Ag-CyPhER

Agricultural - Cyber Physical Systems Engineering Research

Our research focuses on automation technology for facilitating scientific discoveries and advancing production systems in agriculture. Specifically, we leverage sensors, multimodal imaging, machine/deep learning-based predictive models, unmanned ground/aerial vehicles, and robotics to develop reliable, affordable, and efficient tools for plant phenomics and precision farming.

Our Research Meet the Team

Research Projects

Advancing digital agriculture through imaging, robotics, and AI.

Inventory Management

Nursery Inventory Robot

AI-powered vision-based seedling counting and quality assessment for forest nursery.

Blueberry Yield Prediction

Blueberry Yield Prediction

Smartphone app to detect ripe berries and predict yield.

Play Store App Store
In-Field Pod Counting

Plant Architecture Phenotyping

Automate lima bean pod counting using robotic multi-view imaging, 3D Gaussian Splatting, and Segment Anything Model.

Drone

Crop Remote Sensing

Aerial phenotyping of morphology and physiology using drone-based hyperspectral imaging and LiDAR.

Our Team

Dr. Yin Bao

Dr. Yin Bao

Assistant Professor

Department of Plant and Soil Sciences
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Delaware
CV

Current Graduate Students

Puranjit Singh

Puranjit Singh

PhD (PLSC, 2023 - Now)

Ashish Reddy M

Ashish Reddy M

PhD (PLSC, 2025 - Now)

Annamalai Muthupalaniappan

Annamalai M

PhD (ME, 2026 - Now)

Md Nurul Azmir

Md Nurul Azmir

PhD (PLSC, 2026 - Now)

Research Assistants

Joseph Farley

Joseph Farley

MS (ME, 2026 - Now)

Karthik Mohan

Karthikeyan Mohan

MS (Robotics, 2026 - Now)

Jerome Milan George Benjamin

Jerome Milan GB

MS (Robotics, 2026 - Now)

Arjun Nanda Kumar

Arjun Nanda K

MS (Robotics, 2026 - Now)

Tamahjoy Kinyanjui

Tamahjoy Kinyanjui

MS (Robotics, 2026 - Now)

Former Graduates

Rafael Bidese

Rafael Bidese

PhD (2019 - 2023)

Corteva Agriscience

Sharif Shabani

Sharif Shabani

MS (2021 - 2023)

Optix Technologies

Mary Beth Cassity

Mary Beth Cassity

MS (2021 - 2023)

Cornell University

Kamand Bagherian

Kamand Bagherian

MS (2020 - 2022)

Qlik

Nariman Niknejad

Nariman Niknejad

MS (2020 - 2022)

Michigan State University (PhD)

Vinika Gupta

Vinika Gupta

MS (2020 - 2021)

Nordstrom

Media

Farm Robotic Challenge 2026: Vision Guided Watermelon Harvesting with Robotic Fruit Handling

Farm Robotic Challenge 2025: Monitoring Saltwater Intrusion in Coastal Farms Using Drones & Autonomous Robots

SLAM Navigation of Farm-ng Amiga Robot using Mid 360 LiDAR

News & Achievements

May 2026
Farm Robotics Challenge 2026
Team UD Blue Hens - Excellence in AI Award winner (Divison-I)
November 2025
Tri-Society CANVAS 2025
Puranjit Singh (2nd Position) - Precision Agriculture Systems Community (PhD Oral)
October 2025
Delaware Data Science Symposium
Puranjit Singh - Statewide EPSCoR Best Poster Award & Ashish Reddy - Best Student Poster Award (PhD Category)
May 2025
Farm Robotic Challenge 2025
Team Salty BlueHens - Judges Choice Impact Award.

Key Publications

More on Google Scholar

Lab Equipment

Farm-ng Amiga

Farm-ng Amiga

An advanced agricultural management system.

DJI M350 RTK

DJI M350 RTK

Aerial surveillance and data collection.

Rivulet Micro-Crop Monitor

Rivulet

Robotic platform for center pivot irrigation system.

ZED Box

ZED Box

Powerful industrial AI gateway for field robotics.

NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin

NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin

Next-gen AI computing for autonomous machines.

ZED Box Mini

ZED Box Mini

Compact and high performance embedded system for stereo vision processing.

Hyperspectral Camera

Hyperspectral Camera

Cubert X20P Snapshot UV-VIS-NIR Hyperspectral Video Camera.

DJI LiDAR

DJI Zenmuse L2 LiDAR

For more precise, efficient, and reliable geospatial data acquisition.

Livox Mid360 LiDAR

Livox Mid360 LiDAR

Compact and light weight LiDAR for navigation and obstacle avoidance.

ZED X Mini

ZED X Mini Stereo Camera

Compact and precise for depth sensing applications.

Zed X One Camera

Zed X One Camera

Flexible integration and customization of stereo systems.

High Intensity Strobe Light

Stereo Camera - Strobe Lights

High intensity strobe lights for synchronized lighting.

RS3 Reach Emlid RTK GPS

Emlid Reach RS3

RTK GNSS receiver with centimeter accuracy upto 60° tilt.

TDR 350 Soil Probe

TDR350 Soil Probe

Measures Soil Moisture, EC, and Surface Temperature.

Gamma Ray Spectrometer

Gamma Ray Spectrometer

Medusa MS-350 for soil composition analysis.

Contact Us

Address

152 Townsend Hall,
531 South College Avenue,
Newark, DE 19716

Email

yinbao@udel.edu

Phone

302-831-7136