Robotics is a technical branch that deals with the design, building, operation, structural depositions, manufacturing, and application of robots. Robotics brings together a wide range of engineering disciplines and expertise. Electronics, engineering, mechanics, mechatronics, and software are all relevant to robotics. Metalworking is used for the body, while mechanics are used to install the wheels on the axles, connect them to the motors, and keep the body balanced. To power the motors and link the sensors to the controllers, you’ll need electronics. Finally, you’ll need software to interpret the sensors and control the robot.
Robotics is a rapidly growing field that continues to investigate, create, and build new robots for a variety of applications. Is there a chance that robots will be used in agriculture, as they have been in other fields?
THE AREAS WHERE ROBOTS HAVE BEEN UTILIZED
Robots are replacing humans in regions where dirty, boring, and dangerous missions take place, where a human worker’s life is at risk, and in the most demanding jobs, where a human worker must exert tremendous effort to complete. Human labors are being replaced in industries where high accuracy is necessary.
GENERAL FIELDS WITH ROBOTS
- Robotically assisted surgery was designed to overcome the limitations of minimally invasive surgery as well as to improve the capabilities of surgeons doing open surgery.
- Military Robots: The United States Army is now using military robots. They are unmanned remote control vehicles that are employed in military applications.
- In the mining industry, robots are currently performing tasks such as laying explosives, travelling down after blasting to maintain a mine roof, and mining in regions where people cannot operate or even survive.
- In hotels, robots will be used to serve customers. REEM H1 Robots were created by PAL to serve as members of the table service team.
- Cleaning Robots: Cleaning robots are meant to clean a variety of objects and places. Cleaning robots are developed according to the function and area of cleaning. We have a variety of robots, including the ROM1 room cleaner, the KV8 intelligent sweeper, vacuum cleaner robots, duct cleaning robots, and gutter cleaning robots.
- Banking Robots: The Kumbakonam-based City Union Bank (CUB) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, launched India’s first banking robot. Lakshmi is a robot with artificial intelligence.It can communicate in English, with gestures and in a lifelike manner. Customers can interact with the robot on more than 125 subjects, including account balances and loan interest rates.
THE FIRST INDIAN TECH ENTREPRENEUR
Manohar Sambandam, a former tech entrepreneur who is now a farmer, has developed a robotic platform for cotton harvesting. The straw that broke the camel’s back was the loss of rice and cotton crops due to a lack of farm labour. The cotton-picking robot is expected to cost between Rs. 4-5 lakh on the open market. The plan is to utilize it for picking strawberries and grapes, as well as weeding. While agri-tech robots are a popular investment field in the west, they haven’t received much support or been involved in any agreements in India.
THE COMMON USES OF ROBOTS IN AGRICULTURE
The most common uses of robots in agriculture appear to be divided into four categories:
- Crop and Soil Health Monitoring: Companies are using sensors and IoT-based technology to keep track on crop and soil health.
- Predictive Agricultural Analytics: A variety of AI and machine learning methods are being used to anticipate the best time to plant seeds, receive pest attack alerts, and more.
- Supply Chain Efficiencies: To construct an efficient and smart supply chain, companies are employing real-time data analytics on data streams from numerous sources.
- Agricultural Robots: Companies are developing and programming autonomous robots to do vital agricultural chores such as crop harvesting at a higher volume and faster rate than human laborers.
VARIOUS EXAMPLES OF AGRICULTURE ROBOTS
Green seeker sensor: This clever equipment assesses the demands of a plant and then applies the exact amount of fertilizer and pesticides required. Green Seeker is a contraption that employs sensors to allow the plant to communicate what it requires.
Robot drone tractors: A new generation of robot drones is altering the way we farm, with different robots being manufactured and the first-everever robot drone tractor being announced as part of the agricultural mainstream. Where to plant, when to harvest, and how to determine the ideal route for crisscrossing the countryside will be decided by the robot .
Fruit Picking Robots: Research is currently ongoing, particularly because the robots must be properly built to avoid bruising the fruit while picking. Suction grippers, which are commonly used in automated fruit picking equipment, are one approach.
Robotic Cattle grazing and Milking: This is the process of milking dairy animals, particularly dairy cattle, without the use of human labour. In the late twentieth century, automatic milking systems (AMS), sometimes known as voluntary milking systems (VMS), were created. They’ve been on the market since the early 1990s.
SCOPE OF FARM ROBOTS IN INDIA
- For traditional farming demands, our farm equipment firms and researchers have developed a lot of light and heavy farm equipment, but precision farming requires some form of robotic and pneumatic mechanism.
- If robots are employed for weed management, it will assist to reduce the use of herbicides, and the food will be organic. Robots may also be used for transplanting seedlings to avoid intensive labor.
- Inventors from the countryside have come up with a few stunning new technology. Electric motors may be controlled remotely using a cell phone, which is especially useful for farmers during the summer when power supply is not regular.
- In India, many farmers are reducing day-by-day. Many people are abandoning the farming industry because they find it no longer profitable, no one likes losing money, and it is getting increasingly unsafe, robots can bring revolution in the field of agriculture.
ADVANTAGES OF ROBOTS IN THE FIELD OF AGRICULTURE
- Elimination of labour – The farmer is liberated from the milking process and its accompanying strict schedule, and his or her time is better used on animal supervision, feeding, and other tasks.
- It provides self-employment opportunities for those who are unemployed and consider farming to be a nightmare.
- It is a one-time investment, and the cost of farming will drop significantly.
- Fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, and water use can all be significantly decreased.
- It ushers in a new era in farming, agriculture, and cattle grazing.
- There will be a significant boost in productivity.
- Farming will no longer be a tough vocation; it will become the engineers’ choice, and a large number of young people will be involved in it.
The agricultural revolution will undoubtedly be ushered in by robotics. Although the way is not easy . We need to figure out how to meet the world’s food needs in terms of feasibility, sustainability, and efficiency. However, it will be fascinating to observe how farmers, agribusinesses, and consumers will use the power of robotics and digital automation to determine the industry’s future.
