Project Grant 80NSSC21K1245

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084) provides $274,525 to Leaficient Inc., a for-profit organization, to develop and evaluate a novel light production system for controlled environment agriculture (CEA) that dynamically shapes light to optimize power efficiency and biomass growth. The project aims to improve the energy efficiency of indoor agriculture by using advanced optics, machine...

This Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program (CFDA 10.212) supports the development of an autonomous, mobile crop monitoring system for vertical farms. The $174,980 award to Acreage Farms LLC will fund the build and integration of two 3D monitoring systems to collect environmental data, provide analytics, and enable farm control capabilities. This technology aims to...

This $4 million project grant from the Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program will fund research at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) to establish a testbed for applications of advanced artificial intelligence and sensor technologies to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from indoor and controlled environment agriculture through recycling CO2 generated by human...

This $324,213 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) program supports the development of a novel AI infrastructure to integrate multi-scale sensing data and 3D modeling for enhanced crop monitoring and assessment. The key products to be delivered include: An AI system that integrates satellite, drone, and in-situ sensor data to accurately model 3D crop structures, including both above- and below-ground...

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded a $650,000 Project Grant to Agrofocal Technologies, Inc. under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program (CFDA 10.212). The funding supports the development of Agrofocal's real-time crop monitoring system that can be mounted on any vehicle to provide high-resolution, under-the-canopy images of crops. This system enables farmers to monitor crop health,...

This federal Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program provides $649,954 to Intelligent Fiber Optic Systems Corporation (Ifos) to develop a scalable, multi-functional, distributed fiber-optic sensor network for precision greenhouse monitoring applications. The goal is to create a sensor system capable of quasi-distributed...

This $250,000 project grant awarded by the National Science Foundation's Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CFDA 47.070) program supports an interdisciplinary research effort led by the University of Virginia to develop a networked cyber-physical system for controlled-environment agriculture (CEA). The project aims to optimize crop production and energy efficiency in CEA facilities to address global food security challenges. Key aspects of the research include: 1) integrating...

Just Greens LLC, doing business as Aerofarms, received a $594,974 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program. The award funds research into implementing ratooning, a proven technique allowing one root and stem system to produce multiple harvests, in the indoor production of leafy greens. Phase I of the project studied...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Office of International Science and Engineering (CFDA 47.079) is providing $300,000 to Georgia Tech Research Corporation to advance innovations in digital agriculture and optimization through an international research network. The "AI4OPT-AG" project will leverage controlled-environment agriculture and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, and advanced data analytics to enhance global food...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Project Grant award under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CFDA 47.070) program provides $451,000 in funding to Clemson University to develop a networked cyber-physical system (CPS) for controlled-environment agriculture (CEA). The key objectives are to reduce energy consumption and costs while optimizing crop production efficiency in CEA facilities. The project will integrate advanced data analytics, renewable energy, and energy...