Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/21

Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting period, Sporian has continued reaching out to target audiences including USDA researchers, agricultural service providers, and other stakeholders. A major part of this effort has been collaborating with almost two dozen USDA personnel across the country to discuss technology development and transition. Engaging and surveying various USDA centers helps Sporian identify industry needs, define application requirements, and promote technology transition to market. In addition to USDA stakeholders, Sporian has also been engaging members of the target audience that are potential customers of the developing technology including Arbor Drone, Agribotix, and Crop Quest. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The ongoing effort has offered opportunities for training and professional development through the participation/attendance of industry conferences, stakeholder meetings, and individual study. This effort has also facilitated the opportunity to work with crucial researchers during development including various USDA ARS sites. Sporian actively participates in agricultural events and organizations across the country to make sure Sporian personnel and the developing technology are familiarized within the agriculture market, both locally and nationally, as well as to keep current on events and developments within the industry. Other professional developments resulting from this project include related additional projects and applications which have been pursued by Sporian, such as utilizing a similar hyperspectral system for construction and demolition, food safety, nuclear nonproliferation, and mining site characterization. Sporian has also utilized several junior personnel on the ongoing effort who receive on-the-job training to advance professional skills and experience relevant to the technology area. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?At the time of this report, primary efforts toward disseminating results to communities of interest has focused on ARS/Academic researchers and agricultural industry stakeholder participants on the status of the technology development. Sporian is also looking at possible ancillary markets for the technology to improve the value and reputation of the technology and the reputation of Sporian as an instrumentation company. Sporian will continue to pursue presentations and publications throughout Phase II and beyond to promote dissemination of results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Major accomplishments included: Worked with Ag industry stakeholders to develop a revised fundamental understanding of key technical and economic requirements for practical implementation of proposed technology and critical success factors, and quantitative analysis supporting economic targets for the proposed technology. Developed several generations of full system designs including all hardware and software elements (optics, electronics, and packaging), including final prototype that met all target feature and form factor goals. Produced rigorous experimental results using initial prototype systems to guide subsequent design revision/optimization. Completed definitive demonstration of technology viability in application environments using Phase II developed prototypes, laying the groundwork for post Phase II technology transition/commercialization.

Publications

Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20

Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting period, Sporian has continued reaching out to target audiences including USDA researchers, agricultural service providers, and other stakeholders. A major part of this effort has been collaborating with almost two dozen USDA personnel across the country to discuss technology development and transition. Engaging and surveying various USDA centers helps Sporian identify industry needs, define application requirements, and promote technology transition to market. In addition to USDA stakeholders, Sporian has also been engaging members of the target audience that are potential customers of the developing technology including Arbor Drone, Agribotix, and Crop Quest. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The ongoing effort has offered opportunities for training and professional development through the participation/attendance of industry conferences, stakeholder meetings, and individual study. This effort has also facilitated the opportunity to work with crucial researchers during development including various USDA ARS sites. Sporian actively participates in agricultural events and organizations across the country to make sure Sporian personnel and the developing technology are familiarized within the agriculture market, both locally and nationally, as well as to keep current on events and developments within the industry. Other professional developments resulting from this project include related additional projects and applications which have been pursued by Sporian, such as utilizing a similar hyperspectral system for construction and demolition, food safety, nuclear nonproliferation, and mining site characterization. Sporian has also utilized several junior personnel on the ongoing effort who receive on-the-job training to advance professional skills and experience relevant to the technology area. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?At the time of this report, primary efforts toward disseminating results to communities of interest has focused on ARS/Academic researchers and agricultural industry stakeholder participants on the status of the technology development. Sporian is also looking at possible ancillary markets for the technology to improve the value and reputation of the technology and the reputation of Sporian as an instrumentation company. Sporian will continue to pursue presentations and publications throughout Phase II and beyond to promote dissemination of results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Efforts during the next reporting period will focus on completing the proposed Phase II Objectives/tasks focused on detailed total system design, several rounds of prototyping and testing, and working with relevant research and industry partners for field testing. Such a development plan should position Sporian to favorably transition the technology for post-Phase II customer-driven testing, certification, and commercialization. The key Tasks remaining under this effort are: Continue working with technical and transition partners/customers to define key system requirements, data usage strategies, and foster commercial transition. Continued prototyping and lab-scale testing of the first-generation integrated (hardware and electronics) system. Constructing second- generation full system prototypes. Performing additional lab-scale testing of revised hardware and work with technical/industry partners to test and demonstrate the developed system in a relevant application/field environment.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The Phase II effort is to focus on: continued collaboration with industry stakeholders; several generations of system design and prototyping; rigorous lab scale testing; and working with research and industry partners to field/flight test final prototypes that meet all proposed feature and form-factor targets. Efforts during this during the project thus far have focused on proposed tasks 1-7, including: Continued work with transition partners to foster commercial transition; Completion of a fully developed, fully integrated, system design (hardware, electronics, and firmware) implementing all target features and capabilities; Initial fully integrated system prototyping and testing; Revising hardware/electronics designs and constructing second- generation full system prototypes; and Initial lab-scale and relevant application/field environment testing with technical/industry partners. While the final system development and testing efforts are still underway, prototype demonstrations have clearly showed the capability of the Phase II hardware as a hyperspectral measurement system, and demonstration of systems for the target use case specific applications including UAS and Lab scale systems.

Publications

Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19

Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting period, Sporian has been reaching out to target audiences including USDA researchers, agricultural service providers, and other stakeholders. A major part of this effort has been collaborating with almost two dozen USDA personnel across the country to discuss technology development and transition. Engaging and surveying various USDA centers helps Sporian identify industry needs, define application requirements, and promote technology transition to market. In addition to USDA stakeholders, Sporian has also been engaging members of the target audience that are potential customers of the developing technology including Arbor Drone, Agribotix, and Crop Quest. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The ongoing effort has offered opportunities for training and professional development through the participation/attendance of industry conferences, stakeholder meetings, and individual study. This effort has also facilitated the opportunity to work with crucial researchers during development including various USDA ARS sites. Sporian actively participates in agricultural events and organizations across the country to make sure Sporian personnel and the developing technology are familiarized within the agriculture market, both locally and nationally, as well as to keep current on events and developments within the industry. Other professional developments resulting from this project include related additional projects and applications which have been pursued by Sporian, such as utilizing a similar hyperspectral system for construction and demolition, food safety, nuclear nonproliferation, and mining site characterization. Sporian has also utilized several junior personnel on the ongoing effort who receive on-the-job training to advance professional skills and experience relevant to the technology area. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?At the time of this report, primary efforts toward disseminating results to communities of interest has focused on ARS/Academic researchers and agricultural industry stakeholder participants on the status of the technology development. Sporian is also looking at possible ancillary markets for the technology to improve the value and reputation of the technology and the reputation of Sporian as an instrumentation company. Sporian will continue to pursue presentations and publications throughout Phase II and beyond to promote dissemination of results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Efforts during the next reporting period will focus on completing the proposed Phase II Objectives/tasks focused on detailed total system design, several rounds of prototyping and testing, and working with relevant research and industry partners for field testing. Such a development plan should position Sporian to favorably transition the technology for post-Phase II customer-driven testing, certification, and commercialization. The key Tasks remaining under this effort are: Continue working with technical and transition partners/customers to define key system requirements, data usage strategies, and foster commercial transition. Continued prototyping and lab-scale testing of the first-generation integrated (hardware and electronics) system. Based on test results, revising hardware/electronics designs and construct second- generation full system prototypes. Performing additional lab-scale testing of revised hardware and work with technical/industry partners to test and demonstrate the developed system in a relevant application/field environment.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The Phase II effort is to focus on: continued collaboration with industry stakeholders; several generations of system design and prototyping; rigorous lab scale testing; and working with research and industry partners to field/flight test final prototypes that meet all proposed feature and form-factor targets. efforts thus far have focused on proposed tasks 1-4, including: Continued work with transition partners to foster commercial transition; Completion of a fully developed, fully integrated, system design (hardware, electronics, and firmware) implementing all target features and capabilities; and Initial fully integrated system prototyping and testing. While the system development efforts are still underwater, early prototype demonstrations have clearly showed the capability of the Phase II hardware as a hyperspectral measurement system, with the bulk of the remaining Phase II effort to focus on the development and demonstration of systems for the target use case specific applications.

Publications