A Telescience Monitoring and Control Concept for a CELSS Plant Growth Chamber

• Published in: SAE transactions Vol. 98; pp. 1134 - 1143
• Main Authors: Rasmussen, Daryl N., Mian, Arshad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc 01-01-1989
• Subjects: Automatic control; Control systems; Data acquisition; Data visualization; Information storage and retrieval systems; Plant growth; Research facilities; Sensors; Space flight; Space stations
• ISSN: 0096-736X; 2577-1531

This paper presents a technical and operational approach for distributed monitoring and control of a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) Plant Growth Chamber (PGC). This operational mode, referred to as telescience, will allow geographically separate investigators to conduct an experiment as if they were collocated. The overall control system includes the controllers for the PGC subsystems (lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, nutrient delivery, vital gases, etc.), a local master controller, and the control capabilities of the remote controllers. The investigators interaction with their data and each other is made possible through interoperable computer workstations. Moving operations labor to a remote site can result in a significant savings in local crew time. It can also increase the quality of the operation/product by bringing remote expertise into an activity where the local crew has limited capability. This operational concept, and the technologies necessary to support it, are potentially applicable for providing remote access to: (1) A ground based CELSS research facility, (2) Space Station Freedom plant growth facilities, (3) Lunar based CELSS facilities, and (4) manned interplanetary spacecraft.