NextGen Ag Tech Innovators Agro-Robotics Lab: Designing a Tomato Grafting Robot

Tomato plants meet robotics in this hands-on agricultural technology lab focused on precision, automation, and plant science.

In this course, students explore how farmers use grafting to grow stronger, more disease-resistant tomato plants and how robotics can make the grafting process faster, more accurate, and more efficient in modern agriculture.

Participants will:

• Learn how and why tomato plants are grafted

• Explore plant anatomy and healing processes

• Build and program servo-based robotic grippers

• Use coding logic to simulate decision-making in robots

• Design and test a robotic grafting system

• Present their solution like an agricultural engineer

By the end of the course, students will understand how engineering, robotics, and agriculture work together to solve real-world food production challenges.

Course Agenda

Meeting 1 – Introduction to Grafting & Servo Control (March 9th)

Meeting 2 – Plant Alignment & Robotic Logic (March 16th)

Meeting 3 – Grafting Methods & Robot Navigation (March 23rd)

Meeting 4 – Sensors, Loops & Automation (March 30th)

Meeting 5 – Robot Design Challenge (Aprill 6th)

Meeting 6 – Showcase & Reflection (April 13th)

Course Authors

• This course was developed by the NextGen AgTech Innovators instructional team through the I2E2 program.

• The course combines agricultural education and engineering principles to create real-world, hands-on STEM experiences for youth. The instructional team includes educators and agricultural technology specialists with experience in plant science, robotics, and agricultural automation

Contact Information

• For questions about this course, please contact: nextgenagtech@ifas.ufl.edu