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KENNESAW, Ga. | Aug 26, 2026

According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, plant pests and diseases destroy up to 40% of crops worldwide each year, threatening jobs and the global food supply.

Kennesaw State University computer science major Brendan Miller is working on technology that could help farmers catch those problems before they spread. Through KSU鈥檚 , Miller is working with mentor Xu Tao, assistant professor of information technology, to develop a low-cost, artificial intelligence-powered crop monitoring system that uses sensors, microcontrollers and small computers to detect signs of plant disease directly in the field.

A Roswell native, Miller is researching the use of edge AI to monitor plant health. Edge AI allows artificial intelligence models to process data directly on a local device rather than relying on a remote server or data center, allowing the system to operate in areas with no internet access. The approach could make the technology more accessible to farmers who may not have access to advanced computing infrastructure.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a great feeling to know that the project that you鈥檙e working on is actually helping people,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淭his project has a real application.鈥�

The research combines information from multiple sensors with AI models. A microcontroller periodically activates and gathers data for a small computer. The data includes pH levels, water temperature, electrical conductivity, humidity, and light intensity.

The system can compare those readings, identify unusual conditions, and eventually use AI to determine whether a plant may be at risk for disease. Because the analysis happens on the device itself, the system can operate with limited power and connectivity and alert a farmer when a problem requires attention.

Early results have been promising. Miller trained an edge AI vision model to distinguish healthy lettuce leaves from leaves affected by bacterial or fungal diseases. The model, which runs entirely on a Raspberry Pi computer, achieved about 87% accuracy during testing.

The next step is going beyond identifying disease once visible symptoms appear. By incorporating different sensors, Miller hopes the system can recognize changes in a plant or its environment before a farmer can spot a problem visually.

Affordability and accessibility are also crucial to the project. Much of today鈥檚 advanced agricultural technology is better suited for large industrial farms with greater access to power, internet connectivity, and expensive equipment.

Developing the technology has required considerable trial and error. One of the biggest challenges has been running complex AI models on hardware with limited memory and processing power. When Miller joined the project, he was the only student focusing on its edge computing portion and began building the prototypes and technical foundation largely from scratch.

Tao said Miller鈥檚 willingness to take ownership of the project has helped move the research forward.

鈥淏rendan has shown tremendous initiative in taking a complex research problem and developing solutions from the ground up,鈥� Tao said. 鈥淗is ability to combine artificial intelligence and sensor technologies, while keeping the needs of farmers in mind, demonstrates both his technical ability and his commitment to creating research that has a real-world impact.鈥�

The opportunity to conduct hands-on research early in his college career was one of the reasons Miller chose KSU.

鈥淭he opportunity to do it this early on is fantastic,鈥� he said. 鈥淯ndergraduate research is where you need to start if you want to explore a career in research and academia, and it鈥檚 nice that KSU supports that.鈥�

Going forward, he hopes advances in hardware, sensors, and AI model compression will make edge computing increasingly practical.

鈥� Story by Raynard Churchwell

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A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees to its more than 51,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The university's vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties, and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 8 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 色色啦. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.