Space Technology Research Grants
Autonomous Food Production
Project Introduction
Growing food in space will not only allow us to extend the length of future missions in space, but also significantly increase the astronauts' well-being. The proposed research focus on the fundamental sensing and manipulation challenges of automating parts of the operations of in-space greenhouses to facilitate tele-operation. Specifically, we are investigating machine learning techniques to extract the growth stage of plants from a combination of volumetric, color, and infrared data, and novel algorithms for manipulating flexible structures using two arms, much like a human gardener does when picking a fruit.
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Anticipated Benefits
This project focuses on fundamental challenges associated with the automation of in-space greenhouse operations. Such systems would not only allow us to extend the length of future missions in space, but also significantly increase the astronauts' well-being.
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Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Colorado | Supporting Organization | Industry | |
| University of Colorado at Boulder | Supporting Organization | Academic | Boulder, CO |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
Colorado
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Organizational Responsibility
Responsible Mission Directorate:
- Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD)
Responsible Program:
- Space Technology Research Grants
Project Management
Program Director:
Program Manager:
Principal Investigator:
- Nikolaus Correll
Project Duration
Start: Sep 2012
End: Dec 2015
Technology Maturity (TRL)
| Start: | 2 |
| Current: | 3 |
| Estimated End: | 3 |
Applied Research
Development
Demo & Test
Technology Areas
Primary:
- TA 6 Human Health, Life Support, and Habitation Systems
- TA 6.1 Environmental Control and Life Support Systems and Habitation Systems
- TA 6.1.4 Habitation
Other / Cross-cutting:
- TA 6 Human Health, Life Support, and Habitation Systems
- TA 6.1 Environmental Control and Life Support Systems and Habitation Systems