SBIR Phase I: Deep Learning Hydroponic Forecasting System for Precision Farming

SBIR第一阶段：精准农业深度学习水培预报系统

• 批准号: 1913616
• 负责人: Graham Smith
• 金额: $ 22.31万
• 依托单位: BABYLON MICRO-FARMS INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-07-01 至 2020-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1913616&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Deep; Learning; Hydroponic

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is the introduction of urban farming as a viable new industry for small businesses by driving down the barrier of entry to hydroponic farming. Conventional hydroponic farming necessitates complex systems in which a variety of variables must be monitored and controlled by a skilled operator in response to changes throughout the plant lifecycle and care must be taken to control these variables precisely. This need for demanding management by a technically-educated farmer has restricted the widespread adoption of urban hydroponic farming. This project will result in a fully-automated precision farming platform managing the full scope of urban farming operations. The platform uses trends in a hydroponic grown zone to forecast changes to system variables and crop growth and to automatically and intelligently adjust vital parameters to optimize resource usage and maximize output. Because the precision doser will not require extensive agricultural expertise, it will make hydroponic farming accessible to small-scale farmers, restaurateurs, and private consumers. Once it becomes possible for non-industrial operations to establish hydroponics, urban farms can place sources of fresh, organic produce right in the heart of food deserts without reliance on GMOs, herbicides, or pesticides.This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop a hydroponics farming control platform which intelligently predicts crop growth, forecasts vital system variables including the pH and electrical conductivity, and tunes environmental parameters in accordance with the forecasts, precisely adjusting the growing zone to maximize crop output while minimizing wasted resources. More than one-tenth of households in the United States cope without adequate nutrition or rely on processed foods, leading to the dual crisis of food insecurity and obesity throughout urban environments. Because they do not have the same extensive land and water requirements as traditional farming, hydroponic operations can take root in urban environments where access to fresh, nutritious produce is restricted. This project will target two aspects of hydroponic agriculture essential to the development of a precision farming tool: crop output and system parameters. By analyzing trends in plant growth, the platform will inform decision-making around resource usage, allowing the grower to adjust system parameters that promote the most successful crops. The final platform will directly address the concern of food deserts in urban localities, by offering a means to grow fresh produce locally, reducing the production costs of standard farming operations, and optimizing crop output in hydroponic systems.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.

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是通过降低水培农业的进入门槛，将城市农业作为一个可行的新产业引入小企业。传统的水培农业需要复杂的系统，其中必须由熟练的操作员监测和控制各种变量，以响应整个植物生命周期的变化，并且必须注意精确地控制这些变量。这种对受过技术教育的农民进行严格管理的需求限制了城市水培农业的广泛采用。该项目将产生一个完全自动化的精准农业平台，管理城市农业运营的全部范围。该平台利用水培种植区的趋势来预测系统变量和作物生长的变化，并自动智能地调整重要参数，以优化资源利用和最大化产量。由于精确剂量不需要广泛的农业专业知识，它将使小规模农民，餐馆老板和私人消费者能够使用水培农业。一旦非工业生产的水培技术成为可能，城市农场就可以在食物沙漠的中心地带种植新鲜的有机农产品，而无需依赖转基因生物、除草剂或杀虫剂。SBIR一期项目拟开发水培农业控制平台，智能预测作物生长，预测pH值、电导率等重要系统变量，并根据预测结果调整环境参数，精确调整种植区域，实现作物产量最大化和资源浪费最小化。在美国，超过十分之一的家庭缺乏足够的营养或依赖加工食品，导致城市环境中普遍存在粮食不安全和肥胖的双重危机。由于它们不像传统农业那样需要大量的土地和水，因此水培操作可以在获得新鲜营养产品受限的城市环境中扎根。该项目将针对水培农业的两个方面：作物产量和系统参数，这两个方面对精确农业工具的发展至关重要。通过分析植物生长趋势，该平台将为围绕资源使用的决策提供信息，允许种植者调整系统参数，以促进最成功的作物。最终的平台将直接解决城市地区的食物沙漠问题，通过提供一种在当地种植新鲜农产品的方法，降低标准农业操作的生产成本，并优化水培系统的作物产量。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。