An agricultural robot or agribot is a robot deployed for agricultural
purposes. The main area of application of robots in agriculture is at
the harvesting stage. Fruit picking robots, driverless tractor / sprayer,
and sheep shearing robots are designed to replace human labour. The
agricultural industry is behind other complementary industries in using
robots because the sort of jobs involved in agriculture are not
straightforward, and many repetitive tasks are not exactly the same
every time. In most cases, a lot of factors have to be considered (e.g.,
the size and colour of the fruit to be picked) before the
commencement of a task. Robots can be used for other horticultural
tasks such as pruning, weeding, spraying and monitoring. Robots can
also be used in livestock applications (livestock robotics) such as
milking, washing and castrating.
Agricultural Robot
» Agricultural robots are the fastest growing technology
developed to perform various complex tasks that are difficult
for humans to achieve. Recent news claims that the
Japanese government has taken an initiative to use robotic
operators in lands swamped by March 2011 tsunami. This
“Dream project” was planned to involve unmanned tractors
working in the farm on the disaster site. The robotic farmers
are capable of cultivating vegetables, fruits, soybeans, wheat
and rice, which are then packed in boxes and shipped
across the country by this robotic technology. This process is
accompanied by recycling of carbon dioxide using machinery
in an attempt to reduce the use of fertilizers.
Images of an Agricultural Robots
Conclusions
» Research efforts are now beginning to invest more
in the development of multi-robot vehicles as
platforms for a robot farming system. These
vehicles include an electronic robot vehicle that
can provide crop information using sensors, and
two-robot tractors capable of performing various
implement functions. Application of inexpensive
navigation sensors to the robot farming system
makes the system economically adaptable with
the environment. With the development of robot
farming system, food production can be increased
considerably and economically.
What does the Argicultural Robot do?
What Human Function Or Task Does The Robot Perform like Weeding,
Planting, Fertilizing, Plowing & Picking.
Is the robotic end effector multi-functional?
Most agricultural robots are multifunctional
They can perform many tasks, such as planting, picking, milking
animals, etc.
Agricultural robots are taught by sensors
They use these sensors by marking spots that need to be planted
and memorizing them.
Where are these robots used?
What is its work envelope?
Agricultural robots are used on farms, plantations, etc.
Its work envelope is 100 by 100 meters
Advantages v. Disadvantages
They cause less damage to the environment
They protect workers from the harmful effects of chemicals
History of an Agricultural Robot:
► Early Civilization Tools
During the Stone Age (2,000,000-3500 BCE), ancient peoples used
simple tools such as spears, nets and various other traps to catch their
prey. [2] Mesopotamians invented the wooden plow around 3000 BCE
(Before Common Era), and by 2800 BCE, they had learned how to
make bronze tools.
► The In-Between Years (2500 BCE-1750 AD)
The use of animals has been prominent in agriculture. Archeologists
believe that dogs were the first animals to be domesticated. Dogs
helped early peoples by hunting and also kept rats and other rodents
from eating the crops. [2]
The use of animals in farming and the continued use of tools increased
the size of many farms. This allowed farmers to cultivate more land.
The caschrom was invented during the middle ages to till the land. By
pushing the foot peg into the ground and pulling the handle backwards,
a farmer could tear up the soil and flip the dirt to either side. [5]
History of an Agricultural Robot:
Agricultural Revolution
The Agricultural Revolution lasted from about 1750-1900 when farming in America changed
drastically.
The main cause of the Agricultural Revolution was the introduction of machines. A wellknown machine introduced during this time was Eli Whitney’s cotton gin, one of the first
machines used in agriculture. Eli Whitney, born in Massachusetts, patented his cotton
gin on March 14, 1794. This machine was able to quickly separate cottonseed from
cotton fibers, creating up to fifty pounds of cleaned cotton a day, the equivalent of
hundreds of man-hours. As the first major machine of the agricultural revolution, the
cotton gin led the way to our modern agricultural machines.
The system farmers used to plant crops evolved greatly during this time period. In the early
1800s, people in Norfolk County, England [created the Norfolk Crop Rotation
System. This system works by using four main fields and planting different crops in
each field. Each year, the cycle rotates, allowing the nutrients in the soil to replenish.
[9]
Another major change that occurred during the Agricultural Revolution was the creation of
the United States Department of Agriculture, or the USDA. On May 15, 1862,
President Lincoln created the USDA to improve agricultural practices and standards
throughout the country. At first, the USDA worked only to increase productivity on
farms, but starting in the 1880s, work was also done to improve the quality and health
standards of these farms. The research done by the USDA today helps to create
robots and other technological improvements for American farms.
History of an Agricultural Robot:
Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
The nineteenth and twentieth centuries, AKA the eighteen and nineteen
hundreds, was a very busy time for agricultural development. During
this time period, some of our modern agricultural machines, such as the
lawnmower and the tractor, were invented and put to use worldwide.
John Deere is often considered to be synonymous with nineteenth century
agriculture, mostly because you will see his company’s logo and
equipment, first created in the 1800’s, in every farm supply store in the
US. John Deere invented the first steel plow in 1837, testing it near
Grand Detour, Illinois. He built this steel plow to solve the problems
people were having with the mid-western soil sticking to the teeth of
plows designed for the lighter New England soil. The first Deere, Tate
& Gould factory was built in 1848 in Moline, Illinois, where they could
take advantage of the waterpower and transportation of the Mississippi
River. In 1918, the company, which became Deere and Company in
1868, began making tractors. These machines have grown to become
our modern agricultural robots.
Who is the inventor of an Agricultural Robot?
In the early 1830s, spurred on by his hatred of
sweaty field work, Cyrus McCormick took an
idea his father had been working on at the
family farm in Virginia and produced a
mechanical reaper. Others devised similar
machines. Despite initial scepticism, farmers
eventually bought them in droves. With one
person riding the horse that pulled the reaper,
and another raking the cut stalks off the back,
the machines could harvest as much grain in a
day as a dozen men breaking their backs with
reaping hooks.
Mechanical reapers became even more
efficient when adapted to bale the stalks into
sheaves, too. Development continued: today a
driver in the air-conditioned cabin of a combine
harvester may be guided by satellites as he
cuts, threshes and pours clean grain into a fleet
of accompanying trailers. One machine, the
New Holland CR9090, holds the record after
harvesting a colossal 551 tonnes of wheat in
just eight hours from a farm in Britain in 2008.
Given that such machines cost around
$580,000, agricultural automation must make
economic sense—because farmers don't spend
money on frivolities.
Latest Agricultural Robot
The HV-100 is programmed to identify which size pot to look for, using
a 3D Laser Interferometry Detection and Ranging (LIDAR)
sensor. It can lift a payload of 22 lb (10 kg) with high placement
accuracy, performing up to 200 moves per hour. The machine
requires only minimal training and setup, features a quick swap
rechargeable battery, is designed to work on rough terrain and
operates in all weather and lighting conditions, 24 hours a day. If
a human crosses its path, it will immediately stop to avoid a
collision.
Harvest Automation is selling the HV-100 for $30,000. It enables
growers to create a sustainable workforce of robots, working
safely alongside people to increase efficiency, reliability and
plant quality. The agriculture industry is facing unprecedented
labour volatility and tighter federal regulations on migrant
workers. Harvest’s robots can perform as much manual labour
as required by each grower, creating more capacity for human
workers to focus on other tasks. The robots can also increase
plant quality by optimising placement in the fields and reducing
non-labour production costs including the use of water,
pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers.
So far, around 10 companies in the U.S. have purchased fleets of HV100s. From early 2014, Harvest plans to begin selling in Europe,
where the potted plant market is twice as big as in America.
Future capabilities of these robots may include plant
maintenance, pruning leaves and collecting fruit. These
machines could appear in significant numbers by 2016.
HV-100
The Harvest Automation HV-100 (it is nicknamed “Harvey”) is a plant container moving robot
capable of handling all of the plant spacing, consolidation and collection needs in a
Nursery or Greenhouse operation. This robot was designed by the American company
Harvest Automation, Inc. (it is a robotics startup founded by several former iRobot
employees).
HV-100 is targeted at the floriculture industry and is designed to move potted plants on
nursery container farms, an application currently done by hand. The plants are first
planted in containers (pots) that are then evenly spaced on large fields. As the plants
grow they are spaced further apart to give each plant more room to spread out. Later,
as the plants are sold, leaving holes in the spaced pattern, they are consolidated into a
tighter area.
The mobile robots that do this task are completely autonomous and able to figure out where
the plants are and where they should be moved to. They carry one plant at a time, less
than the 2 or 4 that humans carry, but the robots don’t need to take breaks. The robots
are also designed to be safe around humans, which allows a human laborer to be on
the field with the robots to help them do their job.