Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Shihao Zhang is a researcher specializing in agricultural robotics, computer vision, and deep learning-based object detection, with a particular focus on automating harvesting processes for crops such as tea and mushrooms. His most significant contribution lies in developing lightweight yet highly accurate neural network architectures optimized for edge deployment in real-world agricultural settings. His 2023 paper introducing ShuffleNetv2-YOLOv5-Lite-E for detecting tea leaves with one bud and two leaves — a critical precision standard for tea-picking robots — has garnered 41 citations, demonstrating substantial influence in the field of smart agriculture. Building on this foundation, Zhang further advanced tea automation through an improved YOLOv8n-based recognition model capable of grading and counting tea leaves under challenging natural conditions, earning 12 citations since its 2024 publication. He has also extended his expertise to mushroom harvesting, designing and experimentally validating a machine vision-guided picking robot for *Agaricus bisporus*. Collectively, Zhang's work addresses critical bottlenecks in agricultural automation — balancing computational efficiency with detection accuracy — making meaningful contributions toward reducing labor costs and improving productivity in modern precision farming.