Nowadays, there's a lot of hydroponics system available in the market. With the development in technologies and increase in human laziness, such system getting more available and popular. However, current system still suffer from quite a few problems. In this update, I would like to use MIT OpneAG Personal Food Computer as a basis and discuss some of the disadvantage of such system. I would also suggest some directions to improve on existing architectures and setup an experimental testing unit in Hong Kong. 

According to their website, "The OpenAg™ Personal Food Computer is a tabletop-sized, controlled environment agriculture technology platform that uses robotic systems to control and monitor climate, energy, and plant growth inside of a specialized growing chamber."(Direct quote form the website). Although doing amazing job on building such hardware and opensource it on the web page, MIT OpenAg at the Media Lab has paused research on these versions. I attached the link below:

https://wiki.openag.media.mit.edu/personal_food_computers

https://forum.openag.media.mit.edu/t/update-from-openag-please-read/3171

This research focus shift makes me feel sad and inspire to implement a newer version of food computer aimed being cheaper, modular and easier to build. The potential features are listed as below:

• Water circulation for Hydroponics
• Water condition monitoring (pH, Temperature, Electrical Conductivity)
• Ambient Temperature monitoring and control
• Auto dosing system (nutrient and pH control) 
• Centralized and remote control capability 

With reference to OpenAG PFC, a few possible improvement are listed below and will study in the follow post:

• Planter and water circulation
• Dosing system
• Power supply system
• HVAC
• Computer system
• Potential Air containment

With all the things in place, it's time for planning ahead and start working!!