&Guru Shankar V

Agricultural Robots

Asimov also proposed his three "Laws of Robotics", and he later added a “zeroth law”.

Zeroth Law : A robot may not injure humanity, or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm

First Law : A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm, unless this would violate a higher order law

Second Law: A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with a higher order law

Third Law : A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with a higher order law.

INTRODUCTION• The word robot was derived from the

Czech word robota – forced labor or work.

• A robot is a mechanical, artificial agent and is usually an electromechanical system.

• The robot is able to autonomously, according to the program, or under the control of a man running, most dangerous, difficult and laborious, and persevering and precise tasks.

How Robot works•Robots can move and sense.

•They require multiple sensors and controls that allow them to move in an unknown environment.

• Robots usually have five parts

• Sensors

• Controller/Computer

• Drive/Actuator

• Arm

• End-effectors

• The sensors send information, in the form of electronic signals back to the controller.

• Sensors can give the robot controller information about its surroundings.

CONTROLLER

• It is also called as computer

• The controller functions as the "brain" of the robot.

• The controller also allows the robot to be networked to other systems, so that it may work together with other machines, processes, or robots.

CONTROLLERS

ACTUATORS / DRIVES• The drive or actuator is the “engine” of the robot.

• An actuator is defined as “a mechanical device that produces motion.”

TYPES Hydraulic motor Pneumatic motor Stepper motor Dc motor Servo motor

ACTUATORS

ARMS• Usually, a robot’s arm is like a human arm with a shoulder, elbow, wrist, and fingers

• The arm is the part of the robot that positions the end-effectors and sensors to do their pre- programmed business.

The end effectors means the last link (or end) of the robot.

Examples of end-effectors are• Gripper• Vacuum pump• Tweezers• Scalpel• Blowtorch.

END EFFECTORS

GRIPPERS

BLOW TORCH

VACUUM PUMP

TYPES OF ROBOTS• Autonomous robots

• Work completely under the control of a computer program

• Tele-controlled robots/ Remote-controlled• Work under the control of humans or

computer programs• Robots are controlled by humans with a

controller such as a joystick or other hand-held device.

TYPES OF ROBOTS USED IN AGRICULTURE

• Demeter (used for harvesting)

• Weed control robot • Forester robot• Fruit picking robot• Drones• Agriculture robot suit

– Demeter has cameras on it that can detect the difference between the crop that has been cut and crop that hasn’t.

– Demeter can drive, steer, and control the cutter head while the operator can focus on other tasks.

– It can follow the path with an accuracy of up to 3 centimeters.

Demeter

DEMETER

• A four-wheel-drive weed-seeking robot was developed by the Danish Farm Research Authority.

• The task of the weed-removing device is to remove or destroy the weed.

• Weed identification is based on color photography.

Robot for weed control

Robot for weed control

• This is a special type of robot used for cutting up of wood, tending trees, and pruning of X- mass tree.

• Used for harvesting pulp and hard wood and in the forests.

• It employs a special jaws and axes for chopping the branch.

Forester robot

Forester robot

–Pick ripe fruit without damaging the branches or leaves of the tree.

–Mobility is a priority, and the robots must be able to access all areas of the tree being harvested.

Fruit picking robot

Fruit picking robot

–To get a bird’s eye view of the land

–Offers a quick and easy way to check on the progress of crops

Drones

Agriculture robot suit• The robot suit is designed specifically to help out

with tough agricultural work like pulling radishes. • The suit has eight motors fitted over the

shoulders, elbows, back and knees to provide a power boost to the wearer.

• The current model weighs 55 pounds and uses 16 sensors to function.

APPLICATIONS• Robotic weeding

• Crop scouting

• Micro spraying

• Irrigation

• Selective harvesting

Robotic weeding

Crop scouting

Micro spraying

irrigation

Advantages of Robots• Robots can work 24 hours a day, every

day with no breaks.• Robots don’t need to be paid wage (so

money is saved).• Robots are extremely accurate compared

to humans, so product quality is high.• Robots can perform tasks more quickly

than humans, so more products can be made.

• Robots can work in very dangerous conditions.

V S K Murthy and Singre Pavan

V S K Murthy and Singre Pavan