Fadi Fathallah Leads Robotics Research in New Agricultural Innovation Center
The University of California, Davis, will soon be home to the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Center for Agricultural Innovation. The 34,000-square-foot center will include classrooms, research and lab space, and state-of-the-art research tools like robotics, remote sensing and data science.
The center aims to address today’s most pressing challenges in agriculture and environmental sustainability through research initiatives, focusing on such areas as agricultural byproducts, water and energy efficiency, technology development, crop resiliency and sustainability, and access to nutritious food. Researchers in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering will support this mission.
Fadi A. Fathallah, professor and chair of biological and agricultural engineering, is leading the center’s efforts in robotics.
“We envision the center as a catalyst for developing and testing field autonomous platforms and robotic systems equipped with advanced sensors, cameras and AI-driven controls, to assist with harvesting, pruning and precision spraying,” he says. “These robots will not be futuristic showpieces, but rather, they will be practical, research-grade systems co-developed with growers and technology companies to solve pressing problems in labor, efficiency, and sustainability.”
UC Davis has used robotics in agriculture for more than 20 years. The Resnick Center will centralize the efforts of the different departments using the technology.
“What’s new with the Resnick Center is the scale, integration and visibility” of robotics, Fathallah says in an email. “The center will unify these efforts under one umbrella, bringing together engineering, plant science and management expertise, while providing dedicated space and equipment for field and lab robotics.”
The Resnick Center will have a fabrication shop “for designing, building, and testing prototypes, such as robotic grippers, drone frames, and custom sensors and test rigs,” he adds.
