In the next year they hope to have developed a series of modular toolbars that will be fitted to Dick and Harry so they can be adapted to different tasks in the fields. They have a prototype for Harry and are in the process of building Dick.
Big farm mobile harvest bot trial#
The company currently has two Tom robots working in the fields of 20 farmers that have signed up to help trial the technology. “It is something that is not possible when you have humans doing the work or with big farming machinery that are currently used.” “We are aiming for a new era of precision farming where crops are not cared for at the field level, but at the individual plant level,” says Sam Watson Jones, one of the founders of the company. The third robot ⎼ called Harry, of course ⎼ will be responsible for planting the seeds in the first place. While Tom monitors how the crops are growing, another robot the size of a small car, called Dick, will move through the field to target any weeds that might spring up. The diminutive buggy is one of three robots being developed by UK-based agricultural technology start-up Small Robot Company. Robots like Tom are hoped to be a part of the solution. But farmers and researchers are working on increasingly innovative high-tech solutions to find ways to produce more food – enough to feed 10 billion by 2050 – while minimising environmental impact. It is a glimpse of what the future of farming could look like.īarriers to new farmers entering the profession, environmental degradation and a growing world population are putting increasing pressure on agriculture to do more with less. As it passes each seedling, it glowers at it with an unblinking “eye”, gathering information about its health and maturity, and looking for signs of disease.Įquipped with a camera and other sensors to assess attributes like soil quality, this diminutive, insect-shaped robot is Tom – a prototype autonomous farm assistant. Trundling across uneven soil, a machine about the size of a small dog picks its way through rows of young plants.
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