How Robotic Farming is Advancing Productivity and Sustainability

July 1, 2020

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In recent decades, the agriculture industry has undergone a transformative shift from labor-intensive practices to automation and mechanization. Powered machinery has replaced human and animal labor, addressing challenges such as demands for higher wages, limited access to low-wage migrant workers, and the need for year-round produce availability.

Mechanization

Mechanization has not only made farming more profitable but also enables the transformation of fertile land into efficient farms capable of producing higher crop yields. As the global population approaches 8 billion, advanced agricultural technology plays a crucial role in increasing food production while mitigating the impact on the environment.

The move towards mechanization in agriculture has been strategic and adaptable. Instead of seeking a one-size-fits-all solution for planting, maintaining, and harvesting crops, the industry embraced specialized machines tailored to each crop’s unique requirements. Wheat, corn, and cotton are now efficiently planted, maintained, and harvested with minimal human intervention.

Robots

Technological advancements have revolutionized the harvest of various crops. Olive harvesting machines now shake trees, strip the fruit, and separate olives using pneumatic sorters. Lettuce harvesting machines employ water jet systems to increase productivity up to three times, sparing workers from repetitive manual labor. Carrot harvesting machines efficiently pull and store carrots, leaving the tops in the fields.

While some labor-intensive agricultural sectors, like asparagus and ornamental plants, still rely on human labor due to their fragility and dependence on visual perception, machine learning is being integrated to mimic human behavior and perception for harvesting delicate crops.

Notably, robotic systems with machine vision algorithms are making significant strides in citrus and strawberry harvesting. Energid’s robotic citrus harvester creates a 3D model of an orange tree and utilizes robotic arms to harvest fruits based on stored location data. Agrobot’s strawberry harvester uses camera-based vision systems to analyze each fruit’s color and form variations, gently cutting and transporting ripe fruit to the packaging area.

The agriculture industry’s massive investment in technology and automation has boosted productivity, surpassing other sectors. The late nineteenth century saw nearly 50% of US workers employed in farming, but by 2000, this fraction had dropped below 2%. While millions of jobs were lost, those unemployed farm laborers transitioned to urban areas, eventually finding jobs in manufacturing and service sectors with higher wages.

Construction Industry

Drawing parallels to the building construction industry, both sectors face unpredictable conditions and unique challenges that are difficult to quantify. Just as the agriculture industry embraced technology to enhance productivity, the construction industry can learn valuable lessons. The reliance on manual labor and the shortage of skilled workers have become obstacles to progress.

The construction industry, unlike agriculture, has been slower to adopt automation and big data solutions. Although there have been efforts to standardize construction with prefabrication, much of the industry remains wasteful and inefficient.

Conclusion

The shortage of skilled labor, an aging workforce, and falling demands for higher wages contribute to a global housing shortage and subpar construction quality. Unlike other sectors that have embraced automation and big data, the construction industry is still lagging behind. While some examples of construction automation, such as excavation and brick-laying robots, exist, widespread adoption remains limited. Embracing automation and advanced technologies could revolutionize the construction industry, paving the way for increased productivity, improved quality, and a brighter future.

SOURCES:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcyzAIkMwrg BFI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgqDBrzdrhA John Deere

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc8NAKoXoRg John Deere

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSn-7QOra3I John Deere

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9ujWZXQaQ8 CriticalPast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uolj0awFXRQ Machinery Pete

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0glTpuK8SY Oxbo International

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjAXX-PCwjI Ortomec Italia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AMVekpdaWc ASA-LIFT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf60au-U318 Energid Technologies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ody1SNv_pk Agrobot