Research projects study automated orchard management

Fruit orchards are complex environments, which makes automation difficult. But two robotics projects recently awarded grants from USDA could eliminate some of the barriers to automated orchard management.

The University of Minnesota (UMN) received a grant of $914,565 to develop planning algorithms that would allow robots to operate autonomously in apple orchards.

Ibrahim Volkan Isler, an associate professor in UMN’s Computer Science and Engineering department, is leading the robotics and sensing portion of the project, along with Ai-Ping Hu, an engineer with Georgia Tech. James Luby, a UMN professor and fruit breeder – along with professors Cindy Tong and Emily Hoover – is providing a horticultural perspective.

Read more about Minnesota Robotics Institute faculty Volkan Isler and his team's work on the automated orchard management project in the Fruit Growers News article.