The European Training Foundation has just studied in detail the dynamic agro-technology sector in Israel, a country that combines a history of food production in a harsh environment and a cutting-edge technological sector. This study was led by Professor Avital Bechar, director of the Institute of Agricultural Engineering at the Volcani Center and responsible for agricultural robotics and the proximal detection laboratory, and Israel Talpaz is co-founder and CEO of SeeTree, a start-up present. in four countries.
The central point of the report is the development of the concept of using robots in agriculture, because the agricultural environment is not structured and therefore we must modify and change our way of thinking about robotics in the field of agriculture. .
In some cases, it is also about developing human / robot collaboration or integrated systems to perform tasks such as selective pruning of fruit trees, harvesting of melons, etc. Additionally, currently robotics is outside the agricultural space, as robots are generally expensive, the environment they work in is usually very structured - like packaging plants, factories - and product variability. is very low, because that is the nature of the industry.
The task is to bring robotics into agriculture, but also to modify agriculture a little to reduce the distance between the natural location of robotics and agriculture.
This is what is practiced in Israel with selective weed killers in watermelon plots. This is a specific tool based on high potential electrostatic currents. The weeds are electrified in a way which is not dangerous for the worker because the energy consumption is very low. It is better for the environment because there is no use of chemicals, and the weed dies and disintegrates in the soil, which helps to fertilize the soil. To do this, you need some sort of robot or manipulator to bring the tool directly to the workplace. An algorithm must also be developed to be able to locate the weeds and finally all the components of the system must be integrated so that they work together.
These solutions do away with the hard work of agriculture, which is the main disadvantage from the point of view of the worker. It should be remembered that one of the burning problems of agriculture in any western or first world country is that there is not enough manpower to perform the tasks required. So it’s good to have a robot to accomplish them.
But in agriculture, robotic systems are often more efficient when a human operator is integrated into them than if they were a fully automated system. So the apple picking workers no longer have to climb ladders and earn minimum wage, but they can sit in an office, point out where the apples are and operate the system. Although the worker scales remain low, in these systems one must have some basic training or a basic understanding of the technology one is working with or administering. So it’s a different skill level, but also a different working environment. In addition, Israeli companies provide jobs for the manufacturer of robots or autonomous systems and the quality of our cabin sensing technology. “
ETF Europa & Israel Valley