At Deepfield robotics we developed the technology for autonomous vehicles to improve conventional and organic weed management as part of our mission to sustainably increase agricultural production whilst minimizing environmental impact. Effective weed management is crucial to maximize crop yield. We developed small light weight robots, technology to distinguish crop from weed and various methods of destroying weeds.
Farmers are under growing pressure to increase production to feed a growing population, while at the same time considering environmental impact and constraints on land, water and labour. The increasingly larger farm machines cause significant soil compaction damage and are a single point of failure. Hence, in this project we developed the technology for small, inexpensive, cooperative robots for agriculture. This project was comprised of five themes: vision-based obstacle detection, vision-based [...]
This project is fast-tracking robotic technology for farms. Its purpose is to reinvigorate agriculture through increased production and reduced costs. Such technology can be used to conduct autonomous multi-vehicle operations in applications of weed management, fertilising, and seeding. The use of multiple, cost-effective field robots can enable alternative weed destruction methods such as mechanical, thermal or chemical. It can also enable autonomous methods for picking fruit and vegetables. The Strategic [...]
Seed breeding is a critical part of agriculture and ensures food security through the development of new crop varieties that are higher-yielding, disease and drought resistant and adapted for each region. Best practise is to have breeders measure and record traits across a large number of seed trials. However, it is hard to get consistent measurements across breeders especially across different regions. There are also limits to what a person [...]