Swarm Robotics for Agricultural Applications

“Many hands make light work”. – English proverb 

Dear Colleagues,

As we seek to feed the Earth’s 7.8 billion people through the work of a small and decreasing percentage of that population, we rely increasingly on automated equipment in agriculture. Machines with superhuman throughput have been a staple of the agriculture industry for over a century, so naturally, these have been the first to become fully autonomous. Nonetheless, some agricultural tasks, especially those requiring delicate or individualized treatment of crops, have proven impracticable for large devices. Even as tractors, combines, sprayers, and planters have become driverless, the perceptive senses and nimble touch of humans are still required in many situations. As labor costs rise, artificial intelligence improves, and mechatronic components become smaller, cheaper, and more efficient as a vision of many robotic hands comes closer to realization.

The focus of this Special Issue of AgriEngineering is the application of swarm robotics to agriculture. We seek studies with experimental results involving agricultural robots designed to operate autonomously, in parallel, and scalably. Sensors, software, end-effectors, and other payloads particularly suited for use with such robots will also be considered. By collecting several recent developments between covers, this issue seeks to achieve the critical mass needed to inspire a revolution in practical agricultural swarm robotics.

Prof. Dr. Matt Haberland
Guest Editor

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• swarm robotics
• precision agriculture
• precision viticulture
• agricultural drones
• drone sprayers
• drone pollination
• nanodrones
• microrobotics
• nanorobotics
• agricultural automation
• sensors
• drone-compatible software
• big data