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Completed TRL 2 (started at 2, targeting 3)
A key challenge to planned crewed missions beyond low-Earth orbit is the infeasibility of regular resupply from Earth due to physical distance and launch economics. As such, controlled environment plant production is poised to supply a greater portion of crew diet. Crew time is valuable, however, and crops are also subject to contamination from human interaction. Thus, there is a pressing need to develop autonomous food production systems for use in space that can quantify and minimize the risk of crew malnourishment. Digital twin technology consisting of 1) a virtual model of a physical system, and 2) integration of the model with a real-time sensor network, can address this need by autonomously maintaining controlled environment plant production within control limits. The first objective of this proposal is to identify nondestructive methods for predicting shoot biomass at harvest and carotenoid content of lettuce plants grown in controlled environments. This will be done by developing correlations between hyperspectral image data of plants with values determined by destructive analysis. The second objective of this proposal is to adapt a functional 3-D plant model to be updatable with real-time sensor data and to develop a control scheme with the model for maintaining optimal growing conditions. This will be performed by combining time-independent submodels, then integrating time-dependence by recalculating parameters in each time step. The control scheme will be developed using model-predictive control. The proposed work will produce digital twin components that will raise autonomous space food production technology to a proof-of concept level (TRL 3). Ultimately, the proposed work will reduce the need for resupply of future long-duration crewed missions and lay the groundwork for future digital twin technology development of biological systems.
Ultimately, the proposed work will reduce the need for resupply of future long-duration crewed missions and laythe groundwork for future digital twin technology development of biological systems.
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