In 1997, the University of Sydney created the Australian Center for Field Robotics, which engages in the study of robotics for outdoor use. Australia has a vast amount of land available for large-scale agriculture, but labor costs in the country are high. The centre is currently tackling the issue of how automation can be used to cut these costs.
"Australia is a big place, we export about 70% of agriculture, and labor costs are very expensive, and availability is short, so we have to focus a lot on automation," said Professor Salah Sukkarieh, the center's director of research and innovation. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Australia's minimum wage is the world's third highest after Luxembourg and France, and 50% higher than the U.S. minimum wage. The intense heat that stretches over vast expanses of dry land also makes for labor shortages due to the harsh working conditions.
In Sukkarieh's vision of the future of agriculture, farmers no longer work in the fields but give commands to their robots from their living rooms. One step in that direction is the center's orchard robot, currently in development.
The robot uses GPS and sensors to navigate an orchard and takes a picture of each piece of fruit without human assistance. Information about flowering conditions can eventually help the farmer make crop predictions and target those fruits that need more water or fertilizer, contributing to a bigger harvest. The robot is able to identify fruits like mangoes and avocados but is unable yet to determine which crops are ready for picking.
How to then harvest the crops is also an issue that needs to be addressed, but Sukkarieh is optimistic. "The expectation is that large growers around the country will have their own bot, maybe 50 ... and probably in 2-3 years," he said.
Technology licensing and commercial application are forthcoming for another robot, nicknamed the "Ladybird", which was commissioned by an agricultural group. The unmanned robot roams the farmland on four wheels while its embedded sensors differentiate weeds from crops, spraying either fertilizer or weed killer. The machine uses only the minimum amount required, which translates into cost savings. And on sunny days, the Ladybird is powered by its solar panels. The robots will be priced so that farmers can recoup the cost in about two years.
Source: asia.nikkei.com