Cengiz Kopalan is an Assistant Professor of Precision Agriculture Technology.
Cengiz Kopalan knows firsthand the need for agricultural technology.
Kopalan planted 1,000 apple trees in Ankara, Turkey in 2004. The hard work of planting, maintaining and harvesting apples in orchards helped inspire his mission to bring advanced robotics into the hands of more farmers.
Kopalan, a new assistant professor of precision farming technology at the School of Systems Agriculture at the University of Auckland, said the rapid rise of artificial intelligence is already facilitating access to cutting-edge technology.
“It’s not the future anymore,” Kopalan said of the automation of agricultural systems and technology. “Fifteen years ago it was the future, now it’s here.”
Kopalan’s research aims to improve farming practices through robotic systems. Part of his research includes using artificial intelligence to alleviate labor shortages and make agricultural technology more accessible to farmers.
Kopalan said artificial intelligence could make technology more user-friendly as it becomes more complex.
“Somebody needs to bridge the gap between engineering applications and operators,” Kopalan said. “AI can fill some of this gap. When machines and robots are based on artificial intelligence, end users no longer need to control every aspect and parameter of the robot.”
Researchers at the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, a research arm of the USDA, are already exploring a number of applications for artificial intelligence and machine learning. Scientists at the Proving Ground are evaluating new weed control techniques, designing systems to determine yield potential from aerial imagery, and researching the use of artificial intelligence and robotics in chicken processing.
Encourage student participation
Kopalan joined the experimental station in February. He has a dual role, working at both the Dale Bumpers College of Agriculture, Food and Life Sciences and the School of Engineering. He belongs to the Department of Agricultural Education, Communication and Technology in the former and the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering in the latter.
Since arriving in Arkansas, Kopalan has established an agricultural robotics club at the university and has received a $5,000 student success grant from the university’s Global Campus. This grant will fund a regular Capstone Project course starting in Spring 2024. Throughout the course, Copalan will teach students how to build quadcopters and subsystems for site-specific precision agriculture applications.
Copalan said the robot club will compete in the Student Robot Club competition at the American Society for Agro-Biotechnology Annual International Conference on July 9 in Omaha, Nebraska.
“We need more students involved in this kind of research,” Kopalan said. He said he learned a lot from being a member of the Agricultural Robot Club as a student and sees more adoption of these technologies in the agricultural industry over time.
Mr. Kopalan received a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering from Ankara University, Turkey in 2008 and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Cambridge University in 2012. After that, Ms. Kopalan attended Clemson University, where she received her Master’s and Ph.D. in Plant and Environmental Sciences in 2016 and 2020.
Copalan’s future and current research includes using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) with integrated computer vision to count blackberry blossoms. He is also developing a computer vision-based variable-speed spraying system focused on weed control in soybean crops using drones and unmanned ground vehicles.
As a PhD student, Kopalan worked on various projects using unmanned aerial vehicles and ground vehicles. His forthcoming study of blackberry blossoms is similar to one of his previous projects that used image processing to count peach blossoms. He also contributed research on developing water quality monitoring tools using drones to help improve watershed management in South Carolina.
His postdoc research focused on precision weed management using computer vision and artificial intelligence to drive drone-based automated spraying systems.
Copalan said knowledge of engineering concepts combined with an awareness of agricultural practices can help explore possible solutions to industry problems.
“If we know how and we see a need, we do it,” Kopalan said.
For more information on USDA research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website (aaes.uada.edu). Follow us on Twitter. @ArkAgResearch. For more information on the agriculture sector, visit uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter. @AgInArk. For more information about the Arkansas extension program, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu.
About the Faculty of Agriculture: The mission of the University of Arkansas School of Systems Agriculture is to strengthen agriculture, communities and families by linking sound research with the adoption of best practices. The Department of Agriculture conducts research and extension activities within the country’s historic land subsidized education system through its agricultural experimental stations and cooperative extension services. The Faculty of Agriculture is one of 20 organizations within the University of Arkansas system. It has offices in all 75 Arkansas counties and faculty on five system campuses. The University of Arkansas School of Agriculture recognizes that race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, genetic information, or other legally protected Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
