Advanced Autonomous Black Soldier Fly Larval Upcycling For Agricultural Protein Production & Composting Via Cellular Automata Machine Learning

This project seeks to bolster the efficiency and viability of small farms by improving and automating black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) composters. These composters are currently used by many farms for their ability to turn farm waste biomass from plants and animals into a highly prized feed for fowl and fish. However inconveniently for small farms larval feed must be used within 1-5 days or it will pupate into flies and be lost. For small farmers current means of larval preservation are sorely misaligned with their needs. Huge investments in industrial BSFL preservation machines or the improvised use of appliances like ovens and freezers shared for home food use are the only options. To solve the disconnect the research proposed makes novel use of machine learning and recycles the thermal energy produced in the composting process to fully automate the preservation of the larval harvest onboard the composter — without any inputs from the farmer necessary. This allows for the sustainable production of valuable feed fully preserved and ready for use by the farmer on-demand. Such technology would save time in waste disposal trips to the feed store and reduce feed costs critical for rural and low-income farms. Successful energy autonomy of the system would further allow the system's use anywhere year-round and during imperfect climate conditions. In summary the results of this project would be transformative to a farmer's way of life: removing large burdens in time and costs all while enabling more sustainability at small farm scale.