Agricultural Cyber-Physical Systems: Research Progress in Perception-Driven Multi-Robot Coordination and Logistics in...

Driven by the escalating global agricultural workforce shortage and the urgent need to meet the "Zero Hunger" mandate, the automation of harvest-transport workflows has emerged as a cornerstone of Agriculture 4.0. This paper highlights the latest research progress in multi-robot collaborative logistics scheduling across highly unstructured farming environments, underpinned by cutting-edge spatial perception and digital twin frameworks. Initially, we summarize the technological leap from conventional 2D geometric mapping to multi-modal semantic 3D reconstruction-fusing light detection and ranging (LiDAR), unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery, and spatial data-to enable high-fidelity forward-looking predictions. The discussion then transitions to algorithmic advancements, emphasizing the shift from traditional centralized operations research to decentralized, data-driven approaches such as Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL). We also explore micro-kinematic predictive control mechanisms and the growing integration of ecological sustainability metrics into routing models. To demonstrate practical engineering progress, multi-agent implementations are analyzed across three typical spatial settings: high-throughput continuous relays in open fields, global navigation satellite system (GNSS)-denied discrete routing in dense orchards, and close-proximity human-robot collaboration (HRC) in smart greenhouses. Finally, we identify the remaining barriers to the large-scale commercialization of Agricultural Cyber-Physical Systems (ACPS), such as the "Sim-to-Real" gap restricted by edge-computing capacities, unclosed economic loops, and HRC ethical dilemmas, offering a forward-looking roadmap for next-generation resilient agricultural networks.