Hardware Podcasts

Episode 69: Robots on the farm - Elizabeth Sklar

Robot Talk · 19 Jan 2024 · 36m · Episode 69

What this episode covers

Elizabeth Sklar, Professor of Agri-Robotics at the University of Lincoln and Research Director at the Lincoln Institute for Agri-food Technology (LIAT), discusses how robotics can improve efficiency and sustainability in agriculture. She outlines three key research themes: robotic phenotyping, crop care, and selective harvesting, highlighting the Co-Fruit project which uses human-robot teaming for soft fruit harvesting. Sklar emphasizes the importance of designing systems that respect low-margin farming economics and the necessity of engaging with end-users like farmers early in the development process. Additionally, she details her work with RoboCupJunior to encourage diverse participation in robotics education from childhood through doctoral studies.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Lincoln Institute for Agri-food Technology, University of Lincoln
Products
Co-Fruit
Also
RoboCupJunior, Sustain

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Robot Report Podcast · 1h 07m

    FIRA 2025 Ag robotics recap

    Mike Oitzman recaps the FIRA 2025 Ag Robotics event in Woodland, CA, highlighting innovations from Bonzai Robotics, AgScout, and TensorField, and featuring an interview with Dave Silver of John Deere on their 5 ML orchard tractor. Danny Bernstein, founder of The Reservoir, explains his agtech incubator's mission to bridge the gap between Silicon Valley engineers and rural farming ecosystems in Salinas. The episode also covers Amazon's new Blue Jay overhead robot and SoftBank's potential acquisition of Agility Robotics.

    Robotics & autonomyStarting a product company
    7 chapters

  • The Next Byte Podcast · 24m

    47. Robotic Farming Makes Produce Better & Cheaper

    Daniel and Forbode discuss how robotic systems are revolutionizing agriculture by addressing inefficiencies in conventional farming. They analyze two key approaches: a configurable adaptive and scalable swarm system (CASS) from Texas A&M University, which uses collaborative drones and ground robots, and Pixel Farming Robotics, a Dutch company offering modular, lightweight autonomous robots. The hosts highlight specific technologies like wireless inductive charging from Wi-Fi On and Varda batteries, emphasizing how these innovations reduce soil compaction, chemical usage, and operational costs while increasing yield.

    Robotics & autonomyBatteries & low-power design
    7 chapters

  • Embedded.fm · 1h 03m

    525: Some Sort of Metal

    Dr. Tom Williams, a computer science professor at the Colorado School of Mines and author of 'Degrees of Freedom: On Robotics and Social Justice,' discusses the intersection of robotics, ethics, and social justice. He argues that roboticists must consider societal impacts, citing Waki Kamino’s research on MLB’s automated ball-strike system and the teleoperation of robots like EngKey. Williams advocates for integrating ethics into engineering education through methods like participatory design and improvisation to address issues of race, gender, and labor.

    Robotics & autonomyCareers & education
    10 chapters

  • The Robot Report Podcast · 1h 18m

    Practical Applications of Embodied AI and Humanoid Robots

    Dr. Russ Tedrake of Toyota Research Institute and Scott Kuindersma of Boston Dynamics discuss their collaboration to integrate TRI's large behavior models into the Atlas humanoid robot, focusing on using imitation learning and data to enable general-purpose manipulation skills. The episode also covers the FIRA 2024 ag-robotics event, highlighting Advanced Farms' apple-harvesting robot, the Reservoir Farms incubator, and new ventures like Rotate 8 and Blue White's autonomous tractor solutions.

    Robotics & autonomyAI & machine learning
    7 chapters

  • The Robot Report Podcast · 1h 10m

    Harvesting innovation: The story behind Tortuga's autonomous harvesting robots

    Eric Adamson, CEO and co-founder of Tortuga Agtech, discusses the development of autonomous harvesting robots for strawberries, table grapes, and wine grapes. He explains how operating in structured greenhouse and tunnel environments simplifies the complex vision and manipulation challenges of harvesting high-value crops. Adamson details the company's rapid prototyping process, including the evolution of their custom SCARA-style arms and grippers, and their strategy of building low-cost hardware from scratch to ensure economic viability. The episode also covers Tortuga's recent $50 million funding round, which includes strategic investment from grape growers, and their expansion into precision agriculture services like UV light treatment for mildew and yield forecasting.

    Robotics & autonomyDesign for manufacturing & NPI
    8 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Robot Talk. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.