AgroBots or robots that are used in agriculture; are used to do jobs that are both dangerous and tiring. Some examples are the
The Fruit Picking robots have been developed since the early 1980's.The Fruit Picker picks fruit from trees using a mechanical arm and gripper that is coated in rubber to minimize any damage that might be done to the fruit, the pressure that the gripper uses to remove the fruit is sufficient for removing it from the tree but not enough to crush the fruit because of a feedback process from the gripper, which is driven by the motors, hydraulics, or a pneumatic system. The arm has five degrees of freedom allowing it to move, in, out, up, down and in cylindrical and spherical motion patterns. The fruit is located by a camera that is placed on the arm that uses video image capturing that can distinguish between the leaves and the fruit.
Cited at http://kernow.curtin.edu.au/www/Agrirobot1/frutrob.htm
The Oracle Robot is used to sheer sheep developed at the University of Western Australia in 1979.
During shearing operations, the sheep is restrained firmly by holding its legs and its head in a manipulator, called the ARAMP (Automated Restraint A ndManipulator Platform). The shearing arm is directed by complex motion control algorithms which maintain the cutter at a predefined height above the sheep's skin. The robotics arm which 'holds' the clippers can be maneuvered in six directions, and is powered by a series of hydraulic actuators using proportional analogue servo controls. These actuators are controlled by a minicomputer through a conventional D/A interface. The Hewlett Packard 21MX-E is utilized to control Oracle.
In order to maintain such a critical distance from the sheep’s skin, sensors are used to feedback the actual position of the shearing arm and the relative position of the sheep’s skin.
Cited at http://kernow.curtin.edu.au/www/Agrirobot1/oracle.htm
A major problem in agriculture today is animal waste. Almost two trillion pounds of animal waste are produced per year nationally. An increasing amount of this animal waste is produced by intensive livestock operations, which are really more factories than farms. Common animal waste treatment practices used by these livestock factories are often inadequate to protect our drinking water and environment, posing one of America's serious pollution problems.
Cited at http://www.scorecard.org/env-releases/aw/
Animal waste includes livestock and poultry manure, bedding and litter, plus such things as dairy parlor waste water, feedlot runoff, silage juices from trench silos and even wasted feed. These wastes can affect water quality if proper practices are not followed. Animal waste should be considered a valuable resource which, when managed properly, can reduce the need for commercial fertilizer. Such waste can add organic matter which improves water holding capacity and improves soil tilth. Animal waste can provide an economical source of nitrogen, phosphous and potassium as well as other nutrients needed for plant growth.
Waste from animal concentrations and/or manure storage areas which are not protected can wash into streams. Such overland flow of animal waste is commonly referred to as a non-point source (NPS) since the waste does not enter the streams from a point source or pipe. NPS pollutants are more difficult to control because they don't come from a clearly identifiable point such as a pipe or ditch. NPS pollution is caused, for example, from rain running over a field carrying pollutants in the water. We often cause NPS pollution without being aware of pollution.
Such waste in surface waters reduces oxygen in water and endangers aquatic life. The added nutrients produce excessive algae growth causing unpleasant taste and odors. Likewise, when this waste is allowed to seep into ground water the water quality is jeopardized. Nitrates in well water can be particularly dangerous to infants due to oxygen depletion in the blood.
Water is the world's most abundant resource, but only one percent of water is suitable for drinking. The average person in the U.S. uses about 180 gallons of water per day.
Cited at http://www.engr.uga.edu/service/extension/publications/c827-cd.html
How do we begin to fix the problem of animal waste?
All livestock and poultry feeding operations need to treat, store, and collect animal waste properly to prevent excess nutrients and pathogens from entering ground and surface water.
Cited at http://www.usawaterquality.org/themes/animal/research/treatment.html
Robots can be designed to help pick up animal waste on farms, treat it and then store it where it is programmed to put it.