In the countryside not only plants flourish, but also inventions. The wheel, the plow, the tractor… And now? Farming robots that solve the lack of labor and reduce production costs. Although this advance is no longer entirely new, since dozens of projects underway in Spain have already demonstrated the capacity of machines to sow, fertilize, harvest, reduce water consumption and optimize resources more efficiently than humans. Now, the great revolution is in AI connectivity. Or, in other words, in making robots work autonomously but coordinated, as would a swarm of bees.
That is what Tecnalia, the largest Spanish center for applied research and technological development, has achieved, which has developed an innovative tool that remotely directs autonomous robot crews and that can support the farmer in his tasks. Broadly speaking, it works like a control console. In it, the farmer can design a mission for his robot to execute. For example, removing weeds from a crop. Meanwhile, it could send its drones to collect data on the state of the crops or apply a precise amount of fertilizer at an exact point.
«Our solution allows the planning of collaborative activities carried out between several robots, enabling the operation of swarms of robots, even from heterogeneous manufacturers or of a diverse nature, whether ground robots, drones or others,” explains Belén Martínez, artificial intelligence researcher at Tecnalia. This dashboard also allows you to track activity in real time.
As to the tasks that a robot farmer can performMartínez indicates that the tool “improves the efficiency of precision agriculture.” The farm manager could configure different activities, such as measuring soil data (which would give the farmer information about the fertilizer or water needs of different areas) and autonomous weed removal, which would accelerate the growth of crops. crops. But the real key is the connectivity between various platforms, sensors and information sources, so that farmers and cooperatives have an integrated data flow that they can easily understand and use.
The field gains efficiency with robotization
The question that arises next is clear: what would the existence of agricultural robots mean for real farmers? Could impact on employment in a negative way? The reality, experts point out, is that there is a lack of labor in the field. “It must be taken into account that the majority of agricultural holdings in Spain are small in size: approximately 56% have less than 5 hectares, which reflects the prevalence of small farms, many of them managed by families,” states the Tecnalia expert.
Additionally, small farms “face many challenges to being competitive, especially related to the cost of production. Technology can be a great ally for these small businesses, helping them reduce costs, improve your efficiency and increase profitability», says Martínez. In any case, he points out that “robots and autonomous systems are designed to automate repetitive tasks.” Thus, “new technologies enable farmers to carry out very costly tasks that were previously impracticable due to technological, logistical and economic limitations.”
The European Union’s interest in digitizing the field is palpable. In fact, Tecnalia’s solution for autonomous robots is part of a European initiative to implement interoperable platforms for smart agriculture, using technologies based on the Internet of Things (IoT). At the moment, 20 pilot projects like this have already been carried out, deployed in 18 countries, and with the collaboration of 60 partners. Currently around 6,000 farmers are already benefiting directly and there are more than 38,000 data collection devices and sensors in place.
«Digital technologies have a lot of potential to make agriculture more efficient. It is essential that they be managed appropriately to carry out democratic digitalization, that follows a strategy that encourages the training of farmers at all levels and equitable access to technologies, for example through government programs that facilitate their financing,” he indicates. the AI specialist.
In addition, he assures that Tecnalia’s solution would not only reduce field production costs, it would also help meet climate objectives: “Farming robots are a tool for precision agriculture, through which the use of inputs can be adjusted. such as fertilizers, water or pesticides according to the specific needs of each crop area and in exact quantities. Data-based decision making enables better land use and reduction of environmental impact».