INTERVIEW ▶▶▶
‘All being well, a hands-free
autumn-drilled crop will be
grown on the same site in 2017-18’
Profile
Kit Franklin is a lecturer in agricultural engineering at Harper Adams University.
With a family background in farming and contracting, Mr Franklin originally came to Harper Adams as a student in agricultural engineering.
While there, he developed an interest in using automation and robotics to improve crop agronomy and produce food sustainably.
As a result, Mr Franklin has
been working on agricultural robotics since he finished his masters degree six years ago.
He now combines his research activities with some lecturing, hoping to inspire the next generation of machinery engineers and designers.
messages to the wider industry. A personal aim was to show that
agriculture is exciting and innovative. It can be cutting edge and there are plenty of inspiring people to work with.
What did you get out of the project? We weren’t prepared for the huge recognition the Hands Free Hectare team has received globally, although we did set out to try to make a noise. Apart from generating headlines in more than 40 countries, we have increased our skills base significantly. That doesn’t just include our technical knowledge of robotics, it also brings in media, marketing and project management skills, not to mention time/workload management. The job satisfaction in getting the project
to fruition was tremendous. We put in some long hours and had a few sleepless nights, but it all worked out. It’s important to point out that it was a real team effort. The project has also given us job security.
There are approaches coming in every day from commercial organisations and lots of interest in collaborative ventures. The demands on us have increased enormously, but it’s a very exciting time.
14 ▶ FUTURE FARMING | 9 November 2017
What were the greatest challenges? By far the greatest technical challenge was getting accuracy into the system. It’s no secret that we used open-source drone systems in the tractor, but they don’t have the accuracy we have gotten used to with auto guidance. Being 0.5m (20in) off-line doesn’t matter as much with drones as it does with tractors. By the time we got to combining, we had managed to make the tweaks and changes required to improve accuracy. So in future we will repeat the combine guidance system on the tractor, to get this sorted. Otherwise, the weather was a challenge, especially at harvest – but that’s something every farmer knows about.
What would you do differently next time? We are very hopeful there will be a next time and have been very active in trying the raise the finances to continue. All being well, a hands-free autumn-drilled crop will be grown on the same site in 2017-18, providing we secure the funding and assistance required. Otherwise, we will largely be looking to repeat what we did this year, with a few
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