KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A team of University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture faculty is working to create curriculum to train the next generation of ag students to understand and implement technologies that use artificial intelligence (AI).

Led by Hao Gan, assistant professor in the Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science, the team won a four-year grant for $741,102 from the USDA. The project will create hands-on curriculum about using drones, ground robots, computer vision systems, and other AI-related technologies. The team will recruit 10 to 12 youth participants, ages 15 to 20, each year for four years to participate in a four-week learning experience starting this summer.

“This is a very exciting opportunity for us,” said Lynne Middleton, extension specialist for 4-H youth development. “It is something we have not spent a lot of time on before now. Hao Gan is the primary investigator. Hao does some smart ag programming already with his students. They have built a demonstration robot that can be controlled from anywhere in the world as a long as it is online.”

The researchers have brought in Rocket Drones, a company that already has a drone program that includes hands-on implementation with the drone system, Middleton said. It is like a gaming system where the students have a hand-held controller, and they set the drone up while they are programming it.

“Through this grant we will bring in 10 to 12 Tennessee 4-H members,” Middleton said. “They will stay on campus at UT for a month. While they are with us, they go through the drone curriculum. They are building robots to do smart ag programming and they are developing systems that can be sent out across the state for communities, counties, schools to play with, to learn how we are going to make this part of our future.”

If this is something the participants want to pursue as a career, UT has a track they can follow to their degree, Middleton said. UT is hoping to turn out the next generation of smart ag scientists.

“The ultimate goal of our team is to establish the Smart Agriculture Education Center at the University of Tennessee,” Gan said. “We believe this curriculum also will improve the perception of working in agriculture, enhance the future workforce, and bring the adoption of smart agricultural technology to produce more food.”

The experimental learning program will be developed in collaboration with Tennessee 4-H Youth Development, UT AgResearch and Education Centers, and Rocket Drones. The team also includes Lori Duncan, assistant professor in the department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science; Hongping Zhang, clinical assistant in the Ut Knoxville Department of Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism Management, and Middleton.

“I am excited to recruit 4-H members from across the state,” Middleton said. “We are hoping they will pursue this in their studies, but we are also hoping we are going to turn out the next generation of smart ag scientists.”