I-Corps Teams Program: Autonomous Robotic Mower applied to Labor Shortage in Landscaping

Missouri University Of Science And Technology, Rolla MO

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is a solution to the labor shortage problem in landscaping organizations. Current solutions to the employee recruitment and retention problem lack technological innovation. Primarily, landscaping organizations hire more employees to offset resigning employees, pay higher wages, attend careers fairs, post newspaper/online ads, and hire H2B workers. The Department of Labor H2B visa program supplies approximately 10% of the landscaping workforce. According to a variety of sources, including in-person customer interviews, labor shortages in the landscaping industry are a major factor inhibiting landscaping companies' growth. This research team is developing a product to assist American small business with continuing to serve their customers and grow their businesses. This I-Corps project proposes robotic technology to help solve the labor shortage problem. Using robotic embedded technology the research team has implemented advanced algorithms to guide a robot prototype along a user defined trajectory. The mechatronic design of the product combined with the algorithm development gives hopeful insight into robotic prototypes' future. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.