Aarush Muthukrishnan, a 4-H member from Allegheny County, earned first place in the 13 to 15 age category of the national 4-H AI in Agriculture Challenge.
This competition invites youth to explore how artificial intelligence can address real-world challenges in agriculture. Participants identify an industry problem and design an AI-based solution, applying STEM skills while envisioning a more sustainable agricultural future.
Muthukrishnan’s project, TerraScan, is a low-cost, open-source AI robot that maps soil conditions to help small farmers in Pennsylvania reduce fertilizer use and limit pollution.
In Pennsylvania, more than 28,000 miles of streams are polluted, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, which lists agriculture as the leading source of pollution from soil and fertilizer runoff.
Pennsylvania state law requires all farms to maintain an Agricultural Erosion and Sediment Control Plan to demonstrate how they prevent soil loss. Creating those plans can be difficult, Muthukrishnan said, because many farmers lack high-resolution soil data.
He added that technology to collect that data exists, but it’s expensive — often costing more than $50,000 — which puts it out of reach for small and medium-sized farms.
TerraScan is designed to close that data gap at a fraction of the cost. A small autonomous robot follows a preplanned route, using low-cost sensors to collect soil pH, moisture and GPS data. An AI model then combines that information with free, low-resolution satellite imagery to generate a high-resolution map of the field. A second AI model analyzes the map and identifies management zones.
“The final product is a simple, color-coded map that shows the farmer exactly where the soil needs fertilizer and, more importantly, where it doesn’t,” Muthukrishnan said.
As a first-place winner, he will receive a $500 cash award.
Muthukrishnan also serves as a State Project Ambassador for STEM with Pennsylvania 4-H, a program of Penn State Extension. In this leadership role, he provides a youth perspective as 4-H staff develop events, curricula and statewide programming.
In addition, Muthukrishnan serves his community as the founder of the 4-H AI Club and a Breakbeatcode student ambassador. His educational outreach includes organizing robotics camps for underserved youth, guiding peers in prompt engineering, serving as a student expert for AI at the Woodland Hills Multi-District Student Summit, and presenting on STEM innovations to educators at the Global Impact Forum 2025.
