Concurrent Science and Engineering for Phytomation Systems

Plant based engineering systems range from plant production and phytoremediation under plastic culture to biomass production units used as part of advanced life support systems for long term human exploration of space. Phytomation engineering encompasses theories and applications of plant-based engineering components and systems. The knowledge bases and expertise needed for delivering successful phytomation engineering programs are in the areas of automation, culture, environment, and systems (i.e. the concept of ACESYS). It is important to integrate the information and knowledge from the focused research activities on automation, culture, and environment to enable the understanding and delivery of functional systems that integrate various components. A series of activities in systems studies have been conducted in recent years. The ultimate goal is to develop and sustain an information system and computational platform, namely Concurrent Science and Engineering (CS&E), for phytomation systems. This article reviews several key research activities leading towards the development of CS&E for phytomation systems, as well as its extended application for advanced life support systems.