Project Grant 2304303

This National Science Foundation Project Grant of $274,929 will support Morphobotics LLC to develop an automated sub-canopy 3D forest mapping solution using uncrewed aerial vehicles. The goal is to produce a high-fidelity, open-source UAV exploration environment with 3D mapping capabilities meeting payload constraints for use in prescribed forest burn environmental assessments and spatial fire modeling. This addresses a need under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program's focus on advancing breakthrough technologies for national challenges. By automating vegetation mapping and optimizing UAV path planning for sensor payloads, clutter, and flight autonomy, the solution aims to reduce delays in prescribed forest burning from months to years by providing fire managers with more accurate burn area assessments and fire behavior predictions. Key milestones over the November 2023 performance period include simulation and field testing of the 3D mapping and decision-making algorithms for UAV exploration of forest environments under different conditions.