A day in the life: Andrea Uccello, Teagasc Researcher

Andrea Uccello is from Italy and he began working for Teagasc in July 2021. A Day in the Life... video tells how he studied Forest Science in Florence (Italy), embarked on his research journey and went on to work in the mushroom industry. Find out more about Andrea's interesting work training robots

Hi, my name is Andrea Uccello and I joined Teagasc in July 2021. I studied Forest Science in Florence (Italy), where I obtained my Master degree back in 2006. After my degree, I started my research journey, which embraced Forest Pathology and Environmental Microbiology. I defended my Ph.D. thesis in 2011, which was about fungal endophytes involved in tree decline under a climate change scenario.

After my Ph.D., I worked in the mushroom industry, focusing on the microbiota of the mushroom substrate. My main project focused on the development of a biostimulant to enhance the mushroom production process. Aside from the main project, I contributed to the implementation of the Mycopathogen Clinic and the Fermentation Facility. I collaborated on a project aimed atthe reduction of peat usage in the mushroom industry and the biocontrol of mushroom diseases.

About the SoftGrip project

I joined Teagasc to work on the SoftGrip project, which aims to develop a robotic system to be used in mushroom harvesting. This EU-funded project is a partnership between Teagasc and 5 other industrial and research bodies from UK, Italy, Germany and Greece. My role in the project is to work as a bridge between the mushroom experts and professionals in Robotic Engineering, Material Science and Software development. I provide the Software Developers with material to train the Machine Learning model and the Artificial Intelligence that will drive the robotic system. I will also provide the Robotic Engineers and the Material Engineers with data about the force required in mushroom picking. I will also test the robotic system in our Mushroom Unit in the Ashtown Campus, comparing its performances to those from professionally trained pickers.

In this video below Andrea Uccello, Teagasc Researcher describes his work on the SoftGrip project, where he is working on training robots on the delicate job of picking mushrooms.

You can also watch the events back here or visit Teagasc’s youtube channel if you want to watch more ‘A day in the Life’ videos here 

Teagasc Daily will feature one of these 'A day in the life' videos on Tuesdays over the next few Tuesdays.

Find out more here about Teagasc Food and about Mushrooms

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