Increased agricultural productivity is expected through enhanced compatibility between intelligent greenhouse devices.

The National Radio Research Agency (President, Seong-il Seo) of the Ministry of Science and ICT announced that it has established three national standards related to smart greenhouses to ensure interoperability of devices used in smart greenhouses and support easy replacement of equipment.

The three national standards established are: △Smart greenhouse node metadata, △RS485/Modbus-based smart greenhouse node/device registration procedures and technical specifications, and △RS485-based Modbus interface between the smart greenhouse integrated controller and nutrient solution node.

These standards are standards based on inter-ministerial collaboration, proposed as a result of a project commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) and others, regarding smart greenhouses that utilize information and communication technology (ICT) to increase agricultural productivity.

First, the 'Smart Greenhouse Node Metadata' standard defines metadata to unify the expression method for general information, status information, and control information of sensors/actuators/composite nodes of smart greenhouses, thereby creating a foundation for interconnection between different devices. It is also a standard that can be used as basic information for deriving optimal growth algorithms by building big data on node status information and control command information.

In addition, the 'RS485/Modbus-based Smart Greenhouse Node/Device Registration Procedure and Technical Specification' standard defines the procedures required for the interoperability and automatic registration of nodes installed in a smart greenhouse built using the RS485/Modbus method, as well as the specifications describing the characteristic information of each device.

Here are some used in smart greenhouses: By ensuring interoperability between devices and supporting easy replacement of equipment, it is expected that device compatibility and user convenience will be increased, and the related market size will increase as standard-based product groups spread.

Lastly, the standard for 'RS485-based Modbus interface between the greenhouse integrated controller and nutrient solution node of a smart greenhouse' provides interoperability between different devices through standardization of the communication interface method (RS485 Modbus) between the nutrient solution node and the greenhouse integrated controller for a smart greenhouse.

Big data on nutrient information can be used to maximize crop productivity.

National Radio Research Agency Director Seo Seong-il said, “The broadcasting and communications standards established this time are a meaningful example created through collaboration with related organizations in response to the trend of information and communications technology (ICT) convergence.” He added, “We hope that this will promote the spread of smart greenhouses by providing interoperability between different devices used in smart greenhouses, reducing facility maintenance and operating costs, and helping increase farm productivity.”