Off-Road Electric Vehicles and Autonomous Robots in Agricultural Sector: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities

Abstract

This paper describes the development trends and prospects of green-energy-based off-road electric vehicles and robots in the agricultural sector. Today, the agriculture sector faces several challenges, such as population growth, increasing energy demands, labor shortages, and global warming. Increases in energy demand cause many challenges worldwide; therefore, many methods are suggested to achieve energy independence from fossil fuels and reduce emissions. From a long-term point of view, the electrification of agricultural vehicles and renewable energy sources appear to be an essential step for robotic and smart farming in Agriculture 5.0. The trend of technological growth using fully autonomous robots in the agricultural sector seems to be one of the emerging technologies to tackle the increased demand for food and address environmental issues. The development of electric vehicles, alternative green fuels, and more energy-efficient technologies such as hybrid electric, robotic, and autonomous vehicles is increasing and improving work quality and operator comfort. Furthermore, related digital technologies such as advanced network communication, artificial intelligence techniques, and blockchain are discussed to understand the challenges and opportunities in industry and research.

The role of agri‐food 4.0 in climate‐smart farming for controlling climate change‐related risks: A business perspective analysis

“…In addition, blockchain-based technologies can help the agri-food industry encourage sustainable practices and reduce Drones and other autonomous mobile robots with varying technical characteristics are made for a variety of agricultural tasks (Kiani et al, 2022). For instance, by increasing production and yields while using fewer pesticides, fertilizers and water, robots might assist farmers in overcoming these difficulties (Ghobadpour et al, 2022).…”

“…Drones and other autonomous mobile robots with varying technical characteristics are made for a variety of agricultural tasks (Kiani et al, 2022). For instance, by increasing production and yields while using fewer pesticides, fertilizers and water, robots might assist farmers in overcoming these difficulties (Ghobadpour et al, 2022). Agricultural field robots may also assist in boosting yields, enhancing soil health and promoting operational safety (Duckett et al, 2018).…”

Farming without farms? Challenges for organisational behaviour research in an upcoming transformation process

“…This paper aims to convince readers that a lot of contemporary developments like the growing role of contractors in agriculture (Birner et al ., 2021), the trend towards vertical farming (Bogachev, 2015) or the rise of self-driving tractors (Ghobadpour et al ., 2022) are phenomena that are due to the fact that the existence of farms is not inextricably linked to agricultural production. Farms are not merely firms that invest in agriculture.…”

Integrating robotics into wildlife conservation: testing improvements to predator deterrents through movement

“…The discovery of better methods to coexist with wildlife will likely benefit from a merger of enhanced technology with a better understanding of optimal agricultural practices ( Holloway, 2007 ; Maldonado et al, 2008 ; Nabokov et al, 2020 ; Paranjape et al, 2018 ). As more technology becomes available ( e.g ., developments in unmanned aerial systems and robotics) to potentially aid in wildlife management ( Egan et al, 2020 ; Ghobadpour et al, 2022 ; Hahn et al, 2017 ; Roshanianfard et al, 2020 ), it is important to test where integration might be beneficial and demonstrate which advances are the most promising. In this study, our aim was to utilize a model predator system to test concepts made possible by integrating advances in robotics with established agricultural practices to determine the potential benefits of new technologies in reducing wildlife damage to agriculture, including predation by carnivores.…”

“…The emergence of autonomous vehicles and related technologies in agriculture ( Ghobadpour et al, 2022 ; Roshanianfard et al, 2020 ) opens many new paths for improving deterrents. There are no existing examples of terrestrial based mobile deterrents and adding mobility would likely improve overall effectiveness by increasing performance in all three of the key areas: proximity, unpredictability, and adaptiveness.…”