**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** INCREASING POPULATION, DECREASING ARABLE LAND, CLIMATE CHANGE, AND A DECLINING SKILLED WORKFORCE POSE UNPRECEDENTED CHALLENGES TO OUR ABILITY TO SATISFY THE GROWING DEMAND FOR FOOD ON A GLOBAL SCALE. ACCURATE ASSESSMENTS OF MULTIPLE SPATIOTEMPORAL CONDITIONS, SUCH AS EVAPOTRANSPIRATION, ARE INSTRUMENTAL TO FINE TUNE THE AMOUNT OF WATER USED IN FARMING. TODAY, PRECISE WATER USE MEASUREMENT REQUIRES THE USE OF A PRESSURIZED CHAMBER, AN INSTRUMENT THAT IS CUMBERSOME TO OPERATE AND GREATLY LIMITS THE NUMBER OF MEASUREMENTS THAT CAN BE MADE GIVEN THE NEED FOR HUMAN COLLECTION OF PLANT SPECIMENS IN THE FIELD. CONSEQUENTLY, CRITICAL PARAMETERS FOR LARGE ORCHARDS ARE OBTAINED BY INTERPOLATING VERY SPARSE SAMPLE SETS, THUS FAILING TO CAPTURE THE INHERENT VARIABILITY REQUIRING PRECISE ADJUSTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL INPUTS. IN THIS PROJECT, FOR THE FIRST TIME, WE WILL DEVELOP A MOBILE ROBOTIC LAB THAT IS CAPABLE OF AUTONOMOUSLY SELECTING REGIONS TO SAMPLE, PHYSICALLY COLLECT LEAVES AND IMMEDIATELY PERFORM ON-BOARD ANALYSIS TO MEASURE LEAF WATER POTENTIAL, IMPROVING THE ACCURACY, PRECISION AND EFFICIENCY USED IN PRESENT-DAY PRESSURE CHAMBER TECHNOLOGY. THE MOBILE LAB SYSTEM FEATURES BOTH AERIAL VEHICLES AS WELL AS GROUND ROBOTS, AND DURING THE PROJECT WE WILL DESIGN A NOVEL ROBOTIZED PRESSURE CHAMBER ENABLING THE MEASUREMENT OF LEAF WATER POTENTIAL AT SCALE. THE SYSTEM WILL BE TESTED AND VALIDATED IN THE FIELD IN FOUR DIFFERENT AGRONOMIC TESTBEDS IN CALIFORNIA ON FOUR DIFFERENT PERENNIAL CROPS IN COLLABORATION WITH COMMERCIAL PARTNERS.THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP THE SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS TO CREATE A NEW MOBILE ROBOTICS LAB TO PERFORM SAMPLING AND ANALYSIS OF WATER LEAF POTENTIAL AT SPATIOTEMPORAL SCALE NOT ACHIEVABLE WITH CURRENT TECHNOLOGIES. THE PIS WILL WORK ON HARDWARE/SOFTWARE CO-DESIGN OF NOVEL ACTUATORS TO AUTONOMOUSLY ACQUIRE AND ANALYZE SPECIMENS IN THE FIELD. WE WILL TACKLE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS ABOUT COORDINATION OF HETEROGENEOUS ROBOTIC SYSTEMS OPERATING UNDER RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS, AND PERCEPTION ALGORITHMS TO EXTRACT HOW TO BEST PERFORM LEAF WATER POTENTIAL MEASUREMENTS OBSERVING HUMAN BEHAVIORS. FINALLY, COLLECTED DATA WILL BE USED TO QUANTITATIVELY CONFIRM OR DISPROVE OUR HYPOTHESIS THAT CURRENT SAMPLING PRACTICES FAIL TO CAPTURE THE EXISTING HETEROGENEITY INLEAF WATER POTENTIAL.THE PROPOSED SYSTEM HAS BROAD APPLICABILITY AND CAN BE USED TO IMPROVE AGRICULTURE PRACTICES IN A WIDE VARIETY OF CROPS THROUGHOUT THE US WITH THE POTENTIAL OF GREAT SAVINGS IN THE USE OF WATER AND AGRICHEMICALS. BOTH PARTICIPATING UNIVERSITIES ARE HISPANIC SERVING INSTITUTIONS (HSIS), AND STUDENTS FROM ALL BACKGROUNDS WILL BE INVOLVED. FINDINGS WILL BE PRESENTED AT LEADING CONFERENCES AND PAPERS WILL BE FREELY MADE AVAILABLE. HARDWARE DESIGNS AND CODE WILL BE OPEN SOURCE AND DATA COLLECTED DURING THE PROJECT WILL ALSO BE MADE FREELY AVAILABLE TO THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY. RESULTS WILL BE DISSEMINATED TO THE BROADER PUBLIC THROUGH THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA TV, AND EXISTING OUTREACH INITIATIVES AT BOTH INSTITUTIONS WILL BE LEVERAGED TO ENGAGE K-12 STUDENTS, AS WELL AS INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS.