John Foley, The Other Inconvenient Truth

Agricultural Robotics at the European Robotics Forum 2012

A press release issued by the European Robotics Platform website regarding agricultural robotics as a presence at the European Robotics Forum 2012 makes plain not only that there is a significant level of agricultural robotics activity in Europe but also that it is driven by a vision very similar to that outlined here. Recommended reading!

wide-track vehicle has potential as generic platform

What you see above (video removed) is a dual-tracked vehicle, but forget for the moment that it's a single thing and think of it as merely two control/power units, each driving a single track, connected by a beam, frame, or platform, which could easily be expandable to allow the tracks to be set closer together or further apart. As such, it might serve very well as the platform to which other robotic equipment might be attached for field tests.

Horto domi: the Open Garden by Outer Babylon

More information available here and here.

platform for agricultural robotics development

Something that would help move the work on robotic sensors and manipulators for agriculture forward would be an affordable, robust platform on which they could be mounted and transported through a field. It seems to me that self-propelled sprayers with high clearance and adjustable track widths, intended for row crop operation, offer the best model for such a platform.

Here's just a few examples: ALPHA Evo, AMAZONE Pantera, AGCO SpraCoupe, and a selection of sprayers from Agrifac.

Note that these machines are not built for traction, but to suspend a load high enough that it doesn't interfere with crops. This and the adjustable track width is why, taken together as a class of machines, they make a good model for a robotics platform.

Ideally, only the frame and running gear from one of these designs would be used. To that add a transverse beam (gantry) along which suspended robotic modules can move sideways, mounted far enough above the ground surface to make room for the modules and to avoid interference with the crops.

Australian research organization's description of Agricultural Robotics

On a web page describing their current efforts in agricultural robotics, CSIRO ICT Centre describes the focus area this way:

The application of field robotics to agriculture is an emerging area of interest for our researchers. The increasing demands on our agricultural sector are forcing farmers to consider robotic assistance where before they worked alone. In recent years GPS guided tractors have become commercially available and are now seen commonly in many countries in the world. These systems still rely on the farmer to supervise them - normally from tractor's cab. It is hoped that the next generation of farm robots will be more aware of their immediate surroundings and will be capable of mapping obstacles and navigating autonomously. Unlike field robotics in other domains such as mining or the military (where safety and the removal of people from hazardous situations is a major driver), agricultural robotics will only make sense when the business case means that using robots will save money when compared to farming in a traditional manner.

IPM: Integrated Pest Management

The concept of Integrated Pest Management has been around for several decades, and is just as useful in a robotic, no-till scenario as it is combined with conventional, traction-based agriculture, perhaps even more so. In a nutshell, it's about the inclusion of biological controls in a mix of methods that can also include mechanical and chemical controls. The use of barn owls in the video below is an excellent example.