WP 4: Soft robotics for sensor transportation and implementation in soil
Lead: TU/e
Description: Many of the BD sensors targeted in this program require placement close to crop roots. To make sure that this can be achieved in an existing crop field, this work package will focus on developing a soft robotic system that can penetrate the soil and navigate underground in the soil environment. With this robot, sensors will be transported and planted at the right soil depth, without damaging plant roots. In addition, novel embedded sensing techniques will be explored, which can be used to collect real-time data on for instance soil conditions, while the robot is moving through the soil.