Paper Session I-A - Hands-off Farming in Space

This paper focuses on the mechanization of a biomass production system (BPS) in enclosed environments for space agriculture. It requires an intelligent computer for the autonomous adjustment of controlled elements and a robotic system for measurement of plant growth and harvest. This research is to develop and integrate a BPS framework that enables autonomy, monitoring, diagnosis, fault detection and correction, and production optimization. The key feature is an integrated health monitoring and production management and control system (IHPMCS) implemented with the robotic system. IHPMCS is an integrated algorithm integrated into an embedded computer that can process biomass production data in real-time based on measurements of production elements in the chamber. The concept proposed is to take the human expert out of the control loop and build his expertise into the computer to yield an autonomous BPS. This will provide an optimal and autonomous biomass production capability so that BPS can maximize the ability to grow plants and allow astronauts to be more involved in scientific or technical activities. This is a collaborative research between academia (University of Central Florida), industry (Dynamac), and government agency (NASA) at Kennedy Space Center

Intelligent control of life support for space missions

developed and field-tested intelligent control systems for crew air regeneration and water recovery. These systems support human intervention when needed but operate autonomously most of the time