AGRICOBIOT II

This project aims to develop a multi-robot system composed of two collaborative autonomous platforms that are able to assist operators in their daily work within a greenhouse, allowing to maintain the traceability of the tasks performed by humans and robots, thus resulting in an improvement in terms of safety at work, food security and sustainability. There is no commercial solution that fits well into the greenhouse environment, so an electromechanical design will have to be made to obtain a platform that fits better. Each robot must be able to intelligently transport material within the greenhouse, between pre-defined stations and the human operator. Two very relevant tasks will be distinguished: the navigation of the robot within the greenhouse and the interaction with the human operator, so that workerscan move freely close to the platforms minimizing the risks to the safety of human, robot and the crop itself. In order to achieve optimal overall behaviour, in terms of sustainability, of all technological elements used in the greenhouse, robots must be able to communicate with each other and with other agricultural machines. The recent ISO 11783 standard for communication between electronic devices in agricultural machinery will be implemented. Taking advantage of the interoperability offered by “Internet of Things” (IoT), a system will be developed that will allow the farmer to know at all times and in real time the state of the greenhouse and workers (quantity of product collected, growing areas worked, state of the vehicle). In addition, the robot, equipped with sensors to acquire information about the state of the greenhouse, human and cultivation, will be connected to the cloud, sharing the information with the farmer in real time and taking advantage of the potential it offers.