Space Age Farming

From the cotton gin to the combine, inventions in farm machinery have revolutionized agriculture in momentous ways. They've literally changed the world. And what will the next blockbuster invention be? Deep in the heartland, scientists and engineers are unleashing some startling new contraptions on the back forty.

It's an odd looking device but it could be the forerunner of farming in the future. Researchers at the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign are developing "robotic" weeders - computerized self contained machines that run on batteries or solar power.

Dr. Tony Grift is one of those leading the research on farm automation. He points out the electronics on this particular robot, "On this robot, an onboard camera identifies specific weeds and goes on the offensive. These are infrared sensors and those infrared sensors we use them for guidance of the robot. There's two kinds here, long range and short range and that allows us to measure the distance between the sensors and the corn stalks. And this is actually a weed detector. So as you look down here. This is a system where we have four laser beams. You can't see them right now because it's much too bright, but the laser beams are being interrupted by the corn plants. Now there will be weeds in between. But this system with four laser beams is smart enough to figure out exactly where the corn plants are and to distinguish them from the weeds."

Once identified, the robot would then eradicate the weeds, getting rid of them mechanically or by a select application of the correct herbicide. Students and professors here have come up with a number of different designs. And while weeding addresses an immediate interest, Dr. Grift sees this as just the first step, "Full scale agricultural automation where you have multiple vehicles running through the fields. They're all networked. They all talk to each other. And they pretty much run the farm by themselves."

Nathanael Gingrich is a University of Illinois graduate student whose work in automation is part of the project. His robotic weeder utilizes not one, but two cameras, "And the stereo camera will hopefully be used for navigation and will be able to identify the rows and to navigate between the rows. And then also to look for the weeds and actually identify where the weed is. Because it's a stereo vision, it can actually tell the depth of where the weed is in its position to navigate the arm to its position."

That arm then swings into action with sharp blades that move on the target. Gingrich adds, "We're looking to for the robot to go and search out and find a specific weed a single weed and then actually go down with the blade and cut the weed, mechanically and then also at the same time apply herbicide directly to the weed."

For now cost is a significant issue in robotic field work. Prototypes can cost thousands of dollars to construct. But researchers here and elsewhere are examining a variety of designs from large to small. And if cutting single weeds seems like a slow process. Dr. Tony Grift says you have to remember robots can work in teams, 24 hours a day, "Building machinery that's intelligent enough to find the weeds themselves and also do the operation at the time you want to do it. For example, if these robots look at their own Internet connections and they find out from a weather map that today might be the best day to do it, then they can go and say let's do something else today and then do the weeding tomorrow."

Weeds are only part of the story when it comes to this futuristic look at automation. GPS systems have long been used in operating many pieces of farm equipment. But automation engineers want to expand that technology to improve onboard computerized capabilities. The tractor working this research plot in Champaign County, Illinois has no driver. It can be operated by remote control and by onboard computer. Researchers here think that automation can help farmers work better by relieving them of tedious repetitive tasks.

Dr. Qin Zhang says that adding a camera to the tractor grill and connecting it to an onboard computer advances the potential, "When you use a long base line camera, then maybe we can see further away. This technology basically is trying to mimic the human eye. So, it just looks like we put a pair of human eyes on the tractor."

Dr. Zhang says a driver would still sit in the cab to ensure safe operation, but says the computerized "autonomous" tractor would eliminate long hours of "hands on" driving. The "eyes" would also relieve the need to watch for obstructions that might cause an accident, "He or she can still enjoy the fieldwork, but the tractor, the computer vision system can take over the routine navigation. It can always alert. When it sees something, it can give an alarm or automatically shut the machine down to avoid an accident from happening."

These ongoing onboard diagnostics can also monitor specific critical engine parts. Knowing when a part is just about to fail allows the operator to avoid making costly repairs too early or too late...when a breakdown could affect field work.

Dr. Zhang says that's important, "And to analyze those signals to tell if the components are still running under normal conditions or are close to the end of its expected life. Repair the machine before the season starts, so we can prepare the machine; make sure the machine never breaks down during the season."

It may not be "Star Wars" nor R2D2 ready to attack the weeds, but engineers here believe this new realm of technology will translate to real world applications in the very near future.

Future Fact
The word, "Robot" was coined by a Czech playwright in one of his productions in 1921. And while the idea of metal mechanical men was popular in early science fiction books and movies, the first real robot wasn't developed until 1961. This one, however, bore no resemblance to a mechanical humanoid. It was a robotic piece of equipment used to mold car parts at a General Motors plant.