Robotics and automation for improving agriculture

This book provides a comprehensive review of key advances in the use of robots in agriculture. Chapters summarise developments in location and guidance systems, GPS technologies, machine vision, navigation, actuation, communication and control technologies. The second part of the book discusses deploying these techniques to save labour, improve precision, speed and efficiency in agricultural operations. Chapters review the state of the art on the use of agricultural robots in planting, crop monitoring, spraying, irrigation and weed management. There are also reviews of orchard management and harvesting, harvesting of soft fruit and in-field grading of harvested produce. Other chapters cover the application of robotics in the livestock sector. Key features - Primary focus on developing fully autonomous robotic systems in agriculture - Comprehensive review of advances in the key technologies underpinning agricultural robotics - Particularly strong coverage of the applications of agricultural robotics in different aspects of crop management from planting to harvesting