Related papers: Bumblebee: A Path Towards Fully Autonomous Robotic…
Modern herbicide application in agricultural settings typically relies on either large scale sprayers that dispense herbicide over crops and weeds alike or portable sprayers that require labor intensive manual operation. The former method…
A new class of continuum robots has recently been explored, characterized by tip extension, significant length change, and directional control. Here, we call this class of robots "vine robots," due to their similar behavior to plants with…
Vine robots extend their tubular bodies by everting material from the tip, enabling navigation in complex environments with a minimalist soft body. Despite their promise for field applications, especially in the urban search and rescue…
Many robot arms can accomplish one task using many different joint configurations. Often only one of these configurations is used as a goal by the path planner. Ideally the robot's path planner would be able to use the extra configurations…
Reliable long-term deployment of autonomous robots in agricultural environments remains challenging due to perceptual aliasing, seasonal variability, and the dynamic nature of crop canopies. Vineyards, characterized by repetitive row…
Blackberry harvesting is a labor-intensive and costly process, consuming up to 50\% of the total annual crop hours. This paper presents a solution for robotic harvesting through the design, manufacturing, integration, and control of a…
Manual pruning of radiata pine trees presents significant safety risks due to their substantial height and the challenging terrains in which they thrive. To address these risks, this research proposes the development of a drone-based…
Soft, tip-extending vine robots are well suited for navigating tight, debris-filled environments, making them ideal for urban search and rescue. Sensing the full shape of a vine robot's body is helpful both for localizing information from…
Aerial robotic arms aim to enable inspection and environment interaction in otherwise hard-to-reach areas from the air. However, many aerial manipulators feature bulky or heavy robot manipulators mounted to large, high-payload aerial…
The adoption of mobile robotic platforms in complex environments, such as agricultural settings, requires these systems to exhibit a flexible yet effective architecture that integrates perception and control. In such scenarios, several…
In viticulture, there are several applications where bud detection in vineyard images is a necessary task, susceptible of being automated through the use of computer vision methods. A common and effective family of visual detection…
In this paper, we present the lessons learnt during the development of a new robotic harvester (Harvey) that can autonomously harvest sweet pepper (capsicum) in protected cropping environments. Robotic harvesting offers an attractive…
Early detection of vine disease is important to avoid spread of virus or fungi. Disease propagation can lead to a huge loss of grape production and disastrous economic consequences, therefore the problem represents a challenge for the…
This paper presents a comprehensive review of ground agricultural robotic systems and applications with special focus on harvesting that span research and commercial products and results, as well as their enabling technologies. The majority…
Manual pruning of radiata pine, a species of major economic importance to New Zealand forestry, is hazardous, labour-intensive, and increasingly constrained by workforce shortages. Existing autonomous pruning platforms typically rely on…
This paper explores the concept of external magnetic control for vine robots to enable their high curvature steering and navigation for use in endoluminal applications. Vine robots, inspired by natural growth and locomotion strategies,…
RoBoa is a vine-like search and rescue robot that can explore narrow and cluttered environments such as destroyed buildings. The robot assists rescue teams in finding and communicating with trapped people. It employs the principle of vine…
Currently, truss tomato weighing and packaging require significant manual work. The main obstacle to automation lies in the difficulty of developing a reliable robotic grasping system for already harvested trusses. We propose a method to…
Effective pollination is a key challenge for indoor farming, since bees struggle to navigate without the sun. While a variety of robotic system solutions have been proposed, it remains difficult to autonomously check that a flower has been…
In table grape cultivation, harvesting depends on accurately assessing fruit quality. While some characteristics, like color, are visible, others, such as Soluble Solid Content (SSC), or sugar content measured in degrees Brix ({\deg}Brix),…