Chetan M Badgujar

Chetan M Badgujar

Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science, The University of Tennessee

About me

I am an Assistant Professor (tenure-Track) at the Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Education

Ph.D. – Biological & Agricultural Engineering, Kansas State University, 2022.
M.Tech – Farm Machinery & Power Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, 2017.
B.Tech – Agricultural Engineering, Dr. PDKV, Akola, 2015.

Research goals


I am an Agricultural Engineer by training. My past and current research are centered around Applied Robotics, Mechatronics, Machinery & Artificial Intelligence for food production systems. Our current agricultural system is facing numerous critical challenges, such as labor shortages, safety, high operation cost, etc. Thus, our research program aims to address these critical challenges in our food production system to move toward sustainably feeding the world by 2050 and beyond. My research thrusts range from conventional agricultural machinery to mobile robots, which falls into three primary categories:

  • Develop & integrate a robotics-based solution: I believe that intelligently incorporated mobile robotics can provide a valid solution to our major challenges while deepening human-robot collaboration. Moreover, solar-powered, indefatigable, and multiple small robots (swarm robots) are more resilient to unfavorable weather conditions and would bring a paradigm shift in current agricultural practices. Therefore, we aim to mesh robotic technology with conventional and non-conventional food production.

  • Develop & integrate the precision Ag technologies: Today’s cropping systems are characterized by intensive and uniform crop input application, which is environmentally unsustainable and often costly. Thus, I aim to develop & integrate precision Ag technologies (equipped with advanced sensors, robots, and data) for input optimization & site-specific operation that is critical in reducing environmental footprints and costs.

  • Employ & harness the potential of AI: AI has untapped capabilities to answer the Ag system problems and make meaningful decisions from data. I aim to introduce & implement AI in conventional Ag machines and mobile robots.

Lab openings

Please feel free to email me!! If you are interested in Robotics, Mechatronics, and AI-related projects.