With The Need For Agricultural Robotics And Autonomous Machines Growing, Connected Farms Can Ensure Reliable Connectivity For Mobility And Command And Control Systems
From large autonomous tractors through to smaller horticultural weeding robots, Connected Farms has worked with many robotics and autonomous tractor/ implement manufacturers and developers to understand their connectivity requirements.
This is a growth area in farming and there are varying needs of the machines in terms of command and control of the machine and then the operation requirement so that the robots can work safely and efficiently. This is an area that Connected Farms are the industry leading experts in.
Some need higher levels of connectivity than others, some are network latency sensitive, and some which are not. There are a lot of connectivity aspects to consider so whatever your plans are in the field of robotics or autonomous tractors and implements, have a chat with us first so your farm has the relevant levels of connectivity over it.
Connected Farms advanced 5G network solutions provide a connectivity solution that offers huge capacity to onboard and send data – so your ag-robots can perform secondary functions while performing their main role. For example an automated sprayer may also scan fruits recording size and allowing early pest or disease identification.
If your ag-robot fleet is to be run “ as a service” that is moving from farm to farm, we can also help with a portable solution that takes the connectivity where it is needed – high quality, high speed networking anywhere to enable autonomous tractors and agricultural robots.
When the robotic /autonomous implement is working they are reliant on LIDAR or stereo cameras for obstacle detection. When an obstacle is detected, the machine will stop and try to send a warning message, often with video of the obstacle, to a remote operator for a go/no go decision. In most farms there are many obstacles ranging from wildlife to tall grass/ weeds so these safety halts are quite common – however if there is no connectivity to the autonomous machine it will sit there until the operator goes to find it and allow the machine to progress. Given that most robotic / autonomous systems are at maximum efficiency when a single operator (we like to call them “robot captains”) is looking after between multiple machines if they have to attend the machines like this it is slow and unproductive. With good quality connectivity the operator can communicate as the machines are designed to – and Connected Farms Hub and Precinct solutions enable this. It’s a specialist area of wireless that Connected Farms have well regarded and proven experience in with leading ag-robotic manufacturers and large farm operators.
