Following the machines, people and ideas shaping agriculture. Selected developments, clear context and a link to the original source.
Robotics. Intelligence. Agriculture.
305 stories matching “Research”.
Cornell University’s controlled-environment researchers and startup Koidra formed Team Koala, which won the third Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge at Wageningen’s research facilities in the Netherlands in 2022.
A Federal University of Pelotas project running from 2022 to 2026 explored autonomous electric field robots and communication between units, seeking machinery options suited to smaller and medium-sized Brazilian farms.
The AGRO research project described an autonomous ground rover for field data collection, combining machine learning, mapping and obstacle avoidance with an application in estimating pistachio yields from collected observations.
The CropNav research preprint proposed switching between lidar row following and waypoint navigation to help small agricultural robots move through crop canopies where satellite positioning becomes unreliable or unavailable.
Queen Mary researchers, Extend Robotics and Saffron Grange investigated robotic grape picking using optical analysis, pressure-sensitive handling and remote interfaces, aiming to improve decisions about fruit ripeness and harvest timing.
Researchers tested IIT’s HyQReal quadruped in an Italian vineyard in 2021, comparing locomotion on tilled and grassed inter-row ground as an early investigation of legged robots in agriculture.
TUM researchers demonstrated a moving prototype that identifies and locates green asparagus, tackling a key perception challenge before developing and testing the complete robotic harvesting action in the field.
CNH announced a minority investment in California’s Advanced Farm Technologies in 2023, linking robotics research and commercial development for harvesting apples, strawberries and other high-value fruit crops.
University of Queensland researchers reported a mobile root-sensing system in July 2025, combining an autonomous robot with electromagnetic measurements to investigate rooting traits, water access and crop performance.
A QUT-led programme announced in February 2024 set out to automate banana de-handing with robot arms and computer vision, addressing a repetitive, physically demanding stage of postharvest processing.
India’s agriculture ministry described ICAR research spanning robotic apple harvesting, machine-vision grading, connected cold storage and digital twins, linking mechanization with production quality and supply-chain monitoring.
IRRI and XAG announced a research partnership in January 2025 to validate smart agricultural technologies in rice-based cropping systems, with drones donated through Philippine partner Agridom.
