Abstract: A hybrid manufacturing method and a device made thereby. The method includes: laser writing a border on a receiving surface of a substrate, the border defining an internal zone inside the border and an external zone outside the border, the border being a part of the substrate that is changed in its material properties by the laser writing; depositing a material in the internal zone, the material being deposited in an uncured state on the receiving surface, wherein a flow of the material from the internal zone towards the external zone is impeded by the border; and at least partially curing the material in the internal zone, the at least partially cured material forming a layer.

Abstract: An open micro-environment plant health sensing method includes placing a plurality of sensors in a configurable plant growing base for growing plants, collecting data representing one or more environmental parameters of the plants by the plurality of sensors continuously in real-time, communicating the collected data representing the one or more environmental parameters of the plants through a sensor network mediated by gateways, applying the data representing the one or more environmental parameters to a trained artificial intelligence (AI) engine for correlating micro-environment changes to the plants with one or more plant health parameters, and predicting the one or more plant health parameters for monitoring plant health by the trained AI engine.

Abstract: A farming method includes: loading a broad spectrum of plant nutrients into a zeolite substrate; using the loaded zeolite substrate to grow crops for a plurality of cycles; and recycling the used zeolite substrate.

Abstract: A crop recipe optimization method includes placing crops in an incubator, taking a plurality of images of the crops for measuring crop growth, obtaining a growth score from the plurality of images of the crop, generating, based on the obtained growth score and yield information of the crops, an optimized crop recipe from an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm, and applying the optimized crop recipe to growing crops in a farm. The plurality of images are associated with one or more crop recipes, and each of the one or more crop recipes represents a set of environmental parameters inside the incubator.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a porous graphene layer across a precursor material layer on a substrate.

Abstract: A cultivation enclosure for growing crops includes a chamber. The chamber includes a base and a lid configured to cover the base. The chamber is connected to a rack. The rack includes one or more inlets and one or more outlets. The rack is configured to dispense water and minerals into the chamber through the one or more inlets or discharge water from the chamber through the one or more outlets.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for feeding electronic components for insertion onto circuit boards, the apparatus comprising: a vibratory bowl configured for receiving electronic components and for lining up the electronic components onto a moveable conveyor, the vibratory bowl is configured for vibrating and guiding each of the electronic components towards an opening in the vibratory bowl where each of the electronic components is transferred to the conveyor; a component processing unit configured for checking operation of each of the electronic components lined up along the conveyor and for removing any defective electronic component failing the operation check; and a component feeder configured for transferring each of the electronic components that are non-defective to a machine for handling insertion of the electronic components onto circuit boards.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for feeding electronic components for insertion onto circuit boards, the apparatus comprising; a vibratory bowl configured for receiving electronic components and for lining up the electronic components onto a moveable conveyor, the vibratory bowl is configured for vibrating and guiding each of the electronic components towards an opening in the vibratory bowl where each of the electronic components is transferred to the conveyor; a component processing unit configured for checking operation of each of the electronic components lined up along the conveyor and for removing any defective electronic component failing the operation check; and a component feeder configured for transferring each of the electronic components that are non-defective to a machine for handling insertion of the electronic components onto circuit boards.