CPS: MEDIUM: CONTROLLED WASTEWATER-HYDROPONIC SYSTEMS FOR ENHANCED NUTRIENT AND WATER EFFICIENCY USING REAL-TIME SENSING AND DATA-DRIVEN TECHNOLOGIES

The project aims to design a new decentralized wastewater-hydroponic system (WWHS) to achieve stable and high vegetable production with minimized resource and energy consumption through the development of novel online data acquisition and system control and optimization methodologies.The project is organized into three thrusts.In Thrust 1, we will focus on wastewater system sensing, modeling, and simulation using our triboelectric (nano-)generator (TENG) adsorption membrane sensor for heavy metal removal and detection (Tong, Chen, Lan).In Thrust 2, we will focus on hydroponic plant system sensing, modeling, and simulation utilizing robotic phenotyping and TENG-waterdrop sensor data for nutrient monitoring (Tong, Chen, Ferrarezi).In Thrust 3, we will develop an integrated system model by combining two hybrid models from previous thrusts and encompassing all physical components and utilities. An RL algorithm developed by Co-PI Lan will enable the control and optimization of system operations considering physical constraints and uncertainty (Lan, Tong).In the end, we will conduct evaluation and validation for both cyber and physical systems.