Next Stop: Detroit - An ASABE AIM 2018 Preview

By Michael Gutierrez

Summer means rain and heat for us in Florida, but it also means a new ASABE Annual International Meeting (AIM). This year many students and faculty from UF-ABE will be making the trek to Detroit, MI, to compete, present research, and network with both international and national peers.

Things To Do

There will be dozens and dozens of talks during ASABE AIM. Here I’ll highlight some of what I’ll be focusing on from a water-use perspective, with an interest in UF-ABE work. Activities ramp up on Monday with the General Session and the start of technical sessions. The “Producing More Food with Less Water” panel should generate some excellent discussion on water quality, quantity and the role of ag and bio engineers. Monday also features incoming UF-ABE Department Chair Dr. Kati Migliaccio presenting “Water Quality - The Reality Show” in Session 123. Big data and Computational Tools presentations are slated for Tuesday in Session 254 among others. UF-ABE graduate students Miles Medina and Kathleen Vazquez will present during this session. I’ll also be on the lookout for talks from Hao Gan and Thaigo Onofre (Sessions 210 and 242 respectively) two top UF-ABE graduate students in precision ag and cloud computing.  

Please join us in congratulating #UFABE Land and Water Resources graduate student Ian Hahus on receiving the @ASABEorg Robert E. Stewart Engineering-Humanities Award! Ian will be recognized at the ASABE Annual International Meeting in Detroit, Michigan next month. #ItsGreatUF pic.twitter.com/qW8vbaG3nB

— UF/IFAS Agricultural and Biological Engineering (@UF_ABE) June 26, 2018

“I am looking forward to listening to Dr. Ian Hahus’ two presentations and meeting with Resource magazine about a special issue I am co-editing next year focused on women leaders in the discipline,” said Dr. Migliaccio, UF-ABE Chair. ABE alum Dr. Hahus will present during Sessions 262 and 324 at AIM, and on Wednesday will accept the Robert E. Stewart Engineering Humanities Award.

The RoboGators are back for 2018!

Design Competitions

Amidst the presentations and networking, student teams also travel from far and wide to take part in the Robotics Design and Fountain Wars Competitions. 2018’s robotics competition features 19 teams in two categories. Teams will field autonomous robots on a board to simulate the harvest and storage of apples. All three rounds of robotics take place on Tuesday.  Fountain Wars is judged on a number of criteria - including written and oral presentations. But crowds will form Monday evening when teams put their fountains to the test completing two technical tasks - launching a golf disc and keeping a balance beam level, using only water and engineering savvy.

#ASABEaim18

IrriGator will be in Detroit for all the goings-on. If you are attending ASABE AIM follow along and contribute to the happenings on Twitter using the #ASABEaim18 tag. Digital presence has never been more vital to scicomm so be sure to add your research and POV to the mix.

Next Stop: Spokane, WA

Next week students, researchers and industry members from across the globe will gather in Spokane, WA, for ASABE’s Annual International Meeting. I will be attending as well, once again collaborating with ASABE to bring the digital audience inside the goings-on during the event’s four days. Here’s a preview of some of what will happen next week.

Gainesville Presente

There will be a sizeable UF contingent in Spokane. UF-ABE researchers will be presenting in a host of technical sessions from Monday to Wednesday. Our ABE graduate students are exhibiting work in poster sessions ranging from Natural Resources and Environmental Systems to Machinery Systems. Several will also present in technical sessions, including the imminently graduating Natalie Nelson (PhD) who will also moderate the Leveraging Big Data session. 

How heated was Robotics Design Competition at AIM 2016? Take a look!

The UF-ABE robotics team returns to AIM to put their precision ag skills to the test in the robotics competition. In addition, Dr. Michael Dukes, CLCE Director and UF/IFAS irrigation specialist will be officially inducted as a 2017 ASABE Fellow in Spokane.

As teams across the US begin their 2017 designs, have a look at last years @ASABEorg Fountain Wars competition: https://t.co/vp8qrrLmt6 pic.twitter.com/7EmGGqXRVc

— UF/IFAS IrriGator (@IrriGatorUF) February 10, 2017

#ASABEaim17

One of the more exciting aspects of AIM is the professional development opportunities afforded to students. I’ll be working to showcase as many of those as I can – namely in the design competitions like Fountain Wars, where student teams complete tasks with water and engineering (this year beach balls and eggs are afoot) and Robotics Design, where autonomous robots simulate tasks with props on a board (for 2017, the raspberry farm is where we lay our scene). I’ll also move among the poster and technical sessions to highlight exciting graduate student research.

Tune In

Get an inside look at AIM events with IrriGator and ASABE on Twitter on the #ASABEaim17 tag. And if you’re attending AIM make sure to download the event app (iOs or Android) to keep your schedule organized. See you in Spokane! 

Diverse Humans Create Diverse Robots

By Amanda DeCanio

This July, I had the honor of leading UF’s ASABE Robotics Team to the Annual International Meeting (AIM) in Orlando, Florida. I want to take this opportunity to highlight some of my team’s most telling moments thanks to this experience.

In the lead: Amanda DeCanio

The Task Before Us

For 2016, student teams were tasked with designing two autonomous prototype citrus harvesting robots. The overall goal was to collect, sort, transfer, and deposit orange and green ping pong balls, representing healthy and unhealthy oranges.

A mild-mannered part, but crucial to the process

The robot field of battle...and harvest 

Through this process our team collaborated on a design concept, came together for practices and team meetings, trusted each other's skills, and fanned each other’s desire to learn. I really enjoyed working with each member of my team and I am still smiling with the performance we showed and sportsmanship we demonstrated in those short two days of competition.

UF ABE's ASABE Robotics Team 2016

Eduardo Carrascal, Hao Gan, Akram Gholami, and Thiago Onofre were dedicated, passionate, and enthusiastic on a subject none of us specifically had much practice in. It was refreshing to work alongside such a diverse group of individuals and exciting to learn about each of their interests and backgrounds. We came together as a unit, played on each other's strengths, and closed the gaps on each other’s weaknesses.

Start Tinkering

Robots are unpredictably cool! If you have never played with robot parts, like an Arduino or a breadboard, pick some up and challenge yourself to make a motor spin. The first moment I ran a full circuit and made a motor start and stop under my command, more than just the gears clicked: I felt in control. I felt I had the power to command motion and robotic decision even though I knew my motor could not “think” on its own accord.

Harvest ready robots

Acknowledgements

A warm thank you to Dr. Ali Pourreza, Dr. Daniel Lee, and the UF ABE department; for believing in our shared goal and for pushing us out of our comfort zone to risks that in effect improved our overall experience.

As humans, our originality can be considered one of our greatest strengths; robots, on the other hand, can be mass-produced. Therefore, in the advancement of robotic technological design, we have a responsibility to maintain that creativity and boldness we innately possess. 

Relive the 2016 ASABE AIM Robotics Design Student Competition

(An ASABE & IrriGator collaborative production)

ASABE AIM 2016: Ag and Bio Engineering in the Happiest Place on Earth

Last month marked one of the high points of every summer for our UF/IFAS group – ASABE’s Annual International Meeting (AIM). As an added treat this year’s meeting was held in Orlando so travel was markedly easier for us. Further, I was offered the opportunity to don my digital comms hat and attend.

ASABE’s AIM is an excellent venue for staying abreast of the latest research in Ag & Bio engineering on the local, national and international level. Presentations ranged from food processing to biofuels to landscape irrigation to precision ag and robotics - essentially all the disciplines of the field.

Familiar faces on Sunday morning: UF ABE PhD Students Joe Sagues and Natalie Nelson

It’s quite the slate of events, often running concurrently. In addition, students have a prominent role at AIM, as volunteers, as presenters (talks and posters) and as competitors in various events.

Getting the Story

For me, AIM began in early July when I learned I would be covering the Fountain Wars student competition. Fountain Wars is an AIM staple that challenges student teams to devise ways of using water and engineering to accomplish specific tasks. 

Putting in work: Mike and Lexi of UF ABE's Fountain Wars squad

I was able to connect with the UF ABE team as they made final preparations for competition. This allowed me to both learn about the event and begin the documentation process early, should UF be victorious. See more about the 2016 competition's tasks in the short video below.

My other assignment was robotics. Each year student teams are given a task around which to construct robots that will fulfill the challenge. 

Picking it up and delivering: Clemson Edisto's robots came to win

This year the theme was citrus and the robots had to pick up items, separate them by color and deliver them to one another and then a final location. I did not have the luxury of touching base with the UF ABE team outside of AIM so I had to get the team and event story on site. Following a long absence, the UF ABE robotics team returned to competition again in 2016. 

Team member Amanda DeCanio with one of UF ABE robotics' mean machines

Bringing Home Gold

Two of our closest collaborators won big at AIM 2016. Dr. Michael Dukes was awarded the John Deere Gold Medal for excellence in the application of science and art to the soil. 

.@UF_IFAS expert Dr. Michael Dukes reflects on receiving @ASABEorg's John Deere Gold Medal #ASABEaim16 pic.twitter.com/3pR9EIUkeC

— UF/IFAS IrriGator (@IrriGatorUF) July 20, 2016

And Dr. Kati Migliaccio was recognized for outstanding associate editor.

A Plethora of Resources

If you were not at AIM 2016 or wish to revisit one of the many excellent presentations, all are available here. You can also relive the events as they happened on Twitter. And finally watch for two videos about the student competitions mentioned above to be released in August.