A PRESSING ISSUE IS HOW TO FEED NINE BILLION PEOPLE BY 2050. ANNUAL PERCENTAGE CROP YIELD INCREASES ARE ONLY HALF THOSE REQUIRED TO MEET PROJECTED FOOD NEEDS. THE CHALLENGES ARE NOT JUST INCREASING POPULATION (DOUBLED SINCE 1970), BUT CLIMATE CHANGE, DECLINING WATER RESOURCES, AND COMPETING DEMANDS FOR BIOENERGY CROPS. RESEARCHERS ARE EXPLORING MULTIPLE STRATEGIES. ONE IS TO ADVANCE THE GENETIC RATE OF GAIN IN CROP IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS BY COMBINING ADVANCES IN GENOMIC TECHNOLOGY WITH AUTOMATED METHODS OF COLLECTING INFORMATION ON PLANT TRAITS (HIGH THROUGHPUT PHENOTYPING). ANOTHER APPROACH IS TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCIES VIA PRECISION AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGY, WHICH ALSO ENTAILS SENSORS AND AUTOMATED DATA ACQUISITION. A THIRD STRATEGY IS TO EXTEND FARMING TO LANDS CONSIDERED MARGINAL. THIS LACK OF ADVANCEMENT IS DUE IN PART TO THE MISTAKEN NOTION THAT ONE MUST FIRST HAVE VARIETIES WITH GENETICALLY ENHANCED TOLERANCES TO ABIOTIC STRESSORS. IN REALITY, THERE IS LAND, WHICH HAS BOTH GOOD SOILS AND CLIMATE THAT IS NOT BEING FARMED BECAUSE IT IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH CURRENT MECHANIZATION APPROACHES. A CASE IN POINT IS LAND THAT IS SIMPLY TOO STEEP TO FARM WITH CONVENTIONAL MACHINERY.THIS PROJECT WILL EXPLORE THE USE OF MULTIPLE, SMALL ROBOTS TO FARMLAND WITH UP TO 30 DEGREE SLOPES. IT WILL: (1) CREATE VEHICLE MOBILITY, DESIGN, AND ROUTE-OPTIMIZATION MODELS FOR HIGHLY SLOPED LAND FROM DATA ON TRACTION, POWER USAGE, SLIP, MANEUVERABILITY, AND SOIL COMPACTION. (2) DELIVER A SLOPED-GROUND PROTOTYPE PLANTER USABLE BY SMALL AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES. (3) CREATE A WITHIN-CANOPY SENSOR PLATFORM AND ANALYTICS TARGETING NITROGEN MANAGEMENT. (4) DELIVER UAV SOLUTIONS TO ENERGY RESUPPLY AND STEEP-LAND HARVESTING SYSTEMS. WE WILL TARGET A DUAL-PURPOSE, TWIN-ROW WHEAT/CATTLE PRODUCTION SYSTEM.