SPA plant factory system construction for Technical College's engineering education

SPA (Speaking Plant Approach) is a comparatively modern cultivation method which grows plant according to their biological information. The SPA plant factory system has suitable elements for use in engineering education. In this paper, a new education trial in KTC (Kanazawa Technical College, a private technical college in Japan) through graduate study of the SPA plant factory system construction is introduced. The system includes five significant educational elements for engineers. They are: measurement, analysis, control, circuits, and algorithms. The importance of interdisciplinary education is also present since the system combines engineering and agriculture. The study program consists of five steps; researching literature and previous studies, system and algorithm design, hardware and software design, system construction, and system operation. The program was evaluated from the view point of CDIO and student feedback. The study contents satisfy the Conceive, Design, Implement, and Operate elements of CDIO. The students have identified advantages to this type of interdisciplinary program, such as an interest to investigating other study fields, the novelty of combining life sciences and engineering, and the awareness of trial and error. From the survey, it was concluded that the trial is effective for engineering education.