Feature: Industrial Electronics
Figure 1: The BCM4414 is a fixed-ratio converter providing a low voltage and isolated 1/16th output. (Source: Vicor)
Tech development On the tech side, the combination of increasingly accurate positional sensors, more precise force sensors and advanced actuators makes it possible to build robotic manipulators that are gentle enough to harvest even the most delicate of crops. Te precision of agricultural automations is being enhanced by increasingly accurate image sensors supported by artificial intelligence (AI). Tis advancement enables the development of new, more delicate applications in autonomous agricultural machines.
Hand tools to robots Although the official start of the Agricultural Revolution was marked in 1750, advancements in agriculture had already begun accumulating centuries earlier. As early as 1400 BCE, Babylonian records referenced the use of a seed drill, and in 1701, English agronomist and inventor Jethro Tull introduced a modernised version of the seed drill, further revolutionising farming practices. In the 1900s, farming equipment, mostly for processing various types of grain, was mechanised and motorised. Tese included ploughs, reapers, threshers and eventually combines.
Automated Agriculture Automated agricultural vehicles oſten have booms or flexible arms that can be equipped with a widening selection of drills, ploughs, threshers, separators, cleaners, probes, sprayers, applicators and other devices, along with a growing assortment of sensors. Autonomy almost always includes the addition of a navigation
system, underpinned by GNSS/GPS modules, that allows for precise positioning. Tough most of these automated and increasingly autonomous machines tend to take the familiar forms of tractors and drones and are referred to as such, they are unquestionably robots.
Weeders Several farm equipment companies have automated tractors with booms equipped with AI-based vision systems and sprayers. Te AI can distinguish between crops and weeds and precisely control the sprayers to target the weeds, leaving the crops untreated. Carbon Robotics’ new LaserWeeder uses computer vision,
backed by AI (running on Nvidia GPUs), to similarly identify crops and weeds. Instead of spraying them with herbicide, it burns the weeds with 150-watt carbon lasers. Te commercial version of the LaserWeeder is a module that can be attached to a tractor. Te company is also demonstrating a fully autonomous version.
Combines John Deere has equipped its combines with satellite navigation since the mid-1990s; its navigation system is now capable of self- driving, but a human operator is still required. Deere has recently announced a feature called Predictive Ground Speed Automation, which can be retrofitted to its X9 combines. Te combine is equipped with two cab-mounted stereo
cameras, which continuously measure crop height and volume. Tis data is processed and automatically adjusts the ground speed accordingly. Deere says this helps farmers increase combine capacity while minimising grain loss.
Fruit and vegetable pickers While many agricultural systems are ground-based, a growing number of smaller applicators, weeders and pickers are now airborne. One example is a fruit picker from Tevel designed for larger but still delicate fruits such as pears, apricots and nectarines. Te system relies on drones to do the picking, using short booms that terminate in suction cups. Multiple drones are tethered to a wheeled main vehicle. Te system uses an array of different sensors,
www.electronicsworld.co.uk Dec 2024/Jan 2025 37
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