USDA awards $3m in grants to advance the use of robotics in production agriculture.

December 15, 2014

3 Min Read
USDA robotics research grants to improve ag

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced $3 million in grants Dec. 15 to advance the use of robots that work alongside people in American production agriculture.

The four grants are part of the National Robotics Initiative (NRI), a federal research partnership that includes NIFA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Defense.

"We are on the cusp of seeing incredible advancement in the use of robotics and sensors supporting agriculture in this country," NIFA director Sonny Ramaswamy said. "These technologies, which are components of the 'internet of agricultural things,' have the ability to make agriculture production more efficient, saving time and money — benefits that can be passed from producers to consumers."

NIFA's fiscal year 2014 awards include:

* Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Ga. — $900,498 for a project that will develop the robotic technology required to autonomously collect leaves and soil samples that are critical to the implementation of an integrated crop and pest management system.

* University of Illinois in Urbana, Ill. — $532,607 for a project to build a robust agricultural framework for cooperative networks of human operators and robotic mobile platforms that provide guaranteed performance in highly variable terrain and soil conditions and support interchangeability of tools, platforms and crops.

* Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa. — $556,726 for a project to develop a general approach for the detection and tracking of people in agricultural environments, which is a requirement for the safe and effective deployment of robotic agricultural equipment in many applications.

* Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. — $1,010,169 for research that will create core technologies for robot/human and robot/environment interfaces needed in building an intelligent bin-managing system implementable in the natural environment of tree fruit orchards.

The goal of NRI is to accelerate the development and use of robots in the U.S. that work alongside or cooperatively with people. This program aims to develop the next generation of robotics, to advance the capability and usability of such systems and artifacts, and to encourage existing and new communities to focus on innovative application areas.

NIFA's role in NRI focuses on research that enhances food production, processing and distribution that benefit consumers and rural communities. Examples of technologies to be investigated include:

* Automated systems for inspection, sorting, processing or handling of animal or plant products (including forest products) in post-harvest, processing or product distribution environments.

* Improved robotics for inspection, sorting and handling of plants and flowers in greenhouses and nurseries or for handling (e.g., sorting, vaccinating, deworming) large numbers of live animals.

* Multi-modal and rapid sensing systems for detecting microbial contamination, defects, ripeness, physical damage, size, shape and other quality attributes of plant or animal products (including forest products) or for monitoring air or water quality.

Additionally, projects are expected to engage with industry and academia to identify research needs and provide training for the next generation of scientists, engineers and technologists.

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