Polina Kurtser
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Örebro University, Umeå University
Papers
23
Total Citations
852
H-Index
12
About
Polina Kurtser is a leading researcher in agricultural robotics and autonomous systems, with a particular focus on robotic harvesting, computer vision, and precision agriculture. She is perhaps best known for her central role in developing SWEEPER, a groundbreaking autonomous robot designed to harvest sweet peppers in greenhouse environments — a project that has garnered over 430 citations and represents one of the most comprehensive demonstrations of end-to-end robotic harvesting to date. Her work spans the full pipeline of agricultural automation, from illumination-robust fruit detection and dynamic sensing strategies to optimal task planning and approach trajectory design for harvesting robots. Beyond sweet peppers, Kurtser has extended her expertise to vine yield estimation using consumer-grade RGB-D cameras and has contributed valuable survey work on RGB-D datasets for agricultural robotics. More recently, she has explored how robotic platforms can probe plant biology itself, investigating how controlled mechanical stimulation affects basil metabolism and sensory quality. With over 760 cumulative citations across her published work, Kurtser's research sits at a compelling intersection of robotics, machine vision, and crop science, making her a significant and versatile voice in the future of smart farming.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Development of a sweet pepper harvesting robot432 citations · 2020
- 2
- 3Planning the sequence of tasks for harvesting robots61 citations · 2020
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10