Laboratory of Agricultural Machinery

Laboratory of Agricultural Machinery

Director: Katsoulas Nikolaos, Associate Professor, Agricultural Constructions and Environmental Control

Other members:

• CHRISTOS KAVALARIS – Laboratory Teaching Staff – Agricultural Engineering
• CHRISTOS KARAMOUTIS – Special Technical Scientific Staff – Farm Mechanization

Laboratory Vision:

The Laboratory of Agricultural Engineering conducts research and development focused on sustainable agricultural mechanization and the integration of precision agriculture technologies into modern crop production. The Laboratory has established strong scientific expertise and extensive technical infrastructure, supporting a wide range of activities that include:

• Designing, evaluating, and optimizing Conservation Agriculture and Regenerative Agriculture systems for both annual and perennial crops, accompanied by the development of innovative machinery and cultivation practices.
• Investigating the environmental impacts of agricultural machinery on soil and ecosystems, including soil compaction, erosion, soil carbon loss, and pollution of soil, water, and air.
• Developing and applying Precision Agriculture technologies, such as variable-rate fertilization, precision crop protection, precision seeding, and yield mapping.
• Employing advanced remote sensing techniques using ground-based and aerial platforms (robots, drones, satellites) to assess spatiotemporal variability within agricultural fields.
• Designing and developing modern and innovative agricultural equipment tailored to emerging production needs.Conducting testing and performance evaluations aimed at improving the efficiency, safety, and reliability of agricultural machinery.
• Measuring forces, power requirements, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions during the operation of agricultural equipment and field activities.
• Developing management standards for the sustainable handling and utilization of crop residues.
• Advancing systems for the harvesting and logistics of biomass for energy and industrial use.
• Research on energy crops, as well as the production and utilization of
• Developing robotic and autonomous systems for agricultural applications.
• Implementing innovative Unmanned Aerial System (UAS / drone) applications in crop monitoring and field operations.
• Enhancing agricultural equipment management through data-driven and technologically advanced approaches (IoT, FMIS etc).

Courses:

Member 1: Christos Cavalaris (Laboratory of Agricultural Engineering, autonomous teaching)

Undergraduate courses

1.Agricultural Engineering (7^th semester)

eclass: https://eclass.uth.gr/courses/AGR_U_138/

2. Farm Machinery Management (10^th semester)

eclass: https://eclass.uth.gr/courses/AGR_U_142/

Research Interests:

Member 1 Laboratory Teaching Staff

C. Cavalaris

Sustainable agricultural mechanization; Precision agriculture applications; Proper use and optimization of spraying machinery; Use of drones for agricultural applications and remote sensing; Energy production from energy crops; Farm machinery management

Selected Publications:

Member 1 Christos Cavalaris – Laboratory Teaching Staff:

1. Cavalaris, Chris, Aristotelis C. Tagarakis, Dimitrios Kateris, and Dionysis Bochtis. 2023. “Cost Analysis of Using UAV Sprayers for Olive Fruit Fly Control” AgriEngineering 5, no. 4: 1925-1942. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriengineering5040118
2. Cavalaris, Chris, Theofanis Gemtos, and Christos Karamoutis. 2023. “Rotational Tillage Practices to Deal with Soil Compaction in Carbon Farming” Soil Systems 7, no. 4: 90. https://doi.org/10.3390/soilsystems7040090
3. Bebie, M.; Cavalaris, C.; Kyparissis, A. 2022. Assessing Durum Wheat Yield through Sentinel-2 Imagery: A Machine Learning Approach. Remote Sens. 2022, 14, https://doi:10.3390/rs14163880.
4. Cavalaris Chris, Christos Karamoutis , Athanasios Markinos. 2022. Efficacy of cotton harvest aids applications with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and ground-based field sprayers – A case study comparison, Smart Agricultural Technology (2022), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atech.2022.100047
5. Eden M., J. Bachmann, C. Cavalaris, S. Kostopoulou, M. Kozaiti, J. Böttcher (2020). Soil structure of a clay loam as affected by long-term tillage and residue management, Soil and Tillage Research 204, 104734 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2020.104734

Selected Research Projects:

Member 1 Christos Cavalaris – Laboratory Teaching Staff:

1. WaterMellon, Development of novel farming systems combined with water harvesting techniques to address extreme drought in the Mediterranean region, including saline and drought-resilient species. PRIMA Call 2024 Section 1 Farming in Nexus
2. PreConAgri, ΠΑΑ Μ16ΣΥΝ2-00257. “Sustainable soil management and precision agriculture techniques to ensure the viability of arable crops”
3. AgrOassis, LIFE21-CCA-CY/101074744. “Regenerative approaches for building climate change resilience into EU agricultural regions prone to desertification”
4. TOPPS, “Train Operators to Promote Best Practices and Sustainability”
5. “Environmental Friendly Biomass Production” Project “THALES”

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