title: Software frameworks for rural AI robotics

authors: Bashir, Faizan

abstract: Robotic Autonomous robotic systems intended for agricultural environments must operate under conditions of unreliable connectivity, limited infrastructure, and high environmental variability. These constraints present significant challenges for system architecture, communication design, and human– robot interaction. This thesis investigates these challenges through the design, analysis, and evaluation of Nicobot, a mobile agricultural research platform developed to explore software frameworks for rural AI robotics.   
The research focuses on how system architecture, user interface design, and communication mechanisms influence the feasibility of autonomous operation in rural and low-connectivity settings.    
Architectural analysis reveals that, despite the presence of edge computing components and multiple communication technologies, decision-making and fault recovery remain heavily dependent on human operators. The system therefore operates under a supervisory autonomy model, where the robot supports controlled behaviour but does not independently interpret sensor data or adapt to connectivity degradation. Evaluation of the user interface shows that technical data exposure, limited feedback, and reliance on user interpretation reduce usability for non-technical agricultural users. Communication analysis further demonstrates that multiple channels alone do not guarantee robustness unless they are integrated with adaptive system behaviour.   
The findings highlight that autonomy in rural agricultural robotics cannot be achieved through the addition of technological components alone. Instead, autonomy emerges from deliberate architectural allocation of responsibility, clear separation of control roles, and interface designs that support transparency and reduced cognitive load. This thesis contributes design-oriented insights for future rural robotic systems, emphasising contextual independence, supervisory interaction, architectural coherence, and simplicity as guiding principles for practical agricultural autonomy.

text: Software frameworks for rural AI robotics Robotic Autonomous robotic systems intended for agricultural environments must operate under conditions of unreliable connectivity, limited infrastructure, and high environmental variability. These constraints present significant challenges for system architecture, communication design, and human– robot interaction. This thesis investigates these challenges through the design, analysis, and evaluation of Nicobot, a mobile agricultural research platform developed to explore software frameworks for rural AI robotics.   
The research focuses on how system architecture, user interface design, and communication mechanisms influence the feasibility of autonomous operation in rural and low-connectivity settings.    
Architectural analysis reveals that, despite the presence of edge computing components and multiple communication technologies, decision-making and fault recovery remain heavily dependent on human operators. The system therefore operates under a supervisory autonomy model, where the robot supports controlled behaviour but does not independently interpret sensor data or adapt to connectivity degradation. Evaluation of the user interface shows that technical data exposure, limited feedback, and reliance on user interpretation reduce usability for non-technical agricultural users. Communication analysis further demonstrates that multiple channels alone do not guarantee robustness unless they are integrated with adaptive system behaviour.   
The findings highlight that autonomy in rural agricultural robotics cannot be achieved through the addition of technological components alone. Instead, autonomy emerges from deliberate architectural allocation of responsibility, clear separation of control roles, and interface designs that support transparency and reduced cognitive load. This thesis contributes design-oriented insights for future rural robotic systems, emphasising contextual independence, supervisory interaction, architectural coherence, and simplicity as guiding principles for practical agricultural autonomy.

year: 2026

title: University of Waikato radiocarbon dates I

authors: Hogg, Alan G.

subjects: radiocarbon age

abstract: This date list reports on samples submitted by University of Waikato researchers and assayed in the Waikato laboratory mainly between 1979 and 1985. Most dates reported here relate to the deposition of distal airfall tephras in lakes and peats in central and northern North Island, New Zealand. Most of the tephras have been correlated with named eruptive units elsewhere using diagnostic mineralogic and chemical criteria, together with stratigraphic and age relationships.The dates listed in Section 2 were obtained on carbonaceous matter associated with the Hinuera Formation, an extensive low-angle fan of volcanogenic alluvium that was deposited in several phases in the Waikato and Hauraki basins before and during the last stale (isotope stage 2) of the last glaciation. In Section 3, the samples comprise materials associated with peat bog growth or local sedimentation that postdates the deposition of the Hinuera Formation, ie, < ca 15,000 BP. Samples in both Sections 2 and 3 are grouped into series according to geographic location, and, where appropriate, arranged stratigraphically with uppermost samples shown first.

text: University of Waikato radiocarbon dates I This date list reports on samples submitted by University of Waikato researchers and assayed in the Waikato laboratory mainly between 1979 and 1985. Most dates reported here relate to the deposition of distal airfall tephras in lakes and peats in central and northern North Island, New Zealand. Most of the tephras have been correlated with named eruptive units elsewhere using diagnostic mineralogic and chemical criteria, together with stratigraphic and age relationships.The dates listed in Section 2 were obtained on carbonaceous matter associated with the Hinuera Formation, an extensive low-angle fan of volcanogenic alluvium that was deposited in several phases in the Waikato and Hauraki basins before and during the last stale (isotope stage 2) of the last glaciation. In Section 3, the samples comprise materials associated with peat bog growth or local sedimentation that postdates the deposition of the Hinuera Formation, ie, < ca 15,000 BP. Samples in both Sections 2 and 3 are grouped into series according to geographic location, and, where appropriate, arranged stratigraphically with uppermost samples shown first.

year: 1987

title: Te whakatipu torekaihuruhuru hai ika-ā-Whiro

authors: Temara, Pou

subjects: Mana tūpuna

abstract: Kai roto i te mōteatea a Hone Tūwhare e mau ana ngā whakaaro me ngā kareāroto o tōku whakatipuranga o Tūhoe i te turakitanga a Mate i te tipua nei i a Te Rangihau i te tau 1987.  Mōwai ana te whenua, takarerewa ana te tangata. He atua te rite o Te Rangihau ki a Tūhoe. Ka kitea ia i ngā marae o Tūhoe, ka hikina te ngoi o te iwi, ka ora. Kua mate nei, tārū ana te iwi; kua hinga te rākau taumatua o ngā manu, kua hinga i te tao o te mate.

Kāore hoki i roa i muri mai o tōna wehenga atu ka whai muri ko tōna rēanga me tōna momo. Mā wai e ārahi te iwi? Mā wai e whakatika te waka ka tikoki, te iwi ka hē? Mā wai o tō mātau whakatipuranga e whakakīkī ngā whāruarua kua mahue mai nei i te ngaronga atu o tērā whakatipuranga taioreore? Koinei ngā mōhio o Tūhoe, he mana te kupu, he tapu te kōrero! Ahakoa i noho rātau ki te ako i a mātau mō te wā e ngaro ai tō rātau momo, tāupetia ana mātau e te mokemoke, he manu mahue i te kātua te rite. Ae, i reira anō ngā torekaihuruhuru e whakatore ana, engari kīhai i a rātau te mana tohunga o te rēanga ka ngaro.

text: Te whakatipu torekaihuruhuru hai ika-ā-Whiro Kai roto i te mōteatea a Hone Tūwhare e mau ana ngā whakaaro me ngā kareāroto o tōku whakatipuranga o Tūhoe i te turakitanga a Mate i te tipua nei i a Te Rangihau i te tau 1987.  Mōwai ana te whenua, takarerewa ana te tangata. He atua te rite o Te Rangihau ki a Tūhoe. Ka kitea ia i ngā marae o Tūhoe, ka hikina te ngoi o te iwi, ka ora. Kua mate nei, tārū ana te iwi; kua hinga te rākau taumatua o ngā manu, kua hinga i te tao o te mate.

Kāore hoki i roa i muri mai o tōna wehenga atu ka whai muri ko tōna rēanga me tōna momo. Mā wai e ārahi te iwi? Mā wai e whakatika te waka ka tikoki, te iwi ka hē? Mā wai o tō mātau whakatipuranga e whakakīkī ngā whāruarua kua mahue mai nei i te ngaronga atu o tērā whakatipuranga taioreore? Koinei ngā mōhio o Tūhoe, he mana te kupu, he tapu te kōrero! Ahakoa i noho rātau ki te ako i a mātau mō te wā e ngaro ai tō rātau momo, tāupetia ana mātau e te mokemoke, he manu mahue i te kātua te rite. Ae, i reira anō ngā torekaihuruhuru e whakatore ana, engari kīhai i a rātau te mana tohunga o te rēanga ka ngaro.

year: 2016