Presentations

• “Predictive Modelling of Grafting Success in Tomato Plants” (poster) – AgriFoRwArdS CDT Annual Conference 2024: Robots in Action [July 2024] – Norwich, UK.
• “Interactive Perception: A heuristic approach to overcoming physical occlusions in tomato picking” (oral) – AgriFoRwArdS CDT Summer School: Robotic Phenotyping [July 2024] – Wageningen, The Netherlands.
• “Predictive Modelling of Grafting Success” (poster) – AgriFoRwArdS CDT Summer School: Robotic Phenotyping [July 2024] – Wageningen, The Netherlands.
• “The AgriFoRwArdS CDT Summer School – Interactive Perception (Theme 5)” (oral) – Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems (TAROS) 2024 [August 2024] – London, UK.

Activities and Outputs

• Contributor to blog article ‘Peer-to-peer support for the transition to PhD‘ (Mar 2024).
• Member of the AgriFoRwArdS CDT Advisory Board (November 2023 to present).
• Member of the AgriFoRwArdS CDT Student Panel (November 2023 to present).
• Member of the AgriFoRwArdS CDT Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Panel (November 2023 to present).

About me

Hello, I’m Dimitris. I’m from Greece and have been studying in the UK for three years. I hold a BEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Southampton. I learned about the CDT during the second year of my undergraduate degree. I felt drawn to it because of its solid industrial focus and potential to significantly impact the world. 

In the past, I have worked on projects involving robotics and sensing, the most notable being the CanSat USA competition. I’m also deeply interested in IoT applications and have tinkered with smart devices at the hobbyist level. During my PhD at the University of Cambridge, I’m eager to explore the potential use of biosensors as a non-invasive prognostic tool in agricultural applications. My personal aspiration is to demonstrate a proof-of-concept wireless sensing system. I am equally excited to expose myself to the field of robotics and autonomous systems through the MSc at Lincoln. 

On a more personal and upbeat note, I enjoy cooking and constantly seek to improve my culinary skills. I like to stay active through long walks, hikes, and the gym. When I’m not doing much, I usually watch movies/series/anime or listen to podcasts – especially on long commutes. 

MSc Project

Predictive Modelling of Grafting Success in Tomato Plants 

This project seeks to develop AI-based models able to predict early signs of graft failure/success in tomato plants. Two primary methods will be investigated and compared: graft union impedance and vision-based techniques.

PhD Project

Biosensor Development for In-Field Plant Diagnostics and Physiology Monitoring

The project aims to explore the potential benefits of combining biosensing, machine learning, and robotics for in-field plant diagnostics and physiology monitoring. Plant diagnostics will primarily focus on molecular diagnostics platforms that enable early and precise detection and identification of pathogens, such as fungi, as supported by prior work. Biosensor-enabled plant physiology monitoring will also target early disease detection as well as elements of plant growth (e.g., healing, ripening, senescence). 

This project brings device-level developments to the CDT for system-level applications. The project plan aims to solve unmet needs between the industry and state-of-the-art agricultural research within the scope of the AgriFoRwArdS CDT. From a top-level perspective, this project lies firmly within the CDT’s sensing and perception research area but aspires to interact with projects focusing on manipulation, mobile robotics, and automation. Autonomous Mobile Diagnostics Platform, Plant-as-a-Sensor Paradigm, and Olfactory Fruit Harvesting are all subprojects that may be explored under this research theme in collaboration with other CDT students and the industry partner.

Dimitrios’ PhD project is being carried out in collaboration with Dyson Farming, under the primary supervision of Dr Luigi Occhipinti.