The automation of replanting seedlings into bigger trays (transplanting) has been a major industrialisation step in the horticultural sector. Modern machines are abundant in large companies and are quite effective, but they are very expensive both in purchase and maintenance. With major clients taking these costs for granted, designers have not stopped to consider ways to alleviate them. This work introduces an affordable electronic system that makes transplanters wireless, allowing for hot-swappable actuators and thus greatly reducing the cost of technicians and downtime as well as procurement. The expensive servo motor drives are replaced by dedicated microcontrollers, allowing the actuators to make their own decisions based on the constraints imposed by various standards of tray sizes and other circumstances. A method is presented to derive the most favourable trajectories, which are then enforced on the system through a closed-loop feedback system. The resulting performance approaches that of the system's predecessor, but at a much more reasonable price. This makes transplanters more affordable for small companies, allowing a broader market to reap the harvest of technological development and increasing worldwide horticultural yield as a result.

The worldwide production of poultry meat was estimated to reach 116 million metric tons in 2016. About ten percent of all broiler-type eggs is not fertilized. After the breeding process, these unhatched eggs do not have commercial value and are destined to be destroyed. Moreover, valuable resources are wasted during incubation and the risk of contamination is increased. Detection of the fertilization of eggs in an early stage of the breeding process is beneficial for both environmental and commercial interest. This research aims to conceive a practical method to detect fertility of an egg in an early stage of breeding, preferably before incubation.
This research is divided in two stages, each with two different experiments based on spectroscopy. In the first stage, the usability of the high-frequency radio band for fertility detection is investigated. The second experiment of this stage concentrates on the usability of the visible-light/near-infrared band (400-1600 nm). Based on the results of the first stage, the second stage focuses on two new experiments. One experiment aims to verify a fertility detection method by measuring a large amount of eggs. Another experiment explores the feasibility of detecting rotten (“exploder”) eggs for increased accuracy in current fertility detection methods.
All findings are described in this report. Additionally, an accurate and flexible prototype measurement system is developed using industrial components. This system shows the feasibility of applying measurement methods in industrial environments. Further research topics are suggested that can use the findings in report to improve both detection stage and accuracy in practice.