IEEE Robotics and Automation's Technical Committee on Agricultural Robotics

While robots have traditionally been associated with manufacturing or science fiction, robotic devices are also of great use in agricultural applications. To date these robotic, or mechatronic devices have predominantly been semi-autonomous systems that assist a human with difficult or tedious operations, however advances in technology and expectation mean that fully-autonomous robotic devices may soon be in use within many agricultural environments. The economic demands of reducing tariff protection for first world farmers, shortages of skilled farm labour in agricultural regions, food and fibre requirements of a growing world population, and increasingly stringent standards for agricultural production, will continue to drive the commercial need for these technologies and ensure this becomes an increasingly exciting field of endeavour. The Agricultural Robotics Committee seeks to connect researchers and industry groups working within this field, and where applicable to identify emerging standards and opportunities.

The essential 'robotic' blending of intelligent sensing with mechanical actuation can be found in vision-guided tractors, product grading systems, planters and harvesters, applicators for fertilisers and pest control. Robot manipulators can divide plant material for micropropagation in sterile conditions, others can skin fruit for canning. All the ingredients of robotics are there. Sensing is important in all aspects. These range from simple transducers to measure actuator positions to vision for guidance and grading, time-series analysis of cutter vibration, flow rates for yield monitoring and GPS for precision agriculture - and many more which have not yet been thought of. Actuation, software for intelligent control, kinematics and communication all have a part to play in this rapidly growing art. This committee works to provide a forum for those who are balanced between the worlds of agriculture and mechatronics. It supports activities such as organizing technical sessions and workshops and will increase interaction and collaboration among researchers and developers in various areas supported by the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society.

Workshop on Agricultural Robotics: Enabling Safe, Efficient, Affordable Robots for Food Production

Part of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, October 7-11, 2012, Vilamoura, Algarve, Portugal

Date, time and session number

To be defined by IROS organizers.

Abstract

Sixty years after debuting in industrial environments, robots are making their way into our everyday life. Farmers have benefited for some time from self-guided machinery including combines and harvesters. More recently, multi-purpose autonomous vehicles have started to be deployed in orchards, groves, nurseries, and other agricultural environments to automate or augment operations such as pruning, thinning, harvesting, mowing, and spraying. Successful commercialization of such vehicles will depend largely on the robotics overcoming technological, socioeconomic, and regulatory barriers to deployment and adoption. We seek authors to present on the following topics of relevance to the future of agricultural robotics:
1.    Standing on the shoulders of giants: a review of past successes in agricultural robotics science, technology, and innovation.
2.    Look Ma, no hands: recent developments in robotic systems for food production, with a special focus on fruits and vegetables.
3.    Year-round bounty: automating food production in greenhouses.
4.    I see and I remember: perception technologies for safe robot navigation in agricultural environments.
5.    I do and I understand: manipulation technologies for food production and handling, including tree pruning and thinning.
6.    I swear, officer, I wasn’t speeding: regulatory frameworks to enable safe introduction of robots in agricultural environments.
7.    We have seen the future, and the future is ours: how robotics will change traditional farms and enable vertical farms to ensure food security across the globe.
The workshop is geared toward academic and industrial robotics and agricultural researchers, engineers, and practitioners. Talks will be scheduled in a way to provide ample time for discussion and interaction between speakers and the audience.

Dates

•    Feb 27, 2012: Submit one-page (2000 characters) abstract in Microsoft Word format containing at the top paper title, authors, affiliations, and emails. Clearly indicate who is the contact author and to what topic (#1-7 above) the paper belongs.
•    Apr 10, 2012: Notifications of acceptance sent out to authors.
•    May 31, 2012: Six-page paper in IEEE RAS format due to organizers.
•    Oct 2012: Workshop.

Where to Submit

Send your one-page abstract to Marcel Bergerman at the email address below.

List of Presenters

TBD

Contacts

Marcel Bergerman (marcel@cmu.edu)
Eldert van Henten (eldert.vanhenten@wur.nl)
John Billingsley (john.billingsley@usq.edu.au)
John Reid (ReidJohnF@JohnDeere.com)

• IROS 2011 was held September 25-30, 2011 in San Francisco, California at the Hilton Hotel, Union Square.
• Published: Special Issue on Agricultural Robotics, Springer Journal of Intelligent Service Robotics.
• Published: Special Issue on Agricultural Robotics, Journal of Field Robotics, Volume 26, Numbers 6-7, pages 501-608, June - July 2009, Eds. Denny Oetomo, John Billingsley, John F. Reid. Organised by the IEEE TC on Agricultural Robotics.
• IEEE TC on Agricultural Robotics welcomed Dr John Reid as a co-chair in the committee.
  

• (Dec 2008) Workshop on Agricultural Robotics: Autonomous Agriculture washeld in conjunction with the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 12-17 May 2009, Kobe, Japan.
• Organised Session on Agricultural Robotics at M2VIP 2008: the 15th International Conference on Mechatronics and Machine Vision in Practice 2008, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand, 2 - 4 December 2008.
  
• The IEEE RAS Technical Committee on Agricultural Robotics organised a workshop titled "Towards autonomous agriculture of tomorrow" at ICRA 2008, held in Pasadena, California, on May 19-23, 2008.
  

The technical committee is initiating an effort to compile a list of institutions and organisations working on the area of agricultural robotics . This list will serve as a common point to resources in agricultural robotics available in the community. Send us an email to be included in the list!!

The technical committee welcomes everyone, from the industries or research, to participate and contribute to the technical committee. Get in touch with us through email with your name, affiliation, phone and fax numbers, email address, and area of interest!!

Founding date: 1 August 1997
Member count: 55 active representatives
Committee Chairs: