b'Partner News Spring 2021 19AcademicFighting Covid-19 with EssexEssex University and ESNEFT recently signed an agreement with ambitious plans for working together on a wide range of University: From collaborativehealth matters and challenges facing us in the 21st century. In the first project together, a team of CSEE researchers robots to helping the NHScollaborated with the local NHS Trust to help manage resources to fight Covid-19. manage resources The team has been working with doctors to develop and improve an epidemiological model to help predict the day-by-day changes in resource needs at East Suffolk Researchers and educators from theThe Versatile project, involving Essexand North Essex NHS Foundation Trust School of Computer Science and Electronicand Wilkin and Sons Tiptree, explores(ESNEFT). The scientists have been Engineering (CSEE) at Essex UniversityConfigurable and Autonomous roboticdrawing on academic teams from around have been working extraordinarily to helpharvesting of three different crop types inthe UK and the world to gather data to society face the Covid-19 pandemic.indoor vertical growing systems. In the areahelp refine the model, which is being used of food production, the SMART (Sandwichby the NHS Trust.The ongoing pandemic has put severeMaking Autonomous Robotic Technology) stress on the AgriFood sector, which isproject explores the deployment of already affected by interlinked factors, likecollaborative robots in sandwich making critical shortage of labour availability forproduction lines and involves Essex low skilled, physically demanding tasksRobotics, Raynor Foods, and London on the farm, ever increasing demand forbased robotics start-up, Industrial Robotic produce, the need to minimise productionSolutions. costs, and wastage. The recent Pick for Britain initiative further emphasises theIn healthcare, Essex PhD student Penelope prevalent labour shortage across farmsRoberts was one of the winners of theEssex University has been in the country. The Essex Robotics group2020-21 Innovate UKs young Innovatorworking extraordinarily has been working with a range of growersawards for her project, ROBONURSE4NHS, in the East of England region to deploywhich aims to deploy socially aware roboticto help society face the collaborative robots to perform a rangecompanions in hospitals to assist caregiversCovid-19 pandemic.of harvesting tasks on the farm (like fruitin a range of tasks in hospitals and care picking, packaging, yield prediction).homes.'