The trainees are justi­fi­ably proud of the result of their project. (Photo | ebm-papst)

Vertical farming is an impor­tant topic for the future, both glob­ally and at ebm-papst. This is why this year’s trainees at St. Georgen and Mulfingen are working on the “ebm-papst Indoor Farm” project.

Jessica Hund from Product Manage­ment for Compact Air Tech­nology in St. Georgen came up with the idea, “We can tell customers a lot about our exper­tise and prod­ucts in the field of vertical farming. But it’s better if we show it in prac­tice.”

An exciting chal­lenge for mecha­tronics engi­neers and elec­tronic engi­neers in training: they researched and built every­thing them­selves, from the compo­si­tion of the nutrient solu­tion and moni­toring and eval­u­ating temper­a­ture and humidity to harvesting plants. It’s a success story for trainees and ebm-papst, who benefit equally from dealing with a hot topic.

The indoor farm is a glass cube, which now sprouts herbs without earth and without watering. Special LED strips ensure the neces­sary light, an auto­mated control system regu­larly supplies the plants with a sophis­ti­cated nutrient solu­tion: in theory, nobody has to look after the small farm in the cube.

The trainees designed and built the indoor farm completely on their own. (Photo | ebm-papst)

The installed ebm-papst prod­ucts include four AxiRev 126 compact fan. (Photo | ebm-papst)

Fresh vegeta­bles for the canteen

The indoor farm is located next to the canteen in St. Georgen. The canteen manager is of course allowed to help himself to it. (Photo | ebm-papst)

Here, every­thing grows and thrives on its own under perfectly balanced condi­tions. This means that there are no pests, no over­wa­tering, and always some tasty parsley or chives to hand. The canteen boss, who will be able to serve the herbs from the indoor farm in the future, is not the only one who is pleased about this.

The 108 x 48 x 174 cm cube contains four AxiRev 126 compact fans that ensure fresh and pleasant air. A BCI gear motor delivers the neces­sary power for the hose pump, which pumps the nutrient solu­tion to the plant roots every three hours.

They fill with nutri­ents for 15 minutes, then the liquid is pumped out and filtered, which is called a hydro­ponic system. The result obtained in just under two months is all the more impres­sive.

As the indoor farm is mobile, it will travel to trade fairs in the future and show that vertical farming is no longer a dream of the future.