Grower News

Dallas-based MeshTek Labs (a B2B spin out of Ilumi) has built a robust internal horticultural control network that allows the ability to control schedules, light scenes and settings, and more. [Image: Courtesy MeshTek] MeshTek Labs, a Dallas-based IoT company, announced a partnership with California Lightworks, a Canoga Park, California-based company, on a smart lighting mesh network running more than 2,000 devices. The deployment sits inside a 52,000-square-foot greenhouse handling horticultural products. The network includes AI and edge-computing tech, Bluetooth enabled two-way communication, and MeshTek’s “RealSchedule,” which places the lighting schedule within the light fixture. “Meshtek Labs’ proprietary and patented networking and management platform, proven simplicity and control are at the grower’s fingertips,” said Swapnil Bora, CEO of MeshTek Labs, in a statement. “Our industrial grade BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) mesh IoT platform provides the ability to control the environment by managing the light spectrum for maximum growth, by filling in light where there were shadows and by allowing the operators to easily and quickly control and change schedules as needed. Built in AI and edge-computing and connectivity revolutionizes networking and control of devices.” [Image: Courtesy MeshTek] The control a smart lighting network offers horticulturists can be invaluable. Yields are affected by conditions such as reduced natural light in the winter and even the coastal morning fog often experienced in California. The combination of California LightWorks’ LED grow lights and the MeshTek Labs’ Bluetook mesh network achieved 500 micromoles. The 100 percent digital spectrum control allows the horticulturists to impact fruit and flower yields with heavy red lighting. “If a cultivator wants to be a high yield producer but at low cost, that can’t be accomplished with Mother Nature alone,” said George Mektarian, CEO, California Lightworks. “Even though the location is an ideal natural growing environment, the greenhouses needed supplemental lighting and control to deliver high yields and that’s where California Lightworks and MeshTek Labs came in.” MeshTek’s greenhouse application can be tailored for any size grow facility and it offers standard turnkey options as well as customizable bespoke solutions. According to the company the set-up process for greenhouse operators […]

Source: dallasinnovates.com