Abstract
Digital twins transform agriculture with three-dimensional replicas of governable physical objects and intelligent collaboration for a sustainable bioeconomy. However, their success depends on (1) scaling up resiliency in industry-ready solutions, (2) evaluating performance in near real-time monitoring of the agri-food infrastructure, and (3) delivering design guidelines and field instantiations to inspire the practitioners. This work addresses these challenges in a two-year-long design science research, aiming to reach industrial demonstration technology readiness (TRL7) in a vertical farm structure supported by digital twin technology. Vertical farms pose new challenges for agriculture, taking advantage of three-dimensional productive spaces that change over time. Furthermore, digital twins reveal the potential to warrant more rational use of resources, food protection, prevention of disruptions, and food product traceability. For design-time scalability, this research defines the digital twin requirements for vertical farms and identifies the necessary conditions for the operational environment. For run-time scalability, the study reveals a physical and digital infrastructure that managers can use to develop their vision for vertical farming in more uncertain environments, demanding resiliency and near real-time optimization.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Data availability
Detailed hardware diagrams, structural elements, and circuits are available as supplementary material—on-line appendix.
References
Al-Kodmany K (2018) The vertical farm: a review of developments and implications for the vertical city. Buildings 8:24. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings8020024
Alves RG, Souza G, Maia RF, et al (2019) A digital twin for smart farming. In: 2019 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC). IEEE, pp 1–4
Amyot D, Mussbacher G (2011) User requirements notation: the first ten years, the next ten years (invited paper). J Softw 6:747–768. https://doi.org/10.4304/jsw.6.5.747-768
Anthony Howard D, Ma Z, Mazanti Aaslyng J, Norregaard Jorgensen B (2020) Data architecture for digital twin of commercial greenhouse production. In: 2020 RIVF international conference on computing and communication technologies (RIVF). IEEE, pp 1–7
Ayaz M, Ammad-Uddin M, Sharif Z et al (2019) Internet-of-things (IoT)-based smart agriculture: toward making the fields talk. IEEE Access 7:129551–129583. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2932609
Bellettini MB, Fiorda FA, Maieves HA et al (2019) Factors affecting mushroom Pleurotus spp. Saudi J Biol Sci 26:633–646. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2016.12.005
Benke K, Tomkins B (2017) Future food-production systems: vertical farming and controlled-environment agriculture. Sustain Sci Pract Policy 13:13–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2017.1394054
Chaudhary G, Kaur S, Mehta B, Tewani R (2019) Observer based fuzzy and PID controlled smart greenhouse. J Stat Manag Syst 22:393–401. https://doi.org/10.1080/09720510.2019.1582880
Chieochan O, Saokaew A, Boonchieng E (2017) IOT for smart farm: A case study of the Lingzhi mushroom farm at Maejo University. In: 2017 14th International Joint Conference on Computer Science and Software Engineering (JCSSE). IEEE, pp 1–6
Defraeye T, Tagliavini G, Wu W et al (2019) Digital twins probe into food cooling and biochemical quality changes for reducing losses in refrigerated supply chains. Resour Conserv Recycl 149:778–794. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.06.002
Despommier D (2011) The vertical farm: feeding the world in the 21st century. Picador; Reprint edition (October 25, 2011)
Despommier D (2013) Farming up the city: The rise of urban vertical farms. Trends Biotechnol 31:388–389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2013.03.008
Dolci R (2017) IoT solutions for precision farming and food manufacturing: artificial intelligence applications in digital food. In: 2017 IEEE 41st annual computer software and applications conference (COMPSAC). IEEE, pp 384–385
Eaves J, Eaves S (2018) Comparing the profitability of a greenhouse to a vertical farm in Quebec. Can J Agric Econ 66:43–54. https://doi.org/10.1111/cjag.12161
GE (2016) Minds + Machines: Meet A Digital Twin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dCz3oL2rTw. Accessed 6 Mar 2021
Glaessgen E, Stargel D (2012) The Digital Twin Paradigm for Future NASA and U.S. Air Force Vehicles. In: 53rd AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Conference<BR>20th AIAA/ASME/AHS Adaptive Structures Conference<BR>14th AIAA. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Reston, Virigina, p 1818
Gregor S, Hevner AR (2013) Positioning and presenting design science research for maximum impact. MIS Q 37:337–355. https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/2013/37.2.01
Groher T, Heitkämper K, Walter A et al (2020) Status quo of adoption of precision agriculture enabling technologies in Swiss plant production. Precision Agric 21:1327–1350. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-020-09723-5
Haris I, Fasching A, Punzenberger L, Grosu R (2019) CPS/IoT Ecosystem: indoor vertical farming system. In: 2019 IEEE 23rd international symposium on consumer technologies (ISCT). IEEE, pp 47–52
Hevner M, Park R (2004) Design science in information systems research. MIS Q 28:75. https://doi.org/10.2307/25148625
Hofmann T (2017) Integrating nature, people, and technology to tackle the global agri-food challenge. J Agric Food Chem 65:4007–4008. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.7b01780
Jiang J-A, Liao M-S, Lin T-S et al (2018) Toward a higher yield: a wireless sensor network-based temperature monitoring and fan-circulating system for precision cultivation in plant factories. Precision Agric 19:929–956. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-018-9565-6
Jiang Z, Lv H, Li Y, Guo Y (2021) A novel application architecture of digital twin in smart grid. J Ambient Intell Humaniz Comput. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-021-03329-z
Kozai T, Niu G, Takagaki M (2019) Plant factory: An indoor vertical farming system for efficient quality food production: Second edition. Academic press
Kurtzman RH (2010) Ventilation for mushroom cultivation: the importance of the needs of mushrooms and of the gas laws. Micología Aplicada Int 22:63–78
Leng J, Yan D, Liu Q et al (2020) ManuChain: combining permissioned blockchain with a holistic optimization model as bi-level intelligence for smart manufacturing. IEEE Trans Syst Man Cybern Syst 50:182–192. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSMC.2019.2930418
Leng J, Zhang H, Yan D et al (2019) Digital twin-driven manufacturing cyber-physical system for parallel controlling of smart workshop. J Ambient Intell Humaniz Comput 10:1155–1166. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-018-0881-5
Liu Y, Ma X, Shu L et al (2021) From industry 4.0 to agriculture 4.0: current status, enabling technologies, and research challenges. IEEE Trans Industr Inf 17:4322–4334. https://doi.org/10.1109/TII.2020.3003910
Llarena-Hernández CR, Largeteau ML, Ferrer N et al (2014) Optimization of the cultivation conditions for mushroom production with European wild strains of Agaricus subrufescens and Brazilian cultivars. J Sci Food Agric 94:77–84. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.6200
Mahajan HB, Badarla A, Junnarkar AA (2021) CL-IoT: cross-layer Internet of Things protocol for intelligent manufacturing of smart farming. J Ambient Intell Humaniz Comput 12:7777–7791. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-020-02502-0
Mankins JC (2009) Technology readiness assessments: a retrospective. Acta Astronaut 65:1216–1223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2009.03.058
March ST, Smith GF (1995) Design and natural science research on information technology. Decis Support Syst 15:251–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-9236(94)00041-2
Nasirahmadi A, Hensel O (2022) Toward the next generation of digitalization in agriculture based on digital twin paradigm. Sensors 22:498. https://doi.org/10.3390/s22020498
Ouammi A, Achour Y, Zejli D, Dagdougui H (2020) Supervisory model predictive control for optimal energy management of networked smart greenhouses integrated microgrid. IEEE Trans Autom Sci Eng 17:117–128. https://doi.org/10.1109/TASE.2019.2910756
Pakari A, Ghani S (2019) Evaluation of a novel greenhouse design for reduced cooling loads during the hot season in subtropical regions. Sol Energy 181:234–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2019.02.006
Peffers K, Tuunanen T, Rothenberger MA, Chatterjee S (2007) A design science research methodology for information systems research. J Manag Inf Syst 24:45–77. https://doi.org/10.2753/MIS0742-1222240302
Pisanu T, Garau S, Ortu P, et al (2020) Prototype of a low-cost electronic platform for real time greenhouse environment monitoring: an agriculture 4.0 perspective. Electronics (Basel) 9:726. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9050726
Pylianidis C, Osinga S, Athanasiadis IN (2021) Introducing digital twins to agriculture. Comput Electron Agric 184:105942. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2020.105942
Rayhana R, Xiao G, Liu Z (2020) Internet of things empowered smart greenhouse farming. IEEE J Radio Freq Identif 4:195–211. https://doi.org/10.1109/JRFID.2020.2984391
Smetana S, Aganovic K, Heinz V (2021) Food supply chains as cyber-physical systems: a path for more sustainable personalized nutrition. Food Eng Rev 13:92–103. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12393-020-09243-y
Stočes M, Vaněk J, Masner J, Pavlík J (2016) Internet of Things (IoT) in Agriculture - Selected Aspects. Agris on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics VIII:83–88. https://doi.org/10.7160/aol.2016.080108
Tao F, Sui F, Liu A et al (2019) Digital twin-driven product design framework. Int J Prod Res 57:3935–3953. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2018.1443229
Tsitsimpelis I, Wolfenden I, Taylor CJ (2016) Development of a grow-cell test facility for research into sustainable controlled-environment agriculture. Biosys Eng 150:40–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2016.07.008
Tzounis A, Katsoulas N, Bartzanas T, Kittas C (2017) Internet of Things in agriculture, recent advances and future challenges. Biosys Eng 164:31–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2017.09.007
Venable J, Pries-Heje J, Baskerville R (2016) FEDS: a framework for evaluation in design science research. Eur J Inf Syst 25:77–89. https://doi.org/10.1057/ejis.2014.36
Verboven P, Defraeye T, Datta AK, Nicolai B (2020) Digital twins of food process operations: the next step for food process models? Curr Opin Food Sci 35:79–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cofs.2020.03.002
Verdouw C, Kruize JW (2017) Digital twins in farm management: illustrations from the FIWARE accelerators SmartAgriFood and Fractals. In: 7th Asian-Australasian Conference on Precision Agriculture. pp 1–5
vom Brocke J, Maedche A (2019) The DSR grid: six core dimensions for effectively planning and communicating design science research projects. Electron Mark 29:379–385. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-019-00358-7
Zheng Y, Yang S, Cheng H (2019) An application framework of digital twin and its case study. J Ambient Intell Humaniz Comput 10:1141–1153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-018-0911-3
Funding
This study was co-funded by BLC3 COMPETE 2020 [3iBioeconomia: POCI-01-0246-FEDER-026758]; MCTES (Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior); Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) [SFRH/BDE/100385/2014]; and Association BLC3-Technology and Innovation Campus—Centre Bio R&D Unit (UID/05083/2020). It was also co-funded by national funds of FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology, IP, within the scope of project CISUC—UID/CEC/00326/2020 and by European Social Fund, through the Regional Operation Program Centro 2020.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Monteiro, J., Barata, J., Veloso, M. et al. A scalable digital twin for vertical farming. J Ambient Intell Human Comput 14, 13981–13996 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-022-04106-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-022-04106-2