Automated Pruning for Polyculture
A collaboration with UC Berkeley AUTOLab
Note This project was graciously funded by Dr. Ken Goldberg and the UC Berkeley AUTOLab as part of the Alphagarden Project
This summer I did a few weeks of volunteer research at UC Berkeley. I was asked to design a pruning attachment for the FarmBot that the AUTOLab had purchased in order to do a real-life demo of their polyculture optimization software.
When I showed up, the FarmBot had already planted a large gardenbox filled with various seeds acording to a deep-learning based maximization algoritm. The garden layout was simulated in a custom OpenAI gym reinforcement learning environment and compared to the physical testbed.
I decided to design a 3-axis servo arm and used a sharp pair of Japanese topiary shears as an end effector. I was able to have the new design working within two weeks! Here is the end result:
I also contributed several paragraphs to “Automated Pruning and Irrigation of Polyculture Plants” which was ultimately published in IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering ( Volume: 21, Issue: 3, July 2024)