Robotics in agriculture

 When a robot is mentioned, most people imagine an industrial robot on the production line of an industrial plant, a humanoid assistant, or a superhuman character from a science fiction movie. But robots of many forms are also infiltrating agriculture, which is looking for ways to reconcile intensive farming with the demands of conservation.

In the past, agriculture has been able to adapt to social change, mainly through intensification. This was achieved by breeding new varieties, and in developed countries, especially after the industrial revolution, by the use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides, along with the use of large and powerful tractors.

The growing needs of a growing population need to be met, but the social and environmental implications of this trend are backlashing.

In addition, increasing the productivity of machinery has its limitations. Therefore, ensuring the necessary food production in the future will be associated with a significant modification of production processes, which will be based on digital technologies, smart sensors, the use of big data, and robotics.

From Precision to Smart Farming

Digitalization is advancing at a rapid pace, and we are increasingly taking advantage of it. A mobile phone is no longer just a tool for making calls and writing messages. The internet connection and installed sensors give it a lot of other features, so it's kind of a tangible example of what's to come.

Terms such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, big data, autonomous robots, smart sensors, cloud computing, 3D printing, nanotechnology, data storage, additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence, or M2M (machine-to-machine communication) are becoming commonplace and our vocabulary. Even in connection with agriculture.

Already in the eighties of the last century, the term precision farming began to appear. Reflections on the possibilities of using data collection and characterization of land variability for targeted applications have laid the foundation for new technological procedures that are becoming more sophisticated.

Significant progress is associated with the advent of satellite navigation, which allows you to control equipment on land. Thanks to the use of corrective signals, the navigation accuracy is on the order of millimeters.

A logical step in the further application of navigation was the autonomous turning of cars on headlands and the associated control of labor tools.

Applications followed that combined sensor outputs, the use of pre-programmed maps, and data collection with individual control of machine work areas. Knowing the position of the machines or the trajectories of movement allows you to plan their movements in detail, optimize the direction of movement or work with the data of the working data of the machines. A series of data is transferred to each other.

Information technology makes it possible to link a wider range of areas and activities and link these data sources into functional blocks with the ability to manage and control input data at all levels.

The term "precision farming" is gradually being replaced by the term "smart farming", which already fully assumes the use of robots and artificial intelligence.

Smart farming, smart farming, or agriculture 4.0 is defined as a set of technologies and data that are applied to manage the Spatio-temporal variables associated with all aspects of agricultural production. To improve the quality of the environment and increase the yield.

Robotics in agriculture is gaining momentum

In addition to the rapid growth in sales of industrial robots around the world, the production and sale of service robots for professional use are growing very rapidly.

The increasing use of robots and automation systems in agriculture, whether tillage, crop management, harvesting, or animal husbandry, is a global phenomenon with huge commercial potential.

This is also facilitated by a rapidly growing world population associated with an ever-increasing need for food, a limited and climate-prone area of ​​agricultural land, and growing pressure on prices in the world market.

All this requires new approaches, and modern technologies and robotics are becoming important tools for increasing the productivity of crop and livestock production.

Automated robotic systems bring the most desired operational flexibility and cost and time savings to agriculture. In addition, they eliminate repetitive and often heavy manual work that is difficult for workers to find.

To save labor, robots can, for example, support or carry out sowing, harvesting, or weeding completely autonomously.

In animal husbandry, robots are mainly used for automated shearing of sheep, milking and feeding cows, and cleaning barns and stables.

By using robotic harvesters, agricultural businesses and farmers can significantly reduce their workload while increasing their profits as they can harvest almost 100% of their products and grow more produce in the long run.

European manufacturers are world leaders in agricultural robotics.

The range of products offered ranges from milking robots, feeding robots for automated barn and stable cleaning, from robots for driving mobile agricultural machines to robotic systems for growing and harvesting fruits, grapes, and flowers or for forestry use.

Robots intended for use in agriculture are subject to very strict and specific requirements. First of all, it must work reliably in an environment that is not clearly defined and dynamically changing over a wide range.

It is very important that agricultural workers can work safely with automated and robotic systems and can easily control and program them intuitively.

From a technical point of view, agricultural robots must be extremely durable and resistant to dirt. In addition, milking robots must meet very strict hygiene standards.

The statistics also confirm the current development towards an increasing degree and degree of automation in crop and livestock production.

Robotic farms are on the rise and robots are being used to manage dairy herds, of which milking is an integral part.

An automatic milking system is a modern and well-performing cow milking technology that handles milking well. Milking equipment alone cannot be trusted to ensure the health and well-being of dairy cows.

Dairy herd management is much more than milking a cow, so the entire robotic stall system must be professionally designed. The basis is to ensure the comfort and health of cows, and therefore high daily milk yields.

By 2024, more than two million farms and 36 million cattle will be connected to the Internet. For livestock, it is a matter of collecting data on their health and performance.

The Internet of Things (IoT) allows farmers to track remote locations, track more animals more efficiently, and get more detailed information about each individual animal every day.

As IoT technology can track animal health, fertility, animal movement, location, and more, farms are changing to use this data to improve efficiency, productivity, and revenue.

The IoT allows keepers to keep a close eye on animals, and can also be used to monitor the amount of feed in a feeder to know when to refill or buy more feed. The Internet of Things paves the way for smart farming.

Conclusion

Currently, much of the ongoing research in agricultural robotics continues to work on autonomous vehicles. This study builds on the progress made in driver assistance systems and self-propelled vehicles.

Although robots have already been integrated into many areas of agricultural work, they are still practically absent in the harvesting of individual crops. The situation began to change when companies began to develop robots that perform more specific tasks on the farm.

The biggest challenge for robotic harvesters comes from picking soft crops like strawberries, which can be easily damaged. Despite these concerns, progress is also being made in this area.

For example, Harvest Croo Robotics, one of their strawberry pickers currently being tested in Florida, can harvest 50 hectares of a field in just three days and replace a team of about 30 farmworkers.

Robotic technologies are really developing by leaps and bounds. The use of robots in agriculture is expected to continue to grow and become more profitable.