Horticulture Research International

Company Profile

Horticulture Research International (HRI) is the largest team of horticultural research and development scientists in the world. HRI's customers include UK Research Councils, Government Departments, the EU, Overseas agencies, growers and grower-funded levy bodies.

Situation

Horticulture Research Institute, Wellesbourne required replacement of a system used to control climate chambers used for plant research. The existing system interfaced with the chambers using 2 PLC device types: Jumo and Eurotherm. The system controls the temperature, humidity, CO2 and lighting on a user-defined schedule every 24 hours.

Solution

Measuresoft designed and implemented a new Climate Control System (CCS) to control plant growth rooms and chambers using the existing PLC hardware. The system allows the user to define profiles for all controlled parameters and to download these as programs to the controllers. Real-time monitoring of measured values and controller status is also provided. The system uses a Microsoft Windows system using Measuresoft’s ScadaPro SCADA product and is connected to the site network for remote monitoring and control.

Benefits

The system allows HRI to control any number of chambers remotely. System reliability ensures that test profiles can be executed in a chamber unattended. Familiarity with the Windows user interface makes the system easy to use and reduces the operator training requirements.