Future
Foods for Space Workshop,
UC Davis Student Community Center,
April 23rd, 2025
"Robotics Enabled Precision Agriculture in Space (REPAS)"
Valentina Campanelli, PhD
R&D Engineer
Center for Space Exploration Research, UC Davis
Abstract: As we
venture into deep space and begin settling on other planetary bodies,
large-scale crop production systems integrated into bioregenerative
life-support systems will play a critical role in sustaining long-duration
missions. However, crew time becomes a defining constraint when operating such
systems on planetary surfaces. If the time required to maintain a system
exceeds the time available after accounting for personal, habitat, and mission
operations, that technology may not be viable.
In this context, robust robotic systems will be
essential to offload key astronaut tasks related to plant health assessment and
overall plant management. The Robotics-Enabled Precision Agriculture in Space
(REPAS) project, recently initiated by UC Davis, focuses on developing a
robotic system that can assist or augment crew members in plant care—beginning
with health assessment using mobile sensors, and eventually enabling support
across the plant lifecycle from seedling to harvest within controlled environments
for future Lunar and Martian habitats.
In this seminar, we will present the initial steps
taken in the project, provide an overview of relevant space technologies for
plant care, and discuss the challenges and open questions we face as we work to
define the system’s capabilities. Our team is based at the Center for Space
Exploration Research at UC Davis.
Bio: Dr. Valentina Campanelli is an
R&D Engineer at the Center for Space Exploration Research at UC Davis,
where she leads efforts to develop robotic technologies for growing plants in
space. She holds an MS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Bologna
(2012) and a PhD in Multimodal Imaging in Biomedicine from the University of
Verona (2015). After completing postdoctoral research in biomechanics at UC
Davis, Dr. Campanelli spent seven years in industry developing surgical robotic
technologies. She returned to UC Davis to focus on space-based R&D, with
her current work centered on designing autonomous systems that support plant
cultivation in controlled environments for future Lunar and Martian habitats.
Her research bridges robotics, plant science, and human spaceflight operations,
aiming to reduce crew workload while ensuring sustainable life-support systems
in space.
