Automation in Agriculture

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Lizbeth Wood
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1 Automation in Agriculture Dr Sara Eastwood Bundaberg 2 April 2014

2 Key Points Trends & influencing factors Observations from the FSR Conference 2014 Robotics outside the factory Novel robots in food processing Research Organisations 2

3 Robots have changed! 3

4 Trends & Influencing Factors The Agricultural robot market size of $817 million in 2013 is anticipated to reach $16.3 billion by 2020, a hefty growth for a nascent market. Agricultural robotic projects are ongoing. The key to industrial farm robots is keeping costs down. Adapting existing commercial vehicles instead of building new ones is the best way to build viable agricultural robots. 4

5 Trends & Influencing Factors Drivers for automation High labour costs Cost of retraining Quality Consistency Productivity 5

6 6

integration Identification Colour detection Packing

7 Trends & Influencing Factors Innovations are being transferred from more traditional industries: Vision integration Identification Colour detection Packing and materials handling 7

8 Trends & Influencing Factors When it comes to flexible manufacturing, features of the classic industrial robot must be reversed on nearly every point: from fixed installation to relocatability; from periodic repeatable tasks to frequent task changes; from intermittent to constant connectivity; from no interaction with humans to frequent collaboration with workers; from space separation to space sharing; from profitability within years to near-immediate ROI. 8

9 Trends & Influencing Factors Seasonal and distributed Short seasons Geographic shifts Mobile, modular, transportable solutions Collaboration & cooperation 9

10 Trends & Influencing Factors Payback is long Margins are low Compared to mining Lower lost opportunity cost Seasonal effects 10

11 Trends & Influencing Factors Opportunities in the prevention of OH&S incidents: Palletising and lifting above allowable limits Manual handling Operator vulnerability 11

12 Trends & Influencing Factors New hardware Lightweight Low footprint Low energy consumption Low price 12

13 Trends & Influencing Factors Precision Agriculture Data collection and monitoring Targeted operations Spraying Selective harvesting Controlled Traffic Farming 13

14 Trends & Influencing Factors The swarm Local sensing technologies Variety of terrain options Flexible and scalable Safe operation near people 14

Case Study SwarmFarm After tuning to bigger, faster and heavier machines on our farms, justified by zero till and controlled traffic farming techniques; economics of

In fact we were modifying and adopting farming methods that compromise optimal crop growth over machine efficiency.

15 Case Study SwarmFarm After tuning to bigger, faster and heavier machines on our farms, justified by zero till and controlled traffic farming techniques; economics of scale, and economic realities, we came to realize that bigger machinery wasn't necessarily better. In fact we were modifying and adopting farming methods that compromise optimal crop growth over machine efficiency. Robotic technology has the potential to flip modern farming practice on its head. The project Many simple machines Small and light Modular design Energy efficient 15

16 Field and Service Robotics Conference 2014 Autonomous Navigation, Carnegie-Mellon University Autonomous Water Sampling, University of Nebraska Image Segmentation, ACFR 16

17 Field and Service Robotics Conference 2014 Yield Estimation, University of Sydney Autonomous Vehicles, Aalto University Agbot Obstacle Avoidance, QUT 17

Field and Service Robotics Conference 2013 Observations: Large-scale autonomous systems v swarm robotics Refinement of image analysis techniques Supporting

18 Field and Service Robotics Conference 2013 Observations: Large-scale autonomous systems v swarm robotics Refinement of image analysis techniques Supporting technologies to enable UAVs Navigation challenges Emergency procedures Hazardous / challenging environments Multiscalar sensing Sensor fusion Multiple delivery platforms 18

configurable and modular Also applicable to greenhouse

19 Robotics outside the factory Clever robots for crops Standard robot mounted below moving platform Highly configurable and modular Also applicable to greenhouse vegetables, orchard fruit and grapes 19

20 Robotics outside the factory Apple harvesting Off-the-shelf Panasonic robot Mounted on tractor Cycle time of 8 seconds 20

21 Novel robots in food processing Hexapod Structures Packaging & handling High speed Lightweight actuators High accelerations Low payload Smooth surfaces, sealed mechanisms 21

application in non-traditional areas: Enhanced productivity

22 Novel robots in food processing Collaborative Robots $34,000USD Specialised collaborative robots are being developed for application in non-traditional areas: Enhanced productivity Mitigate against skills shortage Augment human operators Easy to program 22

23 Novel robots in food processing Meet Baxter. $25,000USD 23

24 Gripper Technology Adept Softpic Vacuum assisted Silicon based Food safe Raw protein, fruits & vegetables, dairy, bakery goods 24

25 Gripper Technology Empire Robotics VersaBall Vacuum activated Jamming transition High error tolerance 25

Case Study Safety bandsaw in meat processing In 2011-12 there were 105 injuries and $620,300 was paid

26 Case Study Safety bandsaw in meat processing In there were 105 injuries and $620,300 was paid in power saw injuries in Australia s meat industry A collaborative solution was sought and delivered 26

27 Remote operations Monitoring Diagnostics Servicing Augmented reality 27

28 Research Organisations QUT ARC Centre of Excellence in Robot Vision CyPhy Lab Robotics, vision & sensor networking 28

Research Organisations National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture, USQ Irrigation & natural resource management Agricultural & biosystems engineering Groundwater research group Australian

29 Research Organisations National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture, USQ Irrigation & natural resource management Agricultural & biosystems engineering Groundwater research group Australian Centre for Field Robotics, University of Sydney sensors, fusion & perception Actuators, controls & decisions Modelling, learning & adaptation Architecture, systems & cooperation 29

30 Research Organisations Precision Agriculture Research Group, University of New England Biomass business Real time pasture assessment SMART farmhouse Optimum-N SMART Farming 30

31 Thank you. Should you require further information please contact us on the details below. QMI Solutions 33 McKechnie Drive Eight Mile Plains QLD 4113 Australia T F

CAPACITIES FOR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

CAPACITIES FOR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER The Institut de Robòtica i Informàtica Industrial (IRI) is a Joint University Research Institute of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the Technical