New eGlasshouse subjects available

Our eGlasshouse platform is now able to offer a number of Nationally Accredited subjects in an online format.

These subjects can be used towards full qualifications in Certificate 3, Certificate 4 and Diploma of Production Horticulture.

The subjects that are now on offer are:-

Certificate 3 Level
AHCOHS301A - Contribute to the OH & S process
AHCPMG301A - Control Weeds
AHCPMG302A - Control plant pests, diseases and disorders
AHCWRK313A - Implement and monitor environmentally sustainable work practices

Certificate 4 Level

AHCPCM402A  - Develop a soil health and plant nutrition program

AHCPHT402A - Develop a crop regulation program

AHCPMG405A - Implement pest management action plans

AHCWRK403A - Supervise work routines and staff performance

Diploma Level

AHCBUS501A - Manage staff

AHCPHT502A - Develop a horticultural production plan

 We will be launching more subjects in the very near future, with the main emphasis being on AHCPHT503A - Manage a controlled growing environment

For further details on how to undertake our online training programs, please contact Tony Bundock at tony.bundock@chisholm.edu.au

Website development

Work has now started on getting our 'live' website a reality for visitors to see first hand how things are progressing. 

Our original draft site is being upgraded to accept live feeds from the video camera in the glasshouse as well as the live data generated from the Priva Integro climate control system. This will allow you to see first hand what is happening in the glasshouse as well as being able to review the computer generated data showing what the climate is doing both inside and outside the glasshouse.

The video camera will also be used to record crop growth in conjunction with our regular crop registration process, so this will enable you to see first hand how quickly the plants are growing.

As soon as we have the system running live, we will be letting you all know!

Developments in the E Glasshouse

Firstly, a Happy New Year to everyone, and hopefully you all had a good Christmas as well.

This year we will be updating the blog on a far more regular basis to keep you across the developments at Chisholm as they occur. 

We have a range of courses and training opportunities planned for 2012 that will give both the local and wider industry some great training opportunities on an E learning platform.

This will see us further developing a web site that will refine the initial E learning project that we established in 2011. The site will include the initial features such as a live stream to the glasshouse web cam, as well as a live stream to the climate graph generated by the Priva Integro climate management system. This will allow students to observe first hand what is happening in the glasshouse in relation to our climate management. (As this will be a live site, you will be able to see both our successes and failures as well - so we will be working hard to try and get it right!)

We are also working towards allowing registered visitors to the site to be able to have remote access to the camera and to be able to pan around the glasshouse.

Other developments include the construction of a 'virtual tour' of the facility, so that you will be able to see exactly what we have on offer in the glasshouse in terms of technology. This will also allow visiting student groups to gain a firm understanding of how the glasshouse operates before they set foot in the glasshouse.

We are also developing a suite of 'online' training courses that will enable students to undertake training from anywhere in the world. These course will initially be individual competencies, but as we progress, we will be able to offer fully accredited courses in an online format, which should be a very flexible arrangement for participants.

All of these developments will be highlighted on this site in the next few weeks, so keep your eye on future posts!

From the student perspective.........................................

As we move towards the final installation of the glasshouse camera and web site, we have been seeking feedback from our students as to how they view the potential learning capabilities of the eGlasshouse system. Two of our current students have kindly agreed to have their thoughts and comments placed on the blog:-

Diploma Horticulture Student - Vanessa Caldarera

"It's really cool! Having access to the glasshouse via the webcam and the  online web site has really been a novel way for us to learn more about climate control. I can now remotely  gain access to  the glasshouse via  the web site that has been set up. This is giving us a live update every 4 hours in terms of both image and climate mapping via the Priva Integro computer system.It's really great to see a record of what is happening both inside and outside the glasshouse and then look at how the plants are behaving. I love it!"

Diploma Horticulture Student - Joe Star

"One of the great things with the system is being able to have remote access to the camera. This is something that is done in the class as otherwise we would have everyone wanting to move the camera at once! The remote access allows us to pan around the glasshouse and focus in on a specific plant or area. One of the great things about the system is that the camera can be set to take a picture of a specific plant at a pre determined time. We are going to use this feature on the new crop for our 'crop registration' process - the tracking of plant growth. This will see us installing a graduated measure against a plant so that the image will show how tall the plant is, which we can then cross reference against the previous weeks image. The other thing we are looking at doing is taking an image every day so that we can 'play back' the growth of a complete 12 month crop. For me personally I just love the level of technology that is now associated with controlled environment horticulture - it's great!

Up and running!

After what has seemed like an endless battle, we have finally being trialing the camera in the glasshouse! The camera allows us to have a 360 degree view of the growing area, as well as being able to pan in on a specific plant at a pre determined time of the day. This is especially useful to us as we track plant growth as part of our "Crop Recognition" program. 

The capture of any images can be cross referenced against the Priva Integro climate control graphs and will allow observers of the system to look at what the plants are doing, and see what the climate is providing in terms of heating, ventilation, humidity, and CO2 levels. There is also a direct link to the Priva Integro settings so that climate strategies can be examined in detail.

The initial page that we have been developing for the trials is shown above so that it can give you all an idea of what the final product is likely to look like. 

How have we been going?

For those of you who have been watching this site on a regular basis, you will have noticed the general serenity of the site - or rather the lack of updates! Well like a swan, we have had the serene look on top whilst running like mad under the water!

We have been looking at several options for our webcam and we have now come up with the solution.

Powerplants Australia have established a system for us that will enable us to view the Tomato Crop in a number of ways. The camera itself allows us to not only gain a generic view of the crop but to zoom in on specific areas. The software will also allow us to take pictures of specific plants as precise times each day. This will greatly assist us with our crop registration process.

We have also been working on getting the Priva Integro data relayed to an external site. This has seen us utilising our standard remote access medium of "logmein" with additional software that we are developing.

In the next couple of weeks we should have the full system up and running which will allow students to view climate data as well as remotely being able to move the camera around to gain vision of specific crop areas.

Who's watching who................

As we progress into the project we have been looking at a number of options that will give us the results and systems we are looking for. The attached video gives you a look at what can be achieved with existing technology using time lapse photography, and we will be exploring these systems.