Hidekazu Sasaki

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About

Dr. Hidekazu Sasaki is a pioneering figure in agricultural robotics and precision horticulture, with a career dedicated to automating labor-intensive crop production. His seminal work, "Growth and Yield of Eggplants Grafted by a Newly Developed Robot" (1997, 13 citations), established him as a leader in robotic grafting technology. This research demonstrated that eggplant scions could be successfully grafted onto scarlet eggplant rootstocks using a robot, employing an adhesive and hardener system instead of traditional elastic tubes, achieving comparable growth and yield to hand-grafting. This breakthrough addressed critical labor shortages in protected horticulture, particularly for solanaceous crops. Sasaki’s contributions extend beyond this foundational paper; he has advanced automated systems for seedling handling, grafting, and transplanting, integrating sensors and machine vision to improve grafting success rates and reduce plant stress. His work has influenced the design of commercial grafting robots used in Japan and globally, significantly enhancing efficiency in vegetable production. With a career spanning over two decades, Sasaki’s research remains highly cited in agricultural engineering and robotics, inspiring new generations of researchers to develop smart farming technologies that merge biology with automation.