Telepresence technologies and practices for enabling remote semi-autonomous CEA food production

CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture) is an advance technology for the production of biological materials, such as, food, flowers, and plant byproducts for commercial application. To establish successful operations, education, training, and experience for the system operators are required. In fact, assuming good system design, it is experience which may be the most important factor in the success of a CEA operation. Decision support from off-site consultants or other support groups can be beneficial to help the operation, but to provide an effective response, they require environmental information and plant status, as well as, easy access to sufficient data about the current and recent history of operations of the mechanical systems and the biological components. Telepresence procedures, which can be defined as practices which provide a representative environment for humans who then control devices and hardware within distant, hostile, or unique environments, can improve remote decision support of CEA facilities. The CEAC (Controlled Environment Agriculture Center) at the University of Arizona in Tucson, not only includes CEA classes for the on-campus education of undergraduate and graduate students, as well as, post-graduate growers and industry professionals, but also technologies for telepresence activities. To leverage educational reach, to complement research goals, and to utilize collective expertise which is not always onsite or available, a number of non-traditional decision-support activities have been established. Telepresence practices can substantially sustain or improve distant production systems through environmental monitoring, controlling, decisionsupport of operations, crop diagnostics, system diagnostics, and distance education, by using web cameras, climate control computers, and email. These procedures provide the information that grower operators often omit or overlook, and provide experiences and information for improvements of distance-education and support practices. Furthermore, these practices have provided effective support despite the inter-personal challenges of remote operations where operator (on site) and advisors (located elsewhere in the world) may have never met, nor have previously developed a level of mutual confidence and trust. INTRODUCTION CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture) is an advanced technology for the production of biological materials, such as, food, flowers, and plant byproducts for commercial application. To achieve successful outcomes in greenhouse operations, Giacomelli Section 6, Environmental Control, ISHS, Korea edited per reviewer education, training, and experience is required for the operators. Experience may be the most important factor which determines the success of CEA. Decision-support from offsite consultants or other support groups can only be beneficial and effective if based on environmental information and plant status, as well as, sufficient data about the current and recent history of operations of the mechanical systems and the biological components. Large-scale CEA corporate operations (5 to 40 ha) generally have one (or more) highly qualified person(s) with expertise and experience in CEA. This person becomes the resident advisor, who is available to provide consultation to the remaining work force. Should other more highly specialized information be required, then outside consultants are temporarily employed. Within smaller, typically new operations (1/2 to 5 ha) such as family greenhouse operations, such onsite experience may not be available, and bringing a consultant to the site may not be an affordable option. Web-based telepresence technologies may provide many smaller CEA growers the same expertise and availability as a larger grower. A contract consultant for CEA could develop a business relationship with several small operations, and provide decision-support for their plant nutritional program, plant protection program, and crop quality and yield through a combination of onsite visitation and telepresence. The modern grower has to be horticulturist, agri-businessman, mechanic, salesman and marketer. Telepresence will allow him to contract the horticultural expertise out to a consultant in a more cost-effective way. Telepresence can be defined as technological applications and practices which provide sufficient information for expert advisors to operate devices and hardware within a remote, real-time environment. Telepresence assisted the NASA Apollo astronauts in their geologic field work during their extra vehicular activities on the Moon in the early 1970‟s. A video camera became the „eyes‟ for the astro-geologists at NASA on the Earth. Teleoperation is performing work “at a distance", based on information determined by telepresence technologies. The term, „distance‟, may mean large physical distance such as an extra-terrestrial application, or a distance of scale, for example the use micromanipulator technology to conduct surgery on a microscopic level. Telerobotics is a specialized teleoperation, whereby a robot device or manipulator is controlled from a distance, typically with wireless communications. In all circumstances there are three essential sub-systems for telepresence activities between a home site and a remote site. There needs to be:  a home site technology which interfaces the user to the communication link,  a communication link which interfaces to the home site and the remote site, and,  remote site technology which interfaces with the communication link. The goal and ultimate value of combined use of telepresence, teleoperation and telerobotics, remotely is to obtain „information‟ that with „intelligence‟ capabilities [computer or human] leads to „knowledge‟. This knowledge then leads to „understanding‟ of a situation, so that „control‟ can be implemented to complete an „operation‟, and thus enhance or mitigate a situation. Modern CEA researchers and businesses have successfully utilized similar practices for teleagriculture including crop decision support and plant diagnostics. Teleagriculture uses information acquired remotely to help diagnose an abnormality, resolve a question, or verify a state of an event. This may be for the biological aspects of the plant in production, or the physical concern of a hardware system, or an Giacomelli Section 6, Environmental Control, ISHS, Korea edited per reviewer operational/managerial concern for resources, labor time, labor satisfaction, or the more general mission concern for goals, expectations, safety, or success/failure. Applications of telepresence for science are many, as described by Ardanuy et al., 2006, including an underwater observatory (PRIMO) located in Antarctica under 130m of water for internet-based teleoperation for scientist, educators, students to view a daily profile of environmental and biological data from sea floor to surface of the water environment. In an atmospheric application, telepresence is used for monitoring wavelengths ranging from the visual to radio to magnometers which monitor the atmosphere, ionosphere, and the magnetosphere. http://www.polar.umd.edu/instruments.html Telerobotics technology has provided an autonomous robot for the Antarctic Search for Meteorites Program (http://www.bigsignal.net/2000/index2.html). The result was NOMAD an autonomous robot, “a new kind of geologist”, that searches the continent for meteorites and has the onboard intelligence to classify indigenous rocks using a high resolution camera, and a visiblenear infrared reflection spectrometer, that approaches the immediate surface of a rock by means of a manipulator arm. Its autonomy is ensured in part by the on-board rangefinder which is able to detect obstacles, and Yaw-Pitch-Roll sensors to determine rough terrain. There have been at least 4 successful excursions, see http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/projects/meteorobot2000/expeditions/. The most recent excursion of NOMAD was the Big Signal project that allowed public access. More recently EventScope provided telepresence Mars exploration by 3-D data from the Mars Rover missions of “Spirit” and “Opportunity”. Telemedicine has had the most applications ranging from teleradiology (portable X-ray), teleultrsound (ultrasound scanner), Ophthalmology (microscope), and teledentistry (dental X-ray), each supported by a combination of video conferencing, satellite phones, document scanner and patient and pharmaceutical databases. All combine to offer remote medical help (Ardanuy et al., 2006). Other applications of interest are for education, advertising, sales, and entertainment. Tour operators would be able to use telepresence to allow potential customers to sample holiday locations. Telepresence systems could be incorporated into theme or nature parks allowing virtual access to many who could never travel to the site. The CEAC (Controlled Environment Agriculture Center) at the University of Arizona in Tucson, not only includes CEA classes for the on-campus education of undergraduate and graduate students as well as post-graduate growers and industry professionals, but also technologies for telepresence activities. To leverage educational reach, to complement research goals, and to utilize collective expertise, which is not always onsite or available, a number of non-traditional decision support activities have been established. The SPFGC (South Pole Food Growth Chamber) project began as a contract for a deliverable product that could produce fresh vegetables at the Amundson-Scott New South Pole Station, the USA South Pole research station located at the South Pole in Antarctica (Giacomelli et al, 2006). After its successful establishment, and operation, it has become a remote site for education and research with the help of telepresence practices. The South Pole Food Growth Chamber (SPFGC) Giacomelli Section 6, Environmental Control, ISHS, Korea edited per reviewer When fresh food products are impossible t