SBIR Phase II: Full-Scale Demonstration of Autonomous Robotic Greenhouse for Sustainable Local Food Production

SBIR 第二阶段：用于可持续当地粮食生产的自主机器人温室的全面示范

• 批准号: 2233520
• 负责人: David Ashton
• 金额: $ 100万
• 依托单位: CANOPII INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-05-01 至 2025-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2233520&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Full; Scale

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project promotes small and mid-sized farming in the United States through environmentally friendly means. Through cost-effective labor automation, a fully automated, turn-key greenhouse production system can be made more accessible. This project will provide farmers with a tool that can guarantee a baseline annual production of leafy greens and herbs, independent of weather variables and labor accessibility. By removing weather limitations and labor requirements, small and mid-sized farms can be made more profitable and scalable. This project will have a positive impact on the advancement of local and regional food systems. By advancing a market that has been historically ignored from a technological standpoint, an attractive alternative to large-scale industrial agriculture and foreign fresh food imports will be created. Making small and mid-sized farms more economically viable will create a more robust and sustainable food system. This SBIR Phase II effort will design, build, and demonstrate a full-scale, automated greenhouse farm prototype. This prototype will remain completely autonomous for weeks at a time requiring no humans to enter the farm while all processes from seed to storage of harvested crops are performed robotically. No greenhouse technology, at any price point, has been able to demonstrate an ability to achieve this degree of automation. This technology will advance the implementation of robotics in food production by addressing the capital costs, labor, and energy barriers that controlled environment agriculture systems currently face. Key challenges include the production of approximately 340 plants per day without any human intervention, a low-cost design for setup and ongoing operations, and the ability to adjust product outputs in real-time to meet market demands. Human interaction with the growing process will be limited through a 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 leafy green or herb to be grown. A variety of sensors will be used to monitor conditions and adjust the system, allowing fresh produce in areas without suitable agricultural opportunities.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.

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的更广泛/商业影响促进了美国通过环保手段的中小型农业。通过具有成本效益的劳动力自动化，可以使全自动，交钥匙的温室生产系统更容易获得。该项目将为农民提供一种工具，该工具可以保证绿叶蔬菜和草药的基线生产，独立于天气变量和劳动力可及性。通过消除天气限制和人工要求，可以使中小型农场变得更加有利可图和可扩展。该项目将对当地和区域粮食系统的进步产生积极影响。通过从技术角度来推进历史上被忽略的市场，将创建大型工业农业和外国新鲜食品进口的有吸引力的替代品。使中小型农场在经济上更加可行，将创造更强大，更可持续的食品体系。 SBIR II阶段的工作将设计，建造和演示一个全面的自动化温室农场原型。该原型将在几周内保持完全自主，而不需要人类才能进入农场，而从种子到储存收获的作物的所有过程都是机器人进行的。在任何价格点，没有温室技术能够证明达到这种自动化程度的能力。这项技术将通过解决目前控制环境农业系统的资本成本，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。主要挑战包括每天生产大约340台工厂，而无需任何人力干预，用于设置和持续运营的低成本设计以及实时调整产品产量以满足市场需求的能力。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将使几乎任何类型的绿叶或草药生长。各种传感器将用于监视条件和调整系统，允许在没有合适的农业机会的情况下新鲜农产品。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的评估评估的评估来支持的。