Waikato Robotics, Automation and Sensing Group (WaiRAS)

Our mission is to produce both world leading academic research and solutions for New Zealand industry, including horticulture, agriculture, aquaculture, dairy, forestry and construction.

AgriRobotics

We develop smart machines, robots and visual sensors to perform day to day operations such as harvesting and grading based on companies’ needs in horticultural and agricultural fields. We work in collaboration with partners such as Robotics Plus, ArborGen, Tendertips and Boyds in developing solutions to problems mainly in (but not limited to) the outdoor environment. Some example projects are the MaraaTech MBIE project, researching robotic vine pruning, apple fruitlet thinning and blueberry harvesting. Autonomous Multipurpose Mobile Platform (AMMP) - is an all-purpose driverless horticultural vehicle, robotic kiwi fruit harvester, apple harvester and asparagus harvester.

Applied Machine Learning

While our group mostly focuses on developing solutions for industry to solve real-world problems in a commercial context, we also bring our expertise in software engineering and machine learning to the table to deliver working prototypes for research projects. Our general-purpose, open-source ADAMS workflow engine is used commercially for processing spectral data, like NIR, MIR and XRF, in environmental laboratories (Ravensdown/ARL in NZ, Eurofins Agro in NL). ADAMS is also used in a research project with Plant and Food Research for analysing NIR spectra of kiwifruit. For image processing tasks, such as image classification, image segmentation, object detection, we deliver deep-learning based solutions (Redfern Solutions, ESR, Zespri).

Sensing

We have a long history developing time-of-flight range imaging sensors and are well known for proposing a number of solutions for mitigating errors in range imaging. Our collaborators include former Waikato time-of-flight people who successfully started the independent company Chronoptics. Currently scene motion causes large errors in ranging, and we are working on transforming the problem of motion in the scene into velocity measurements. Other major projects include developing a  biologically based visual sensor for mobile robotic navigation and research into the non-destructive evaluation of materials, with structural health monitoring of components and structures using point sensors alongside imaging based approaches such as infrared thermography, thermoelastic stress analysis and digital image correlation.

Recent Awards

• Royal Society Te Apārangi Early Career Research Excellence Award for Technology, Applied Science and Engineering - for developing
  new techniques to improve a type of 3D imaging called time-of-flight - Lee Streeter.
• The KuDoS Datamars Engineering Science Award - Lee Streeter

Robotics

Our expertise is not limited to agricultural and horticultural robotics. One of our main goals is to apply robotic solutions to commercial problems and we can achieve this with our wide range of expertise as portrayed in other sub-groups: agrirobotics, applied machine learning and sensing. One example project is the robotic asparagus harvester where we develop the vision sensing system that incorporates machine learning for detecting and locating harvestable spears, and the agrirobotics based end effectors to cut and pick the identified asparagus. Some of our completed projects also include cave auto-sampler, lavender distiller system and also non-invasive neural interface based artificial hand.

We collaborate with many service providers and research organisations to deliver effective engineering solutions for a range of end-users.

Industry, consultants and companies

RoboticsPlus Limited, MWDesign, Chronoptics, Tendertips, Zespri (BoP), Ravensdown/ARL (Hawkes Bay), and Eurofins Agro (Netherlands), Trimax,  ArborGen, AgFirst?, Vickers Aircraft Company Ltd, Lilies by Blewden

Public agencies and non-profit organisations

Callaghan Innovation, MBIE, AgriTech NZ, Priority One

Research organisations

University of Auckland, University of Canterbury, Lincoln Agritech Limited, Plant and Food Research, University of Otago, New Zealand Robotics, Automation and Sensing (NZRAS), University of Southampton (UK), University of Bristol (UK), Institut Pascal, SIGMA-Clermont, Université Clermont-Auvergne (France), Eindhoven University of Technology TU/e (Netherlands)

Any company requiring a solution to a robotics, automation and sensing related problem, can contact us directly for a consultation. We also offer design, analysis and 3D printing expertise. Our latest 3D printer can produce parts up to 600mm x 350mm x 600mm. If you are interested contact: (email coming soon)

Explore our current graduate research projects in fields of AgriRobotics, Applied Machine Learning, Sensing and Robotics.

AgriRobotics

• Marvellous Mark - Investigation of Dynamics of Soft Robot Fingers in Object Grasp and Manipulation for Selective Blueberry Harvesting
• Daniel Dredge - Industrial autonomous lawn mowing robot
• Rahul Jangali - Automation of Apple Fruitlet Thinning
• Wayne Holmes - Robust and fast in-field weed recognition using hyperspectral measurement
• Matthew Peebles - Investigation of Efficient Detection Methods for the Identification and 3D Localisation of Green Asparagus Spears for Robotic Harvesting
• Catherine Downes - Development of Platform - MaaraTech
• Adam Lai - Spring onion peeler
• Junpeng Liu - Lilies Bulb Sorter

Applied Machine Learning

• (coming soon)

Sensing

• Carl Lickfold - Simultaneous Distance and Velocity Imaging in Time-of-Flight Range Imaging.
• Nilakshi Dissanayake - Measurement of UV penetration in floc and floc properties using fluorescence intensity and lifetime. [project page is under the Energy and Water research group web pages.]
• Amir Mukhtar - Vision based system for disable person identification and tracking.
• Gehan Anthonys - The effect of jitter on AMCW time-of-flight range imaging.
• Matthew J. Seabright - Occlusion Prediction For Kiwifruit Yield Estimation
• Ding Yi Monique Huang - Thermographic inspection to provide quality assurance for reinforced 3D printer filaments

Robotics

• Jatin Tohan - Dynamic Sheet Former - Sprayer
• Chami Jayasekera - Human Robot Interaction
• Tara Fernandez-Ritchie - Friction Model for Soft Finger Contact

(Coming soon)