University of Lincoln

The University of Lincoln is home to both the Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology (LIAT) and the Lincoln Centre for Autonomous Systems (L-CAS).

LIAT, based at Riseholme, is a specialist research institute that aims to support and enhance productivity, efficiency, and sustainability in food and farming.

Researchers are engaged in the development of technologies which add value or solve challenges across the food chain. One of the Institute’s core aims is to connect academic expertise with partners in industry to pursue world class research and address real-world challenges, advancing state-of-the-art agri-food technology and improving the bottom line for businesses.

Specific goals include supporting and enhancing the future of food and agriculture productivity, efficiency, and sustainability through research, education, and technology.

The Lincoln Centre for Autonomous Systems (LCAS) specialises in perception, learning, decision-making, control and interaction for autonomous systems, such as robots, and the integration of these capabilities in applications including personal robotics, healthcare, agri-food, security, and intelligent transportation.

The Centre is leading a £6.9m EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Agri-Food Robotics, with the Universities of Cambridge and East Anglia, and are co-leads of a £6.3m award from the UK Government’s Expanding Excellence in England (E3) Fund to create Lincoln Agri-Robotics, a global centre of excellence for agricultural robotics, in collaboration with the Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology.

Professor Marc Hanheide from L-CAS is the project's Principal Investigator for the University of Lincoln.