Project Grant 20236702240918

** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** OVERVIEWDESPITE RECENT ADVANCES IN AGRICULTURE, INCREASE IN THE INTENSITY AND FREQUENCY OF CLIMATE EVENTS (FLOODING AND DROUGHT), SHRINKING PRODUCTIVE AGRICULTURAL LAND, AND LACK OF SKILLED LABORERS POSE SEVERE CHALLENGES TO OUR AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM. THE INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP OF SUSTAINABLE FOOD PRODUCTION WITH CLIMATE CHANGE CALLS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF CLIMATE-RESILIENT ROBOTIC TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL OPTIMIZE RESOURCE USE AND MINIMIZE ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINTS. FURTHERMORE, SUCH TECHNOLOGIES WILL PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN CULTIVATING KNOWLEDGE AND SCIENCE-DRIVEN TOOLS ESSENTIAL FOR EFFECTIVE ADAPTATION OF A SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SYSTEM. THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL IS TO ADDRESS THE NEXT-GENERATION AGRICULTURE CHALLENGES RELATING TO (1) SEED SOWING IN ADVERSE CLIMATE CONDITIONS (EXTREME SOIL MOISTURE CONDITIONS SUCH AS WET (WATERLOGGING)), AND (2) SOIL AND PLANT HEALTH MONITORING THROUGH PROXIMAL (SURFACE, SUB- SURFACE SOIL AND NEAR-PLANT) SENSING, TASKS THAT REQUIRE LOCOMOTION VERSATILITY AND MANIPULATION DEXTERITY. TO ADDRESS THESE CHALLENGES, WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP AGLEGLAB, A NOVEL PLATFORM THAT INTEGRATES ELEMENTS OF LEGGED LOCOMOTION WITH ADVANCED SENSING (FOR SOIL-PLANT HEALTH MONITORING) AND DEXTEROUS MANIPULATION CAPABILITIES. IT IS WORTH EMPHASIZING THAT, AS EFFECTIVE SOIL-PLANT HEALTH MONITORING REQUIRES PHYSICAL AND PROXIMAL INTERACTION WITH SOIL AND PLANT (NEAR CANOPY), EXISTING MONITORING TECHNOLOGIES (E.G., CAMERAS ON UAVS, WHEELED ROBOTS) ARE UNABLE TO MEET SUCH REQUIREMENTS.INTELLECTUAL MERITTHE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL MAKE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO THREE IMPORTANT AREAS: (#1) LEGGED ROBOTS AND THEIR LOCOMOTION IN HARSH ENVIRONMENTS: (1A) A NOVEL FOLDABLE SPIKED AND PADDED (FSP) ROBOTIC FOOT DESIGN FOR RELIABLE SUPPORT AND FORWARD PROPULSION IN SOFT WET GROUND LOCOMOTION; (1B) AN EMPIRICAL MODEL OF THE NEW ROBOTIC FOOT'S INTERACTION FORCE/TORQUE WITH SOFT WET GROUND; AND (1C) QUADRUPEDAL WALKING CONTROL ON SOFT WET GROUND: STABILITY CRITERIA, MOTION PLANNING, DYNAMIC MODELING AND SIMULATION. (#2) MODELING, SENSING AND CONTROL OF TENSEGRITY MANIPULATORS: (2A) EXPLICIT MODELING USING LIE-GROUPS THAT ALLOW FOR USE OF RECURSIVE MULTI-BODY DYNAMICS APPROACH AND ARE COMPUTATIONALLY MORE EFFICIENT; (2B) SHAPE ESTIMATION USING CONTINUOUS CURVATURE MODELING AND SENSOR FUSION OF IMUS AND VISION FEEDBACK; (2C) REAL-TIME, DEXTEROUS CONTROL. (#3) FIELD MIR REFLECTANCE SPECTROSCOPY FOR THE MONITORING OF SOIL HEALTH (I.E., NUTRIENTS, CARBON, AND MOISTURE) AND PLANT HEALTH (NUTRIENTS, STRESS RESPONSES, AND DISEASES), FOR ECONOMIC, HIGH-FIDELITY AND THROUGHPUT SENSING.BROADER IMPACTSTHE PROPOSED AGLEGLAB WILL SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE HUMAN EFFORT AND TIME IN AGRICULTURE ACTIVITIES (SOWING) AND DATA COLLECTION (HEALTH MONITORING) UNDER UNSTRUCTURED AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION SETTINGS. SOIL (SURFACE AND SUB-SURFACE) AND PLANT (ABOVE AND UNDER THE CANOPY) HEALTH INDICATORS WILL PROVIDE RICHER INFORMATION AT TEMPORAL SCALE (WHEN COMPARED WI,TH VISUAL PLANT MARKERS WHICH CAN BE CONSIDERED POST-CROP) TO MAKE CRITICAL MANAGEMENT DECISIONS FOR OPTIMAL AND EFFICIENT USE OF RESOURCES. IT WILL HAVE PROFOUND IMPACT ON ADAPTATION OF THE AGRICULTURE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO CLIMATE CHANGE, SPECIFICALLY, SOWING IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS. THE AGLEGLAB'S ABILITY TO CONSTRUCT HIGH-FIDELITY, HIGH-THROUGHPUT, SPACIOTEMPORAL PLANT- HEALTH MAPS WILL HAVE RESULT IN ECONOMIC USE OF RESOURCES (LESS WASTAGE) AND EFFICIENT USE OF LAND. DEMOS OF AGLEGLAB AT MSU'S DELTA RESEARCH AND EXTENSION CENTER IN A FIELD DAY WILL EXPOSE THE FARMERS TO THE POTENTIAL OF AGLEGLAB FOR AUTONOMOUS SOIL-PLANT MONITORING AND ACCESSING THE FIELD UNDER FLOODED CONDITIONS. IT WILL LEVERAGE THE APPLIED CONCEPTUAL KNOWLEDGE OF ROBOTICS (SPECIFICALLY, GEOMETRY, MECHATRONICS, MODELING, AND CONTROL) TO PROMOTE K-12 STEM LITERACY AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, RECRUIT, EDUCATE AND MENTOR WOMEN AND UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITY (URM) STUDENTS, AND DEVELOP DIVERSE AND GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE STEM WORKFORCE. SPECIAL EFFORTS WILL BE MADE TO ENCOURAGE RECRUITMENT OF FEMALE AND URM STUDENTS THROUGH INTERACTION WITH UA CHAPTERS OF SOCIETY OF WOMEN ENGINEERS, NATIONAL SOCIETY OF BLACK ENGINEERS AND SOCIETY OF HISPANIC PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS.?