Research and Implementation of a Remote Monitoring Platform for Antarctic Greenhouse

In response to the weak environmental infrastructure of Antarctic greenhouses, the inability to automate operation and low reliability, a remote monitoring platform for the Antarctic greenhouse was developed, which integrates functions such as database management, image acquisition and remote data communication. An infrared high-resolution and high-speed digital camera was used in the greenhouses and with its cradle head; it is convenient to monitor the scene in 360°. The monitory software was developed using the SDK provided by the manufacturer to realize the functions of image displaying, capturing and console control. Furthermore, a communication software module was developed to transfer operational data and image files from Antarctic greenhouse to data center in Shanghai, China. The entity–relationship model was adopted for database designing, and the SQL Server database was used for data storing. And after a common communication protocol was studied for transferring database tables and image files, a flow chart of communication was designed, and separate threads were used for the transfer of image files to improve the efficiency. Using the socket technology to transfer the operational data and image files to the data center of Shanghai, people could obtain environmental parameters, running status and the information of plant images in the greenhouse. After the system was installed in the greenhouse of the Great Wall Station in Antarctica, it realized the remote monitoring of the crop’s growth in the greenhouse. The operational data showed that the system works stably, and the transmission of data is accurate, providing a guarantee for the operation of the greenhouses in Antarctica.