Agricultural robots automate slow, repetitive
and dull tasks for farmers, allowing them to focus more on improving overall production yields.
Some of the most common robots in agriculture are used for: Harvesting and picking. Weed control.
Let’s have a look at the most advanced robots. When we need them Tevel’s control centre
sends the technicians with a fleet of pickers. After a short setup robos select pic and
box only ripe fruit ready for market. With robots working day and night the applications
provide real time updates on harvesting progress, time to completion, quantity picked and cost.
This is our future. Crops such as potatoes and wheat have been
harvested mechanically at scale for decades, but many other crops have to date resisted
automation. Iceberg lettuce is one such crop. Although it is the most common type of
lettuce grown in the UK, iceberg is easily damaged and grows relatively flat to the ground,
presenting a challenge for robotic harvesters. The ‘Vegebot’, developed by a team
at the University of Cambridge, was initially trained to recognise and
harvest iceberg lettuce in a lab setting. Although the prototype is nowhere near
as fast or efficient as a human worker, it demonstrates how the use of robotics
in agriculture might be expanded. Meet VoloDrone from Volocopter.
The VoloDrone increases productivity in the areas of plant protection, seed sowing,
forest management, frost control and more. Sharing strong synergies with
the existing Volocopter platform, the VoloDrone presents an unmanned, fully
electric utility drone, capable of carrying an unprecedented payload. The VoloDrone has been
designed and engineered to serve challenging missions across diverse industries, adding
the third dimension to sustainable transport. The VoloDrone is a fully electric,
heavy-lift utility drone capable of carrying a payload of 200 kilograms
(440 lbs) up to 40 kilometers (25 miles). AgXeed is launching a track-based agbot autonomous
tractor for specialized and standard implements. Working widths are up to six meters (depending on
the type of implement used) and the track width is up to 3.2 meters. The vehicle is powered by a
156 horsepower four-cylinder Deutz diesel engine that drives an electric generator to
power all actuators (drivetrain, PTO, fan). Navigation and planning take
place via cloud-based software that automatically generates path planning based on
the field’s geofences and machine specifications. The biggest advantage is that the AgXeed
AgBot can be used straight from the box. No special implements are required, nor special
software on your home computer. AgXeed deliver a ready-to-use ecosystem that avoids compacting
the soil by providing very low ground pressure. Another solution - Autonomous
Sprayer from John Deere. When entering a field a scout drone is
released to scan weeds from the air. When it returns to the test box, weed information
is shared (anything from three minutes to two hours) with other drones, all of which like the
first one can scout and spot individual weeds. The base of the structure of the two-drone
system at Agritechnica contains a 1,000-litre water tank and three 60-litre chemical tanks.
Flight time with a fully charged battery is 30 minutes, and when it needs charging, or
the drone’s 10.6-litre tank needs a top up, it automatically returns to the test box. The
landing pad retracts automatically and battery swapping and tank filling are also automatic.
All current work has been done with water at a John Deere test ground in field plots of
maize (corn) and cotton. Claimed benefits include the precise application of pesticides,
a significant reduction in the volumes used, and spraying from the air allows crops
to be treated on wet land without damage. Strawberry picker Rubion from Octinion.
If a robotic picker could delicately select perfectly ripe strawberries without the stem or
bruising the fruit, sort them based on weight, place each in a box and do so at a rate
that matches the human picking cost, implementing a technological solution would seem
like a no-brainer. In some cases, however, cost, capability and crop type are not the only
barriers to picking robots—the market is. Octinion’s Rubion sets itself
apart from the competition by delivering a new solution to an essential
issue plaguing other strawberry harvesters: the stem. Most robotic pickers select
the stem to avoid touching the fruit, which means the fruit must be
packaged with the stems facing up. Octinion notes that picking by grabbing
the stem delivers a low-quality crop. They also believe that packing with the green side
– the top – facing up looks terrible to consumers. Their approach is to produce a robot that can
pick the fruit and package it with the top down. Autonomous electric tractor from John Deere.
John Deere’s new autonomous tractor concept is a very compact electric drive
unit with integrated attachment. The tractor has a total output of 500 kW and
can be equipped with either wheels or tracks. Flexible ballasting from 5 to 15 tons is
possible, depending on the application, to help reduce soil compaction. Thanks to the
electric drive, there are no operating emissions and noise levels are extremely low. Further
advantages include low wear and maintenance costs. Thanks for watching, subscribe and
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