Plant Science

Solid State Lighting (SSL) such as LED illumination has a very useful and practical application in garden cultivation and management. LESA research in horticulture lighting is focused on optimizing and regulating plant growth through remote sensing of plant signals to automate the spatial, spectral and temporal characteristics of the light environment. Light is a requirement for photosynthesis and provides information to plants that tell them how to metabolize and develop to maintain photostasis in changing environments. By controlling the light spectrum with the right light recipe, plant physiology can be altered to increase growth rates, nutritional value or crop yield. With the guidance of renowned plant physiologist Tessa Pocock LESA is exploring new applications of advanced lighting enabled systems in horticulture to aid in farming and pharming.

Cluster Focus

LESA is actively engaged in research to fuse plant physiology with control systems engineered for the efficient development of interactive lighting systems for horticulture applications. The hydroponic unit and grow room, at the LESA facilities on the RPI campus, provide the infrastructure and environment for spectrally controlled plant experiments. Current focus is on the study of biomass, pigmentation, photochemistry and the other physiological effects plants undergo with specific lighting conditions. The fundamental research includes: lighting automation for photosynthetic organisms; integration of advanced plant-fluorescence sensing techniques; tunable and dynamic lighting schemas; and implementing control algorithms for various ambient lighting conditions – coordinated through the LESA ‘Controls‘ cluster.

Research Areas

Plant Pigment Studies
Dynamic Plant Control
Multi-wavelength Plant Lighting
Plant Fluorescence Signal Sensing
Plant Growth Optimization
Photosynthesis Regulation

Applications

Plant Production
Vertical Farming
Greenhouse Planning
Pharmaceuticals

Cluster Faculty

Tessa Pocock, RPI (Lead)
Robert Karlicek, RPI

The regulation of light in plants can create beneficial biochemical pathways that are instrumental components for receiving biological feedback for automated controlled lighting systems.