules, said control system further configured to apply an algorithm to the first, second and third sets of data to generate an improved growing condition for said crop and store the improved growing condition in the memory, said control system further configured to automatically generate and transmit instructions to said regulatory system during plant growth of said crop for real time adjustment of said humidity, ambient carbon dioxide concentration, ambient oxygen concentration, and temperature within said environmentally-controlled growing chamber and of said flow rate of said aqueous crop nutrient solution through said plurality of growth modules to implement the improved growing condition.