Papers
7
Total Citations
176
H-Index
7
About
Jorge Mendes is a pioneering researcher in agricultural robotics, specializing in autonomous navigation for steep slope vineyards—one of the most challenging environments for ground robots. His work addresses the critical problems of robot localization and path planning on irregular, high-gradient terrain (over 35°), where GPS is unreliable and soil conditions are harsh. Mendes developed a vine trunk detection algorithm that serves as a natural feature for reliable localization, enabling robots to navigate without depending solely on satellite signals. His path planning research uniquely considers both the robot’s center of mass for stability on steep slopes and soil compaction minimization to prevent long-term damage to vineyard ecosystems. With his most-cited paper (54 citations) on slope-aware trajectory planning, and a total of over 175 citations across his key works, Mendes has established foundational methods for autonomous crop monitoring and harvesting in difficult terrains. He also contributed to redundant localization systems using wireless sensor networks and real-time parallelization of detection algorithms. His research directly supports the development of practical, resilient agricultural robots that can operate safely and sustainably in the world’s most demanding vineyards.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Path Planning Aware of Robot’s Center of Mass for Steep Slope Vineyards54 citations · 2019
- 2Localization Based on Natural Features Detector for Steep Slope Vineyards26 citations · 2018
- 3
- 4Vine Trunk Detector for a Reliable Robot Localization System23 citations · 2016
- 5Path planning aware of soil compaction for steep slope vineyards23 citations · 2018
- 6Redundant robot localization system based in wireless sensor network14 citations · 2018
- 7