CPS: MEDIUM: INTEGRATING SENSORS, CONTROLS, AND ECOTOXICOLOGY WITH DECOUPLED AQUAPONICS USING BRACKISH GROUNDWATER AND DESALINATION CONCENTRATE FOR SUSTAINABLE FOOD PRODUCTION

This project aims to develop a testbed of integrated sensors, controls, machine learning, and ecotoxicology tools to engineer sustainable food production systems based on aquaculture using brackish water and desalination concentrate. Since we include aquatic organisms in the system, we intend to develop tools that expand cyber-physical systems technology to the biological domain. Specifically, we will develop a brackish groundwater food production system based on a recirculating aquaculture system, which can in the future be integrated with a hydroponicsunit to form a decoupled two-loop aquaponics system. We seek to implement an automated recirculating aquaculture system pilot for varying chemistry of brackish groundwater and desalination concentrate to demonstrate that brackish groundwater desalination costs can be offset by using its byproducts for profitable food production.General objectives are: 1) develop real-time monitoring and control, aided by data analysis and machine learning, to implement a recirculating aquaculture system prototype that operates under optimal conditions, 2) develop a desalination system for nutrient distribution between the recirculating aquaculture system and a future hydroponics, 3) develop a real-time ecotoxicology systemby means of integrated respirometry and behavioral assessment (via video tracking and machine learning) of organisms growing in varying chemistry of brackish water and desalination concentrate and integrate it to the recirculating aquaculture system, 4) implement and calibrate models of organism growth and survival integrated with nutrient distribution and water quality dynamics, and 5) integrate all systems into the cyber-physical systemstestbed that includes networking, computing, and opportunities for education and outreach.