Robots addressing agricultural labour shortages and environmental issues

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide details of recent developments in agricultural robots with an emphasis of those that address labour shortages and environmental issues. Design/methodology/approach Following an introduction which highlights some of the challenges facing the agricultural industry, this discusses recent robotic agricultural vehicle developments and the enabling technologies. It then provides examples of terrestrial and airborne robots employed in precision agricultural practices. Finally, brief conclusions are drawn. Findings Traditional, labour-intensive and environmentally harmful agricultural practices are not sustainable in the long term, and if food supply is to meet future demand, radical changes will be required. Exploiting recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), agricultural equipment manufacturers are developing robotic vehicles in response to labour shortages. Precision agricultural practices will mitigate many of the detrimental environmental impacts and can also reduce the reliance on manpower. Weeding robots which reduce or eliminate the use of herbicides have been commercialised by a growing number of companies and again exploit AI techniques. Drones equipped with imaging device are playing an increasingly important role by characterising agricultural and crop conditions, thereby allowing highly targeted agrochemical application. Originality/value This illustrates how the agricultural industry is adopting robotic technology in response to the need to increased productivity while mitigating the problems of shortages of labour and environmental degradation.