Agricultural Robotics for Field Operations

Fountas, Spyros; Mylonas, Nikos; Malounas, Ioannis; Rodias, Efthymios; Santos, Christoph Hellmann; Pekkeriet, E.J.

doi:10.3390/s20092672

Cited by 213 publications

(114 citation statements)

References 99 publications

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“…The performance of robots in agriculture depends not only on the type of crop, but also on the type of task that the robot is intended to perform. In this sense, there are review works that address the use of robots in agriculture to perform general tasks, as in [15][16][17], or to improve the performance of specific tasks, such as harvesting high-value crops [18] and solving wheeled mobile robots' navigation problems [19]. Bac [16].…”

Section: Precision Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this sense, there are review works that address the use of robots in agriculture to perform general tasks, as in [15][16][17], or to improve the performance of specific tasks, such as harvesting high-value crops [18] and solving wheeled mobile robots' navigation problems [19]. Bac [16]. Therefore, this review article contributes to an updated analysis of the works carried out until 2021, expanding the analysis made by Bac et al [18], explores new robotic systems, expanding the results obtained by Oliveira et al [15], and suggests new challenges for future research work, complementing the conclusions obtained by Fountas et al [16].…”

Section: Precision Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Advances in Agriculture Robotics: A State-of-the-Art Review and Challenges Ahead

2021

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The constant advances in agricultural robotics aim to overcome the challenges imposed by population growth, accelerated urbanization, high competitiveness of high-quality products, environmental preservation and a lack of qualified labor. In this sense, this review paper surveys the main existing applications of agricultural robotic systems for the execution of land preparation before planting, sowing, planting, plant treatment, harvesting, yield estimation and phenotyping. In general, all robots were evaluated according to the following criteria: its locomotion system, what is the final application, if it has sensors, robotic arm and/or computer vision algorithm, what is its development stage and which country and continent they belong. After evaluating all similar characteristics, to expose the research trends, common pitfalls and the characteristics that hinder commercial development, and discover which countries are investing into Research and Development (R&D) in these technologies for the future, four major areas that need future research work for enhancing the state of the art in smart agriculture were highlighted: locomotion systems, sensors, computer vision algorithms and communication technologies. The results of this research suggest that the investment in agricultural robotic systems allows to achieve short—harvest monitoring—and long-term objectives—yield estimation.

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Section: Precision Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Precision Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Advances in Agriculture Robotics: A State-of-the-Art Review and Challenges Ahead

2021

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“…The authors in the conducted tests determined the quantitative changes depending on the ripeness settings. Fountas et al [25], in their review work, reviewed contemporary robots with a description of their equipment and a specification of their basic technical and operational parameters.…”

Section: Robotic Strawberry Harvestmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of the Pneumatic System Parameters of the Suction Cup Integrated with the Head for Harvesting Strawberry Fruit

Kurpaska

Sobol

Pedryc

et al. 2020

Sensors

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Fruit and vegetable harvest efficiency depends on the mechanization and automation of production. The available literature lacks the results of research on the applicability of pneumatic end effectors among grippers for the robotic harvesting of strawberries. To determine their practical applications, a series of tests was performed. They included the determination of the morphological indicators of the strawberry, fruit suction force, the real stress exerted by fruit suckers and the degree of fruit damage. The fruits’ morphological indicators included the relationships between the weight and geometrical dimensions of the tested fruit, the equivalent diameter, and the sphericity coefficient. The fruit suction force was determined on a stand equipped with a vacuum pump, and control and measurement instruments, as well as a MTS 2 testing machine. The necrosis caused by tissue damage to the fruits by suction cup adhesion was assessed by counting the necrosis surface areas using the LabView programme. The assessment of the necrosis was conducted immediately upon the test’s performance, after 24 and after 72h. The stress values were calculated by referring the values of the suction forces obtained to the surface of the suction cup face. The tests were carried out with three constructions of suction cups and three positions of suction cup faces on the fruits’ surface. The research shows that there is a possibility for using pneumatic suction cups in robotic picking heads. The experiments performed indicate that the types of suction cups constructions, and the zones and directions of the suction cups’ application to the fruit significantly affect the values of the suction forces and stresses affecting the fruit. The surface areas of the necrosis formed depend mainly on the time that elapses between the test and their assessment. The weight of strawberry fruit in the conducted experiment constituted from 13.6% to 23.1% of the average suction force.

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“…Recently, a literature review under the subject of agricultural robotics concluded that robotic systems were most explored for harvesting and weeding. The study infers that optimization and further development of agricultural robots is vital [10]. However, the deployment of robots in agriculture is still a challenge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Occupancy Grid and Topological Maps Extraction from Satellite Images for Path Planning in Agricultural Robots

et al. 2020

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Robotics will significantly impact large sectors of the economy with relatively low productivity, such as Agri-Food production. Deploying agricultural robots on the farm is still a challenging task. When it comes to localising the robot, there is a need for a preliminary map, which is obtained from a first robot visit to the farm. Mapping is a semi-autonomous task that requires a human operator to drive the robot throughout the environment using a control pad. Visual and geometric features are used by Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) Algorithms to model and recognise places, and track the robot’s motion. In agricultural fields, this represents a time-consuming operation. This work proposes a novel solution—called AgRoBPP-bridge—to autonomously extract Occupancy Grid and Topological maps from satellites images. These preliminary maps are used by the robot in its first visit, reducing the need of human intervention and making the path planning algorithms more efficient. AgRoBPP-bridge consists of two stages: vineyards row detection and topological map extraction. For vineyards row detection, we explored two approaches, one that is based on conventional machine learning technique, by considering Support Vector Machine with Local Binary Pattern-based features, and another one found in deep learning techniques (ResNET and DenseNET). From the vineyards row detection, we extracted an occupation grid map and, by considering advanced image processing techniques and Voronoi diagrams concept, we obtained a topological map. Our results demonstrated an overall accuracy higher than 85% for detecting vineyards and free paths for robot navigation. The Support Vector Machine (SVM)-based approach demonstrated the best performance in terms of precision and computational resources consumption. AgRoBPP-bridge shows to be a relevant contribution to simplify the deployment of robots in agriculture.

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Agricultural Robotics for Field Operations

Cited by 213 publications

References 99 publications

Advances in Agriculture Robotics: A State-of-the-Art Review and Challenges Ahead

Advances in Agriculture Robotics: A State-of-the-Art Review and Challenges Ahead

Analysis of the Pneumatic System Parameters of the Suction Cup Integrated with the Head for Harvesting Strawberry Fruit

Occupancy Grid and Topological Maps Extraction from Satellite Images for Path Planning in Agricultural Robots

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