Robotic Farming Platforms

Tim Hammerich

News Reporter

More and more robotics companies are focused on automating farm work, but are these innovations really practical? Small Robot Company co-founder Sam Watson Jones, says to not be detoured by the size and current limitations of these robots, because what they are is a platform for continued applications.

Watson Jones… “Probably what we will have is modular workhorse robots, but then has different applications that can be fitted onto it. So it might be the same robot is doing a soil scanning job, which is something that doesn't need to be done every two weeks, but might be done more infrequently. And the same robot could be providing micro doses of chemicals or could be doing non-chemical weeding. So you'll get applications that are built for the robot.”

In this way, The Small Robot Company sees themselves as sort of the smart phone that other companies use to deliver new applications.

Watson Jones… “Being the route to market for all these thousands of sensor companies that are coming into the agricultural industry at the moment .And be okay well, you've got this sensor that fits on the back of the tractor or this sensor that fits on a quad bike, let's stick your sensor on an autonomous robotic platform and we've got the relationship with the farmer, and we can just use your sensor, but use it in a much more repeatable way.”

That’s one vision for a more autonomous farming future.