Abstract
In 2023, global kiwifruit production reached over 4.4 million tonnes, highlighting the crop's significant economic importance. However, achieving high yields depends on adequate pollination. In Actinidia species, pollen is transferred by insects from male to female flowers on separate plants. Natural pollination faces increasing challenges due to the decline in pollinator populations and climate variability, driving the adoption of assisted pollination methods. This study examines the Portuguese kiwifruit sector, one of the world's top 12 producers, using a novel mixed-methods approach that integrates both qualitative and quantitative analyses to assess the feasibility of robotic pollination. The qualitative study identifies the benefits and challenges of current methods and explores how robotic pollination could address these challenges. The quantitative analysis explores the cost-effectiveness and practicality of implementing robotic pollination as a product and service. Findings indicate that most farmers use handheld pollination devices but face pollen wastage and application timing challenges. Economic analysis establishes a break-even point of & euro;685 per hectare for an annual single application, with a first robotic pollination of & euro;17 146 becoming cost-effective for orchards of at least 3.5 hectares and a second robotic solution of & euro;34 293 becoming cost-effective for orchards up to 7 hectares. A robotic pollination service priced at & euro;685 per hectare per application presents a low-risk and aviable alternative for growers. This study provides robust economic insights supporting the adoption of robotic pollination technologies. This study is crucial to make informed decisions to enhance kiwifruit production's productivity and sustainability through precise robotic-assisted pollination.

Abstract
Abstract This paper covers the state-of-the-art perception and control technologies in precision spraying and mowing in permanent crops. The search was performed in six different databases, resulting in 1849 publications, from which only 94 were considered for inclusion in this review. The analysis highlighted the importance of canopy characteristics in precision spraying, focusing on parameters like height, width, leaf area, and volume, primarily using LiDAR sensors. Vision sensors also complemented LiDAR-based approaches, with diverse applications such as fruit detection and disease diagnosis. Despite valuable knowledge from studies on spray coverage assessment and real-time smartphone analysis, challenges persist, including dynamic environmental factors and the different collector materials used. Moreover, the review considers the cost of Variable Rate Technology (VRT) solutions in agriculture, enhancing their impact on accessibility, adoption, and sustainability. While conventional herbicide-based weed management prevails, interest in alternative techniques like mechanical mowing and organic mulches is growing, promising improved soil health and reduced environmental impact, particularly in permanent crops. To address these challenges, agricultural robotics play a crucial role in automating precision spraying and mowing, optimizing resource usage, and increasing operational precision. This systematic review highlights the state of precision agriculture in permanent crops and emphasizes the need for continued research and development to improve the sustainability and efficiency of precision spraying and mowing systems in orchards, vineyards, and other woody crop environments.

Abstract

Phenological monitoring of Actinidia chinensis is critical for optimising operational costs and yield prediction. However, current manual assessment methods are time-consuming, making them impractical for large-scale precision agriculture applications. Most existing phenological datasets focus exclusively on image data without spatial validation. The Multi-Modal Actinidia chinensis Phenology Dataset is composed of (i) 1 665 annotated images of phenological stages from bud to fruit set and (ii) georeferenced videos with systematic manual ground truth of spatial stage distributions. The dataset employs an adapted 17-class BBCH system that consolidates visually similar stages, excludes problematic categories, and introduces generic structural classes to address practical annotation difficulties. Additionally, the data is organised hierarchically across various plant structures, genders, and phenological stages. The annotated images offer versatility for a range of applications, including training data for computer vision models to detect phenological stages. Furthermore, the georeferenced videos facilitate the validation of automated counting algorithms. This combined approach enables plant-level detection accuracy and provides an illustrative methodology for spatial validation that users can extend to additional orchards, promoting the development and benchmarking of automated phenological monitoring systems for precision agriculture applications in kiwifruit production.

Abstract
The integration of Deep Learning techniques for grapevine yield estimation has led to significant advancements in Precision Viticulture. The accurate detection and counting of berries per bunch is a critical task that can explain up to 30% of yield variability, thereby enabling improved yield estimation. This study proposes a YOLO-based approach for the automated detection and counting of visible grapevine berries, using a dataset of more than 1500 images collected over three phenological stages. The selected YOLO models performed well in both detection and counting tasks, with all models achieving high detection accuracy (G-mAP ' 0.95) and estimation of visible berries (R2 ' 0.97). Among the evaluated models, YOLOv11n exhibited the highest detection performance (F1-Score = 0.954, G-mAP = 0.962), while YOLOv10n demonstrated the most consistent and reliable counting accuracy (MAPE = 4.764, MSE = 12.203, RMSE = 3.493). Beyond overall performance, the analysis revealed that ampelographic features such as berry size, occlusion, and bunch morphology can influence accuracy, although YOLOv10n showed no significant disparities across categories. To extend the scope, a complementary analysis demonstrated a strong linear relationship (R2 = 0.860) between visible counts and the total number of berries per bunch, supporting the potential of correction models to address occlusion. By systematically evaluating model behaviour across diverse viticultural conditions and incorporating correlation with total berry counts, this study provides a deeper understanding of the robustness and limitations of Deep Learning models, offering critical insights for future applications in vineyard monitoring, yield estimation, harvest optimisation, and management. © 2026 The Authors.

Abstract
This paper presents an indoor benchmarking study of state-of-the-art 3D LiDAR-based Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithms using the newly developed IILABS 3D - iilab Indoor LiDAR-based SLAM 3D dataset. Existing SLAM datasets often focus on outdoor environments, rely on a single type of LiDAR sensor, or lack additional sensor data such as wheel odometry in ground-based robotic platforms. Consequently, the existing datasets lack data diversity required to comprehensively evaluate performance under diverse indoor conditions. The IILABS 3D dataset fills this gap by providing a sensor-rich, indoor-exclusive dataset recorded in a controlled laboratory environment using a wheeled mobile robot platform. It includes four heterogeneous 3D LiDAR sensors - Velodyne VLP-16, Ouster OS1-64, RoboSense RS-Helios-5515, and Livox Mid-360 - featuring both mechanical spinning and non-repetitive scanning patterns, as well as an IMU and wheel odometry for sensor fusion. The dataset also contains calibration sequences, challenging benchmark trajectories, and high-precision ground-truth poses captured with a motion capture system. Using this dataset, we benchmark nine representative LiDAR-based SLAM algorithms across multiple sequences, analyzing their performance in terms of accuracy and consistency under varying sensor configurations. The results provide a comprehensive performance comparison and valuable insights into the strengths and limitations of current SLAM algorithms in indoor environments. The dataset, benchmark results, and related tools are publicly available at https://jorgedfr.github.io/3d_lidar_slam_benchmark_at_iilab/