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TECHNOLOGY
The project was specially dedicated to those areas where environmental conditions and economical or morphologic reasons make plant growth extremely difficult.
Underwater farming revolution
www.africanfarming.net
Image Credit: Ocean Reef Group 2022
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EMO’S GARDEN, A startup focused on sustainable underwater cultivation of crops, has come up with an underwater greenhouse. Resembling a bloom of giant jellyfish anchored to the ocean floor, these large clear domes, or biospheres, are a unique new type of underwater greenhouse. These biospheres harness the positive environmental factors of the ocean – temperature stability, evaporative fresh-water generation, CO2 absorption, and natural protection from pests – to create an environment ideal for growing all manner of produce. The project was especially dedicated to those areas where environmental conditions, economical or morphologic reasons make plant growth extremely difficult. Siemens Digital Industries Software has announced that Nemo’s Garden has deployed Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio of software and services to shorten its innovation cycles and move more rapidly towards industrialisation and scale. Over the past decade, Sergio Gamberini and the team at Nemo’s Garden have been working to prove that cultivating fruit and vegetables under water is possible. They have not only successfully harvested a variety of crops from their prototype biospheres but also discovered that the plants grown in this environment were richer in nutrient content than those grown using traditional methods. The next big obstacle was to turn their prototype into a solution that could be installed globally – but they knew they did not have another 10 years to make this happen, and that they needed to find a way to employ new technology. The brainchild behind Nemo’s Garden is Gamberini, president of diving equipment manufacturer Ocean Reef. Nemo’s Garden turned to TekSea, a consulting firm focused on applying industry 4.0 technologies to help organisations deliver sustainable solutions. TekSea’s Matteo Cavalleroni identified Siemens Software as a technology partner who could help transition the prototype into a viable alternative agriculture solution that could be manufactured and installed anywhere in the world. Nemo’s Garden began to implement the Xcelerator portfolio of software and services, and the collaboration expanded from the automation of sensor
Siemens Digital Industries Software has announced that Nemo’s Garden has deployed their Xcelerator portfolio of software and services to shorten its innovation cycles.
monitoring to developing a digitalisation strategy centered on a Digital Twin of the biosphere. Using 3D design and simulation software, including Siemens’ NX and Simcenter software in the virtual environment, the team was able to push the limits on the design and construction of the biospheres and imagine better biospheres. Previously, changes needed to be made incrementally so all involved could accurately measure the impact. But by leveraging the digital twin of the biosphere with a simulation of the Bay of Noli, the team is now able to make much more impactful changes, more quickly. They are modelling elongated domes to fit more plants per enclosure and reducing thickness of the material to reduce weight, which also makes transportation and installation easier. h
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