QuSeC-TAQS: Sensing-Intelligence on The Move: Quantum-Enhanced Optical Diagnosis of Crop Diseases

QuSeC-TAQS：移动中的传感智能：农作物病害的量子增强光学诊断

• 批准号: 2326746
• 负责人: Jianqing Liu
• 金额: $ 107.5万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2027-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2326746&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: QuSeC; TAQS; Sensing; Intelligence; Move

Downy mildew is one of the most threatening diseases to cucurbit crops, and it can be hardly detected at the early stage of infection using classical sensing technologies. The late detection of downy mildew can cause reduced crop yields and excessive fungicide application, thus leading to significant economic and food losses and environment pollution. Quantum sensing, as a revolutionary technology, has demonstrated its ability to surpass the limits of classical sensing, owing to its utilization of nonclassical resources such as entanglement and squeezed light. The project team, comprised of Principal Investigators from diverse disciplines including physics, computer science, optics, biology, and agricultural science, will collaborate to develop quantum sensors tailored for the fast and accurate diagnosis of downy mildew. This project serves the national interest for its advancement of national food safety and promotion of basic and applied scientific research. Moreover, through local outreach activities, this project will benefit local growers at North Carolina, K-12 students, and underrepresented college students. This QuSeC-TAQS team will focus on three synergistic research thrusts: (1) the development of new theories and algorithms, (2) the optimization of the team’s pre-established quantum sensing devices, and (3) the experimental evaluation utilizing the leaf samples infected by downy mildew. Specifically, PIs will develop an entangled photon source that is directed by an acousto-optic beam steering device to leaf samples for fast and wide-angle scanning. A quantum receiver enhanced by adaptive learning system that can optimize the receiver circuit configurations based on real-time measurements will be developed to remedy the problem of high photon losses in the agricultural environment. PIs will also grow cucumber plants, inoculate them with downy mildew spores, and collect leaf samples for in-lab quantum sensing experiments. The anticipated outcome is to shorten the detection window from the state-of-the-art of 4-5 days to a new record of 1-2 days following the downy mildew infection. The scientific thrusts of this team are further complemented with training of a diverse workforce, with priority given to underrepresented students in STEM.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.

唐尼·米勒（Downy Millew）是最有威胁性的疾病之一，可以使用经典的敏感性技术在感染的早期阶段就无法检测到它。较晚的毛毛部发现可能会导致农作物产量降低和杀菌剂过多的应用，从而导致巨大的经济和粮食损失以及环境污染。作为革命性技术，量子灵敏度已经证明了其超过经典敏感性的能力，因为它利用了诸如纠缠和挤压光的非经典资源。该项目团队由来自物理学，计算机科学，光学，生物学和农业科学在内的潜水学科的主要研究人员组成，将合作开发针对唐尼·米勒（Downy Millew）快速准确诊断的量子传感器。该项目为国家粮食安全以及促进基础科学研究的促进而启用了国家利益。此外，通过当地的外展活动，该项目将使北卡罗来纳州，K-12学生和代表性不足的大学生的当地增长受益。该QUSEC-TAQS团队将重点关注三个协同的研究推力：（1）新理论和算法的发展，（2）优化团队预先建立的量子灵敏度设备，以及（3）利用Downy Millew感染了叶子样品的实验评估。 PI将开发一个纠缠的光子源，该光子源由Ocoustico-Optic Beam转向装置指向叶片样品，以进行快速和广角扫描。通过自适应学习系统增强的量子接收器将根据实时测量来优化接收器电路配置，以记住农业环境中高光子损失的问题。 PIS还将种植黄瓜植物，用厚毫的孢子接种它们，并收集叶片样品进行LAB量子量子敏感性实验。预期的结果是，将检测窗口从4-5天的最新时间缩短到淡化米尔夫感染后1-2天的新记录。通过对潜水员劳动力的培训，该团队的科学推力进一步完成，并优先考虑了代表性不足的STEM学生。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评估来支持的，并具有更广泛的影响。