Below are the projects undertaken by the AgriFoRwArdS Students. To find out more about a project, visit the student’s profile page.
MSc Projects
| MSc Project Title | Student | Dates | Supervisor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semantic Segmentation of Plant Leaves from 3D Point Clouds using Deep Learning | Karoline Heiwolt | 2019-2020 | Prof Tom Duckett |
| Residual Physics for Grasp Failure Prediction | Grzegorz Sochacki | 2019-2020 | Dr Amir Ghalamzan Esfahani |
| Leaky Integrate Neuron Model for Multi Robot Task Allocation | Roopika Ravikanna | 2019-2020 | Dr Alan Millard |
| Investigation into Harvesting Soft Fruit Clusters | Willow Mandil | 2019-2020 | Dr Amir Ghalamzan Esfahani |
| Multi-Agent Simulation for Pickers and Runners at a Strawberry Farm | Amie Owen | 2020-2021 | Prof Elizabeth Sklar |
| 3D image segmentation of potato sprouts in a controlled environment | Bradley Hurst | 2020-2021 | Dr Nicola Bellotto |
| Machine Learning for the Detection of Weeds among Sugar Beets | Grey Churchill | 2020-2021 | Prof Simon Parsons |
| Deep Reinforcement Learning for Control of Robotic Manipulators for Grasping Strawberries in Simulation | Elijah Almanzor | 2020-2021 | Dr Amir Ghalamzan Esfahani |
| Simulation of Liquid Crystal Elastomer Robotic Gripper | Haihui Yan | 2020-2021 | Dr Khaled Elgeneidy |
| Investigation of the use of Geometric Algebra for robotic kinematic and dynamic analysis with applications in selective harvesting | Haris Matsantonis | 2020-2021 | Dr Amir Ghalamzan Esfahani |
| Deployment: the next stage of machine learning | Harry Rogers | 2020-2021 | Dr Charles Fox |
| Lifelong Learning for Sensor-based Precipitation Regression | Jack Foster | 2020-2021 | Prof Simon Parsons |
| Optimal Control for Agricultural Spraying Robot | Joshua Davy | 2020-2021 | Dr Charles Fox |
| Detection and Segmentation of Fish in RGB-D images | Mazvydas Gudelis | 2020-2021 | Dr Nicola Bellotto |
| Multi-robot crop monitor | Ni Wang | 2020-2021 | Dr Alan Millard |
| Non-destructive mass estimation of iceberg lettuce | William Rohde | 2020-2021 | Dr Nicola Bellotto |
| Exploring trust towards TIAGo’s behaviour during the completion of an agriculture-related task | Alex Elias | 2021-2022 | Maria Galvez Trigo |
| Augmented Reality to Help Humans Solve Complex Problems | Bethan Moncur | 2021-2022 | Maria Galvez Trigo |
| Synthetic Image Generation Pipeline for Weed Detection in Fields | Callum Lennox | 2021-2022 | Dr Junfeng Gao |
| Inverse Reinforcement Learning Applied to the Correspondence Problem | Emlyn Williams | 2021-2022 | Dr Athanasios Polydoros |
| Applications of Distributed Ledger Technologies in Robotics | Garry Clawson | 2021-2022 | Dr Charles Fox |
| Developing a Line-scanning Hyperspectral Imaging System for Monitoring Potato Plant Status | James Bennett | 2021-2022 | Dr Junfeng Gao |
| Augmented reality enhancement for a museum robot to improve accessibility and inclusivity | James Tombling | 2021-2022 | Dr Patrick Dickinson |
| Surface reconstruction of point clouds | Kyle Fogarty | 2021-2022 | Dr Petra Bosilj |
| Long-Term Visual Teach & Repeat in Agricultural Environments | Nikolaos Tsagkopoulos | 2021-2022 | Prof Marc Hanheide |
| Augmenting autonomous systems to improve agronomy effectiveness | Paul-David Zuercher | 2021-2022 | Prof Marc Hanheide |
| Improved Control of Invasive Plant Disease Epidemics Using Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes | Rachel Trimble | 2021-2022 | Prof Simon Parsons |
| Learning robot navigation from demonstrations | Samuel Carter | 2021-2022 | Dr Amir Ghalamzan Esfahani |
| Making MACARONS: Modular Automated Crop Array Online System | Vijja Wichitwechkarn | 2021-2022 | Dr Charles Fox |
| Automatic aphid counting based on yellow water pan trap imagery and deep learning | Xumin Gao | 2021-2022 | Dr Junfeng Gao |
| Training strategies for domain generalisation in object detection for autonomous driving | Afsaneh Karami | 2022-2023 | Dr Petra Bosilj |
| Addressing geographical domain shift for quantification of UK road verge biodiversity | Andrew Perrett | 2022-2023 | Dr Petra Bosilj |
| Scaling the Spheres: Exploring the Impact of Physical Size on the Performance of Spherical Robots in Agricultural Settings | Andrew Simpson | 2022-2023 | Dr Grzegorz Cielniak |
| Comparative Study of Graph-Based Methods for Coverage Path Planning: An Analysis of the Minimum Spanning Tree vs. the Nearest Neighbours Algorithm | Calvin John | 2022-2023 | Dr Charles Fox |
| Application of microfluidics and chemical bar-coding to produce a Multi-Input Multi-Output controllers for growth culture tuning | Jack Bradley | 2022-2023 | Prof Xujiong Ye |
| Human detection and body posture recognition for human-robot collaborative applications | Prabuddhi Wariyapperuma | 2022-2023 | Dr Leonardo Guevara |
| Object manipulation using model-based reinforcement learning | Yi Zhang | 2022-2023 | Dr Amir Ghalamzan Esfahani |
| Adaptive Hybrid Control Architectures for LLM-Controlled Robot Arm | Amanda Xu | 2023-2024 | Dr Grzegorz Cielniak |
| AI cleaning of unstructured data for application in models trained on lab derived and clean datasets | Benjamin Nicholls | 2023-2024 | Dr Shaun Coutts |
| Advancing Automation: Development and Assessment of Lightweight Open-Source Robotic Arms | Catherine Merchant | 2023-2024 | Dr Charles Fox |
| Predictive Modelling of Grafting Success in Tomato Plants | Dimitris Paparas | 2023-2024 | Dr Jaspreet Singh |
| Natural Language Understanding based on RAG towards a General-Purpose Service Robot | Eden Attenborough | 2023-2024 | Dr Leonardo Guevara |
| Autonomous plant detection and geolocation for multi-robot coordination | Elliot Smith | 2023-2024 | Prof Elizabeth Sklar |
| A Data-Driven Approach for Optimal Control of Autonomous Greenhouse for Lettuce Growth | Emmanuel Soumo | 2023-2024 | Dr Marcello Calisti |
| A computer-vision based training coach for computerised physical training | Georges Davies | 2023-2024 | Dr Christos Frantzidis |
| Discrete Gaussian Process Representations for Optimising Drone-based Precision Weed Mapping | Jacob Swindell | 2023-2024 | Dr Riccardo Polvara |
| Robot Learning in Neural Simulator for fruit picking | Liyou Zhou | 2023-2024 | Dr Athanasios Polydoros |
| Mixed Reality for Enhanced Human-Robot Interaction | Omar Ali | 2023-2024 | Dr Helen Harman |
| Benchmarking Protocols for Soft Robotic Harvesting | Omar Faris | 2023-2024 | Dr Marcello Calisti |
| Analysis of Adaptive Passive Technologies for the Locomotion and Inspection with Autonomous Robots in Unstructured Environments | Robert Stevenson | 2023-2024 | Dr Alexandr Klimchik |
| An Ensemble-Based Approach for Sample-Efficient Deep Reinforcement Learning from Self-Demonstration | Violet Mayne | 2023-2024 | Dr Heriberto Cuayahuitl |
| Robbie Cato | 2024-2025 | Dr Francesco Del Duchetto |
PhD Projects
| PhD Project Title | Student | Dates | Primary Supervision | Collaboration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taste-Enabled Robotic Chef – On Robots Learning to Cook from Taste Feedback and Human Demonstration | Grzegorz Sochacki | 2020-2024 | Prof Fumiya Iida | Beko |
| 4D Scene Analysis for Autonomous Operation of Mobile Robots on Farms | Karoline Heiwolt | 2020-present | Dr Grzegorz Cielniak [Prof Tom Duckett, Sep 2020 – Mar 2021] | Saga Robotics |
| Fleet Management of Autonomous Agricultural Robots with Human Awareness | Roopika Ravikanna | 2020-present | Prof Marc Hanheide | Saga Robotics |
| Data-driven methods for detecting fruit and planning harvesting actions in dense cluster (DPFH) | Willow Mandil | 2020-present | Dr Amir Ghalamzan Esfahani | Berry Gardens |
| Intelligent Automation for Hygiene Maintenance in Food Production Settings | Amie Owen | 2021-present | Prof Elizabeth Sklar | Campden BRI |
| Active Robot Perception for Automated Potato Planting | Bradley Hurst | 2021-present | Dr Petra Bosilj | Jersey Farmers’ Union |
| Machine learning-based vision for “green-on-green” spraying | Grey Churchill | 2021-present | Prof Simon Parsons | Syngenta |
| Automation and Robotization of the Planting of the ‘Jersey Royal’ Potatoes | Elijah Almanzor | 2021-present | Prof Fumiya Iida | Jersey Farmers’ Union |
| 3D Printing Soft Robotic Grippers for Automated Strawberry Harvesting | Haihui Yan | 2021-present | Dr Sebastian Pattinson | Dyson Farming |
| Design and implementation of a machine vision system to promote precision agriculture innovation using novel Geometric Algebra techniques | Haris Matsantonis | 2021-present | Prof Joan Lasenby | MathWorks |
| Closing the Loop on Precision Spraying | Harry Rogers | 2021-2024 | Prof Beatriz De La Iglesia | Syngenta |
| Collaborative Lifelong Learning for Robust Site-Specific Crop Management | Jack Foster | 2021-present | Dr Alexandra Brintrup | Dyson Farming |
| Analysing Videos of Fish in the Field | Mazvydas Gudelis | 2021-present | Dr Michal Mackiewicz | CEFAS |
| Autonomous monitoring and control of crop growth as a feedback system | William Rohde | 2021-present | Dr Fulvio Forni | G’s Growers |
| Identifying Early Links in Adoption Success of Collaborative Robots within Industry | Alex Elias | 2022-present | Dr Carolina Camacho Villa | Manufacturing Technology Centre |
| Deciding to implement emerging technologies: the help of digital technologies in planning for the implementation of robotics and autonomous systems in food manufacturing firms | Bethan Moncur | 2022-present | Dr Letizia Mortara | Samworth Brothers |
| Real-time vision-based spot spraying development for high efficiency and precision weed management | Callum Lennox | 2022-present | Prof Elizabeth Sklar [Dr Junfeng Gao, Oct 2022 – Mar 2024] | Douglas Bomford Trust |
| Robot Learning from visual demonstrations of agricultural harvesting tasks | Emlyn Williams | 2022-present | Dr Athanasios Polydoros | Dogtooth Technologies |
| Designing Food Supply Chain for Nutritional Delivery and Traceability | Garry Clawson | 2022-present | Dr Mukesh Kumar | Dyson Farming |
| Seeing Spectral Signatures | James Bennett | 2022-present | Prof Graham Finlayson | Antobot |
| 3D Modelling of Natural Structures | Kyle Fogarty | 2022-present | Dr Cengiz Öztireli | |
| Low-cost interactive systems to optimise operator performance in the agri-food industry | Paul-David Zuercher | 2022-present | Dr Thomas Bohné | |
| Using reinforcement learning to optimise adaptive control of invading plant disease epidemics | Rachel Trimble | 2022-present | Dr Nik Cunniffe | Defra |
| Learning robot navigation and manipulation from demonstrations | Samuel Carter | 2022-present | Dr Amir Ghalamzan Esfahani | 2 Sisters Food Group |
| Crop-agnostic optimisation for vertical farms | Vijja Wichitwechkarn | 2022-present | Dr Ruchi Choudhary | Zero Carbon Farms |
| AphidNet: automatic aphid recognition and counting based on field water trap imagery by deep learning | Xumin Gao | 2022-present | Dr Grzegorz Cielniak [Dr Junfeng Gao, Oct 2022 – Mar 2024] | British Beet Research Organisation |
| Robust Robotic Fleet Management for Warehouse Operations | James Heselden | 2022-present | Dr Gautham Das | Dogtooth Technologies |
| Understanding and mitigating the problem of highlights in remote sensing with application to coastal surveying | Afsaneh Karami | 2023-present | Prof Graham Finlayson | CEFAS |
| Multi-modal fusion for remote biodiversity surveys of linear green infrastructure | Andrew Perrett | 2023-present | Dr Petra Bosilj | Norfolk County Council |
| Designing Scalable Robotic Systems for Next-Generation Agriculture: A Technological Perspective | Andrew Simpson | 2023-present | Prof Richard Harvey | |
| A GNSS/RTK Localization-based Agri-Robot Digital Twin for Precision Agri-tasks in Crop Fields | Calvin John | 2023-present | Dr Edwin Ren | CHC Tech Limited |
| Bioreactor arrays for analysis and control of food production using genetically modified microbes | Jack Bradley | 2023-present | Dr Somenath Bakshi | Dyson Farming |
| Human sensing methodology based on affordable sensors for human-aware navigation in agricultural scenarios | Prabuddhi Wariyapperuma | 2023-present | Dr Leonardo Guevara | Berry Gardens |
| Data-driven autonomous robotic food handling | Yi Zhang | 2023-present | Dr Fulvio Forni | RT Corporation |
| Beyond a shadow of a doubt: land surveying in the real world | Sean Chow | 2023-present | Prof Graham Finlayson | CEFAS |
| Developing an Intelligent Soft Robotic Manipulator for High Efficient and Automated Cross – Breeding and Phenotypic Analysis in Agriculture | Amanda Xu | 2024-present | Prof Fumiya Iida | |
| Imaging stale seedbeds for weed mapping, monitoring and early season control | Benjamin Nicholls | 2024-present | Dr Shaun Coutts | |
| Soft Gripper robot arm for vertical farm | Catherine Merchant | 2024-present | Prof Fumiya Iida | Dyson Farming |
| Biosensor Development for In-Field Plant Diagnostics and Physiology Monitoring | Dimitris Paparas | 2024-present | Dr Luigi Occhipinti | Dyson Farming |
| Integration of Communication, Positioning, Navigation, and Timing for Agri-robots | Eden Attenborough | 2024-present | Dr Edwin Ren | CHC Tech Limited |
| Multi-Agent Task allocation for Heterogenous Salad Harvesting Teams | Elliot Smith | 2024-present | Dr Helen Harman | |
| Reduced-order modelling and control of a greenhouse environment to optimize salad production | Emmanuel Soumo | 2024-present | Dr Athanasios Polydoros | Crystal Heart Salad |
| Beyond the visible – spectral imaging and analysis for crop health and yield monitoring | Georges Davies | 2024-present | Dr Michal Mackiewicz | NIAB |
| PATHFINDER: Precision Agriculture Through High-Fidelity Flight Navigation and Exploration Routing | Jacob Swindell | 2024-present | Dr Riccardo Polvara | FarmB |
| AgriVision 2.0: Vision Language Action Robotics in Agriculture | Liyou Zhou | 2024-present | Dr Sebastian Pattinson | Wayve Technologies |
| multi-Sensor Human Activity Recognition and intention Prediction (SHARP) | Omar Ali | 2024-present | Dr Helen Harman | Ocado Innovation |
| Tactile-sensing and augmented reality for robotic manipulation of fruit | Omar Faris | 2024-present | Dr Fulvio Forni | |
| Robert Stevenson | 2024-present | Dr Alexandr Klimchik | ||
| Surveying the Agricultural Landscape using a hyperspectral camera | Violet Mayne | 2024-present | Prof Graham Finlayson | Living Optics & Cefas |
| Trustworthy and Explainable Robots for Agricultural Applications | Robbie Cato | 2025-present | Dr Francesco Del Duchetto | Douglas Bomford Trust |