Agricultural robot

Agricultural Robots

Presented byHamayal Wajid

LodhiAleena Ahmed

KhanMaria Aziz

IntroductionRobots• A robot is a mechanical, artificial agent and is

usually an electromechanical system. It is a device that, because of software programming, makes complicated tasks easy to perform.

Vitirover solar robot- cutting grass and weeds in vines

Definition

Agricultural robotics• Agricultural robotics is the use of automation

in bio systems such as agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. It is replacing the conventional techniques to perform the same tasks, with efficiency.

• Applying automation to agriculture has helped create several advancements to the industry while helping farmers save money and time.

Difference between automized and conventional techniques

Conventional techniques depend on human power and old techniques

Robots can work non stop, humans need rest

Human may not be able to work in hazardous environments

large sized wheels required in muddy soils, robots small sized wheels perform well.

Robot scouts get detailed info about crop Robots can detect presence of diseases,

weeds, insect infestations and other stress conditions.

The lightweight of the robots do not compact the soil as larger machinery does

Why Agricultural Robots are preferred

• We can expect the robots to perform agricultural operations autonomously such as spraying and mechanical weed control, fruit picking, watching the farms day & night for an effective report, allowing farmers to reduce the environmental impact, increase precision and efficiency, and manage individual plants in novel ways.

Techniques involving Agricultural Robots

• Processes like ploughing, seeding, fertilizing, weeding, harvesting, spraying etc. require large amount man power. Hence in order to reduce this need, and save time and money, robots are employed

API Platform MF- Scamp robots for scouting, weeding and harvesting

•primary process; the top soil is mixed and turned to prepare a seed bed, burying the surface crop residue.

Ploughing(Seed bed preparati

on)

•Recording geospatial position of each seed as it goes under ground is “seed mapping”•checking and counting seed by placing an infrared sensor below the seed chute. Seed cuts infrared beam and triggers a data logger that records a position orientation of seeder.

Seed mappi

ng

•This is the concept of being able to identify where the seed was not placed and can automatically place another seed in same position.

Reseeding

•Placing seeds so that they get maximum air, light, water•a hexagonal or triangular seeding pattern , or less space in row n more between rows may be applied by using robots

Seed placem

ent

TYPES OF ROBOTS USED IN AGRICULTURE

TYPES OF ROBOTS USED IN AGRICULTURE

1. Demeter (used for harvesting).2. Robot for weed control.3. Forester robot.4. Robot in horticulture.5. Fruit picking robot.

Field robots work with respect to environment and medium. They change themselves according to the required condition. Mobile robots are those which posses mobility with respect to a medium. The entire system moves with respect to environment.

Demeter- Robot farmer•Demeter is a robot that can cut crops it looks like a normal harvester, but can drive by itself without any human supervision. •Demeter has cameras on it that can detect the difference between the crop that has been cut and crop that hasn’t. •This information tells it where to drive, where to put its cutter head, and when it has come to the end of a crop row so it can turn around. •The Demeter robot can also be driven by remote control. Or, Demeter can be taught a path, and then follow that path using its on board sensors and computer control systems.

The Demeter system strives to provide three levels of automation:•First, a “cruise control” feature, which will automatically steer, drive and control the harvesting header, will be provided to harvester operators.•“drone” feature will be provided, allowing one operator to remotely control several harvesters.•Thirdly, a fully autonomous machine will be developed that will allow a harvester to completely harvest a field with no human supervision.

Weed Controller•A four-wheel-drive weed-seeking robot was developed and the task of the weed-removing device is to remove or destroy the weed. •Crops that are grown in rows can be weeded by running a hoe between the crop rows. •An intelligent hoe uses vision systems to identify the rows of crops, and steer itself accurately between them, considerably reducing the need for herbicides •Weed identification is based on colour photography. The equipped robot helps production of weed maps identifying plant.

Robotic gantry•Traditional spraying can be very efficient, especially when they cover large areas. •The robotic gantry could apply both liquid sprays and fertilizer and be able to regulate itself according to current weather conditions. •If it became too windy then the gantry could just stop and wait until conditions improved. •Sensing systems could be mounted on a trolley that could move along the spray boom as in the crop scouting section.

Forest Robots Treebot:•A fearless mobile robot is helping scientists monitor environmental changes in forests.•Treebot consists of combine networked sensors, a web cam, and a wireless net link. •It is solar-powered and moves up and down special cables to take samples and measurements for vital analysis. •It is very important in the biology community to understand the interaction between the atmosphere and the forest environment. •But 90% of all interaction between the environment and atmospheric conditions happens high up in the forest canopy.•The Treebot helps by being stealthy enough to travel through the forest canopy along specially constructed cabling, night and day.

Forester robot•This is a special type of robot used for cutting up of wood, tending trees, and pruning of X- mas tree and for harvesting pulp and hard wood and in the forests. •It employs a special jaws and axes for chopping the branch.

•Robot In Horticulture•Robo is used in lawns to cut the grass in lawns. •It can cut any lawn, regardless of its geometric shape. •In automatic mode, a fully charged Robo-mower can typically mow a lawn of 2500 to 3200 sq. ft., depending on the number of obstacles in its path, slopes, height of grass, humidity, etc. •It operates electrically on rechargeable batteries, mulching blades, whisper quiet operation and without any pollution.

•Fruit picking robot: •The fruit picking robots need to pick ripe fruit without damaging the branches or leaves of the tree. •The robots must be able to access all areas of the tree being harvested.•The robot can distinguish between fruit and leaves by using video image capturing. •The camera is mounted on the robot arm, and the colours detected are compared with properties stored in memory. •If a match is obtained, the fruit is picked.

•If fruit is hidden by leaves, an air jet can be used to blow leaves out the way so a clearer view and access can be obtained. •It can move, in, out, up, down, and in cylindrical and spherical motion patterns. •The pressure applied to the fruit is sufficient for removal from the tree, but not enough to crush the fruit. •The shape of the gripper depends on the fruit being picked.

Advantages of Using Agricultural

Agricultural robots are capable of collecting crop and soil samples. They are small in size, which allows them to be able to accumulate data close to the crops.  They are also capable of mowing, spraying pesticides, finding diseases or parasites, and performing mechanical weeding.  Agricultural robots may have cameras and sensors which detect weeds and other forms of stress.   Their sensors are used to spray only the area affected by the parasite instead of the entire crop

This has helped to protect our environment by reducing the amount of harmful chemicals released in the air. Not only are they used in agriculture, but also in forestry, green house, horticulture etc. Farmers are interested in using robots to tend fields of crops, pick fruit, or even maintain animal.Experiments are being done to produce world’s smallest, weightless robot for using them as scouts in fields.

Using robots means the opportunity of replacing human operators, which provides effective solutions with return on investment.

Robots are useful when the duties, that need be performed, are potentially harmful for the safety or the health of the workers, or when more conservative issues are granted by robotics.

Heavy chemicals or drugs dispensers, manure or fertilizers spreaders, etc. are activities more and more concerned by the deployment of unmanned options.

The Robot does not get sick or tired and does not need time off.

It can operate with closer tolerances (so every round is at full field capacity), Fewer errors and at higher speeds

Because machines can be made lighter and cheaper if the drivers seat, controls and cab can be eliminated.It can be used in various fields like agriculture, medicine, mining, and space research .It can be sent to another planet to study their environmental conditions.The machines could easily work around trees, rocks, ponds and other obstacles.Small suburban fields could be worked almost as efficiently as large tracts of land.

 One of the key disadvantages of driverless machines for agriculture is liabilityAccess to the technology.Not currently scale neutral.Better sensors would help. Improved scouting programs would be essential. Nevertheless, a periodic human presence in the field is likely to be necessary for the near future.Robots could change the culture /emotional appeal of agriculture.Energy issues, costly.

Disadvantages

FUTURE SCOPE

FUTURE SCOPE

Flying micro robot

Agriculture Robot

Suit

Vitirover SCOLAR Robot Used In Vines To Cuts Grass and Weeds

• Scientists from around the world are designing midget robots to scout battlefields, search for victims trapped in rubble, and record images in agricultural fields.

• The world’s smallest micro robot was placed in the geniuses book of world record and consists of propeller by which it can fly to heights these features include the ability to zero in and land precisely on a potato chip and then flap their wings to buzz off with blazing speed.

• It is expected that it can be used in agriculture for the control of weed and insects.

FLYING MICRO REBOTS

• The robot suit is designed specifically to help out with tough agricultural work like pulling radishes.

• The suit has eight motors fitted over the shoulders, elbows, back and knees to provide a power boost to the wearer.

• The current model weighs 55 pounds and uses 16 sensors to function.

• Designers are hoping to continue to work with the suit to reduce the weight.

Agriculture Robot SuitAgriculture Robot Suit

Vitirover Solar Robot Used In Vines To Cuts Grass and Weeds

• The robots are used from a while in agriculture and in future the numbers of robots used in different agricultural fields will be increased.

• A French company designs a smart autonomous robot called Vitirover.

• The little robot uses the sun to power the electrical motors.• Since the vineyard is large it was a bad idea to store the

energy into a battery and when the battery has lower power to return at base for recharging the battery.

• Using a solar panel this agricultural autonomous machine could work for hundred hours without pause.

• It could cuts grass and weeds to within 2-to-3 cm of vine and has a speed that allows him to work 500 meters per hour.

• For owner is important to not damage the vines and the sensors is equipped with sensors that keeps the grass cutting blades away from vines. Vitirover could work in slopes of 15% and uses GPS coordinates for each parcel when the robot should work.

Vitirover Solar Robot at Work

Vitirover Solar Robot

CONCLUSION

In agriculture, the opportunities for robot-enhanced productivity are immense – and the robots are appearing on farms in various guises and in increasing numbers. 

This equipment may be in our future, but there are important reasons for thinking that it may not be just replacing the human driver with a computer.

Continue…It may mean a rethinking of how crop production is done. Crop production may be done better and cheaper with a swarm of small machines than with a few large ones.

One of the advantages of the smaller machines is that they may be more acceptable to the non-farm community. The jobs in agriculture are a drag, dangerous, require intelligence and quick, though highly repetitive decisions hence robots can be rightly substituted with human operator.

The higher quality products can be sensed by machines (colour.firmness, weight, density, ripeness, size, shape) accurately. Robots can improve the quality of our lives but there are downsides.