SBIR/STTR Research Award
A native bee camera trap to support sustainable agriculture practice and environmental protection
Award amount
$174,987Program and phase
SBIR · Phase IAward year
2024Award details
- Awarding agency
- Department of Agriculture
- Branch
- National Institute of Food and Agriculture
- Recipient company
- VECTECH, INC.
- Proposal award date
- 2024-03-04
- Contract end date
- 2025-02-28
- UEI
- KGHKP3FBMB97
- Solicitation number
- USDA-NIFA-SBIR-009962
- Topic code
- 8.13
Research abstract
Nativebeesplayapivotalroleinpollinationcontributingsignificantlytoecosystemhealthand
foodproductionyetdistributedcapabilitiestoidentifyandresearchthemremainlimited.
Traditionalsurveillancedespiteitsvalueisconstrainedbylaboriousmethodsandexpertise
requiredforidentification.Vectechatechnologycompanyspecializinginadvancedarthropod
surveillancesystemsintendstorefineandrepurposeourexistingmethodstofillthisresearchgap.
Weproposeasmartcameratraptoaddressthechallengesofnativebeespeciesidentificationand
surveillancewiththegoalofexpandingagriculturalsystemsandincreasingbiodiversity.Firstwe
willcharacterizetherequirementsofahigh-resolutionimagingsystemforspeciesidentificationof
nativebees.Theserequirementswillthenbevalidatedthroughthedevelopmentandtestingofthe
fullsmartcameratrapopticssystem.Additionallythisinitiativeseekstotailorapollinator
attractantcompatiblewiththeopticssystemwithmodularitytosupportvariedattractantsto
managesamplingbiases.Objectdetectionmethodswillfacilitatedetectingnativebeesasthey
approachorlandontheimagingstage.Employinglowframerateimagingcoupledwith
lightweightcomputervisionmodelsthesystemwilldetectandsubsequentlyrecordhigh-resolution
imageryonceapollinatorisidentified.UponcompletionofphaseIVectechanticipatesanimaging
systemcapableofremotedetectionofnativebeevisitationswiththedevelopmentofspecies
identificationmodelsslatedforphaseII.Thissystemisexpectedtosignificantlyenhancecurrent
researchcapabilities.Ithasthepotentialtopromotehealthierecologicalinfrastructureandprovide
informationformoresustainableagriculturalpractices.
Technology keywords
Not reported
Other awards by this recipient
Verified by the same UEI. These are other public SBIR/STTR award pages, not a merged company record.
- Automated identification of larval mosquito species with computer vision
- SBIR Phase II:Advanced Computer Vision Methods for Diagnostic Medical Entomology
- Automated lab identification and sorting (Rapid-IDX) for mosquito surveillance
- High accuracy automated tick classification using computer vision
- Automated lab identification and sorting (ALIDAS) for mosquito surveillance
Awards with the same topic code
Verified by an exact topic code match. This is not a text-similarity match.
- Cotton Picker Spindle Design and Manufacturing Processes
- Total Recall: Counting All Visible and Hidden Flowering, Underripe, and Mature Strawberries Over the Course of a Growing Season
- AI-based, autonomous lettuce harvester for farms
- Robotic Harvesting and Packaging for Living Crop Varieties for Wholesale Markets
- High-Precision Spray Control System For Robotic And Autonomous Agricultural Vehicles
Research funding history
10 SBIR/STTR records share this UEI (2021–2024). Reported award amounts total $7,949,869. Reported amounts are not federal obligations.
Phases: Phase I, Phase II
Agencies: Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Agriculture, National Science Foundation