Robots on the Farm

1
Robots on the Farm

• Chris Roberts 4/25/2007

2
Old McDonald had a Robot?

• Overview
• Examples of Robots in Agriculture
• Limitations
• Benefits
• Costs
• Future

3
AG Robots

• Inexpensive foot-long bot that works autonomously
  similar to ants
• Use laser guidance systems to maintain straight
  path
• Scout for weeds and insects
• Take soil samples
• Future versions will be used to detect plant
  disease or apply precise amounts of pesticides

4
Ag Bots
Ag Ant
Ag Robot
5
Robotic Milking Systems
Robots clean the area to be milked and place the
suction cups using vision system
6
Robotic Milking

• System recognizes when cow is in position
• Cow decides when to be milked
• Drops arm and feed to keep cow in place
• Cleans the teat area and places suction device
• Europe first utilized this technology
• Mostly designed for smaller farms

7
Automated Harvester

• Cruise control, allow operator to give control
  over the harvester for short periods
• Drone feature allow one operator to control
  multiple harvesters
• Guidance accuracy of - 3 cm
• Complex Vision based systems

8
Vision System
Obstacle detection
Vision Systems

• The camera system for guiding the harvester
  consists of three inter-dependent modules
• Crop line tracker
• End of row detector
• Obstacle detector.

9
Limitations

• Farmers with PhD's in Robotics?
• Huge set up costs
• Robots cant detect everything........yet
• FDA Approval
• Nature

10
Benefits

• Work 24 hours a day
• Work with no light
• Slash Labor Costs
• Dependable labor that dont need visas
• Cleaner, less human interaction

11
Cost

• Ag robots, ag ants 150
• 7,000 for high end AG Robot
• The robotic milker 175,000
• Automated harvester setup 20 to 50k

12
Path to future

• Get farmers smaller duties with less expensive
  robots
• Use what technology we already have
• Broader use to lower costs
• FDA Approval on processes
• Better vision systems

13
Sources

• Vision-Based Perception for an Automated
  Harvester Mark Ollis Anthony Stentz Robotics
  Institute Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh
  PA 15213
• http//www.research-tv.com/stories/technology/mush
  room/bb/
• http//www.agselect.com/ED/Features.cfm?DID11Ne
  wID40
• http//www.research-tv.com/stories/science/cows
• http//www.lasmea.univ-bpclermont.fr/Control/index
  _fichiers/visir/agvv/agvv.html