Robots grow 50 hectares of maize autonomously

The project, called Challenge Centéol 2018, was started in October 2017 and will continue until the corn harvest this year. To achieve autonomous cultivation, there is a robot on crawler wheels with lifting gear. A charging station for seed and fertiliser will be installed on the land.

Photo: AgreenCulture

Schedule for the autonomous robots

• In October 2017: robots took a soil sample every 5 meters and the area was mapped.
• In March: 2 robots, each with 2 cultivator teeth, pulled the ground loose at the coordinates where the corn is sown.
• In April: 3 robots will sow. The first deposits fertiliser, and the 2 others sow the corn depending on the structure of the soil.
• In May: 2 robots will give an additional fertiliser dose. After that mechanical weed control will take place and eventually also harvested by the robots.

The robot must determine, through artificial intelligence and as much input from sensors as possible, where operations are necessary and do not interfere with other autonomous robots.