Robots come out of the factories and into the fields

Citation

(1999), "Robots come out of the factories and into the fields", Industrial Robot, Vol. 26 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.1999.04926dab.010

Robots come out of the factories and into the fields

Robots come out of the factories and into the fields

Keywords Food, Agriculture, Robots

The last 15 years has seen a massive increase in farming mechanisation, with the labour force shrinking proportionately. Whereas once, it took 20 people to run a typical 2,000 acre farm, it now takes two. Such economies of scale have led to farms getting bigger and large commercial operations entering the farming arena for the first time.

This pattern is being repeated all over the developed world so The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAAF) commissioned a fact finding mission on robotics in agriculture from the BRAA, the body which represents British Robotics and Automation. Two of the principal contributors to this report were Geoff Pegman and David Hopper of UK Robotics Limited. UK Robotics runs The National Advanced Robotics Research Centre, based at Trafford Park, Manchester, UK.

While the report focused on robotics and agriculture world-wide, special attention was paid to the international leaders in this field -- France, The Netherlands, Japan and the United States of America.

The final report provides an in-depth description of the state of current agricultural robotics research in the UK and abroad and identifies where UK funding should be directed to maximise benefit to growers and farmers.

Technologies like Global Positioning System (GPS) already exist, making autonomous tractors viable. The UK's Silsoe Research Institute has three futuristic applications close to commercial release -- robotic milking, automated mushroom harvesting and a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) for aquaculture.

The UK was found to be at the forefront of advanced robotic research. However, unlike The Netherlands, the UK does not have many advanced systems in commercial use. It was concluded that funding would be best directed to educating farmers about the benefits of robotics and antomation and by helping the new technology to bridge the commercial gap by offering financial support to those farmers willing to adopt mature prototypes and early commercial systems.

Geoff Pegman commented: "With the increasing call for more traceability within the food industry, the time is now right for advanced automation to be harnessed to the farmer's computer-based management systems. If we adopt the 'wait and see approach' we will be in danger of being left behind. The next five years should see the development of agricultural robots that are robust and effective, as current technologies develop incrementally. In the long term, we should see co-operative robots and fast, lightweight robots, some of which will be fitted with vision-based navigation, with others fitted with biological and chemical sensors capable of monitoring and controlling growing crops".

Dr David Hopper added: "The future should also bring efficient walking robots and small scale robots, but already, there are prototype systems capable of utilising artificial vision to harvest delicate soft fruit like tomatoes or strawberries. It is important that agricultural machinery manufacturers and systems integrators are included in these robotics projects early on, so that the skills are developed to successfully build and maintain these new technologies".