Flourish-A robotic approach for automation in crop management

PUBLISHED 2016 — CONFERENCE

The goal of the Flourish project is to bridge the gap between the current and desired capabilities of agricultural robots by developing an adaptable robotic solution for precision farming. Thereby, combining the aerial survey capabilities of a small autono- mous multi-copter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) with a multi-purpose agricultural Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV), the system will be able to survey a field from the air, perform targeted intervention on the ground, and provide detailed information for deci- sion support, all with minimal user intervention. The system can be adapted to a wide range of farm management activities and different crops by choosing different sensors, status indicators and ground treatment packages. The gathered information can be used alongside existing precision agriculture machinery, for example, by providing posi- tion maps for variable rate fertilizer application.

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