Publications

• Rogers, H., Dawson, B., Clawson, G., and Fox., C. (2021) ‘Extending an Open Source Hardware Agri-Robot with Simulation and Plant Re-identification’, Oxford Autonomous Intelligent Machines and Systems Conference 2021.
• Bennett, J., Moncur, B., Fogarty, K., Clawson, G., and Fox, C. (2022) ‘Towards Open Source Hardware Robotic Woodwind: an Internal Duct Flute Player‘ International Computer Music Conference.
• Clawson, G. (2022) ‘SUB-SPARC: Investigation of Imperfect Teachers’, UK Robotics and Autonomous Systems Conference: Robotics for Unconstrained Environments Proceedings.
• Clawson, G., and Fox., C. (2022) ‘Blockchain Crop Assurance and Localisation’, UK Robotics and Autonomous Systems Conference: Robotics for Unconstrained Environments Proceedings.
• Clawson, G. (2023). ‘Applications of Distributed Ledger Technologies in Robotics’. In 2023 IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration (SII). IEEE
• Clawson, G. (2023). ‘A Technology Readiness Level for Blockchain’. In Proceedings of the 38th ACM/SIGAPP Symposium on Applied Computing.
• Carter, S.J., Tsagkopoulos, N.C., Clawson, G. and Fox, C., (2023). “OpenScout: Open Source Hardware Mobile Robot”.  Journal of Open Hardware, 7(1).

Presentations

• “Applications of Distributed Ledger Technologies in Robotics” (poster) – AgriFoRwArdS CDT Annual Conference 2022 [June 2022] – Lincoln, UK.
• “Poisson Distributions: Fisheries for the Future” (oral) – AgriFoRwArdS CDT Summer School 2022 [July 2022] – Norwich, UK.
• “Towards Open Source Hardware Robotic Woodwind: an Internal Duct Flute Player” (oral) – International Computer Music Conference (ICMC) 2022 [July 2022] – Online.
• “Blockchain Crop Assurance and Localisation” (oral) – UKRAS 2022 Conference: “Robotics for Unconstrained Environments” [August 2022] – Aberystwyth, UK.
• “Sub-SPARC: Investigation of Imperfect Teachers” (poster) – UKRAS 2022 Conference: “Robotics for Unconstrained Environments” [August 2022] – Aberystwyth, UK.
• “Blockchain Crop Assurance and Localisation” (poster) – Towards Autonomous Robotics Systems (TAROS) Conference 2022 [September 2022] – Oxford, UK.
• “Applications of Distributed Ledger Technologies in Robotics” (oral) – 2023 IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integrations (SII 2023) [January 2023] – Online.
• “Designing Food SupplyChain for Nutritional Delivery and Traceability” (oral) – AgriFoRwArdS CDT Quarterly PhD Research Progress Meeting [January 2023] – Online.
• “A Technology Readiness Level for Blockchain” (oral) – Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group on Applied Computing (SIGAPP) Symposium on Applied Computing 2023 [March 2023] – Online.
• “Designing Food Supply Chain for Nutritional Delivery and Traceability” (poster) – University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing First Year PhD Conference 2023 [May 2023] – Cambridge, UK.
• “Designing Food Supply Chain for Nutrient Delivery and Traceability” (oral) – Cambridge Agri-Food Supply Chain Resilience Conference 2023  [May 2023] – Cambridge, UK.
• “Designing Food Supply Chain for Nutritional Delivery and Traceability” (oral) – AgriFoRwArdS CDT Quarterly PhD Research Progress Meeting [July 2023] – Norwich, UK.
• “Designing Food Supply Chain for Nutritional Delivery and Traceability” (poster) – Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems (TAROS) 2023 / AgriFoRwArdS CDT Annual Conference 2023 / Joint Robotics CDT Annual Conference 2023 [September 2023] – Cambridge, UK.
• “UK India Critical Minerals Observatory” (oral) – UK-India Critical Minerals Conference [February 2024].
• “Beyond calories: A paradigm shift in food supply chain design” (oral) – AgriFoRwArdS CDT Annual Conference 2024: Robots in Action [July 2024] – Norwich, UK.
• “Designing Food Supply Chain for Nutrient Delivery and Traceability” (oral) – Cambridge Agri-Food Supply Chain Resilience Conference 2024 [May 2024] – Cambridge, UK.
• “Title unknown” (oral) – Global Supply Chain Observatory [May 2024] – London, UK.

Policy

• Call for Evidence Fairness in the Food Supply Chain

Prizes

• Best Question Award at the AgriFoRwArdS CDT Annual Conference 2021
• Best Poster Award at the AgriFoRwArdS CDT Annual Conference 2022
• Best Paper Award at the 5^th UK Robotics and Autonomous Systems Conference 2022
• IMechE Whitworth Senior Scholarship Award 2022
• First Prize for Management Track Presentation, Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge First Year PhD Conference 2023

Other Activities and Outputs

• Member of the AgriFoRwArdS CDT Advisory Board (June 2023 to present).
• Member of the AgriFoRwArdS CDT Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Panel (March 2022 to present).
• Member of the AgriFoRwArdS CDT Student Panel (March 2022 to present).
• Discussion Panel member for the AgriFoRwArdS Seminar Series – Discussion topic: Prof Dionysis Bochtis’ talk “The digital transformation of agricultural production – advancements, opportunities, and challenges” [November 2021].
• Discussion Panel member for the AgriFoRwArdS Seminar Series – Discussion topic: Dr Mark Ryan’s talk “Ethical and Societal Considerations for the Development and Use of Agricultural Robots” [February 2022].
• Discussion Panel member for the AgriFoRwArdS Seminar Series – Discussion topic: Ali Capper’s talk “Making Research Relevant to Farmers & Growers” [May 2022].
• Discussion Panel member for the AgriFoRwArdS Seminar Series – Discussion topic: Prof Megan Povey’s talk “Food reassurance, sustainability, robotics and sensors” [June 2022].
• Chaired the March 2022 AgriFoRwArdS Seminar Series with Ayse Kucukyilmaz, watch here.
• Represented the AgriFoRwArdS CDT at Douglas Bomford Trust Bi-Annual Meeting – showcasing research and robotic demonstrations to delegates [April 2022] – Lincoln, UK.
• Represented the AgriFoRwArdS CDT at the University of Lincoln British Science Week school outreach event – showcasing research and robotic demonstrations to delegates [March 2022] – Lincoln, UK.
• Discussion Panel member at the AgriFoRwArdS CDT Open Day for potential students – Discussion topic: What is it like to be an AgriFoRwArdS student [March 2022].
• Discussion Panel member at the AgriFoRwArdS CDT Open Day for potential students – Discussion topic: What is it like to be an AgriFoRwArdS student [November 2022].
• Represented the AgriFoRwArdS CDT at the University of Lincoln’s Boston College: Institute of Technology outreach event – showcasing research and robotics demonstrations [June 2022] – Lincoln, UK.
• Lead on the AgriFoRwArdS CDT student blog
• UK RAS RoboLab Live demonstration (University of Lincoln submission) for the UKRAS festival of robotics – Demonstration of robotics systems in strawberry polytunnel for two applications [June 2022] – Online.
• Committee member – University of Cambridge, IfM, First Year PhD Conference 2023
• Committee member – University of Cambridge, IfM, IRRG Agri-Food Supply Chain Resilience Workshop 2023
• Member of the Institute for Manufacturing First Year PhD Conference 2023 Conference organising committee
• Project featured in Hackaday Magazine.
• Project received an official CERN-OHL-W (open hardware) license.
• Ran a workshop titled “Extending an Open Source Hardware Agri-Robot with Simulation and Plant Re-identification” at the Oxford Autonomous Intelligent Machines and Systems Conference 2021 [October 2021] – Oxford, UK.

About me

Garry is dedicated to enhancing food security through innovative supply chain design. His PhD research at the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) focuses on nutrient supply chain design through the lens of configuration theory and functionality. Garry joined the Industrial Resilience Research Group under the supervision of Dr Mukesh Kumar and is advised by Professor Chander Velu. He is a computer scientist with over twenty-five years of industrial experience in process design and optimisation, bringing a unique technological perspective to food security challenges.

MSc Project

Applications of Distributed Ledger Technologies in Robotics

Increased farm level robotisation driven by the fourth agricultural revolution has focused research on distributed ledger technologies (DLT) to investigate how trust in robotics and autonomous systems can be enhanced through decentralised frameworks for decision making and consensus building. Applications in agri-tech, industrial, embedded, and multi-robot systems have seen some growth in the adoption of DLTs. However, implementations are currently ad-hoc and held back due to limited middleware availability and no standardised technology readiness level available to identify DLT maturity. This project aims to address this gap through the development of a novel Blockchain Readiness Level (BRL) and an associative middleware DLT bridge.

PhD Project

Designing Food Supply Chain for Nutritional Delivery and Traceability

More than 2 billion people do not have regular access to sufficient food; over 30% of the global population are estimated to suffer from some type of nutritional deficiency, while global food volume production has increased 25% over the last 20 years. There is a global paradox of undernourishment and overproduction. To address this challenge, this research focuses on the intersection of food supply chain, product traceability, and nutrient delivery. It aims to explore the combination of configuration theory and practice on developing and understanding relationships between supply chain design and functionality within the context of food supply chain and nutrient delivery.

Garry’s PhD project is supported by Dyson Farming, and his primary primary supervisor is Dr Mukesh Kumar.