Robot Farmer Starts Trials in Peak District, UK

Sheffield, UK, February 22, 2016 (Newswire.com) - The IBEX project today announced the start of fully autonomous trials of their extreme mobility agricultural robot, which will drive itself around steep grassland dairy and sheep farms identifying and destroying weeds. Co-funded by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK, IBEX robots aim to be precise, like human sprayers. They reduce fuel costs and labour usage for farmers while massively reducing the environmental impact caused by bulk herbicide spraying.

www.ibexautomation.co.uk

Additional notes:

Autonomous robotics represent a real opportunity to bring about valuable change in the farming industry. There are large swathes of inaccessible land in poor economic areas that, if brought under control, could be made useful for grazing or even arable farming. Autonomous robots could one day tend to crops on a per-plant basis, more like human horticulturists than current
bulk farming methods, which can waste up to 40% of crops.

The UK has approximately 41,000 sheep and 17,000 dairy farms, averaging 140 acres per farm. Each requires around £1000 per year to spray manually at £8/hour, a cost which is increasing rapidly, with the introduction of the new living wage set to increase this further. Immigration restrictions and health and safety requirements mean this cost is now too high for many farmers
to justify spraying at all, resulting in many fields being 10% or more weed-covered, reducing grazing available for animals and consequently increasing food costs to the consumer.

The technology used for IBEX is similar to self-driving cars and is set to make a huge difference to rural agriculture. Trials to date have already generated a significant amount of interest, especially locally.

Extreme Mobility - the IBEX robot is designed to operate on 45 degree slopes and traverse hill farms autonomously. The platform uses tracks to reduce the ground pressure, increasing the range of terrain it can traverse while reducing any damage it may cause with its treads. On-board sensors provide attitude information to ensure stable operation over all terrain.

Autonomous - using a combination of sensors and Bayesian machine learning software, IBEX is aware of its surroundings and is designed for certified safe operation. The system is capable of independent navigation, covering a user targetted area by swathing or a more intelligent optimisation of routes. A video and data link is always active, allowing a supervisor to intervene if required or if the control systems determine that user input is necessary.

Payload - the initial weed spraying task design incorporates a robot arm for precision spraying. The system is also capable of carrying alternative heavy payloads and pulling agricultural implements to perform further farm tasks. IBEX is designed to operate for up to a day away from its operating base.

Cost - IBEX will be cost about the same as an ATV, being affordable to farmers, including those in developing countries, with inexpensive operation and readily available spares and consumables.

About the IBEX consortium

IBEX is a consortium of SMEs who together design and build advanced agricultural robotics, co-funded by the AgriTech Catalyst of the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK, on behalf of DEFRA, as a Feasibility Study. IBEX consists of Hunshelf Hall Farm, G32 Technologies Ltd and Digital Concepts Engineering Ltd. The consortium brings together over 50 years of experience in farming, military and bomb disposal vehicles, robust and secure communication systems and
advanced artificial intelligence algorithms to create world-class autonomous systems for use in extreme agricultural environments. Project manager Dr Charles Fox is also an academic at the Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, which researches on-road self-driving vehicles. The consortium's users and advisors include current and former staff from the South Yorkshire Grassland Society, Google, United Nations, Cambridge University, and Harvard
Business School. IBEX is working with the University of Leeds on ideas for follow-on projects, using the robots in additional agricultural tasks.

Innovate UK is the new name for the Technology Strategy Board – the UK’s innovation agency. Taking a new idea to market is a challenge. Innovate UK funds, supports and connects innovative businesses through a unique mix of people and programmes to accelerate sustainable economic growth. For further information visit https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/innovate-uk
Catalysts are run jointly by Innovate UK and the Research Councils. A Catalyst is a form of research and development funding which focuses on a specific priority area and aims to help take projects from research to as close to commercial viability as possible. The Catalyst model supports projects in priority areas where the UK research base has a leading position and
where there is clear commercial potential. Current Catalysts include: Biomedical Catalyst, Agri- tech Catalyst and the Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst. For more details please visit:
https://www.gov.uk/innovation-get-details-about-innovate-uk-funding-competitions#catalysts
Feasibility Studies is a single-company or collaborative R&D grant scheme run by Innovate UK that allows businesses the opportunity to test an innovative idea and its feasibility to be developed and eventually taken to market. Feasibility studies are a way for companies to carry out exploratory studies which could lead to the development of new products, processes, models, experiences or services. The study could involve for instance investigating the technical
feasibility of a new idea. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/innovation-get-details-about-innovate-uk-funding-competitions

For more information about IBEX including interview and site visit requests and high resolution photographs please contact Dr Charles Fox ([email protected]) or visit www.ibexautomation.co.uk .