Agricultural Robots Are Appearing On Farms

Agricultural robots are appearing on farms

Significant numbers of robots are now appearing on farms.  These have been in development for 20 years and are now cheap and sophisticated enough for mainstream use. New scanning and imaging technology has solved the problem of allowing robots to handle the varying shapes of individual fruits and vegetables. Their on-board computers can now differentiate between an object and its shadow and between green fruits, leaves and vines. This is accomplished using an array of cameras, each picking up a different spectrum of light and creating a perfect picture of the obstacles and topography in the robot's surrounding environment.

Complex algorithms allow robotic workers to "learn" the longer they are on the job, so they become more adept as time goes on. This helps the computer to recognise a fruit that is partially covered by a leaf or similar obstruction, for example. The grasping tools themselves are based on human movements and are programmed to apply the correct pressure.

Advantages of this technology include much greater accuracy in spraying pesticides (cutting its use by 80%), uninterrupted output, and, as the technology improves, greater efficiency and speed. Initially, these robots are present on a small number of farms, often working alongside traditional human workers. As the years go by, however, and the technology proliferates, more and more farms begin to adopt robotic workers. By the 2020s, entire farms are becoming fully automated.

The increased output helps to alleviate food shortages caused by rising global populations. Despite these gains, agricultural robots prove controversial. They exacerbate the ongoing unemployment crisis, with the potential of putting many thousands of workers out of a job. Mechanisation continues its unending progress, as yet another industry begins to be handed over to machines.