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AgriFoRwArdS Newsletter Issue 10 - October 2022 Edition

Welcome to the 10th issue of the AgriFoRwArdS CDT Newsletter. Scroll down to find out what has been happening within AgriFoRwArdS, and the wider Agri-Food Robotics community, recently.

Make sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to keep up to date with all the latest news and activities!

AgriFoRwArdS Student News

Welcome to the 4th Cohort of AgriFoRwArdS CDT Students

We would like to wish a warm welcome to our fourth cohort of talented AgriFoRwArdS students, who commence their MSc RAS studies, with the University of Lincoln, this month.

We are so pleased that these 8 students will join our existing wonderful students, and the AgriFoRwArdS community is looking forward to watching their successes.

We are proud to introduce the AgriFoRwArdS students below.

Afsaneh Karami

About me

I got my bachelor's and master's degrees in biosystems engineering. I like programming and I have experience with C++, Python, and MATLAB. I developed my knowledge of deep learning by taking online courses from Stanford University and also by self-studying.

Before joining the CDT, I worked as a researcher in the R&D division of the Packman Company. I have eight years of experience as a mechanical and agricultural engineer in different companies. During my working experience, I have become proficient in some fields including programming, solid mechanical design, simulation and 3D-modelling, analysing structures and mechanisms, designing agricultural machines, agricultural mechanization technologies, and manufacturing processes.

I am joining the CDT because of my interest in the field of precision farming and agri-robotics.

Research interests

Agri-robotics, robot vision, and selective harvesting robotics.

Afsaneh will be studying her PhD at the University of East Anglia

Andrew Perrett

About me

I have a mixed background in electronic engineering, and digital electronic fault finding within phototypesetters and industrial control gear. Programming of embedded devices and writing component level (sensor) device drivers has linked my interests within digital electronics and software throughout my life. I have also owned and ran a small Internet Service Provider which linked interests in digital communication and business. Ten years prior to arriving at the University of Lincoln to study a BSc in Computer Science, and then a MSc by Research, I had a “back to basics” semi self-sufficient lifestyle. This saw me becoming a very small-scale market gardener and selling home grown fruit and veg produce on a market stall (small scale farming). The AgriFoRwArdS CDT was a logical step to not only bring many of my interests together but take them to a much higher level. I have continued with the University of Lincoln purely because both the staff and Agri-Robotic opportunities are fantastic.

Research interests

Sensing, Robotic/Computer Vision

Andrew will be studying his PhD at the University of Lincoln

Andrew Simpson

About me

I have spent most of my adult life in East Anglia, Cambridge and Newmarket. My graduate and postgraduate education was tailored very much towards computing, AI and cognitive sciences, however I quickly discovered education so until very recently I was part of a team developing surgical e-learning solutions for the Norwich Medical School at UEA. As a passionate advocate of environmental change, I realised I needed to change my career path - to help contribute to the fight against climate and ecological damage, which is why I applied for this programme - it brings my interests in AI together with my environmental motivations.

I have found an amazing opportunity to live in a caravan on a farm near Lincoln for the masters year of the programme, which should be interesting (…sometimes cold I suspect) but perhaps an opportunity to put some theory into practice; the farmer seems very forward-thinking. Following that, I will be back at UEA for the PhD which has particular expertise in computer vision and other sensory technologies.

I hope well before this programme is complete, I - like many on this programme - will know more about where I fit. Right now, I envisage myself running a consultancy, helping farmers and land managers utilise powerful on-the-ground technologies to make food production more efficient, use fewer resources and restore biodiversity across the UK and hopefully, global landscapes.

Research interests

My interest in robotics and artificial intelligence has never felt more appropriate than now; applied to the field of agriculture and food production in an era of rapid climate change. I feel incredibly privileged to be part of a group dedicated to finding real-world solutions that could help bring about measurable change for ours’ and the upcoming generations - and the ecosystems within which we co-exist with other life. My focus may change as I move through this programme, but right now I am most inspired by holistic designs of agricultural robots that have multiple modes of operation, encompassing existing as well as new sensory capabilities.

Andrew will be studying his PhD at the University of East Anglia

Calvin John

About me

I am originally from Manchester, and I am interested in researching the use of Robotics and AI in agriculture in order to create more environmentally sustainable farming practices. Before joining the CDT, I studied an MSc in Computer Science with Data Analytics at the University of York and a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Essex. I am excited to be joining the University of East Anglia for my PhD project in Agricultural Automation. I chose UEA because of its world-leading research in computer vision and its strong industrial links.

Research interests

Computer vision, artificial intelligence, robotics, machine learning, agricultural automation

Calvin will be studying his PhD at the University of East Anglia

Jack Bradley

About me

Before joining the CDT, I graduated with a BSc in Chemistry, with my interests within agriculture. My background is in electrochemical sensors; however, I will be looking into anti-biotic resistance/miniature tuneable bio-reactors. Agriculture is a high impact area, advancement made within this field will impact a great number of people. My PhD studies will be at Cambridge University with Dr Somenath Bakshi, alongside collaboration with other talented individuals within the programme and within relevant areas of research.

Research interests

Plant diseases (AMR), Machine Learning, Automation, Agricultural Engineering, Sensing (Electrochemical).

Jack will be studying his PhD at the University of Cambridge

James Heselden

About me

I am originally from South London and have been in Lincoln for 6 years now.

Before joining the CDT, I worked as a research assistant in the area of in-field logistics for soft-fruit picking, where I worked to upgrade and extend facilities for task management, route coordination, user interfacing, and robot communications. My main areas of interest are in fleet routing and task management, so this was a fun workspace to experiment with new ideas.

I also have interests in other fields, such as virtual reality which I have been exploring in other projects. I hope to bring aspects of what I have learnt in these projects to my PhD.

Research interests

Mobile Autonomy; Fleet Management; Robot Task Planning; Robot Navigation; Swarm Robotics; Agri-Robots; Virtual/Mixed Reality

James will be studying his PhD at the University of Lincoln. James will be studying a 4-year PhD as he has already achieved the MSc RAS at Lincoln.

Prabuddhi Wariyapperuma

About me

I am from Sri Lanka. In my spare time, I like to sing songs and read classics.

I am joining the CDT because I am excited to carry out studies related to the emerging trend of using robotics in agriculture and I believe that CDT could lay a strong foundation for my future career.

I am looking forward to moving to Lincoln because it is a fantastic place to live and study in UK and it is a perfect mix of outstanding natural beauty and lively atmosphere.

I chose to study my PhD at Lincoln because it seems to provide a good study-friendly environment and I cannot think of a better place to study than the University of Lincoln.

My career goal is to pursue further research within my research area and to work in the academia. Before joining the CDT, I was working as a research assistant at Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT), Sri Lanka.

A fun fact about me is that my retirement plan would be to live in a little cottage by a calm river and to be an old cat lady.

Research interests

Fleet Management, Robot Vision, Robotic Mapping, Robot Task Planning, Robot Navigation, Swarm Robotics, Agri-Robotics

Prabuddhi will be studying her PhD at the University of Lincoln

Yi Zhang

About me

I was born in China and moved to Japan when I was 12. Before joining the AgriFoRwArdS CDT community, I finished a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering at Osaka University. My research experience started when I was an exchange student at UC Berkeley, I was involved in research of argon power cycle at Combustion Modeling Lab. After taking several classes about robotics and control, I got interested and found opportunities to conduct work relating to autonomous driving including performance analysis and prediction algorithm implementation at Berkeley. For my undergraduate thesis, I developed a multi-robot cooperative transportation system that uses flexible tactile sensors.

I chose the AgriFoRwArdS CDT not only because the challenging and essential topics in robotics are addressed, but also because of the positive environmental impact it could create through the application to agriculture. I got excited about moving to Lincoln because of the amazing view and buildings in the city. I will be studying for my PhD at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Dr. Fulvio Forni.

I enjoy traveling and hiking to explore both culture and nature in different places during my spare time. I would like to take advantage and visit various cities and mountains while in the UK. Fun fact, I climbed Mountain Fuji twice in one month in the summer of 2022.

Research interests

Soft robotics, robotic manipulation, and control theory

Yi will be studying her PhD at the University of Cambridge

AgriFoRwArdS PhD Students - A Warm Welcome From Cambridge, UEA and Lincoln!

The AgriFoRwArdS CDT Teams at all three of our Partner Universities would like to wish a warm welcome to the PhD students returning for their second and third years of PhD study, and of course to Cohort 3 students, who are just beginning their PhD journey.

University of East Anglia

The Colour & Imaging Lab, in the School of Computing Sciences at the University of East Anglia, is delighted to welcome James Bennett to the Lab. James is starting his PhD at UEA on a collaborative AgriFoRwArdS project with Antobot, and will be working under the primary supervision of Prof Graham Finlayson.

Antobot make 'in the field' surveillance robots and are interested in supplying farmers with useful information such as crop ripeness (e.g. harvest ready). A key technical challenge of all deployed robotics systems in the outdoor environment is to process the images so that their measurements - e.g. camera RGBs - are robust to how the images are captured. As an example, we do not wish the measured colour of produce to vary when images are recorded on a sunny versus a cloudy day.

James will work with Antobot to help them make their captured images as robust to the natural variations in daylight as possible.

James will attend a series of events, to induct him into his Faculty Graduate School and the School of Computing Sciences, and ease him into his doctoral studies. He has also been invited to a special AgriFoRwArdS welcome.

University of Cambridge

On Friday, 30 September, the AgriFoRwArdS CDT Cambridge welcomed the Cohort 3 students who started their PhD study in Cambridge on the 3rd of October 2022.

All have successfully completed their Cambridge PhD applications and are currently settling in their colleges.

In addition, this year AgriFoRwArdS at Cambridge has significantly extended its departmental geography. Agriforwards CDT students: Kyle Fogarty and Rachel Trimble will be studying at the Department of Computer Sciences and Plant Sciences respectively.

We are looking forward to their future academic achievements.

University of Lincoln

The Lincoln team would like to say a hearty ‘welcome back’ to those students who are returning after studying the MSc RAS last year. All students are currently settling into their accommodation and beginning the PhD study journey. All Lincoln AgriFoRwArdS students were invited to a CDT Welcome Event on 30th September. The event gave them the opportunity to reconnect with their fellow students, and meet the new cohort.

This year Lincoln has six PhD students starting their study.

We are very excited to see how these students progress with their PhD research, for more details on their PhD projects you can visit their student profiles linked above.

The AgriFoRwArdS Team would like to wish the students a massive congratulations on their incredible MSc work. We are looking forward to your future academic successes.

AgriFoRwArdS Events

AgriFoRwArdS CDT Conference pictures published

To celebrate the successful 1st in-person AgriFoRwArdS CDT Annual Conference, which took place in Lincoln in June 2022, we would like to share with you all the wonderful pictures. These photographs really do demonstrate just how much everyone enjoyed the conference. We cannot wait for the next one!

You can view the conference photographs on our new 'AgriFoRwArdS in Pictures' website page. Visit the page below to view not only the conference pictures, but also other events, student outreach, student social events, training and site visits!

UKRAS 2022

Two of the AgriFoRwArdS CDT students were selected to present their research at the recent UKRAS 2022 Conference, which took place at Aberystwyth University. They travelled to Wales for the Conference, which was held on the 26th August 2022.

Amie Owen and Garry Clawson were both invited to present as part of the poster session

Garry also gave an oral presentation, titled 'Blockchain Crop Assurance and Localisation'. Garry was one of three who won the award for Best Paper. The winners of this award go on to present their research at the Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems (TAROS) Conference 2022. Which this year was held at the beginning of September and was hosted by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).

Read more about the student's experience of UKRAS2022 on the student blog.

Students visit farms to get insight into real-life challenges

Stocks Farm and Lower Hope Farm

In August a group of CDT students took a day trip to the Herefordshire-Worchester border, where they visited a working farm as well as a pack-house and distribution facility.

First the students visited CDT Advisory Board Chair, Ali Capper, at her family owned and run business, Stocks Farm. Ali showed the students round the orchards and hops crops, taking the opportunity to discuss current challenges and how technology is already being used to assist on the farm.
After lunch, the students travelled down the road to another working farm. Lower Hope Farm specialises in producing cherries, the students had the opportunity to see the growing, packing and distribution of cherries.

It was a long but fruitful day for the students, who took the opportunity to learn from real-life farmers' and benefit from their wealth of knowledge and expertise.

One of the students who attended, James Bennett, said;

I was really grateful for everyone who showed us around and shared their knowledge with us. They did a great job of explaining how their businesses had developed over the years and the technology that had been adopted. It was encouraging to hear their enthusiasm to continue to seek out technological solutions. I was also reminded how even simple, partially automated systems can be of great benefit to them.

You can find out more about the student's experience of Stocks Farm and Lower Hope Estate on the student blog, here.

University of Lincoln Riseholme Farm

Cohort 3 students visited the working farm at the University of Lincoln's Riseholme Campus as part of the second day of their 'Introduction to Agriculture; Opportunities and Challenges' training. They learnt about the technology used on the farm, met the animals, and discussed some of the key challenges the farm faces.

Learn more about the student's experience on the Riseholme Farm on the student blog here 

Meet the AgriFoRwArdS Team

Dr Cengiz Öztireli

Dr Cengiz Öztireli is an Associate Professor at the University of Cambridge and a Senior Researcher at Google. Cengiz specialises in computer graphics, vision, and machine learning and Artificial Intelligence. His dream is to have a form of digital reality that is easy to create, manipulate, and experience.

Cengiz and his Research group focus on trying to understand structures learned by neural networks, 3D capture, rendering, stochastic sampling techniques, geometry representations, neural geometry processing, 3D shape and pose estimation, character animation, image and video processing.

Cengiz has an extensive publishing portfolio and his research is widely cited by academics in relative disciplines. In 2020 he was awarded a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship.

We are delighted to announce that our Cohort 3 student, Kyle Fogarty joined Dr Oztireli’s Research Group this October.

Fumiya Iida awarded a Cambridge Professorship in Robotics

The University of Cambridge General Board reported on the Academic Career Pathways 2022 exercise in the most recent issue of the “Reporter”.

The General Board, at its meeting on 8 June 2022, considered recommendations from the Vice-Chancellor’s Academic Career Pathways Committee in respect of promotion on personal Professorships. After thorough consideration, it approved a recommendation to promote Dr Fumiya Iida, Reader of Robotics, to Professor of Robotics with effect from 1 October 2022. We wholeheartedly congratulate the AgriFoRwArdS CDT Deputy Director on his recent promotion.

Read more about Fumiya's promotion at the Cambridge Reporter.

Industry Partner News

AgriFoRwArdS collaborate with James Dyson Foundation

Haihui Yan and Jack Foster are two of AgriFoRwArdS' Cohort 2 students, who are both studying their PhDs at the University of Cambridge.

Both students are working with the James Dyson Foundation to address challenges in the agri-food sector using robotics. Both students have been part of producing the below informational video all about their work with Dyson, give it a watch for lots of great info!

Find out more about their experiences of working with Dyson here. You can find out all about their projects on their individual profiles.

Agri-Food and Robotics Research Continues

The Observatory of Human-Machine Collaboration project: two years of accomplishment

This year the OHMC workshop started with an invitation-only event that was attended by OHMC existing and potential industry collaborators. Students and academics demonstrated robotic experiments and provided extensive reports on their experimental work:

In 2021 we reported on the OHMC project launched a year before as a collaborative venture between the Departments of Engineering and Computer Science and Technology. In 2022 Cambridge academics, who are supported by the OHMC funding, once again presented their research at the 3rd OHMC workshop on the 23 of September 2022.

OHMC workshop demonstrations presented at the 3rd OHMC event were:

  • Robot Kitchen (Grzegorz Sochacki, AgriFoRwArdS CDT/BIRL)
  • Potatobot/Farmbot (Elijah Almanzor, AgriFoRwArdS CDT/BIRL)
  • Agri-automation tent (William Rohde, AgriFoRwArdS CDT)
  • Foodly Hymanoid Robot (Kieran Gilday, BIRL)
  • Embedding station (Elijah Almanzor & Ryman Hashem, BIRL)
  • Sensorised soft skin (David Hardman, BIRL)
  • Illuminating dementia with hd-dot (Emilia Srinivasan & Emilia Butters, Physics)
  • Soft Finger Project (Arsen, Chapa, BIRL/Engineering)
  • Control for robotic Surgery (Fulvio Forni & Daniel Larby, Engineering)
  • Robopatient (Ryman Hashem, BIRL)
  • Robotic piano playing (Huijiang Wang, BIRL/SMART)

In the main part of the event, Cambridge academics gave talks on new developments in the fields of AI and Robotics. Among the presenters were George Malliaris (Prince Philip Professor of Technology, UoC), Elizabeth Soilloux (Associate Professor & Consultant Pathologist, UoC), Anne Korhonen (Professor of Natural Language Processing, UoC) and Tamar Makin (Honorary Professor Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Div of Psychology & Lang Sciences, UoC) with the assistance of Nida Abbassi (PhD student, Department of Computer Science and Technology).

The OHMC Management is grateful for the keen interest that has been shown in the OHMC research, and hope inter-departmental collaborations will continue bringing new ideas.

Since the OHMC opened in September 2020, there have been six projects developed in collaboration with other Cambridge University departments and external organisations:

  • Agri-station for automation and growth optimization (G's Growers/AgriFoRwArdS CDT)
  • Eye tracking for 3D holographic displays (Engineering Department)
  • Low-cost Intelligent Mixed Reality System for Responsive Human-Machine Interactions (Institute for Manufacturing/Cyber-Human Lab)
  • Personalized Emotional caRe uSing human-rObot iNterAction (PERSONA) (Department of Computer Science and Technology)
  • Wearable optical monitoring of brain function in healthy adults and people at risk of dementia (Department of Physics/Engineering Department)
  • Automated Crop Growth Tracking (Engineering Department)
  • Human subjectivity-based metrics for robot handover task (Department of Psychology)
  • Hands-free gesture and vision control forremote operation of adrone using 3D computer-generated holography (Engineering Department)

Other News

AgriFoRwArdS feature in Food Science and Technology

Food Science & Technology (FS&T), published by The Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST), provides news and topical articles on all aspects of food science and technology.

The most recent edition of FS&T (Volume 36, Issue 3) featured a few familiar faces, as Kate Smith (CDT Project Manager) and Marc Hanheide (CDT Director) described the objectives and achievements of AgriFoRwArdS!

You can read the full article via PDF or online.

Lincoln Agri-Robotics hold Summer Camp

Lincoln Agri-Robotics (LAR) recently held their annual Summer Camp. They hosted several workshops and a hackathon-style grand challenge designed to help early career researchers develop a range of technical and non-technical skills.

The event welcomed external workshop hosts Marcus Bazley and Lucy Goodchild, who delivered some excellent training on Public Speaking and Media Training. The University of Lincoln's very own Professor Louise Manning and Dr Oorbessy Gaju also hosted some informative workshops on the research gap and data capture in the field.

The week ended with a Summer Camp celebration and networking lunch out on Riseholme Hall lawn, with some delicious food served by a local business (@fooddudelincoln).

LAR would like to give a big thank you to all that attended and made the week possible.

You can see some great footage of the event on LinkedIn.

Two of the CDT's Cohort 2 students, Amie Owen and Grey Churchill attended the wonderful event. Here is what Amie had to say about the experience;

I was part of a team who worked in the vineyard and decided to instruct their Leo robot to follow a yellow line drawn out along part of the row of vines. To test the system in the lab worked well, although outside in the vineyard, the challenges became the varying amounts of light and shade (we were working with visual navigation) and rough terrain that sometimes the Leo didn’t like too much!
One member of the team developed a system to detect the leaves of the vine and to analyse the ‘green-ness’ to determine the vine health. I enjoyed working with others on a project and it was interesting to have a mix of people at different levels/stages of their research and from different Universities.
I really enjoyed the workshop given by Prof Louise Manning on ‘The Research Gap’ - we had a deep dive into the knowledge gap that each of our research projects was trying to address. I was really inspired by Prof Manning’s passion for her work and for making a difference. I enjoyed the mixture of technical challenge, teamwork and being outside in the vineyard on sunny days!

Contact Us

If you have any comments, information or news you wish to share with the AgriFoRwArdS community, please do get in touch - We'd love to hear from you.

The AgriFoRwArdS CDT Delivery Team - agriforwards.cdt@lincoln.ac.uk

Visit us on the web at www.agriforwards-cdt.ac.uk and don’t forget to subscribe to the AgriFoRwArdS CDT YouTube channel, and follow us on LinkedIn.

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