Future direction of agricultural robotics


As farming techniques become more advanced over the years, autonomous robots would bring about new mechanical advancements that would make crop farming more efficient and productive. However, in the Information Age, we predict a movement from using purely industrial methods to the addition of extensive data collection and analysis in farming. This is because farming has changed into an occupation that requires not just manual labor, but also knowledge-based skills [14]. Present-day farmers are "jacks of all trades" – they must stay informed about technological advancements, economic changes, and politics in addition to farming techniques. Because they have much to learn, 19% of farmers have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher [14]. Farmers must “combine science, technology, business savvy—and, of course, knowledge of plants and animals—to provide the world with food and fiber.” [14]

Yet while advanced autonomous robots could literally do most of the labor, farmers still want to be in control -- they appreciate "providing the world with food and fiber, and being their own bosses" [14]. Farmers should have access to plenty of information about their farm, but it should ultimately be the farmer who makes decisions based on the data that was collected. By collecting data about the state of the farm, the farmer could make more informed, scientific decisions about how to continue. For example, a farmer that has access to detailed information about the level of water and nutrients in the soil can choose to take action based on what is known about that plant's needs. This is important because as new technologies are invented -- namely genetic engineering -- farmers will hold more responsibilities. Not only will data collection be useful to produce a successful crop, but farms can serve as real-life laboratories. For instance, if a new type of genetically engineered plant is discovered to be harmful to the environment, proper data collection may give an early warning to farmers before the problem spreads. In turn, farmers would not have to rely on bioengineering firms for critical information, which has been withheld in the past [15]. This will allow our robots to serve multiple purposes: to efficiently perform required manual tasks, and to collect data that will be useful both in the farmer's short-term decision-making and the future of agriculture.