Best Paper Award at Ubiquitous Robots 2024
Our paper “User-Centric Payload Design and Usability Testing for Agricultural Sensor Placement and Retrieval Using Off-The-Shelf Micro Aerial Vehicles” has won the Best Paper Award at Ubiquitous Robots 2024.
We are thrilled to announce that our paper “User-Centric Payload Design and Usability Testing for Agricultural Sensor Placement and Retrieval Using Off-The-Shelf Micro Aerial Vehicles” has won the Best Paper Award at the Ubiquitous Robots 2024 Conference in New York. To progress to the next stage of MAV utility, it is necessary to transition from passive observation using optical sensors to physical interaction with objects in the environment, such as placing and collecting sensors. This is feasible only if the system is safe, easy to use, and doesn't burden the user with complex controls or feedback. We propose a self-sufficient passive payload system for deploying and retrieving sensors in agriculture, easily attachable to a commercial MAV without additional integration. The system's design focuses on user-friendliness and mechanical intelligence, offering simplified control and targeted feedback. Usability is confirmed by a user study where all participants successfully deployed and collected at least four sensors within both in visual line-of-sight and beyond line-of-sight, after only three minutes of practice. By enabling MAVs to interact physically with their environment, this system can simplify complex tasks and make such applications more accessible to end-users.