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Agricultural Production System Design Lab
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A lab that aims to improve agricultural production, from the design of agricultural machinery to the measurement of plants.
AboutAbout the lab
Designing agricultural production, from machinery to plant measurement.
The Agricultural Production System Design Lab studies the design and safety of agricultural machinery, plant measurement, and smart agriculture.
Using simulation and experiments, the lab investigates the behavior of machines, such as the separation and threshing in combine harvesters and the overturning of tractors.
It also works on systems that measure plant growth with images and IoT devices, and on developing robots that support farm work.
The lab has a fabrication room equipped with 3D printers, laser cutters, lathes, and other tools, as well as an environment-controlled greenhouse.
Key terms
- Discrete element method
- A simulation method that treats particles such as unhulled rice grains and straw debris individually and calculates their contacts and motion.
- Ripened grain ratio
- The proportion of brown rice grains that have filled out to a certain grain thickness or more, out of the total number of unhulled rice grains. It is an indicator related to rice yield and quality.
- Phenotyping
- Quantitatively measuring and evaluating information on plant traits, such as growth and responses to the environment.
NewsLab news
A paper on plant phenotyping was published in Smart Agricultural Technology
A student-authored paper on a plant sensing robot was published in Smart Agricultural Technology
Prof. Okayasu received the Shinnorinsha International Award
Prof. Okayasu received the Japan Society of Agricultural Engineering Award
Prof. Okayasu received a Special Contribution Award
ResearchResearch themes
Centered on mechanization and automation in agricultural production, the lab tackles issues such as the design of agricultural machinery, the safety of machine operation, plant measurement, and smart agriculture. It conducts research using mechanical models, numerical simulation, image-based measurement, and ICT.
*Illustrative imageOscillating separation of unhulled rice and optimal machine design
The lab studies oscillating separation, the process by which a combine harvester's separation unit sorts unhulled rice grains from straw debris. By comparing experiments under varied conditions with separation simulations of the grains and straw debris using the 3D discrete element method (DEM), it clarifies the effects on separation performance.
*Illustrative imageSafety of machine operation and rollover prevention
Among the rollovers and falls of agricultural machinery, which are considered the largest factor in fatal accidents during machine operation, this research aims to prevent tractor rollovers. The lab examines the requirements for stability through driving simulations and driving experiments, and also analyzes the behavior of the machine using road surface undulations reconstructed with a stereo vision camera.
*Illustrative imageFaster and smarter combine harvesting
The threshing unit is subject to heavy loads during harvest. To make it faster and more energy-efficient, the lab models the motion of rice plants under the action of threshing using theories of physics and mathematics, and examines it through simulation. It is also developing a method to determine bulk density from the mass and volume of unhulled rice in the tank, and thereby measure the ripened grain ratio at the same time as harvesting.
*Illustrative imagePhenotyping to measure plant traits
The lab develops systems that use computer vision to measure plant growth and responses to the environment, and studies the calculation of growth indicators and non-destructive evaluation methods. It is also developing a platform that continuously measures and visualizes trait information by combining low-cost IoT devices with open-source software.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Agricultural Production System Design Lab are faculty, lab staff, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and research students.As of 2026
- ProfessorTakashi Okayasu
- Associate ProfessorMuneshi Mitsuoka
- Assistant ProfessorPham Thanh Dong
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Stubble field with tractor and other farm machinery - geograph.org.uk - 4683057” Trevor Littlewood / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Oscillating separation of unhulled rice and optimal machine design: “A rice threshing machine 01” Kritzolina / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Safety of machine operation and rollover prevention: “Tractor ride and farm machinery at Pennywell Farm - geograph.org.uk - 8397503” Gareth James / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Faster and smarter combine harvesting: “Rice-combine-harvester, Katori-city, Japan” katorisi / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Phenotyping to measure plant traits: “Measurements taken of all rooted woody plants” GIZ Bush Control and Biomass Utilisation Project / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Forest Planning Lab): “Gunung Nuang summit forest canopy aerial view” Kay Du / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Crop Science Lab): “Khndzoresk, Wheat field, Armenia” Vyacheslav Argenberg / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Plant Breeding Lab): “Perennial rice breeding nursery” Desmanthus4food / CC BY-SA 3.0 us (cropped)
- Related lab (Aquaculture Biology Lab): “Marine algae in Gullmarsfjorden at Sämstad 4” W.carter / CC0 (cropped)
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