eightprime.net

modern farming - maximum overdrive

Posted on September 7th, 2006 by eightprime.
Categories: blog, robot, tech.

Reading an article about the US National Agriculture Imagery Program started me thinking about the implications on the ground of the development of intelligently automated agricultural systems.

Future advances in mobile networking of vehicle
systems will allow direct communication between
vehicles and the global computing network. Machine
monitoring, control and active data transport will be
possible during field operations. Real-time tracking
will allow constant monitoring of machine functions
and local conditions including operator status. At
some point vehicle automation must integrate with
geographic information systems for mission
planning. Virtual environments will further remove
the operator from the machine-operating environment
to improve safety and multi-task operations.
from: A Status Report on
Autonomous Guidance of Agricultural Vehicles
in the US (pdf link)

This is modern farming and it’s a far cry from the rural idyll imagined by the back to the landers. We have well in excess of 6 billion people to feed, and machines will work tirelessly. The road, however, is not smooth.

Unfortunately, the automation of outdoor machines for industrial purposes is very difficult and poses great challenges. The work places are typically unstructured with the full richness of a natural setting. In many cases, the ground is uneven or
otherwise treacherous. The terrain includes hazards such as potholes, ruts, thin branches, rocks occluded by tall grass, and steep slopes, which are difficult to detect but necessary for ensuring safe passage. The place may be uncontrolled in the sense that people, animals, and other machines can enter the environment. Rigging the environment with infrastructure to assist vehicle automation may be difficult or expensive; for example, an underground coal mine would require new infrastructure
continually, as material is progressively removed. Weather and ground conditions can be highly variable and unpredictable; many applications require the machines to operate in rain, snow, fog, dust, day, night, etc. The sensors used for automation must be functional under these conditions and robust to the water, dirt, mud, vibration, and shock they encounter as the machine engages the environment. The range of tasks performed by one of these machines may be quite large, making full automation a difficult task at best. Finally, it is not enough for the automated machines to function—they must perform. The
competition is the human-driven equivalent, so unless the automated system is faster, less expensive, or safer, it won’t be cost effective. This competition is stiff, since even so-called unskilled labor is quite adept at the motor skills robotics seeks to mimic.

Robotic Technologies for
Outdoor Industrial Vehicles (2001) (pdf link)

Some of the appplications of technology farming are relatively obvious. Other efforts involve teaching your combine harvester to see.

0 comments.