Robotisation of strip-cropping systems: prototype design guidelines for targeted fertilisation

Summary

Organic agriculture has an increasing demand, driving conventional farmers to
change their businesses [1]. In some cases, the lack of attention for biodiversity and soil fertility
of current practices may damage the credibility of organic products [2]. The SUREVEG project
focuses on the implementation of strip-cropping in organic production to improve soil fertility
and biodiversity throughout Europe.
The aim is to enhance resilience, system sustainability, local nutrient recycling, and soil carbon
storage [3]. However, husbandry crops grown and mixed in a strip design pose new challenges
regarding mechanisation, which in many cases can only be overcome by increasing human
tasks [4]. To counteract the additional labour of a multi-crop system, one of the main objectives
of this project is the development of automated machinery for the management of stripcropping
systems.
A robotic tool is proposed, which will be operating upside down, attached to a wide-span mobile
carriage similarto gantry systems used in Controlled Traffic Farming. Within the project
framework, a modular proof-of-concept version is being produced, combining sensing
technologies with actuation in the form of a robotic arm.
Despite many robotic developments recently presented, which are designed for weed removal,
this proof-of-concept will focus on providing precise organic fertilization. Fertiliser needs will
be identified in real-time and carried out on a single-plant scale. Design guidelines of the
proposed prototype have been detailed.
The planning and control of the manipulator are being developed in two ways: using
conventional algorithms and applying machine learning techniques. First results have been
also obtained with the sensorics onboard the robotic platform, by using a combination of LiDAR
systems and multispectral cameras to localize single plants, and to detect their status,
according to fertilisation demands