Episode 061: Research in Robotics

Autonomous agricultural machines and robots are making their way into commercial markets with basic functionality, such as autonomous navigation, and the ability to execute low-risk operations. In this episode we welcome Dr. Sierra Young from Utah State University and Dr. Santosh Pitla from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln to the FarmBits podcast. These two researchers are working to advance autonomous functionality and envision next generation applications for autonomous machines and robotics in agriculture. Dr. Young has experience working in a diverse range of agricultural systems from pine production to shellfish aquaculture and her research tends to focus on concepts that are far from commercial production. Dr. Pitla, on the other hand, manages an applied research program that investigates technologies that are only a few steps away from practical implementation. His experience is primarily in commodity row crop production systems. Both of these researchers offer tremendous perspectives on autonomous technology, existing gaps that must be addressed, and how the public and private sectors can work together to push autonomy forward. As members of underrepresented communities in agriculture, they also offer stories of their journey to their current position in the agricultural community. Dr. Sierra Young's Information: Website: https://engineering.usu.edu/cee/people/faculty/young-sierra Twitter: https://twitter.com/SierraNYoung LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sierrayoung/ Dr. Santosh Pitla's Information: Website: https://engineering.unl.edu/bse/faculty/santosh-pitla/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SantoshPitla LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/santosh-kumar-pitla-9b557939/ FarmBits Contact Information: E-Mail: farmbits@unl.edu Twitter: https://twitter.com/NEDigitalAg Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNLFarmBits Jackson's Twitter: https://twitter.com/jstansell87 Jackson's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacksonstansell/ Taylor's Twitter: https://twitter.com/tayloranne7170 Taylor's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-cross/ Opinions expressed by the hosts and guests on this podcast are solely their own, and do not reflect the views of Nebraska Extension or the University of Nebraska - Lincoln.