Giovanni of University of Catania

In this talk, an overview of several projects conducted at the University of Catania, concerning the application of robotics in agriculture, will be presented. The state of the art will be shortly illustrated in comparison with the developed prototypes. The projects will consider robots for orange picking, fruit and vegetable harvesting, lawnmowers, autonomous spraying, and drone mappings. Finally, some considerations on the future of robotics in agriculture will be discussed.

Biography:

Giovanni Muscato is Full Professor of Robotics at the University of Catania since 2005 and Director of the Department of Electrical Electronic and Computer Engineering. He conducts several courses  regarding Automatic Control, System theory and Robotics and supervises Master students (more than three hundred till now) and PhD students (more than thirteen till now). His scientific research activity includes theoretical and experimental topics mainly concerning automatic control and robotics. From this activity he has published more than 300 articles in congress proceedings and in national and international journals, four books and two patents. Prof Muscato was responsible for several national research projects and was the coordinator of the European project ROBOVOLC (5FP) where a robot for volcanic inspections was designed built and tested. He was also local coordinator of the European projects: CLAWAR 2 (Climbing and Walking Robots), EUROBOT (Robotic educational events to promote a dissemination of science and technology among young people in Europe), RAPOLAC (Rapid Production of Large Aerospace Components), MOW-BY-SAT (Mowing the lawn by satellite), TIRAMISU (Toolbox Implementation for Removal of Anti-personnel Mines, Submunitions and UXO).He conducted research under several grants with local and national companies for the development of robotic systems.

In 2003 he organized as General Chairman the international conference CLAWAR 2003 and in 2006 the finals of the international robotic competition EUROBOT. He is in the editorial board of several journals and in International committee of many robotic conferences. He is recognized as an expert reviewer of the European Commission of the Italian Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico and of the MUR. Prof Muscato is a senior member of IEEE Control & System Society and of the Robotic & Automation society. He is in the board of trustees of the CLAWAR Association. Previously he was on the board of directors of the Distretto Tecnologico Sicilia Micro e nano Sistemi and is one of the founder of the Spin-Off Etnamatica S.r.l. Personal home page: www.muscato.eu

Prof Muscato is a member of International Measurement Confederation (IMEKO), Technical Committee on Robotics Measurement (TC-17)

Address:Italy