Advances in agri-food robotics

Part 1 Technologies: sensing and perception

• 1.Advances in visual perception for agricultural robotics: Gert Kootstra, Wageningen University, The Netherlands;
• 2.Advances in world modeling for agri-food robotics: Jordy Senden, Elena Torta and René van de Molengraft, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands; and Herman Bruyninckx, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Flanders Make, Belgium;
• 3.Advances in local perception for orchard robotics: Jose Blasco, Centro de Agroingeniería – Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Spain; and Francisco Rovira-Más, Agricultural Robotics Laboratory (ARL) – Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain;
• 4.Advances in machine learning for agricultural robots: Polina Kurtser, Örebro University and Umeå University, Sweden; Stephanie Lowry, Örebro University, Sweden; and Ola Ringdahl, Umeå University, Sweden;

Part 2 Technologies: operational aspects

• 5.Autonomous navigation and path planning for agricultural robots: John F. Reid, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA;
• 6.Advances in human-robot collaboration in agricultural robotics: George Adamides, Agricultural Research Institute, Cyprus; and Yael Edan, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel;
• 7.Implementing a digital twin for flexible operation of agricultural robotics: Frits K. van Evert, Trim Bresilla, Ard Nieuwenhuizen, Bram Veldhuisen and Jochen Hemming, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands; Giannis Avgoustakis, Spyros Fountas, Michael Koutsiaras and Nikos Mylonas, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece; Suzanne Baron, Agricultural Robotics and Automatization, France; Thanos Dritsopoulos and Markos Legas, Pegasus, Greece; Han Hilbrands and Jeroen Wolters, Smart Agri Technology BV, The Netherlands; Klaas Jan Hommes, Abemec BV, The Netherlands; Panagiotis Karagiannis, Sotiris Makris and George Michalos, University of Patras, Greece; Dimitrios Paraforos and Galibjon Sharipov, University of Hohenheim, Germany; Søren Marcus Pedersen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Bertrand Pinel, Terrena Societe Cooperative Agricole, France; Mladen Radisic, Foodscale Hub, Serbia; Juan F. Rascón and Carlos Rizzo, Eurecat, Centre Tecnològic de Catalunya, Spain; Raul Sanchez, Serrater, Spain; Alea Scovill, AgroIntelli, Denmark; Oriol Serra, Giropoma, Spain; and Josep Vidal, Teyme, Spain;
• 8.Advances in connectivity and distributed intelligence in agricultural robotics: Liisa Pesonen, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Finland; Daniel Calvo Alonso, Atos, Spain; Juha Backman and Jere Kaivosoja, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Finland; Jarmi Recio Martinez, Atos, Spain; and Juha-Pekka Soininen, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Finland;
• 9.Improving fault detection and isolation in agricultural robotics: Nicolas Tricot, Mahmoud Almasri and Roland Lenain, Université Clermont Auvergne, France;

Part 3 Technologies: actuation

• 10.Advances in mobility platforms for agricultural robots: Renato Vidoni and Giovanni Carabin, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy; Giuseppe Quaglia and Andrea Botta, Politecnico di Torino, Italy; and Giulio Reina and Rocco Galati, Politecnico di Bari, Italy;
• 11.Advances in grasping techniques in agricultural robots: George Kantor and Francisco Yandun, Carnegie Mellon University, USA;
• 12.Advances in soft grasping in agriculture: Ali Leylavi Shoushtari, Wageningen University & Research and Wageningen Robotics, The Netherlands;
• 13.Advances in agricultural unmanned aerial vehicles: focus on sensing applications: Tarin Paz-Kagan, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel;

Part 4 Social, ethical and economic aspects

• 14.Regulatory frameworks and standards for agricultural robotics in the European Union: Andrea Bertolini and Rocco Limongelli, Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento Sant'Anna - Istituto Dirpolis, Italy;
• 15.Economics of agricultural robotics: James Lowenberg-Deboer, Harper Adams University, UK;
• 16.Social and ethical considerations for agricultural robotics: Kirsten Ayris, University of Reading, UK; and David Christian Rose, Cranfield University, UK;

Part 5 Applications

• 17.Advances in the use of robotics in crop phenotyping: M. Wattad, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Israel; V. Alchanatis, Volcani Institute – Agricultural Research Organization, Israel; Y. Edan, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel; S. Shriki and T. Sandovsky, Volcani Institute – Agricultural Research Organization and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel; and S. Filin, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Israel;
• 18.Advances in the use of robots in field crop cultivation: Avital Bechar, Agricultural Research Organization, Israel; and Dionysis Bochtis, Institute for Bio-Economy and Agri-Technology (iBO), Greece;
• 19.Advances in the use of robotics in orchard operations: Manoj Karkee and Qin Zhang, Washington State University, USA; Uddhav Bhattarai, University of California Davis, USA; and Xin Zhang, Mississippi State University, USA;
• 20.Advances in the use of robotics in greenhouse cultivation: Jochen Hemming and Jos Balendonck, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands;
• 21.Advances in the use of robotics in livestock production: Kees Lokhorst, Wageningen Livestock Research, The Netherlands; and Tomas Norton, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

"Edited by two internationally distinguished domain experts, this new book offers a comprehensive overview of robotics technology and outlines the recent advancements of applying robotic equipment in agri-food systems. The contributing authors have included a selection of outstanding examples of the successful application of these technologies as a means of illustrating how the adoption of robotic technologies can contribute to improvements in product quality and yields. Thus, I am confident that this book – edited by Professor Eldert van Henten and Professor Yael Edan – will prove to be an excellent resource for understanding and adopting robotic technologies to support innovation in modern agri-food systems."
Professor Qin Zhang, Director, Center for Precision and Automated Agricultural Systems, Washington State University, USA