Detection module development for Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping for agricultural environments using the commercial robot TerraSentia in partnership with the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign)

• Grant number: 22/13040-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): January 01, 2023
• Effective date (End): April 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agricultural Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Becker
• Grantee: Lucas Toschi de Oliveira
• Supervisor: Girish Chowdhary
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Research place: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 20/11262-0 - Neural networks and computational vision application in feature recognition at agricultural fields, BP.IC

Abstract

The global population growth demands that the methods and technologies applied to food production must be even more efficient, making more with less space. Autonomous robotics is a trending research area to help with this problem. However, the development of an autonomous navigation system, capable of driving a robot inside a plantation by itself, is still a challenge. In this context, SLAM (Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) technology, which can generate an environment local map, is a potential study subject. The candidate's project in Brazil aims to study a specific category of it called Visual SLAM, which uses only cameras as sensors to implement the algorithms. Synergically, this Research Internships Abroad (BEPE) has the purpose of developing a detection module for Visual SLAM using the monocular camera of TerraSentia, an agricultural mobile robot. This project has the support of the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) and also as its objective the understanding of the tools used by the Distributed Autonomous Systems Laboratory (DASLAB) team to develop autonomous mobile robots, including indoor/outdoor test fields and other technologies.