The next generation of agricultural robots

Added on 07 February 2022

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The next generation of agricultural robots

ST Robotics has been making robot arms for 30 years but the fact is robot arms are very limited in what they can do. They are basically machines that, once programmed do exactly the same thing over and over. They are versatile enough that the same robot can do a vast range of different tasks and moreover can be re-programmed to do a different task at any time. But we are moving to a world where robots need to make intelligent decisions about what to do based on what they see. Hence the need for machine learning, vision and AI.

AI and machine learning are often confused. Most AI works by comparing a complex input (like an image or a voice) with a data base of similar matches. These data take ages to build and label usually with 1000s of images used to compare. The input, ie a camera image, is then captured, usually with a box drawn around it. It is then compared to the huge database in layers of a neural network until a desired output is reached and a decision can be made. This is not quite the same as machine learning where the machine acquires its own data or changes what it has. The machine might be teaching itself from its experience of the real world or may be assisted by a human operator.

Steve Wozniak has dismissed AI as not coming near real intelligence. "AI doesn't even have the intelligence of an ant; we are simply working at the limits of what computers can do." And while he is right ST Robotics and many other companies are now working at these limits to make robots that can actually make intelligent decisions about what they do and what to do next. Some are fairly simple, like the Roomba but there are autonomous AI powered robots that will mow your lawn. They don't have to be quick - leave them to get on with it; come back later and it's done. And overnight too!

ST are developing autonomous robots for crop harvesting. We are currently working on a robot to harvest asparagus and are about to start a project for picking grapes. Both these systems need a vision system that can recognize the asparagus spears or bunches of grapes and harvest them the way a human being would do. This is a completely different approach from farm machines with rotating blades and so on pulled by tractors. Such techniques are unsuitable for delicate crops like asparagus that can only be picked by the human - or robot - hand.

Another example is the Dogtooth robot that picks strawberries. ST Robotics licensed the R12 robot arm to them to get them started. They are now going on to large scale production.

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