An increasing world population raises concerns over food security which, consequently, drives the opening of new avenues for food production. Agriculture, Fisheries and Aquaculture are important global contributors to the production of food from land and sea for human consumption. In the previous decades, the aquaculture industry has been the fastest growing food producing sector in the world while also being known for substantially higher Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) risks than most industries, and still relying heavily on subjective and experience-based decisions and assessments, alongside intensive manual labor. To target current and future challenges, the industry has therefore shown an increased interest in utilizing robotic solutions in a variety of operations.This Research Topic aims to encourage papers which discuss or advance the enabling of autonomous robotic systems in aquaculture. We encourage submissions tackling the current challenges, as well as advancing R&D solutions and industrial applications in this sector. We also seek to highlight directions for future research and innovations needed to increase the utilization of autonomous robotic systems in aquaculture which would lead not only to economical but also social and ethical benefits.We encourage submissions applying robotic systems to topics including, but not limited to, the following:• Robot design and innovative tools relevant to target challenges in aquaculture• Robotic platforms and systems for aquaculture applications• Long-term autonomy, navigation, planning and control in dynamic environments• Underwater robotic perception and mapping• Robot-Fish and Robot-Structure interaction• Machine vision and AI methods for precision aquaculture• Estimation methods and modeling of environment, flexible structures, fish behavior• Methods for biofouling assessment and prevention• Robust localization in uncertain and dynamic environments• ·Sensing technologies for monitoring and inspection in aquaculture• Sensor System and Data Assimilation• Tools and methods for intervention and repair operations• Technology and methods for better fish welfare• Smart systems towards Industry 4.0 realization in aquaculture• Decision-making systems towards precision aquaculture• Digital twin concepts for aquaculture and remote operations• Docking stations and underwater communication in marine domain• Risk and Safety in aquaculture industry• Current and New farming concepts• Enabling technologies for sustainable aquaculture• Economics, ethics, and environmental aspects of robotics in the aquaculture industry This Research Topic is linked to workshop of the same name at the 2024 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) conference, taking place in Abu Dhabi, UAE on the 14th of October 2024. Any contributions that were previously published as conference proceedings should be extended to include at least 30% original content.
An increasing world population raises concerns over food security which, consequently, drives the opening of new avenues for food production. Agriculture, Fisheries and Aquaculture are important global contributors to the production of food from land and sea for human consumption. In the previous decades, the aquaculture industry has been the fastest growing food producing sector in the world while also being known for substantially higher Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) risks than most industries, and still relying heavily on subjective and experience-based decisions and assessments, alongside intensive manual labor. To target current and future challenges, the industry has therefore shown an increased interest in utilizing robotic solutions in a variety of operations.This Research Topic aims to encourage papers which discuss or advance the enabling of autonomous robotic systems in aquaculture. We encourage submissions tackling the current challenges, as well as advancing R&D solutions and industrial applications in this sector. We also seek to highlight directions for future research and innovations needed to increase the utilization of autonomous robotic systems in aquaculture which would lead not only to economical but also social and ethical benefits.We encourage submissions applying robotic systems to topics including, but not limited to, the following:• Robot design and innovative tools relevant to target challenges in aquaculture• Robotic platforms and systems for aquaculture applications• Long-term autonomy, navigation, planning and control in dynamic environments• Underwater robotic perception and mapping• Robot-Fish and Robot-Structure interaction• Machine vision and AI methods for precision aquaculture• Estimation methods and modeling of environment, flexible structures, fish behavior• Methods for biofouling assessment and prevention• Robust localization in uncertain and dynamic environments• ·Sensing technologies for monitoring and inspection in aquaculture• Sensor System and Data Assimilation• Tools and methods for intervention and repair operations• Technology and methods for better fish welfare• Smart systems towards Industry 4.0 realization in aquaculture• Decision-making systems towards precision aquaculture• Digital twin concepts for aquaculture and remote operations• Docking stations and underwater communication in marine domain• Risk and Safety in aquaculture industry• Current and New farming concepts• Enabling technologies for sustainable aquaculture• Economics, ethics, and environmental aspects of robotics in the aquaculture industry This Research Topic is linked to workshop of the same name at the 2024 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) conference, taking place in Abu Dhabi, UAE on the 14th of October 2024. Any contributions that were previously published as conference proceedings should be extended to include at least 30% original content.