Here, lettuce doesn’t grow in soil but on shelves. Level by level, under LED light, controlled by sensors and algorithms. At the facilities of Infinite Acres, a Dutch‑American subsidiary of the vertical farming company 80 Acres Farms, agriculture becomes an engineering project: Biology, climate technology, automation, and data analytics all interlock.
The goal is to produce food independently of weather, seasons, and global supply chains – in a predictable and reliable way. Using less land, less water, and no pesticides. And all this in virtually any location around the world. For that to work, one thing above all has to be right: the climate.
In vertical farms, air circulates continuously. Temperature, humidity, and CO₂ levels are precisely controlled. If a fan motor fails, the delicate balance is disrupted. Within a short time, plants can experience stress, growth slows down, and in the worst case an entire harvest could be lost.
“Problems need to be detected before they occur,” says Michele Savino, Global Industry Manager Consumer Goods, who focuses on vertical farming. Predictive maintenance is therefore not a nice to have but a fundamental part of the business model. The systems are designed for industrial scale operation – downtime simply doesn’t fit into the concept.
This is where SICK’s Multi Physics Box MPB10 comes into play. The condition-monitoring sensor can be mounted directly on motors, pumps, conveyors, or fans – using either a magnetic plate or a screw connection. Once installed, it continuously measures vibrations, shocks, and temperature. These three parameters provide early indications of bearing wear, emerging imbalances, or components overheating.
The cooperation between Infinite Acres and SICK began three years ago – indirectly via a partner company, which is itself active in the vertical farming environment. They were looking for a sensor partner. Michele Savino introduced the Multi Physics Box MPB10 – and was met with open ears.
“By working together in a partnership environment, we’re accelerating innovation and delivering real, practical solutions to market more quickly,” says Tisha Livingston, CEO of Infinite Acres. “That isn’t just good for us. It drives standardization and efficiency across the entire vertical farming industry.”
“In the past, the human eye was the maintenance system,” says Savino. People listened, looked, and that was about it. For a highly automated indoor farm, that’s simply not enough.
In Infinite Acres’s facilities, the sensor is used in their proprietary airflow system, the area where motors and shafts ensure a constant airflow. The Multi Physics Box measures vibrations, shocks, and temperature directly at the unit. “When something happens in the motor, we see it early – before it becomes critical,” says Savino. Ideally, this enables true predictive maintenance.“In the worst case, someone just has to go out and replace a screw.” But crucially, they do it before the system comes to a standstill.
For Infinite Acres, this means fewer unplanned downtimes, lower operational risk, and a better basis for data-based decisions. This increases the reliability of the entire system. And it protects the performance.
This is important because vertical farming is under economic pressure. High energy and investment costs meet the expectation of year-round, stable yields. Infinite Acres positions itself as a technology platform provider. The company designs, builds, owns, operates, and maintains large-scale commercial farms across several states in the U.S.: Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, and Colorado, providing the fresh produce to the largest grocery chains. Additionally, Infinite Acres is actively growing its business by providing its patented vertical farming technology to clients across the globe. Sensor technology, AI-supported software, lighting, nutrient and climate control form an integrated system.
Technically, the solution is deliberately kept lean. The MPB10 provides preprocessed condition data, and thresholds can be defined individually. It is integrated into the system via IO-Link or a switching signal. It is complemented by SICK ConnectX – an interface between the sensor and the farm’s digital ecosystem. In addition, machine vision solutions such as the Inspector83x for AI based quality control, as well as track and trace systems like the RFU61x, monitor the entire farm-to-fork journey of the products – from seed to the consumer’s table. “What convinced Infinite Acres was the complete solution,” says Savino. Industrial grade, robust design for harsh environments, easy connectivity, straightforward commissioning.
The system is currently running in the field lab in Den Haag, where plants are cultivated under controlled conditions. The plan is clear: standardization. Several facilities in the USA are to follow. “The goal is to create a solution that can be rolled out worldwide,” says Savino.
For SICK, this example shows how classic sensor technology in combination with digital evaluation is taking on new roles – not only as a measuring instrument, but also as a building block for resilient production systems.
