Artificial Intelligence in Greenhouses
Robotics
In recent years, agricultural robotics has received significant attention in research studies, being considered a way to address some important issues of the greenhouse sector, such as precision agriculture, resource saving, improvement of safety conditions, and shortage of human labor. These issues are particularly relevant in greenhouse production systems, where humans still require many highly repetitive and sometimes dangerous operations. Generally, a prominent human workforce is needed in greenhouses. The cost allocated to manual labor is the most significant factor: more than 30 percent of the total production costs are spent on wages by the grower for employees.
Common Types of Robots
As robotics manufacturers continue to deliver innovations across capabilities, price, and form factor, robotics solutions are being implemented in an ever-increasing number of applications in agriculture. Advancements in processing power and AI capabilities mean that we can now use robots to fulfill critical purposes in a plethora of ways. Today’s robots can generally be grouped into four categories.
Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs)
An autonomous mobile robot is a type of robot that can understand and move through its environment independently. AMRs use a sophisticated set of sensors, artificial intelligence, and machine learning and compute for path planning to interpret and navigate through their environment, untethered from wired power.
Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs)
While AMRs traverse environments freely, AGVs rely on tracks or predefined paths and often require operator oversight. Instead of relying on a human operator, they use a combination of sensors, software, and navigation technology, following predetermined routes such as magnetic tape and painted lines.
Articulated Robots (Robotic Arms)
An Articulated robotic arm is a type of industrial robot designed like a human arm with different segments known as links. These links are usually connected by joints that give this robotic arm more flexibility and precision. They can either be rotary joints (revolute) or linear (prismatic joint). Generally, these Industrial robotic arms have around two to six links (sometimes more) that grant them a certain degree of freedom (DOF) for movement.
Cobots
Cobots are the latest technology in robotics and have changed the world of automation significantly. The name cobot is a derivative of “collaborative robot.” These robots are collaborative because they can safely work together with people. The application scenarios of AI and machine vision in collaborative robots are gradually expanding, with increasing penetration rates.
Robotic System Components
Robotic systems are characterized as programmable mechanical devices that interact with their environment, including people, using numerous sensors, actuators, and human interfaces to perform a specific task. Agricultural robots are typically built to perform various tasks, such as planting, weeding, pruning, picking, harvesting, packing, and handling. To perform the required task, a robotic system used in agricultural and field environments generally consists of some or all of: (1) a vision system to detect and localize target objects and obstacles that may be on the way to get to the objects (e.g., fruit and branches in robotic apple harvesting); (2) data-logging device for their further processing; (3) a manipulation and end-effector system for reaching and engaging with the target objects; (4) a path . . .
Robotic Arms
These robotic arms have a flexible arm comprising several joints, allowing them to move in multiple directions and reach a wide range of positions (Figure 31.6). This high degree of articulation makes them ideal for picking fruits and vegetables, as they can reach into tight spaces and pick produce with precision and accuracy. These robots also boast exceptional reach, allowing them to extend into and over top of planters to pick or spray produce, for example.
End Effectors
The end-effector, also known as an end-of-arm tool (EOAT), is a special tool at the end of the robot's arm, giving the robot its hands and fingers. It allows a robot to pick up, manipulate, and work with objects, much like your hand would. At present, a wide variety of end effectors have been developed, with fingers, attractors, needles, spray nozzles, scissors, and robotic arms, to grip, cut, attach, or press into crops to effectively perform all biological production processes, which include picking, harvesting, spraying, sowing, transplanting, shaping, and primary processing.
Types of Robotic Sensors
the sensor. Sensors allow mobile robots to carry out tasks, including trajectory tracking, target location, and tracking, acting safely by avoiding collisions and localizing and mapping the surroundings, among other tasks. Sensors commonly used in agricultural robotics are vision-based, tactile, force torque, encoders, infrared, ultrasonic, sonar, active beacons, accelerometers, gyroscopes, laser range finders, color tracking, contact and proximity, pressure, and depth sensors.
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