Advanced spraying and navigation in a pioneering agricultural robot
The EU is the world’s largest producer, consumer and exporter of wine, contributing about 50 % of global wine production. Most of the vineyards are very small. Furthermore, about 10 % of European vineyards are so-called “steep-slope” vineyards. These small vineyards, in hilly, remote locations, are renowned for their high-quality premium wines that play a crucial role in rural economies. However, their unique needs are relatively neglected by traditional machinery manufacturers due to the small size of the market. This is changing with an award-winning spraying robot developed by the EU-funded SCORPION project and featured at the prestigious World Agricultural Robotics Forum 2023 and 2024 (FIRA 2023 and FIRA 2024).
A modular solution of stand-alone technologies for precision agriculture
Using agricultural robots in rough and remote terrain is particularly challenging. SCORPION has developed a suite of advanced modular robotic technologies tailored to meet the needs of precision agriculture in mountainous regions and integrated them into the WETA spraying robot. According to project coordinator Filipe Neves dos Santos of INESC TEC: “The high-precision spraying tool interprets geo-referenced ‘prescription maps’ built by decision support systems considering fields’ historical data such as soil nutrient levels and historical yields. It uses variable rate technology (VRT) to adjust the spray to the plant's size and health. Pulse-width modulation and an electric fan enable almost no spray loss and ten times greater energy efficiency than traditional spraying methods.” Furthermore, it can be switched from spraying to ultraviolet light application in less than 10 minutes and the user can interface the robot using an Android smartphone that is connected to INESC TEC’s robotic navigation system. The fully electric WETA robotic platform guarantees four-wheel traction even on the most challenging rocky and sloping grounds. Its turning radius under 20 centimetres and slim profile of less than one metre wide enable it to tend to densely planted crops without soil compaction. Finally, the robotic navigation system enables comprehensive localisation and real-time path planning. Both this system and the spraying tool can be seamlessly integrated into any tractor or robotic platform to achieve a fully autonomous spraying system.
Advanced perception and localisation technologies
The WETA agricultural robot, robotic navigation system, and VRT are equipped with the latest technology, enabling a global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) receiver to operate with all the Galileo services. This ensures they function optimally with real-time data 24 hours a day even in remote areas without mobile network coverage. In environments with adequate mobile reception, the systems switch to real-time kinematics mode to enhance localisation accuracy and provide redundancy. Their cutting-edge perception system includes light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and cameras. The robotic navigation system also has an inertial navigation system and considers visible natural landscape features for accurate and reliable 3D localisation when it detects GNSS anomalies or interference.
A new era in precision agriculture
The WETA agricultural robot offers unparalleled precision, reliability and safety in open-field operations. “The SCORPION robot is at the cutting edge of agricultural technology, with its unique ability to autonomously parse a prescription map obtained from a decision support system into a sequence of executable tasks culminating in precision spraying application in the field. This capability ensures true field autonomy,” notes Neves dos Santos. It will not only enhance sustainability and promote eco-friendly practices in vineyard management, but facilitate expansion into untapped mountainous regions of immense potential, fostering the growth of local economies. SCORPION is paving the way for a new era of precision agriculture and smart farming.
Keywords
SCORPION, precision agriculture, agricultural robot, vineyards, GNSS, prescription map, VRT, LiDAR, precision spraying, real-time kinematics, variable rate technology
