Mechanical mastermind

So, upon returning to his beloved lab, he designed an automatic control system for the greenhouse coverings.

"The farmers can set the device to open the greenhouses' ceilings to soak up the sunshine and to close them when it rains," Guo says.

He developed an alarm system to detect pear scab: Sensors can detect the temperature and humidity of the air and soil and can predict if conditions are ripe for the disease to thrive and notify the farmers.

He also invented a robot that can spray pesticides, before refining the design to be more precise with its spray and have less of an effect on the surrounding soil.

Conveniently designed

"Whether invention or perfection, the importance is to make one item or one machine that offers greater convenience," he says.

Guo also invented a "picking" robot to harvest tomatoes or strawberries. Two cameras on the robot serve as its eyes, helping the robot to "see" the fruit, while a chip inside the machine acts as the "brain".

When the cameras collect the image and transfer it to the "brain", the chip will analyze the image, calculate the location and initiate the picking procedure.

A mechanical arm equipped with a pair of scissors will extend toward the fruit and gently cut it from the branch.

Li Lin, a graduate student in the same lab with Guo at the Ocean University of China, has known him since 2014 when Guo was invited to give a speech as a university alumnus at the opening ceremony of her bachelor's study.

"I still remember his advice was: Go to the lab as soon as possible, which I did," Li recalls.

"Working in a lab offers access to cutting-edge technology and allows us to practice our operational and problem-solving abilities, as what we do in the lab has sometimes not been tried before."