User-centric adoption of sustainable farming operation involving ICT and robotics - Case: Grassland harvesting operations for biogas and bio refinery plants
Project information
User-centric adoption of sustainable farming operation involving ICT and robotics - Case: Grassland harvesting operations for biogas and bio refinery plantsCall: ICT and Automation for a Greener Agriculture
Id: 14304
Acronym: GrassBots
Consortium:
No | Partner | Contact | Country | Total 1000€ | Funded 1000€ | Funder |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 Coord. | Department of Engineering Aarhus School of Engineering Aarhus University | Claus Sørensen | Denmark | 58.5 | 48.2 | Danish AgriFish Agency Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries |
2 | Faculty of Engineering University of Southern Denmark | Rasmus Nyholm Jørgensen | Denmark | 35.0 | 28.0 | Danish AgriFish Agency Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries |
3 | Harper Adams University College | Simon Blackmore | United Kingdom | 21.7 | 0.0 | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs |
4 | Department of Automation and Systems Technology School of Electrical Engineering School of Science and Technology Aalto University | Timo Oksanen | Finland | 62.9 | 44.0 | Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry |
5 | Agro Business Park | Simon Poulsen | Denmark | 11.0 | 3.0 | Danish AgriFish Agency Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries |
6 | Agro Intelligence ApS | Ole Green | Denmark | 95.0 | 47.0 | Danish AgriFish Agency Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries |
7 | Conpleks Innovation ApS | Tom Simonsen | Denmark | 67.8 | 30.1 | Danish AgriFish Agency Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries |
8 | Lynex | Jens Hansen | Denmark | 48.2 | 4.6 | Danish AgriFish Agency Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries |
9 | Crop Production Technogy Plant production technology Crop Technology Plant Production Research Senior Research Scientist MTT Agrifood Research Finland | Antti Suokannas | Finland | 34.0 | 17.0 | Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry |
Lowland areas and other marginal areas form a huge and currently unused resource of biomass for the biogas and bio refinery industry. Alone for Denmark, it has been estimated that 160-180.000 hectares of unused lowland could be harvested if the appropriate technology was available. This project will develop a novel lightweight, autonomous machine concept for economically and environmentally sound harvest of grass on lowland. The project will adapt an existing commercial mower into an autonomous robot platform, develop implements for cutting, collecting and transporting the harvested material out of the field and develop software to plan, schedule, document and visualize the harvest operation. Additional, the concept will be demonstrated in three countries under realistic field conditions, but following all current safety regulations. Finally, the project is seen as a stepping-stone towards future autonomous work units coupled with efficient management systems.
GrassBots implements the adaptation and operation of planning tools for robots in agriculture. The Danish GrassBot machine has been adapted into a prototype version of an autonomous workable grass-cutting machine. The retrofitted GrassBot has received much interest for the whole autonomous concept. A key obstacle for its further commercialisation is the price, but negotiations between the company Lynex and potential investors are expected. Based on the robotics hardware and auto-steering and positioning software for GrassBot, Conpleks has continued to further develop a generic original equipment manufacturer (OEM) robotics software package, which is ready to be integrated on agricultural robots, e.g., for grass cutting and other agricultural applications. Co-operation with multiple domestic and international companies is pending. Commercialisation activities for Kongskilde (AGROINTELLI), in connection with the GrassBot project, include the development of a ‘nextversion’ of a biomass mower to cut plant/grass material in wild areas while minimising damage to the natural landscape. The development of robotic architecture and a tablet user interface will continue to be developed in other R&D projects and is expected to be sold.
- The project will adapt an existing commercial mower into an autonomous robot platform, develop implements for cutting, collecting and transporting the harvested material out of the field and develop software to plan, schedule, document and visualize the harvest operation.
- Additional, the concept will be demonstrated in three countries under realistic field conditions, but following all current safety regulations.
- Finally, the project is seen as a stepping-stone towards future autonomous work units coupled with efficient management systems.
- System design, machine implementation
- Operations optimisation
- Autonomous robotic navigation