Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Climate change is a serious threat to Canadian food security due to rising temperatures and increased frequency of extreme weather which can both cause direct damage to crops and disrupt labour availability. In this application, we propose a robotics-based response underpinned by two goals: first, improving modelling of the earth's changing climate to better understand the effects on food systems; and second, to develop robotic technologies support sustainable farming. The funding requested in this application will be used to purchase a robot platform with which we will integrate our research to achieve both goals and to advance the research programs of three principal investigators: Dr. Russell Buchanan, Dr. Gennaro Notomista and Dr. Yue Hu, all based at the University of Waterloo. General Circulation Models (GCMs) for the Earth's atmosphere are parametric mathematical models that try to capture the effects of human activities on the evolution of environmental phenomena of interest, which range from the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere to the formation of hurricanes. To build GCMs, temporally and spatially dispersed data needs to be collected, particularly in remote regions. Due to difficulty of accessing remote areas, current studies have been limited to data collection in single locations or to short time durations. We will address this by deploying an autonomous robot system, based on the purchased robot platform, to gather vital climate data over large areas and long periods of time. Simultaneously, climate change is already affecting farming systems and food chains. We will use the same robot system to automate farming tasks and to support organic agriculture. This includes targeted, herbicide-free weeding; automated crop health assessment; and autonomous harvesting of certain crops which are difficult to mechanize e.g. grapes, apples or peaches. To achieve these goals, we are requesting funding to purchase a quadruped legged robot with an attached robot arm. Legged locomotion has been shown to be ideal for navigating tough, uneven terrain such as on farms or natural settings. The attached robot arm will enable execution of farming tasks as well as deployment of environmental sensing devices. Our three research programs investigate control of dynamic robot systems, robot perception, and development of systems for long-term automation and ecological research. Together, the research we are establishing at the University of Waterloo aims to develop perception, intelligence and control systems that enable legged robots to operate over sustained periods of time in challenging non-controlled environments including agricultural and natural ecosystems. We are requesting funds to buy an integrated quadruped robot with arm which we will develop into a system capable of effectively performing long-term ecological tasks for both agriculture and environmental monitoring to combat and mitigate the effects of climate change.