Human Augmentation of Ecosystems

A group of researchers led by Takuya Otani, an Assistant Professor at Waseda University, in collaboration with Sustainergy Company and Sony CSL, have designed a new robot that can perform Synecoculture effectively. It manages a variety of mixed plants grown in the shade of solar panels, an otherwise unutilized space. An article describing their research was published in Volume 13, Issue 1 of Agriculture, on 21 December 2022. The press release on this article was published on AAAS EurekAlert! and Waseda University websites:

NEWS RELEASE 20-MAR-2023 A sowing, pruning, and harvesting robot for SynecocultureTM farming (AAAS EurekAlert!)

Waseda University News A Sowing, Pruning, and Harvesting Robot for Synecoculture Farming

以下の二報の論文が、日本ロボット学会学術講演会予稿集に掲載されました。

(1) 大谷拓也，伊藤明，青竹峻太郎，舩橋真俊，高西淳夫「協生農法環境における農作業支援ロボットの開発 (第 3 報:雑草剪定・種植え・収穫実施における操縦性評価)」日本ロボット学会学術講演会予稿集 2022

Takuya Otani, Akira Itoh, Shuntaro Aotake, Masatoshi Funabashi and Atsuo Takanishi. Development of the Agricultural Robot in SynecocultureTM Environment (3rd Report, Evaluation of Controllability in Weed Pruning, Seed Planting, and Harvesting) Proceedings of the 40th Annual Conference of the Robotic Society of Japan, No.3H2-01, 2022

(2) 三谷健人，杉山壮真，大澤来実，伊藤明，近藤貴久，森田愛大, 青竹峻太郎，舩橋真俊，大谷拓也，高西淳夫「協生農法環境における農作業支援ロボットの開発 (第 6 報:コンベックスを用いた高伸縮比を持つ直動機構)」日本ロボット学会学術講演会予稿集 2022

Mitani Kento, Sugiyama Soma, Osawa Kurumi, Itoh Akira,
Kondo Takahisa, Morita Manata, Aotake Shuntaro, Funabashi Masatoshi, Otani Takuya and Takanishi Atsuo. Development of the Agricultural Robot in SynecocultureTM Environment (6th Report, Linear motion mechanism with high expansion and contraction ratio using convex) Proceedings of the 40th Annual Conference of the Robotic Society of Japan, No.3H2-04, 2022