Progress 07/01/24 to 02/28/25
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audience(s) reached during this reporting period included farmers, ranchers, granges and CDs in the state of Washington that are focused on optimizing the economic viability of farmland and ranchland in the pacific northwest region of the United State of America.The overriding goal of this SBIR project is 100% focused on helping the United States farming and ranching industry optimize the most cost-effective water use and nutrient management operations for both their crops and livestock; thereby, greatly advancing both the commercial benefits and outcomes for an even stronger United States based agricultural economy for existing and future generations. All efforts completed during this reporting period were geared toward reaching this goal as quickly as possible for the least amount of investment that is required to commercialize a new low-cost, multiparameter sensor technology that will support these efforts. The dip-style sensors, as discussed with the main target audience of local farmers and rancher at community events during this reporting period, will lead to order-of-magnitude robustness and affordability improvements based on operating metrics and total ownership costs, respectively, for being able to perform critical water quality measurements for advanced farming and ranching applications. For example, these sensors will provide a new, innovative solution for being able to create smart water monitoring systems that are up to 10 times more affordable, 4 times smaller and 6 times more power efficient than the status quo. For instance, over the past several decades, conventional water quality sensors have evolved into well-established analytical devices that are widely used for energy and utility applications. Although manufacturers have continued to refine these types of sensors, there have been no major commercial advancements. Intense competition in the water analytics market segment has resulted in expensive instrumentation with minimal product differentiation to the end-user along with razor-thin profit margins for the equipment supplier. In view of the critical importance of more robust, affordable and portable (or power friendly) water quality measurements for advanced farming and ranching applications, the proposed sensor platform has the potential to not only replace status quo sensors in existing monitoring applications but to also enable new, disruptive opportunities for other agricultural-based industries (i.e., food and beverage production). Key results from these outreach efforts have generated a list of interested farmers and ranchers located within the state of Washington willing to work with Syntro Tek Corporation during the completion of field testing with prototype sensing devices during the spring, summer and fall growing season of 2025. Detailed information from these experiments will provide a basis for estimating the potential of the proposed technology. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?American farmers and ranchers in the United State are very well versed in the use of nitrogen- and phosphate-based fertilizers as key nutrients required for optimizing their crop growth that maximizes both income and potential profits. A dip-style sensor technology, as being developed by Syntro Tek Corporation, will provide the agricultural farming and ranching industry with a new, cost-effective alternative to quantitative laboratory analyses that are currently required to fully optimize crop and livestock production in the United States of America. Key efforts during this reporting period have primarily focused on attending a broad range of local community based events held at granges, homesteading conferences, town halls and similar types of community based events to provide key details to local farmers and ranchers about the work being completed at Syntro Tek Corporation. For example, farmers and ranchers seeking to optimize crop and livestock production using advanced farming and ranching methods, must pay careful attention to their overall system design. An essential element of realizing a successful business operation is optimized water and nutrient management that enables the necessary profits, crop and livestock yield and operational costs. Plants grown by conventional farming methods are not usually optimized for the most efficient growth conditions. In order for crops to get the most optimized watering and nutrients, the water must be carefully balanced with other optimized growth pararmeters (i.e., temperature, soil moisture, pH, conductivity, etc.) to ensure a sustainable, or profitable, operation. In the case of nutrient enriched water, chemical parameters such as nitrate, phosphorus and potassium must be closely monitored to ensure that nutrient levels are not too low (inhibiting growth) or too high (potentially toxic). This makeswater and nutrient management extremely important to the overall success of advanced farming applications. Presently, water quality sensors for farming and ranching applications are both expensive and maintenance (labor) intensive; especially for small, local operations that currently provide 51% of the total agricultural output in the United States. Moreover, commercially available water quality sensors that are somewhat affordable options for both small and large farming and ranching operations are generally limited to the use of non-specific measurements that can only provide indirect information about the concentration of critical nutrients being applied to plants. This emerging growth industry, therefore, is at a critical juncture for being able to realistically meet their self-proclaimed grobal projections of $172 billion in 2025. The dip-style sensors, as discussed with local farmers and rancher at local community events in the state of Washington during this reporting period, will lead to order-of-magnitude robustness and affordability improvements based on operating metrics and total ownership costs, respectively, for being able to perform critical water quality measurements for advanced farming and ranching applications. For example, these sensors will provide a new, innovative solution for being able to create smart water monitoring systems that are up to 10 times more affordable, 4 times smaller and 6 times more power efficient than the status quo. For instance, over the past several decades, conventional water quality sensors have evolved into well-established analytical devices that are widely used for energy and utility applications. Although manufacturers have continued to refine these types of sensors, there have been no major commercial advancements. Intense competition in the water analytics market segment has resulted in expensive instrumentation with minimal product differentiation to the end-user along with razor-thin profit margins for the equipment supplier. In view of the critical importance of more robust, affordable and portable (or power friendly) water quality measurements for advanced farming and ranching applications, the proposed sensor platform has the potential to not only replace status quo sensors in existing monitoring applications but to also enable new, disruptive opportunities for other agricultural-based industries (i.e., food and beverage production). Key results from these outreach efforts have alreadly generated a list of interested farmers and ranchers located within the state of Washington that are willing to work with Syntro Tek Corporation during the completion of field testing with prototype sensing devices during the spring, summer and fall growing season of 2025. Detailed information from these experiments will provide a basis for being able to estimate the commercial potential of the proposed technology by the end of this Phase I SBIR feasiblity project. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The next reporting period will primarily focus on: (1) finalizing the production and evaluation of prototype sensors for quantitatively monitoring the concentration of key crop and livestock nutrients including nitrogen and phosphate in carefully controlled water samples; (2) completing the development of a smart phone app that can be run on either IOS- or Android-based software platforms; (3) completing a pilot test of the prototype technology with local farmers and ranchers located in the state of Washington. For example, As new prototype sensors are produced, their performance capabilities will be determined during carefully controlled experiments in both lab settings and on-site field conditions. For example, the key goal of this SBIR project is to develop a new quantitative water quality monitoring method that costs less and can be easily completed with nontechnical personnel compared to commercially available technologies. The only way to successfully accomplish this task is to complete side-by-side comparisons between a commercially available product that is heavily relied upon to complete water quality measurements (i.e., HACH DR 1900 spectrophotometer combined with required reagents and standards for desired analytes) in relation to the measured response of the proposed technology. The Phase I study design will adhere to standardized protocols for gaining approval of new compliant chemical test methods. For example, newly developed water quality sensors will undergo the following set of experiments for the different types of conditions: (1) method detection limit; (2) blanks; (3) calibration linearity; (3) reference matrix; (4) calibration verification; (5) sample matrix; (6) initial and ongoing precision and recovery. Experimental data acquired during this task will be statistically evaluated using both mathematical and graphical methods of analysis. Key analyses that follow standardized methods. Successful completion of this task will result in fully quantifying the technical capabilities of prototype sensors as well provide the necessary data to create mobile App software algorithms for performing automated collection, calibration, analysis and reporting activities. Next, a proven software development methodology will be followed to create a mobile software App for analyzing prototype chemical microsensors.The final goal of the proposed project will be to create a Minimally Viable Product (MVP) version of the App by the end of the Phase II project. Although a preliminary mobile App has already been created for the iPhone operating system with software code developed using MS Virtual Studio and Xamarin running on a MAC, this software is currently in the process of being ported to React Native. This cross-platform software approach has been chosen to enable the simultaneous development of both IOS- and Android-based devices from the same core software code. The current mobile software App already employs unique algorithms that provide automatic data collection and analysis algorithms so that both the photo capture and standard addition analysis can be done with a single press of a button. For example, an iPhone is first positioned around 75 mm from the water quality sensor before temporal photos with the camera are acquired over a set time interval. Software algorithms are then used to process the images by averaging defined areas ranging from 50 - 250 pixels within each chemically sensing pad on the test strip. This step provides the data needed to determine RGB color values that are measured within the acquired photos. The complexity of the algorithms will be updated during the proposed project to also enable automated reporting functionality, as defined within the protocols for uploading water quality data to the cloud-based databases. This newly created mobile software App will then be tested during both lab and field studies. The final task of the next reporting period will focus on engaging farmers, ranchers and conservation specialists located within Skagit county that are near to STC's facilities located in Sedro Woolley, WA. It is anticipated that the timeframe of pilot studies will be completed during the final months of the proposed Phase I project. The operational goal for the pilot testing will be to obtain the most accurate and most complete record possible with a small focus group that can help provide critical feedback regarding ways to improve the mobile App end user experience. Although a standardized test protocol will initially be developed, it will most likely need to be modified based on the education and training of both professional and nontechnical volunteers. For example, STC has already recruited persons with an interest in and some basic experience performing community data gathering for the purpose of identifying research questions, collecting and analyzing data, and assisting in making new discoveries in order to understand and solve environmental problems. An initial questionnaire is being used with potential volunteers who are a good fit for this project. The questionnaire results will inform the trainer of the knowledge base of the target group and will enable them to tailor the training to complement the group's life experiences in order to enhance their level of engagement in the project, as well as address any experience gaps in field testing and technology usage. Before the in-depth portion of the training begins, volunteers will be greeted, oriented to the training facility prepared at STC and schedule for the day, and project goals and objectives will be identified. At this point, the participants will be given a laminated handout to refer to in the field during actual data gathering. They will be able to follow along as the classroom demonstration occurs. The PowerPoint presentation will mirror the information found on the handout and the visuals will be of the actual screens from the App. The participants will be walked through a typical usage of the technology as if they were gathering data in the field. After this, the trainees will be guided to install the application onto their cell phone and given a sampling cup and set of multiparameter microsensors. All participants will again be shown the step-by-step PowerPoint presentation but this time they will be tasked with performing the test, following along with the instructor and their handouts. The results from this task will be used to further optimize the functionality of the proposed technology.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The overriding goal of this SBIR project is focused on providing farmers and ranchers in the United State of America with a cost-effective approach for optimizing their water use and nutrient management operations that support the mass production of crops and livestock needed to feed the nations population; thereby, dramatically enhancing both the commercial benefits and outcomes needed to strengthen the United States based agricultural economy. All efforts completed during this reporting period, therefore, were geared toward reaching this goal as quickly as possible to commercialize a new multiparameter sensor technology that can then be used by a broad range of customers (i.e., farmers, ranchers, etc.). Briefly, Phase I SBIR feasibility efforts thus far have shown that it is possible to redesign low-cost water quality test strips by adding new fortified standards within them provided that the mixing of internal reactants and standards are properly protected during their manufacture as well as before they are exposed to an external water supply. Moreover, embedding chemically selective reactants and standards within polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) thin film matrixes facilitates a much simpler way to mass produce water quality test strips as well as to perform quantitative water quality measurements, which have previously been unable to utilize well established standard addition analyses used by more sophisticated analytical technologies. These proof-of-concept results are now being used to produce low-cost microfabricated sensor arrays of devices having differing amounts of both analyte-selective reactants and fortified standards within each sensing element to enable their automated measurement using a smartphone app running on both IOS- and Android-based software platforms. For example, key efforts completed during this reporting period focused on all the tasks required to reproducibly create new, low-cost water test strips employing fortified standards. The current water test strip design strategy consists of the following components: (1) polypropylene membranes that are prepared with defined regions of permeability; (2) PVA thin films containing chemically selective analytes and fortified standards for detecting key nutrients (i.e., nitrate, phosphate and ammonia) that are deposited onto the front- and back-sides, respectively of these defined regions of permeability; (3) polyester film adhered to both the front- and back-sides of the polypropylene membrane substrates to optimize how water absorbs and fortified standards migrate through the defined regions of permeability. The updated microfabrication methodology that is currently being used to produce prototype water quality test strips during Phase I feasibility studies first employs porous polypropylene membranes that are modified with selective regions of defined permeability. This is accomplished by applying a heated, patterned aluminum block to polypropylene sheets. This basic process is applicable to the creation of membranes with any desired dimensions and/or patterns. Next, waterproof polyester film having laser cut holes that correspond to the same areas of defined permeability is attached to the front side of the polypropylene membrane. The third step involves depositing thin films of fortified standards dissolved in a PVA matrix onto the back side of the polypropylene membrane. A polyester film is then attached to the back side of the polypropylene membrane to optimize how the fortified standard migrates through the defined regions of permeability. The last step before the prototype water quality test strips are tested under carefully controlled laboratory conditions involves depositing chemically selective reactant(s) that are also dissolved in a PVA matrix onto the front side of the polypropylene matrix. Key efforts are currently focused on optimizing all the parameters required to produce prototype water test strips that can be used to perform quantitative measurements of analytes that are critically important to the agricultural industry, as previously discussed above. Key experiments performed during this reporting period provided detailed information with prototype nitrate water quality test strips exposed to carefully controlled water samples consisting of the key crop growing nitrogen-based nutrient within the test samples. The variation in colors for the after-water sample exposure image was determined to be due to the amount of fortified standard that is employed in each distinct region of permeability, as defined within the polypropylene membrane. The measured RGB color intensity was then used to quantitatively determine the nitrate concentration in the sample via a mathematical standard addition analysis. The typical response time that was empirically determined with prototype water test strips during exposure to nitrate target analytes was shown to require approximately 100 seconds for the catalyst to reduce nitrate ions to nitrite ions followed by the well-understood Griess reaction. It is currently assumed that a small drift in the measured color signal after 100 seconds is primarily due to a small amount of unreacted reactant leftover from the PVA-based sensor coating. Once the prototype sensor is dipped in water, both target analytes and fortified standards migrate through the test pad to the chemical reactants. The amount of time for the reactants to interact with the target analytes is dependent on the chemical methodology being used to detect a specific type of contaminant. For nitrate ions, a copper-cadmium nanoparticle catalyst is first used to convert nitrate to nitrite ions followed by detection via the well-known Griess assay employing sulfanilic acid and N-(1-Naphthyl)ethylenediamine dichloride to create a pink colored solution that is dependent on the concentration of nitrate present. The average RGB color response of 100 distinct prototype nitrate sensors versus the nitrate sample concentration provided a +/-2% statistical error that is comparable to more sophisticated water monitoring technologies. A third order polynomial curve fit to these data provided a basis for being able to directly compare the measured color response to the quantitative nitrate concentration. Moreover, the average nitrate values of the prototype water test strips were contrasted in relation to standardized measurements using an expensive and labor intensive UV-Vis spectrophotometer that are currently required to perform these types of crop growth optimization measurements.
Publications
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