MODULAR DESIGN

FOR HYDROPONIC
FARMING FOR
HOMES
BHARATH RAM
Roll No: 4
CONTENTS
• Introduction
• Aim Of Project
• Present Scenario in India
• Concept Design
• Actual Design
• Conclusions
INTRODUCTION
• Hydroponic farming is a method of growing plants using mineral
nutrient solutions, in water, without soil.
• The hydroponic gardener regulates the composition of nutrients in the
liquid solution used to water the plants. He/she also regulates the
frequency of supplying the nutrients to the plants.
• In ideal growing conditions in terms of nutrients, water and light, plus
the ability to grow in the vertical provides much greater yield per unit
area as the growing area is no longer 2-dimensional (2-D) but has
become a 3-D concept and design.
INTRODUCTION
• A well designed hydroponic system is characterized by less
wastage of water and nutrients than soil-based farms. Both
water and nutrients are feed directly to the root structure of
the plants and recycled through the hydroponic system.
• Hydroponic NFT production involves the circulation of a
nutrient solution through shallow channels in a closed-loop
system
Hydroponics Vs Organic
HYDROPONICS ORGANIC

Can be grown on urban areas and consumes Needs a farmland where fertile soil is
much less space for equivalent yield. available

Consumes much less water than conventional Needs lot of water

farm

Free from any weeds ( unwanted plants) and Prone to attack from weeds, worms etc.
hence less pesticides are used.

According to the investment put into the Growth rate is entirely out of our control.
system the growth rate can be accelerated
AIM OF PROJECT
• In today’s world it’s the only way to guarantee that your
supply of food is clean / fresh and pesticide free. When you
grow your own food – you take away from all the ‘travel that
your food has to do’ from the farm to your plate. Its better for
the environment (saves more than 70% water) and because
we use no pesticides it cleaner and tastier.
• The basic aim of this project is to create a simple design
which aims at bringing hydroponic farming to the smallest
of localities.
AIM OF PROJECT
• This design should be simple in the sense that, it should
be accessible through online portals like amazon and it should
be easy and inexpensive to manufacture, transport and
install in the houses.
• As for the bigger picture, we aim at growing healthy and
nutritional food in an urban environment inside anything even
as small as a shipping container and thereby also supporting
the opportunity for entrepreneurship among the younger
people.
Present Scenario In
India
• Hydroponic farms are rapidly
expanding places in like
Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai
and Gurgaon!
• FutureFarms in Chennai
focusses on powering soilless
agri technology. FutureFarms
concentrated exclusively on
Hydroponics for urban farmers
& commercial growers.
Present Scenario In
India
• In the middle of an industrial
building in the Andheri East
neighbourhood of Mumbai is
a farm. It is spread across
1,000 sq ft and grows 2,500
plants.
• Natures miracle in Noida,
Terra farms in Hyderabad,
Acqua Farm in Chennai are
some advanced providers.
SOME REPUTED FARMS IN INDIA

Ela Sustainable Solutions , Cochin

Tritron FoodWorks, Bangalore

Acqua Farms, Chennai
Present Scenario In India
• Key demographic of these Farms are for people who want to
get into the business of full time urban farming, since
employing these state of the art systems requires a lot of
investment.
• But a system where people inside a community can
start breeding crops on their home without a lot of investment
and start a business within the community is a prospect not
fully explored.
Concept Design
• The key is to make a simple design with a modular system in
mind so that the existing system can be easily expanded for
more quantity of production as and when required.
• The design used here is similar to what we find in electric
cables where electric current goes from a point A to point B
via cables with transformers placed at regular intervals.
A very rudimentary idea of the design
Actual Design
Parts Description
1. Arm
• It’s the part in which the trapezoid
shaped gutter pipe will rest.
• It occupies an area of 311*187*50
cubic millimetres
• It is made of Aluminium and
its manufactured by SandCasting.
• 2 variations of above designs are
shown of which one favours
strength and the other favours
easiness in manufacturing assembly
and transportation.

Arm where pipe resides

Dimensions of Arm
Extension Box
• The extension box is provided to
get some horizonal clearance for
the plants from the row vertically
above it.
• It has to be strong especially for the
bottom- most row where the arms
are placed further
• Designed for strength but also
embraces modular concept for
assembly
Extension Box
• The boxes are designed in such a
way that casting is easy as parting
line can be on topmost edge.
• The ribs added inside the box
are so that it can surely handle
the some bending
stress which arise due to any load
in the assembly
• Ordering and packing is easier for
this design as it embraces a
modular concept.
Frame Design

• The frame is an aluminium C- channel

7ft in length with a C section of equal
base and flange of 50mm and
thickness 3mm
• This frame is not manufactured but
purchased as this C channel is a
standard available in the market
• After purchase the operations to be
done on this sheet are shearing and
punching, explained later.
Frame Design
Slots punched on frame

Hindalco Standards
Frame Design
• Punching of the keyhole shape slots in the
frame can be easily done using a flypress.
• A C-channel was opted just for the easniess
of punching such that a support block of
dimensions 44*47*80 cubic millimetres.
• This part can be placed inside the C channel
when the punching is done from outside.
• The frame can be just slid across the
punching block to get all the positions
Variations In Design

Arm With Rib

Arm without Rib and

a thicker section
 Variations In Design
Arm With Rib Arm without Rib
More Strength Less Strength
Stacking cannot be done and hence Encourages Stacking therefore
transportation is harder easier transportation.
Only one component needs to be made Components need to be made in 4 or 5 sizes if
extension boxes are not used
Easier to mold since parting line will be on the More difficult to mold since the parting would
top edge. Hence reduced time to produce rest at the middle.
More difficult to assemble if extension boxes are Easier to assemble if latching mechanism is used
used. instead of extension boxes
Sub Assembly
• The 2 types of assembly mentioned here involves 2 design
philosophies. We can also mix and match these designs
according to convenience.
• One variant is designed keeping in mind the ease of
assembly manufacturing and transportation. They involve
stacking and latching mechanisms.
• The second variant is designed just to give good strength.
These are the ones that involve extension boxes
Assembly Variations

Arm with latching pin Latching Pin

Latching Mechanism
Assembly Variations
• The design shown in previous slide embraces design for ease of
assembly. In the last part there is another concept presented in which
only this design is used.
• This design also encourages stacking for ease of handling.
• Absence of ribs get parting line to the top edge.

Parting Lines With and without a Rib

Final Assemblies

Assembly using extenders Assembly using latching pins

Cover assembly
• A 3 mm pvc sheet which is readily
available in the market is used as
cover in which the cups are
inserted.
• 50mm holes are made inside the
cover
• A bracket is used to hold the pvc
cover onto the arm
• The joint is designed to be made
like a sliding joint for ease
of maintanence.
Wall attached design
• An easy wall attached design is
also proposed in this work
• This involves a bracket which is
attached to the wall
• The bracket is designed keeping
in mind the easiness to screw it
onto the wall
• The rest of the designs are same
with no variation giving the users
a choice to assemble this setup on
the outer walls around the house.
Bracket dimensions
 CONCLUSIONS
• The aim of the project is carried by developing a product that
can easily be installed in households
• Variations of products are also suggested which improves
utility and brings moe simplicity in the manufacturing and
assembly which comes with some inconsequential tradeoffs
• A product is developed in such a way that no costly
investments are required since all are sand casted parts and
no mold making for plastic has to be introduced.
 REFERENCES
• Geoffrey Boothroyd, Peter Dewhurst and Winston Knight (2002) Product
Design for Manufacture and Assembly, Second Edition, CRC press,
Taylor & Francis, Florida,USA
• Geoffrey Boothroyd (2005) AssemblyAutomation and Product Design,
SecondEdition, CRC press, Taylor & Francis, Florida, USA
• O. Molloy, S. Tilley and E.A. Warman (1998) Design for Manufacturing
and assembly,First Edition, Chapman &Hall, London, UK.
• Nga T. Nguyen, Samuel A. McInturf, and David G. Mendoza-
Cózatl Hydroponics: A Versatile System to Study Nutrient Allocation and
Plant Responses to Nutrient Availability and Exposure to Toxic Elements
; J Vis Exp. (2016)