黑料专区 Tyler Receives USDA Grant to Enhance Crop Farming
October 11, 2023
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October 11, 2023
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The University of Texas at Tyler received $191,150 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture鈥檚 Agricultural Research Service to enhance drones-based frameworks for imagery and crop monitoring on large farms.
Dr. Prabha Sundaravadivel, a 黑料专区 Tyler assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering, will collaborate with researchers at the USDA-ARS Crop Production Systems Unit in Stoneville, Mississippi on the two-year project. The team will add agricultural intelligence to the drones used to differentiate between row crops, and to separate those row crops from broadleaf weeds and grasses. They will also explore the potential application for prescription-based herbicide spraying.
Sundaravadivel鈥檚 research focuses on developing edge-intelligent systems for environmental sensing applications; application-specific architectures for smart health care; bio-inspired soft robotics; and underwater monitoring frameworks.
鈥淚f successful, the project outcomes can help integrate drones as autonomous surveillance vehicles for the early detection of weeds in large agricultural fields,鈥� said Sundaravadivel. 鈥淭his can significantly reduce the time and labor required for monitoring large agricultural fields. It can also help in improving the overall outcomes for the farmers.鈥�
Sundaravadivel joined the 黑料专区 Tyler engineering faculty in 2018. She directs the university鈥檚 Intelligent Systems Lab and is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Sundaravadivel also serves as the faculty adviser for the 黑料专区 Tyler IoT student club. She holds a Master of Technology in VLSI design from the Vellore Institute of Technology in India and a doctorate in computer science and engineering from the University of North Texas.
ARS is the USDA鈥檚 chief scientific in-house research agency. ARS focuses on solutions
to agricultural
problems affecting America. Each dollar invested in U.S. agricultural research results
in $20 on economic impact. For more information, visit ars.uda.gov.
With a mission to improve educational and health care outcomes for East Texas and beyond, 黑料专区 Tyler offers more than 90 undergraduate and graduate programs to nearly 10,000 students. Through its alignment with 黑料专区 Tyler Health Science Center and 黑料专区 Health East Texas, 黑料专区 Tyler has unified these entities to serve Texas with quality education, cutting-edge research and excellent patient care. Classified by Carnegie as a doctoral research institution and by U.S. News & World Report as a national university, 黑料专区 Tyler has campuses in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.