SBIR Phase I:Development of a Multi-Robot System to Reduce End-to-End Labor Automation Costs in Local Food Production

SBIR 第一阶段：开发多机器人系统以降低当地食品生产中的端到端劳动力自动化成本

• 批准号: 2051419
• 负责人: David Ashton
• 金额: $ 25.51万
• 依托单位: CANOPII INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-05-01 至 2022-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2051419&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Development; Multi; Robot

The broader impact/commercial potential of this SBIR Phase I project lie in the greater availability of healthy, local, and affordable produce for all levels of society through new methods of end-to-end labor automation and energy management in urban agriculture. Through a low-footprint vertical greenhouse design, this technology will enable individuals to grow produce on small areas of available space for their community. The produce will be an attractive alternative to large-scale industrial agriculture and foreign food imports, not only for sustainability concerns, but through its superior freshness, quality, and taste. This project will have an impact on the advancement of local farming technologies to further the viability of commercial food production in urban communities. Creating an economically viable urban farm will have lasting impacts on the U.S. food system and environment as it will provide a means for sustainable food production.The Phase I effort will be used to design, build, and demonstrate a subscale vertical farm prototype that demonstrates cost-effective methods for all aspects of the farm’s end-to-end labor automation. This will advance the implementation of robotics in food production by addressing the labor and energy barriers that local controlled environmental agriculture systems currently face. To achieve this objective, key challenges include (1) automation to completely remove human labor over extended durations, (2) low-cost design for setup and ongoing operations, and (3) the ability to adjust product outputs in real-time to market demands. Human interaction with the grow process will be limited through high degree of system automation, including computer vision for plant inspections and self-cleaning processes. Novel plant growth and handling processes will allow for virtually any type of produce. A variety of sensors are used to carefully monitor conditions and adjust the system, allowing fresh produce in areas without suitable agricultural opportunities. The prototype robotic farming system being developed in the Phase I effort will demonstrate the end-to-end labor automation and energy management technologies necessary to the expansion of urban agriculture.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该SBIR I期项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于，通过新的端到端劳动劳动自动化和城市农业能源管理方法，可以为各个级别的社会提供更大的健康，本地和负担得起的产品。通过低英寸的垂直温室设计，这项技术将使个人能够在其社区的可用空间的较小区域中增加生产。该生产将是大规模工业契约和外国粮食进口的有吸引力的替代品，不仅是出于可持续性问题，而且是通过其出色的新鲜度，质量和品味来提供的。该项目将影响当地农业技术的发展，以进一步发展城市社区商业食品生产的可行性。建立经济可行的城市农场将对美国的食品系统和环境产生持久的影响，因为它将提供一种可持续食品生产的手段。第一阶段的工作将用于设计，构建和展示一种垂直垂直农场原型，该原型为农场端到端劳动劳动劳动劳动劳动劳动劳动劳动力的各个方面展示了成本效益的方法。这将通过解决当地控制的环境农业系统目前面临的劳动力和能源障碍来推动机器人技术在粮食生产中的实施。为了实现这一目标，关键挑战包括（1）自动化在延长持续时间内完全消除人工的自动化，（2）用于设置和正在进行的操作的低成本设计，以及（3）实时调整产品产出的能力，以满足市场需求。人类与增长过程的互动将受到高度系统自动化的限制，包括用于工厂检查和自我清洁过程的计算机视觉。新颖的植物生长和处理过程几乎可以进行任何类型的生产。多种传感器用于仔细监测条件并调整系统，从而在没有合适的农业机会的情况下允许新鲜农产品。在第一阶段的工作中开发的原型机器人农业系统将证明端到端的劳动自动化和能源管理技术是扩大城市农业所必需的。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的审查标准来通过评估而被视为珍贵的支持。