ROBOFERT: Human - Robot Advanced Interface for Robotic Fertilization Process

Summary

The interfaces for Human-Robot interaction in different fields such as precision agriculture (PA) have made it possible to improve production processes, applying specialized treatments that require a high degree of precision at the plant level. The current fertilization processes are generalized for vast cultivation areas without considering each plant’s specific needs, generating collateral effects on the environment. The Sureveg Core Organic COfound ERA-Net project seeks to evaluate the benefits of growing vegetables in rows through the support of robotic systems. A robotic platform equipped with sensory, actuation, and communication systems and a robotic arm have been implemented to develop this proof of concept. The proposed method focuses on the development of a human-machine interface (IHM) that allows the integration of information coming from different systems from the robotized platform on the field and suggest to an operator (in a remote station) take a fertilization action based on specific vegetative needs to improve vegetable production. The proposed interface was implemented using Robot Operating System (ROS) and allows: visualizing the states of the robot within the crop by using a highly realistic environment developed in Unity3D and shows specific information of the plants’ vegetative data fertilization needs and suggests the user take action. The tests to validate the method have been carried out in the fields of the ETSIAAB-UPM. According to the multi-spectral data taken after (2 weeks after being planted) and before (3 months after growth), main results have shown that NDVI indexes mean values in the row crop vegetables have normal levels around 0.4 concerning initial NDVI values, and its growth was homogeneous, validating the influence of ROBOFERT