Robots in Precision Agriculture
Application of Robots in Precision Agriculture
Robots are increasingly used in precision agriculture for a wide range of tasks, from planting and weeding to harvesting and livestock monitoring. These robots, often equipped with sensors, cameras, and AI, help farmers optimize resource use, improve crop quality, and enhance efficiency.
Harvesting Robots
Harvesting robots are advanced machines designed to automate the process of harvesting crops, such as fruits and vegetables. They are a key part of the broader field of agricultural robotics, or agribots, which aims to improve efficiency, precision, and sustainability in farming. They typically use sensors, cameras, and GPS systems to navigate and understand their environment. Computer vision helps them identify ripe produce, often in combination with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms. Robotic arms or other specialized tools are used to carefully detach and collect the crops, with a focus on minimizing damage to the produce and the plant itself. End-effectors, the tools at the robotic arm's end, are crucial for a successful harvest and are chosen based on the specific crop being harvested (e.g., soft grippers for delicate fruits).
Machine Learning and Machine Vision Systems
Machine learning algorithms and machine vision technologies combine to improve harvesting processes. Machine learning algorithms incorporated into robotic systems can gather, process, and analyze temporal, spatial, and individual data of the target fruits (ripe time, harvest time, fruit position, fruit ripeness, and fruit defects, etc.) as well as the environment information (branch distribution, leaves occlusion, disease infection), and combines it with other information (plant habit, plant traits, etc.) to provide support to decision-makers.
Weeding Robots
The presence of weeds in farming is a widespread problem that can negatively affect crop growth. Fortunately, ag robotics has developed weeding robots that utilize artificial intelligence to identify and remove weeds without causing any harm to the crops. This targeted approach reduces the need for herbicides, resulting in healthier crops and less chemical usage. Weeding robots play a crucial role in maintaining soil health and ecological balance in the long term by promoting sustainable farming techniques. Many commercial robotic weeding machines have also been developed over the past 10 years.
Transplanting Robots
Transplanting robots automate the task of transferring young plants (seedlings or plugs) into the soil, plug trays, pots, or open fields. These robots are used in greenhouses, nurseries, and open-field farming, offering precision, speed, and labor efficiency. Transplanting equipment typically requires functions such as inferior seedling position recognition, tray conveying, tray hole positioning, substrate gripping, and seedling planting. These robots use a variety of techniques, including articulated arms, optical sensors, and GPS technology, to precisely handle and place seedlings in their new location. Depending on the type of transplanter or combinations of robots, some machines have transplanted up to 6,000 plants per row per hour.
Seeding Robots
Seeding robots, also known as planting robots, are autonomous vehicles designed to automate the crop planting process in agriculture. Seeding robots can plant seeds with high accuracy and efficiency, ensuring optimal seed placement and density, and can lead to improved crop yields and quality. Seeding robots can minimize seed wastage and optimize resource utilization. These are autonomous tractor robots equipped with sophisticated navigation and positioning systems. Capable of performing a wide range of agricultural tasks, including precise seeding and planting, they operate without human intervention.
Pest Detection Robots
Robotics technology offers a novel approach to pest control. Robots can be designed and programmed to identify insects and diseases and eliminate pests in a highly targeted manner, reducing reliance on broad-spectrum pesticides. This makes pest control more efficient and significantly minimizes environmental and health risks. Robotic pest control systems often employ advanced technologies like machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), and computer vision to detect and identify pests. Equipped with high-resolution cameras and sensors, these robots can traverse agricultural fields, identify pests in real time, and take appropriate action.
Fruit/Vegetable Packing Robots
Packing robots in agriculture are robotic systems designed to automate the sorting, grading, and packing of harvested crops—especially fruits, vegetables, and other perishable items. These systems enhance speed, consistency, hygiene, and labor efficiency in post-harvest handling. For example, an apple-packing robot uses machine vision to identify and sort apples based on size, color, and quality. The AI algorithms analyze the visual data to help the robot discern good and bad apples, ensuring only the former make it to the final packaging phase.
Pesticide Spraying Robots
Spraying pesticides on plants to protect them from harmful organisms is one of agriculture's riskiest and most important tasks. However, even though pesticides are effective in controlling harmful organisms, there is an ever-increasing risk that these toxic pesticides, particularly in occupational settings like agriculture, can lead to a range of acute and chronic health problems, including respiratory issues, neurological disorders, and an increased risk of certain cancers. Robotic spraying can minimize the risk of farmer exposure to pesticides and also provide an advantage over traditional methods as it can maintain its maximum capacity with the best efficiency while the pesticide spraying system evenly covers the plants with spray in the appropriate quantities. These robots are specially adapted to navigate narrow aisles, avoid obstacles (like plant trellises), and function in controlled climates.
Plant Handling Robots for Greenhouses and Nurseries
Harvest Automation’s HV-100 is an autonomous mobile robot designed to tackle repetitive tasks in nurseries and greenhouses (Figure 14.18). It can operate both indoors and outdoors, making it suitable for wholesale greenhouses, hoop houses, and traditional nurseries. The HV-100 automates material handling, specifically focusing on efficiently spacing containerized plants, a common chore in these settings.
Plant Phenotyping Robots
These platforms combine automated imaging systems mounted on rails or carts with computer vision algorithms to continuously track plant development, health status and projected yields. By processing data from multiple imaging and sensing technologies, including thermal cameras, LiDAR systems, RGB cameras and environmental monitors, these systems provide actionable insights on key metrics like growth rates and harvest forecasting.
Pruning and De-Leafing Robots
Automated leaf removal has become increasingly important for improving light penetration and air circulation in dense crops like tomatoes and cucumbers. Specialized end effectors can detect leaves and safely remove them while avoiding damage to stems and fruit. These systems can operate 24/7 and can significantly reduce labor requirements for this repetitive task.
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