Journals

Coordinated navigation of two agricultural robots in a vineyard: A simulation study – Sensors, vol. 22, no. 23, 9095, 2022

Abstract The development of an effective agricultural robot presents various challenges in actuation, localization, navigation, sensing, etc., depending on the prescribed task. Moreover, when multiple robots are engaged in an agricultural task, this requires appropriate coordination strategies to be developed to ensure safe, effective, and efficient operation. This paper presents a simulation study that demonstrates a robust coordination strategy for the navigation of two heterogeneous robots, where one robot is the expert and the second robot is the helper in…

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Effectiveness of a robot-assisted psychological intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder – Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Abstract Difficulties with social interaction characterise children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and have a negative impact in their everyday life. Integrating a social-humanoid robot within the standard clinical treatment has been proven promising. The main aim of this randomised controlled study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a robot-assisted psychosocial intervention and the secondary aim was to investigate potential differences between a robot-assisted intervention group and a control group receiving intervention by humans only. The analysis of the results showed…

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Variable Selection on Reflectance NIR Spectra for the Prediction of TSS in Intact Berries of Thompson Seedless Grapes – Agronomy 2022, vol. 12, no. 9, 2113

Abstract Fourier-transform near infrared (FT-NIR) reflection spectra of intact berries of the grape variety Thompson seedless were used to predict total soluble solids (TSS) content. From an initial dataset, 12 subsets were considered by applying variable selection to extract the reflectance values at wavenumbers most correlated to the chemometrically measured TSS content. The datasets were processed by both multiple linear regression (MLR) and partial least squares (PLS) methods towards predicting the TSS content from the reflection values of each spectrum.…

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An Overview of End Effectors in Agricultural Robotic Harvesting Systems – Agriculture 2022, 12(8), 1240

Abstract In recent years, the agricultural sector has turned to robotic automation to deal with the growing demand for food. Harvesting fruits and vegetables is the most labor-intensive and time-consuming among the main agricultural tasks. However, seasonal labor shortage of experienced workers results in low efficiency of harvesting, food losses, and quality deterioration. Therefore, research efforts focus on the automation of manual harvesting operations. Robotic manipulation of delicate products in unstructured environments is challenging. The development of suitable end effectors…

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Grapevine Plant Image Dataset for Pruning – Data 2022, 7(8), 110

Abstract Grapevine pruning is conducted during winter, and it is a very important and expensive task for wine producers managing their vineyard. During grapevine pruning every year, the past year’s canes should be removed and should provide the possibility for new canes to grow and produce grapes. It is a difficult procedure, and it is not yet fully automated. However, some attempts have been made by the research community. Based on the literature, grapevine pruning automation is approximated with the…

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