Food production is one of the most important factors for any society to be healthy, to subsist and to develop in different aspects of life. “795 million people around the world, are suffering of hunger; that’s about one in nine people on earth. About 66 million primary school-age children attend classes hungry across the developing world” (World Food Program). Human population and needs are growing very fast but hydroponic crops are a viable solution to satisfy its increasing nutritional demands. The project consists on analyzing model 1 and model 2 hydroponic systems compared with the optimized proposed Robotic aid model H. Distribution of space is optimized in model H which is designed to be a high performance and low cost hydroponic system for lettuce. Analysis is done in terms of production per cycle of lettuce and initial cost of installation. The research methodology consists on analyzing model 1, model 2 and Robotic aid model H from a mathematical point of view; this about production rates per cycle of lettuce and about initial cost of system installation. These calculations by observation, measuring and getting the system’s characteristics from their topology and manufacturer’s specifications. Robotic assistance is a good way to work in very reduced spaces, optimizing production. Robotic aid Model H is more beneficial economically in a long-term period of production, reducing human labor costs and electric energy cost due to solar panels implementation. 

Research Mentor : Doctor Sidra Van De Car

Research Student : Homero Daniel Rodriguez