Momentum - The Magazine for Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Vol. 3 No. 2 Summer 2018 | Page 16

STORY BY ROSAIRE BUSHEY
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
FARM AID
Creating wearable
robotics for farmers
Farmers are among America’s oldest
workers.
According to the U.S. Department of Agri-
culture's 2012 Census of Agriculture, in the
past 30 years, the average age of U.S. farmers
has grown from 50 years to 58 years old.
Two National Science Foundation grants
of approximately $1.5 million, awarded to
Virginia Tech researchers, will bring robotics
and technology assistance to one of the largest
groups of workers in Virginia. The research
goal is to combine technologies to provide
physical safety and enhance quality of life for
Virginia farmers.
The first project partners with industry
to use robotics to aid farmers with mobility
impairments. The Partnership for Innovation
grant is a collaborative effort between Virgin-
ia Tech’s College of Engineering and the Col-
MOMENTUM
SUMMER 2018
lege of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and with
community partners, AgrAbility Virginia, a
program that assists farmers with illnesses,
injuries, or disabilities that are impeding their
ability to work safely, effectively, and produc-
tively. The research will aid farmers through
the use of wearable robotics, such as exosuits
and other robotic apparatus, targeting back,
knee, and hand applications.
The Research Coordination Network grant,
the second project, is a collaboration with
U.S. and international researchers to enhance
technology on mid-sized farms.
Alexander Leonessa, associate professor
of mechanical engineering in the College of
Engineering is the principal investigator for
the Partnership for Innovation grant and a
co-investigator for Research Coordination
Network grant. Leonessa is partnering with
Virginia Tech colleagues Divya Srinivasan,
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