The platform enables automation and control, as well as evaluation of systems performance via Wifi, 3G and 4G mobile networks. Application areas include unmanned agricultural vehicles (UAVs) and ground unmanned vehicles (GUVs).Robotics and automation in agriculture is rapid developing field and in many areas still fairly new. Robotics in precision agriculture are perceptive programmable machines that perform a variety of agricultural tasks, such as cultivation, transplanting, spraying, and selective harvesting. Robotic Autonomous Systems (RAS) are developed to perform tasks, make decisions, and act in real time without human intervention. RAS are required in the Agribusiness domains which demand reductions in labor and workload, and are best suited for applications that require repeatable accuracy under stable conditions. RAS have the potential to improve competitiveness and increase sustainability compared to current crop production methods and has become an increasingly active area of research during the past decades.
The Clafisol platform addresses the current barriers limiting the commercialization of agricultural robotic systems and their applications and use through an implementation of an intelligent integrated robot automation platform (i.e., Integration Platform) for improving crop production systems and related processes by developing and demonstrating:
Agriculture robots automation systems (RAS) and an IoT/IoRT intelligent integrator and infrastructure and applications services platform, and
Information and Data Connectivity and Transfer techniques based on a cross-platform OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) models specification entitling standards, related technologies and mappings with/to existing data models and corresponding OPC UA standard interfaces and technologies for communication between/among:
Agriculture Robots or/and Robotic automation systems (ISO 10218 and safety standards ANSI/RIA R15.06, + other robotic platform support including ROS, RSNP, ORIN, UNR-PF, etc ),
Automation systems (i.e., autonomous equipment and machinery, hardware and software components, namely automation and control systems; and sensing and monitoring devices; including advanced integrated and packaged field sensors devices/systems, telemetry systems, farm equipment and robots equipped with multi-sensors) simply referred to as autonomous sensors, equipment and devices (AEMs/UGV).
IT systems (e.g. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or/and farm management information systems (FMIS) providing software and services for farm management) with advanced computational techniques and hydrologic analysis subsystems designed for crop and soil water production systems
Existing advanced geo cyber-infrastructure (GCI) technologies and functions, data resources, network protocols, computing platforms, and computational services (e.g. INSPIRE)