I-Corps: Instant Sediment Grain Size Measurements

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发技术，以快速确定粒度，以便设计、执行和评估工程工作，例如气候适应(即海滩滋养)、砂石开采、海岸和河流工程以及河流恢复。将探索四种商业应用。首先，沿海工程公司被要求在海滩修复过程中匹配当地的粒度，这就需要在现场和附近的所有沙子资源(陆上和近海)进行粒度分析。随着气候变化，这种性质的工程预计会在频率和规模上增加。其次，最近的研究表明，如果用粉碎的橄榄石(一种自然产生的矿物)代替海滩沙子，在海滩营养期间，二氧化碳可能会减少。二氧化碳脱除的测量和验证需要监测橄榄石颗粒大小的时间演变。使用这项技术可以快速完成这项工作。第三，前期工作侧重于沿海应用，但河流修复也必须与目标粒度相匹配，以确保沉积物在洪水条件下不会立即被冲走，并且新的沉积物适合动植物栖息地。第四，这种设备可能对采矿集料的砂石分类有用。这个i-Corps项目基于手持相机测量系统的开发，该系统使用设备上的机器学习，不需要校准，并在1秒内提供准确的现场测量。地球上的大部分地区都覆盖着一层流动的沉积物。沉积物的大小决定了它在什么条件下会移动；更大的沉积物需要更大的力才能移动。粒度是地质、工程和其他土方活动的一次测量。测量沉积物颗粒大小的标准技术非常耗时，而且只能在实验室环境中进行，而不是在野外进行。将样品带回实验室进行分析可能需要长达6个月的时间，即使表面颗粒大小可能在几秒钟到几分钟的时间尺度上变化。这项创新专注于继续开发一种可以即时分析晶粒度的现有设备。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of technology to determine grain size quickly allowing for designing, performing, and assessing engineering works, for example climate adaptations (i.e., beach nourishment), sand and gravel mining, coastal and river engineering, and river restoration. Four commercial applications will be explored. First, coastal engineering firms are required to match local grain size during beach restorations, necessitating grain size analysis at the site and all nearby sand resources (onshore and offshore). Engineering works of this nature are expected to increase in frequency and magnitude as climate changes. Second, recent work suggests that carbon dioxide drawdown can occur during beach nourishment if crushed olivine (a naturally occurring mineral) is used instead of beach sand. The measurement and verification of carbon dioxide removal requires monitoring the time evolution of olivine grain size. This can be done quickly using this technology. Third, preliminary work has focused on coastal applications, but river restorations also must match a target grain size to make sure that the sediment does not immediately wash away in flood conditions, and that new sediment is suitable for habitat for flora and fauna. Fourth, this device is potentially useful for classifying sand and gravel for mining aggregates.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a handheld camera-based measurement system that uses on-device machine learning, does not require calibration, and provides accurate in-the-field measurements within 1 second. Much of the earth is covered with a veneer of mobile sediment. The size of this sediment determines under what conditions it will move; larger sediment requires larger forces to move. Grain size is a first order measurement for geologic, engineering, and other earthmoving activities. The standard techniques for measuring sediment grain size are time consuming and performed exclusively in laboratory settings, not in the field. Bringing samples back to the lab to be analyzed can take up to 6 months, even as surface grain size can change on the timescale of seconds to minutes. This innovation is focused on the continued development of an existing device that can analyze grain size instantaneously.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.