Robotics Plus, an agritech company with its headquarters in New Zealand, unveiled its autonomous multi-use, modular vehicle platform for agriculture in an effort to solve labor shortage and revolutionize the industry.
As reported first by Interesting Engineering, the platform is designed to perform a variety of orchard and vineyard machine jobs.
Unmanned Ground Vehicles
One human operator can oversee a fleet of Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) that serve many purposes. The vehicle senses its surroundings using a combination of vision systems and other technologies, which allows it to do duties more efficiently and apply inputs like spraying with intelligence and precision, according to the company.
The company further claimed that growers could switch between various instruments on the highly adaptable and configurable agriculture platform for tasks like spraying, mulching, mowing, weed control, and crop analysis.
According to Steve Saunders, co-founder and CEO of Robotics Plus, the company's team collaborated with farmers, researchers, and technology providers to develop the distinctive modular architecture for its multifunctional UGV.
"To adapt and thrive in a changing world and create a sustainable and competitive future in the agricultural and speciality tree crop sector - growers and orchardists need automation that solves real-world problems, reduces reliance on increasingly costly and hard-to-find machine operators and provides data-driven insights for informed decision-making," Saunders said in a press release statement.
Applications of the UGV
Intelligent spraying is the technology's first application. The device can adjust the flow rate to maintain spray effectiveness while lowering inputs. As the sprayer moves along the rows of an orchard or vineyard, spray rates and airspeed are regulated in zones and adjusted accordingly.
Robotics Plus claims that the highly maneuverable UGV has a small footprint, a unique steering layout, electric steering, and independent motors, which boosts production.
The UGV can be used in a variety of crop types with a minimum row spacing of 1.8 meters (6 feet).
Robotics Plus' co-founder and CTO, Dr. Alistair Scarfe, claims that their hybrid electric diesel UGV offers exceptional field performance.
"In addition, the vehicle's lightweight design and intelligent all-wheel-drive system, with independent wheel motors to ensure grip and control - while significantly reducing ground compaction to protect the soil," he said in a statement.
The car was built to be modular and simple to maintain. Users can easily keep their cars running if a part fails by quickly swapping out modules as needed because there are no hydraulic, gearbox, or differential fluids to maintain.
Robotics Plus said they designed the vehicle this way to lessen farmers' complexity and downtime.
The robotics company has teamed up with huge technology suppliers, such as Yamaha Motor Company, Croplands, and Autonomous Solutions Inc., to improve further the vehicle's resilience and support for agricultural applications.
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Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla
