Paris, 4 June
2007
Field robot
day 2007
14 June: warming up, demonstration 15 June:
competition
16 June: workshops
Location:
Wageningen,
The Netherlands.
The Wageningen
Field Robot Event shows a vision of the future of modern precision agriculture.
Right now, a small revolution is taking place. A new breed of robots
will soon be able to carry out a variety of tasks in row crops, such
as weeding, spraying and disease monitoring. Agricultural robots working
in a field, completely autonomous: the Field Robot Event proves this
is possible!
Intelligent robots
will compete in 4 complicated tasks:
1. Robust navigation in a maize field with curved rows The robot should
cover as much distance as possible in 3 minutes time while navigating
between curved rows of a maize field, making a head-land turn and returning
in the adjacent row. See figure 1 for illustration. If mother nature
is willing to support this task, there won’t be plants missing in the
rows.
This task is all
about speed, accuracy and robustness of navigation and smoothness of
operation.
Figure 1. Robust
navigation in a maize field with curved rows.
2. Advanced
robust navigation in a maize field with straight rows
The robot should
cover as much distance as possible in 3 minutes time while navigating
between straight rows of maize plants. The robot should be able to follow
a certain pre-defined pattern over the field. See figure 2. At various
places in the maize field, plants will be missing in either one or both
rows over a length of maximally 1 m. A head-land of only 1.5 m will
be available for turning.
Coding of the pattern of the path through the maize field is done as follows. S means Start, L means left-hand turn, R means right-hand turn, F means Finish, the number before the L or R represents the path that has to be entered after the turn. So, 2L means: enter the second path after a left-hand turn. 3R means: enter the third path after a right hand turn. The path shown in figure is coded as follows: S, L3, R2, L1, R1, R3, L2, R1, F. Competitors may choose from two options: 1. use a path of which the code is made available upon registration. This path will be the same for all competitors. 2. use a path of which the code is made available to the competitors 1 hour before the start of the competition without having the opportunity to test it in the maize rows. Clearly and definitely, good performance using option 2 will be rewarded with more points. Figure 2. Advanced
robust navigation along a complex pattern in a maize field with straight
rows with plants missing
3. ‘Weed’
– control in a maize field
The robot should
cover as much distance within 3 minutes time while navigating between
straight rows of maize plants. In the maize field randomly distributed
artificial weeds yellow golf balls have to be detected. Detection of
a ‘weed’ should be demonstrated by producing a clear signal such as
a flash-light or a sound. Additionally, a ‘weed-killing’ operation should
be performed on the ‘weed’.
A set of 5 yellow golf balls that will be used during the event will be supplied to the competitors when they register. --> Figure 3. ‘Weed’-control
in a maize field
4. Free
style
Robots are invited
to perform a free-style operation. Fun is important in this task but
agricultural relevance is emphasized.
See: http://www.fieldrobot.nl/
Contact : Kees SCHUUR E-mail: schuur(a)ecommovation.nl Watch out: Do not show this to your wife A woman in her fifties is at home, unclothed, happily jumping on her bed and squealing with delight. Her husband watches her for a while and asks: "Do you have any idea how ridiculous you look ? What's the matter with you?" The woman continues to bounce on the bed and says: "I don't care what you think. I just came from having a mammogram, and the doctor says that not only am I healthy, but I have the breasts of an 18 year-old.” The husband replies: "What did he say about your 55-year old ass?" "Your name never came up," she replies. Contact: Bernard AUXENFANS E-mail: bauxenfans(a)krsearch.net About the EFITA mailing list You can use the efita moderated list (>3000 subscribers) to announce any event / product / web site / joke (!) related to IT in agriculture, environment, food industry and rural areas. If you do not wish to receive our messages, please see: http://www.efita.net to remove your E-mail address from our mail list. |